Grammaticalization of Modal Verbs in Bisha Colloquial Arabic

Abstract

This study investigates modality in Bisha Colloquial Arabic (BCA), examining how various modal forms interact with different tenses, including future, present progressive, past progressive, and present perfect. Data were collected from undergraduate and postgraduate students, social media content, and analyzed to identify modal verbs, particles, and grammaticalized forms conveying meanings of ability, necessity, possibility, and obligation. The findings highlight the grammaticalization of motion verbs, active and passive participles, and nominal forms as markers of tense and aspect, showcasing BCA’s unique approach to modality. Notable findings include the use of amda (امدى) and mada (مدى) for present perfect tense and the transformation of sensory and postural verbs into markers of futurity and present progressive tense. Additionally, modal forms like yigdar (يقدر) and lāzim (لازم) exhibit versatility across multiple tenses, underscoring the flexibility and richness of the BCA modality system. Importantly, the study confirms that the emergence of grammaticalized forms does not eliminate the usage of their original lexical variants, allowing these forms to coexist and further enrich BCA’s expressive range. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of modality in Arabic dialects and offers insights into the syntactic and semantic evolution within BCA.