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Title:	A cognitive semantic analysis of /fii/ as used in the Taizzi dialect in Yemen
Authors:	Turki Mahyoub Qaid Mohammed (P48381)
Supervisor:	Imran Ho Abdullah, Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Keywords:	Arabic language -- Semantics Cognitive grammar Arabic language -- Prepositions Arabic language -- Dialects -- Yemen (Republic) Yemen (Republic) -- Languages Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia
Issue Date:	19-Apr-2012
Description:	In this research, Cognitive Grammar framework (Langacker, 1987) is adopted to provide a cognitive semantic analysis of the Arabic prepositions /fii/ as used in the Taizzi dialect, one of dialects spoken in Yemen. Arabic prepositions have not received the attention due to them and semantic analysis of prepositions remains inadequate and sparse. In addition, previous studies on the prepositions of Standard Arabic have tended to focus on their functions rather than their semantics. All Arabic prepositions, /fii/ in particular, originally encode spatial relations between two physical entities and have also developed a wide range of non-spatial meanings. Arabic prepositions in their dialectal use, /fii/ as an instance, have shown that they have semantically covered more cognitive domains than their use in Standard Arabic. In this study, the researcher argues that all these meanings of /fii/, whether originally found in Standard Arabic or dialectally developed, are systematically grounded in the nature of human spatio-physical experience. The investigation also introduces a new methodology that distinguishes between a conventional meaning and a construal established for understanding the preposition in context, as well as establishing which of several rival senses should be taken as the central sense. The methodology and framework is found to be sufficient in the articulation of the attested uses as well as the prediction of the various senses that can be extrapolated to other prepositions. This thesis mainly aims at unfolding a fine grained analysis of the semantic content of /fii/ adopting a new framework in the context of Arabic language that can account for its different senses and see how these senses of this polysemous preposition can be related to each other in a semantic network. Bearing in mind the fact that languages contrast in the various ways they lexicalize spatial relations depending on the details of the relation it is simply realized why the need calls for a linguistic analysis of the salient properties of any other language being different in the ways through which its speakers lexicalize spatial relations. The thesis, thus, explores the semantics of the English preposition in, as well, in various cognitive domains. The preposition in contrasts with its corresponding Arabic preposition /fii/ in terms of semantics aspects. The research findings reveal that due to different cultural, social, and experiential factors the preposition /fii/ in the Taizzi dialect is conventionalized differently from its use in the Standard Arabic or other dialects of Arabic. Beyond the linguistic value of this study in understanding the structures of a particular dialect, a comparison of studies of this type would contribute to a cross-linguistic understanding of cognitive universals making it feasible to distinguish significant patterns between languages and within dialects of a single language.,‘Certification of Master’s / Doctoral Thesis’ is not available,Ph.D.,‘Certification of Master’s/Doctoral Thesis’ is not available
Pages:	232
Call Number:	PJ6184.M84 2012 tesis
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan

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