ImÄla
ImÄla (also transliterated imÄlah ; Arabic: إمالة‎, literally "slanting") is a vowel shift exhibited in many dialects of Arabic whose the open vowel, whether long or short, is raised to [É›] or even [e] in certain morphological or phonological contexts. ImÄla occurs in modern colloquial as well as classical variants of Arabic, including several qirÄʾÄt ("styles of recitation") of the Quran. As a very noticeable phenomenon, imÄla is often one of the most distinguishing features in the dialects that have it, such as Lebanese Arabic.
Classical Arabic
Historically, imÄla was a feature of the ancient dialects of Najd and Tamim, which had it in both verbs and inflected nouns. There are many cases for which imÄla is appropriate; some of the most common are outlined below:
Morphological reasons
- It affects a word-final alif when it substitutes yÄʾ or can be substituted by yÄʾ in some inflections: الأعلى ([ælʔæʕleË], "the highest").
Phonological reasons
- Also, imÄla occurs if alif follows /j/ immediately or is separated by only one letter. It occurs as well if they are two letters apart if the second letter is hÄʾ). ImÄla is generally tenser before a long yÄʾ than before a short yÄʾ: صيام ([sˤijeËm], "fasting")
- Similarly, imÄla occurs if alif is preceded by a letter that is itself preceded by an /i/ sound: إناث ([Ê”ineËθ], "females").
- A non-pharyngealized letter, followed by /i/, can also induce imÄla in an alif directly before it. As is the case with /j/, a consonant, if alone or followed byʾ hÄʾ, does not stop the process: ÙƒØ§ÙØ± ([keËfir], "nonbeliever").
In Quran
Many qirÄʾÄt of the Quran implement imÄla at least once. Some, like those of Hafs or Qalun, use it only once, but others, like those of Hamzah az-Zaiyyat and Al-Kisa'i, use it regularly. In the latter, imÄla affects hundreds of words because of a general rule of a specific qirÄʾa or as a specific word prescribed to undergo imÄla. Warsh's qirÄʾa, from the way of Al-Azraq, implements minor imÄla ([É›]) regularly but major imÄla ([e]) in only one instance.
Effect on other languages
The accent of Andalusia in Moorish Spain had imÄla, and many Arabic loan words and city names in Spanish still do so. Its largest city, Seville, has a name that is a notable example of imÄla.
See also
- Tenseness
- Vowel height
- Andalusian Arabic
- North Levantine Arabic
- Tunisian Arabic
- North Mesopotamian Arabic