Abstract
………………. 3 1.2.2.3 Hodeidah………………………………...………………. 4 1.2.2.4 1.5 Research Questions…………………………………….……..…………. 15 1.6 Significance of the Study………………………………………..……….. 16 1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study………………………..…………….. 17 1.8 Rationale of the Study……………………………………………………. 19 1.9 Thesis Structure………………………………………….………………. 20 1.10 Conclusion..…..………………………………………………………… 23 CHAPTER 2 - REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………… 24 2.2 Previous Studies on Languages and/ or Dialects..................................…... 24 2.2.1 Previous Studies on World Languages and Dialects...……………. 25 2.2.2 Dialects of the Arabian Peninsula……..…………………………. 28 2.2.3 Previous Studies on Yemeni Dialects ………………….…...……. 30 2.3 Summary of Previous Dialectal Studies…………………………………… 32 2.4 Conclusion.………………………………………………….…………… 33 CHAPTER 3 - RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction…..…………………………………………………………. 34 3.2 Research Design………………………………………………………… 34 3.3 Naturalistic/Ethnographical Inquiry Approach (NI)…………………..…… 36 3.4 Pilot Study…………………..…………………………………………… 37 3.5 Samples and Sample Selection…………………………………………… 39 3.5.1 Setting of the Study………………….…………………………… 39 3.5.2 Informants of the Study…………………………………………... 41 3.5.3 Background of the Informants…………………………………… 44 One is Allah the Almighty. I am grateful to my supervisor, Dr Tajul Aripin Kassin, for his ongoing guidance, feedback and backup throughout conducting this study who established me as a seeker for knowledge; whose depth of knowledge of phonology has been an invaluable asset to me during the period of this work. It has been a real privilege for me to work under his astute supervision. Any remaining shortcomings are mine. My special thanks and appreciation goes to Dr. Hasuria, the Head of Bahasa Department, for her assistance and kind guidance. I also wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my parents who were the source of support during my study in Malaysia; without whom this work would not come to being. I am indebted to all my brothers and sisters who kept praying for me till I winded up this attempt. My special gratitude is accorded to my beloved wife for her technical and domestic succour and for showing me that hard work and determination will get me there. I also owe a great respect to my fellow students and colleagues in Yemen for their ongoing encouragement and care that created a smile on my face constantly. I am so thankful and obliged to the authority of Science University of Malaysia (USM) in the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation as well as the School of Humanities and its lecturers, staff and USM librarians; Mr. Noor Azman Vijay bin Abdullah and Mr. Arffin bin Aziz for their guidance and help during my study. A special note of appreciation and gratitude goes to the Dean, Professor. Dr. Ambigapathy Pandian; Deputy Dean and Head of English Section, Dr. Shaik Abdul Malik for their academic guidance all the time. A big thank you goes also to Mr. Abdulghani Al-Hattami from Chicago University who contributed with his knowledge and devoted his time to sending related references of this work. Thanks again to the Tihami friends who were employed as samples of the study and yielded its informative data. More importantly, I would also like to express my special thanks to Dr. Ghada Khattab from Newcastle University, UK; who sent me a plenty of her publications; which have been of great asset to the inspiration of the topic of this dissertation. I am also grateful to her for being patience and helpful in consultations. A special gratitude goes to Mr. Baleigh Qassem Al-Wasy from the University of Assyout in Egypt who traveled miles to meet me for data verification and constructive feedback; which yielded apt and remedial comments for this work. Last but not least, I would express my sincere thanks to Dr. Radiah for her invaluable recommendations to some phonetics and phonology books and related sources; which were the starting point for me to trace the proposal of this dissertation. I am owed to her for her oral comments and feedback in the beginning of preparation of the proposal for the present study.
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