The Relationship between the Size of Functional Structure, Degree of Semantic Analyzability, and Syntactic Inflexibility in Palestinian ArabicIdioms: VoiceP versus √P Idioms

Shahd Dibas

Article Details

The Relationship between the Size of Functional Structure, Degree of Semantic Analyzability, and Syntactic Inflexibility in Palestinian ArabicIdioms: VoiceP versus √P Idioms

Authors:

Shahd Dibas

Publisher:

المجلة الدولية للسانيات العربية

Journal:

International Journal of Arabic Linguistics Vol.11, pp.117-145

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

11/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001840923

pISSN:

2421-9835

Keywords:

Abstract:

 This paper investigates the relationship between the size of functional structure, the degreeof semantic non-compositionality, and syntactic inflexibility in two distinct classes of idiomsin Palestinian Arabic: VoiceP idioms and √P idioms. Building on diagnostics introduced byNunberg,Sag,andWasow(1994)andextendedintheStructuralRequirementModelbyStone(2009, 2015, 2016) into a functional-structural typology of idioms, I refine this frameworkthrough a detailed investigation of idiomatic constructions in Palestinian Arabic. I proposethat √P idioms are semantically analyzable, exhibiting internal idiomatic mapping of individual constituents, whereas VoiceP idioms retain configurationality and they are interpretedholistically. Idiomatic Phrases, i.e., VoiceP idioms (e.g., kick the bucket), are mapped ontoa single, non-compositional meaning such as “die.” In contrast, Idiomatically CombiningExpressions, i.e., √P idioms (e.g., spill the beans), involve the verb (spill) being mapped ontoone idiomatic meaning (e.g., “reveal”) and the object (the beans) being mapped onto anotheridiomatic meaning(e.g., “thesecret”). Idiscussaconvergentsetofdiagnostics: internalargumentmodifiability and quantifiability, relative clause formation and topicalization, anaphoricreference and NP ellipsis that collectively serve to differentiate between idioms that exhibitlarger functional structures (VoiceP idioms) and those that project smaller ones (√P idioms).This distinction is argued to reflect a deeper structural Encyclopedic contrast: VoiceP idioms demonstrate larger functional structures, while √P idioms are structurally small. Thisdistinction concurs well with the Structural Requirement Model, which proposes that whilethe former is structurally large, the latter is structurally small. Finally, the paper addressesdeterminer variability in ICEs in light of DM-inspired Encyclopedic Entries.

Article Details

The Relationship between the Size of Functional Structure, Degree of Semantic Analyzability, and Syntactic Inflexibility in Palestinian ArabicIdioms: VoiceP versus √P Idioms

Authors:

Shahd Dibas

Publisher:

المجلة الدولية للسانيات العربية

Journal:

International Journal of Arabic Linguistics Vol.11, pp.117-145

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

11/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001840923

pISSN:

2421-9835

Arabic grammar

semantics

Ibn Mālik

synonymy

ellipsis

polysemy

contextual meaning

syntactic flexibility

linguistic theory

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Shahd Dibas

Publisher: المجلة الدولية للسانيات العربية

Journal: International Journal of Arabic Linguistics Vol.11, pp.117-145

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 11/2025

Document Language: English

Document ID (Org No.): 2001840923

pISSN: 2421-9835

Issues

Authors:

Shahd Dibas

Publisher:

المجلة الدولية للسانيات العربية

Journal:

International Journal of Arabic Linguistics Vol.11, pp.117-145

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

11/2025

Document Language:

English

Document ID (Org No.):

2001840923

pISSN:

2421-9835