PDF - Guram Chikovani

ight up to the present day. As to indicators of assimilation of
Central Asia Arabs with the local population, according to the
conclusion of the scholars, the trace of such anthropological mixture
is extremely insignificant. The authors assign this to the fact that the
bulk of Qarshi Arabs took up a fixed residence, namely in Jeynau
and Qamashi regions over the centuries. Again mention should be
made of the extremely important evidence by Al-Isãakhr× on the
settlement of Arabs in the neighborhood of Nakhshebi (Qarshi). He
names a residential area called Naukad Quraish, which points to the
Arabic origin of its inhabitants. Quraish Arabs living in Jeinau at
present serve as a link to the Arabs who settled in Central Asia in
the 7 th -10 th centuries. Thus, the fact of Arab migration to QashqadaryÁ
region of Central Asia in the 7 th -10 th centuries and their
relation to the Arabs inhabiting Jeinau and Qamashi at present can
be considered reliable.
Phonology
The present study deals with the phonemic analysis of the QAD
applying the methods of modern structural linguistics. Attention is focused
mainly on minimal oppositions which are duscussed on the level of
phonological pairs. The principle of discreteness of language is taken into
account in the analysis, according to which minimal units making up
larger ones are chosen as the linguistic units to be described.
Distribution of consonants and vowels in the QAD is comparatively
equal (daÕal). This phenomenon is clearly manifested in the literary Arabic
language (kataba) and is noticeable in the majority of Eastern Arabic
dialects. It is the other way found in Western Arabic dialects. Vocalization
here is minimal and occurrence of several consonants in initial position is
typical (kteb). Seven main classes of articulation of consonants are
identifiable in the given dialect: labial, dental, alveolar, palatal, velar,
pharyngeal and laryngeal.
The following phonemes of literary Arabic are lost in the Qad:
a) interdental ä > s: äawb > sub “clothes”; Ë > z: öaÕaËahu > ÕazÁ
“he took it”
b) In most cases hamza is dropped: öaÕaËahu > ÕazÁ “he took it”.
c) The velar q is mostly rendered by voiced g: qal×l > gil×l “little, few”.
Rarely articulation of q is preserved: qÝz× - “judge”.
d) Emphatic consonants have weak articulation d and Ì are conveyed
by ì, which is sometimes further weakened, resulting in z: lamzÁt < lafÌÁt
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