Comparison of Sentence Structures between Arabic and English Languages - Research Paper Example

Comparison of Sentence Structures between Arabic and English Languages Research Question A close analysis reveals that the English and the Arabic languages exhibit salient differences. These languages are used in different parts of the globe and it has become evident that an English speaking individual struggling to learn the Arabic faces certain challenges. The same is also evident when an Arabic speaking tries to learn English. This observation prompted an analysis of the existing differences in sentence construction between English and Arabic. The discussion that will be presented in this paper concerning the difference in sentence structure between the two languages will be based on a comparison of several aspects that define each language (Ferdman 120). Introduction Arabic and English are official languages used widely, but in different regions of the globe. Precisely, Arabic is the formal language in countries such as Morocco, Libya, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. An additional notable use of Arabic is in the Koran a factor that makes all the Muslims familiar with the language (McGregor 56). This brings into context people from different regions who are Muslim adherence to have a preference of teaching a level of Arabic in their schools. It is important to highlight that, the Arabic language had different dialects, but there is an identified version which is commonly used by the media and is the one introduced in schools. A close analysis of the Arabic language reveals that it originated from the Semitic language family a factor that makes its grammar very unique. This is the reason why Arabic speakers are likely to exhibit certain challenges when trying to learn other languages. On the other hand, English is the formal language used in Europe, America, and many other countries colonized by the European countries. There is a difference between American and British English, although these differences are minimal (McGregor 78). English speakers also face challenges when learning the Arabic language. The challenges exhibited are as a result of the distinct sentence structures in each of the two languages. This paper will explore some of the differences in sentence structure between the Arabic and the English languages. Literature Review According to the existing literature that describes the different aspects that govern the Arabic language, it appears that this language comprises of 28 consonants and 8 vowels. It emerges that according to the Arabic language users, short vowels have little significance and they do not give any attention in writing. An outstanding feature of the language is that, when reading texts, one begins from the right heading to the left. There is barely any distinction between upper and lower cases (McGregor 98). Moreover, Arabic texts exhibit cursive script. On the other hand, a consideration of the available literature concerning the structure of the English language, it appears that there are 24 consonants in English and 22 vowel/ diphthong. Contrary to the Arabic language, research into the English language shows that it has stringent rules of punctuation, a clear distinction exists between upper and lower cases (Ferdmand 145). Moreover, English texts are read in the direction of left to right. Without doubt, the differences in alphabets between the two languages have been identified by researchers as the core differences that eventually lead to different sentence structures. In the view of many researchers, the alphabet differences have been identified as fundamentals and are the defining reasons explaining why Arab learners or English learners face constant challenges (Ferdman 150). Other researchers have focused on the differences in phonology between the two languages. Such research reveals that, the English language comprises of about three times the vowel sounds available in Arabic. This only means that, English learners face the compulsion of understanding how to differentiate many words in English. A clear example cited by some researchers is the difference in vowel use between sheep/ship and then bad/bed. In these two sets of words, an English learner can easily confuse and is likely to take more time in learning how to distinguish them (McGregor 89). Research has also highlighted that, Arab speakers who are willing to learn English often face challenges in the pronunciation of certain words. In the English language, there is a distinct difference in the pronunciation of certain consonants such as /th/ for example in its use in the words this and thin. In other cases, some consonants are swapped at the beginning of words while others are often substituted. There is a high chance of consonant clusters in English. Examples of swapped consonants include /b/ and /p/. The sounds /f/ and /v/ are often substituted with different words (Khuli 74). In the English language, there is evidence of differences in the stressing of syllables. Research into this language has highlighted that some words have their syllables stressed in the beginning, others in the center while others; the last syllable is the subject of stress. Experts in the analysis of language have identified the differing stressing of syllables as “random.” Linguists peering into the Arabic language highlight an evident difference in the stressing of the syllables. Arab speakers exhibit a regular stress of syllables. Since such regularity does not apply to the English language, learners are bound to face challenges. In one of the examples in English to illustrate the random nature of stressing syllables, the words “yesterday” and “tomorrow” are practical cases. In the word “yesterday” stress is on the first syllable. The stressing of syllables in tomorrow is different as the second syllable appears to be stressed “tomorrow” (Khuli 80). Other researchers have also highlighted the common use of elusion in English a practice that involves the swallowing of sounds. This practice does not apply to the Arabic language. An additional outstanding difference identified by linguists is the existence of only a single present tense in Arabic. In English, there exists both simple and continuous present tense. The verb ‘to be” and auxiliary “do” are non-existent in Arabic language. Other differences are the fact that Arabic speakers do not highlight any difference between the completions of actions in the past and do not exhibit a connection of a past action to the present. On the contrary, the present perfect tense in English plays this role. Moreover, model verbs do not exist in Arabic as well as the indefinite article. Although Arabic has its unique, definite article, its use does not conform to the use of a definite article in English (Khuli 89). Notably, there is a salient difference in the order of words, especially between the adjectives of nouns in English and Arabic. In Arabic, adjectives follow the noun, but the vice versa applies in English. Research into other aspects of the Arabic grammar reveals that Arabic may involve the use of pronouns in clauses tagged as relative. This does not apply in English. For example, in Arabic, one would say, where is the book which she gave it to you yesterday while in English one would say, where the book which she gave to you yesterday is. There is a vast difference in vocabulary between the two languages. Researchers have identified the existence of minimal Arabic, English cognates. This poses a great challenge to Arab English Second Learning (ESL) speakers as they take longer to comprehend some words (Odlin 100). A Study of the Arabic Structure and its Comparison to English An extensive study of the sentence structure into the Arabic language in a bid to understand the unique features that makes it outstandingly different from English. Usually, Arabic sentences are divided into two distinct parts, namely the pillar and the supplement. The pillar denoted the information and the subject. In this case, the information signifies the state or action being referred in the sentence. From this analysis, it emerged that the Arabic language has two distinct types of sentences. The first category of sentences is called the nominal sentences and is defined by the fact that it begins with either a noun or a pronoun. The second category is called the verbal sentence which is marked by a verb at the beginning. Nominal sentences comprise of two distinct parts, namely the subject (مبتدأ) and the predicate (خبر) (Aziza n.p). Many nominal sentences that denote an aspect about “being” then they may entirely lack a verb. This is because the usual “to be” in English is non-existence in Arabic (Odlin 115). Therefore, an Arabic speaker only understands the use of “to be” depending on the context of the sentence. An illustration of this is evident in the following three sentences; نحن من مصر. “We are in Egypt” (Aziza n.p). هذه مقالة ممتازة. “This is an excellent article” (Aziza n.p). الولد يلعب. “The boy plays” (Aziza n.p). In a nominal sentence, a definite subject is mostly used although in rare cases, an indefinite one appears. This is usually when the sentence implies existence or possession. When that happens, then the predicate precedes the subject (Odlin 130). For example in the sentences below; عندي سيارة. “I have a car” (Aziza n.p). هناك أولاد في الحديقة. “There are kids in the park” (Aziza n.p). لي أخ. “I have a brother” (Aziza n.p). On the other hand, verbal sentences comprise of the verb at the beginning and later a subject. In some cases, the subject is not written distinctly, but rather conjugated in the verb. An example of this is in the sentences below; أعمل. “I work” (Aziza n.p).   درسنا. “We studied” (Aziza n.p). Many Arab speakers exhibit their preference for verbal sentences in cases whereby the verb must be used. However, in most cases, the context and emphasis of the sentence determines the type of sentences used (Odlin 145). This is evident in the sentences below; يعمل جدّي في التجارة. “My grandfather worked in the trade” (Aziza n.p). جدّي يعمل في التجارة. “My grandfather worked in the trade” (Aziza n.p). The development of phrase structure trees is one of the effective ways of understanding the syntax of any language. This is usually drawn using a sentence analyzing the syntactic categories of every work in the sentence and identifying the different groups of nodes. The formation of the nodes is only a possibility if the phrase structure constructed conforms to the rules of that language. The figures below represent the phrase structure trees of two Arabic sentences. Both of the sentences used in this phrase structure translate to the English sentence “The puppy played in the garden.” It is important to note that Arabic is both read and written from right to left. The first figure below is a representation of the nominal type of sentence and the syntactic nodes according to the rules of English. The rules for developing the phrase structure conform to those in the English language. On the other hand, figure two represents the phrase structure tree of the verbal sentence and highlights the typical features one would not find in English (Housen & Pierrard 47). Web. 21st May, 2014. http://evinhughes.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/syntax1.png   There is an evident difference in the semantics of both English and Arabic languages. In the English language, the intention of context is critical factors that exhibit a relation to the social and psychological uses in the language. A clear example of this was the common use of the word /bad/ to imply /good/. In a similar case, a common greeting in Arabic, [Assalamu alekɔm] may also have different meaning depending on the context. Used as a greeting, it means “Peace be upon you” but in another context, it may serve as an insult (Housen & Pierrard 68). There is evidence that language acquisition of both Arabic and English language differs greatly. Linguists have highlighted that acquiring a certain language occurs at various levels. In the case of Arabic, previous studies have studied how children acquire the phonology and morphology of the language. Although there is the likelihood that both English and Arabic children may learn consonants at similar ages, there is an evident difference on some of the consonants. One example is evident in the fact that Arabic children learn the sound [f] while the English children learn [j] first. This difference is in accordance with the common usage of the two consonant sounds in each language (Housen & Pierrard 120). Conclusion A superficial comparison of the English and the Arabic languages may give a wrong connotation that the Arabic language is uniquely different English. Although this is quite true, there are existing similarities revealed by a deeper analysis. This occurs in the fields of phonology and semantic where both languages exhibit certain similarities. However, in the case of rules governing the syntax and the subject verb arrangement, the two languages have outstanding differences. This is the reason why the sentence structure in both languages proves to be very different. This has been identified as the main cause of the difficulties to learners of both languages. Work Cited Aziza. Arabic sentence structure: nominal and verbal sentences. Web. 21st May 2014. Ferdman, Bernardo M. Literacy Across Languages and Cultures. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 2003. Print. Housen, Alex, and M Pierrard. Investigations in Instructed Second Language Acquisition. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2005. Internet resource. Khuli, Muhammad A. A Contrastive Transformational Grammar: Arabic and English. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2004. Print. McGregor, William. Linguistics: An Introduction. London: Continuum, 2009. Print. Odlin, Terence. Language Transfer: Cross-linguistic Influence in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Read More