Active Participles in Bisha Colloquial Arabic

Abstract

Active participles have been extensively studied across various languages and some Arabic dialects; however, their specific characteristics in Bisha Colloquial Arabic (BCA) remain unexplored. This study seeks to address this gap by providing a comprehensive description of active participles in BCA, focusing on their morphological and syntactic features. Data were collected from two primary sources: classroom interactions involving undergraduate students and content from social media platforms. These sources provided rich examples of active participle usage in diverse contexts. The analysis identified and categorized active participles into three main types: nominal, deverbal, and adjectival. The analysis revealed distinct characteristics for each type of participle. Nominal participles exhibit fully nominal properties, such as forming construct states, accepting adjectival modification, and functioning as noun phrases. Deverbal participles retain verbal traits, including aspectual marking, argument structure, and adverbial modification, closely mirroring their corresponding verbs. Adjectival participles, by contrast, function as standard adjectives, agreeing in gender, number, and definiteness with the nouns they modify. Additionally, BCA participles follow the faʕil morphological template, aligning with Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in their derivation. However, BCA diverges from MSA by simplifying agreement rules for gender, number, and definiteness, prioritizing ease of communication. Despite these differences, BCA participles retain several features common to MSA and other Arabic dialects, particularly those of southern Saudi Arabia. This study demonstrates that active participles in BCA display a dynamic interplay of nominal and verbal characteristics, offering a unique linguistic balance. The findings contribute valuable insights into the structure and flexibility of active participles across Arabic varieties.