Investigation of the Wh-Movement in Jordanian Arabic: the case of Ammani Dialect

Abstract

There are many different ways to ask questions, either the formal written language or the informal spoken language which mostly deals with dialects. This study investigates the syntactic analysis of wh-construction patterns of one of the Jordanian dialects; in particular, it is the Ammani dialect. Ten young urban (Ammani) females were included in this case study; they were tested in natural atmosphere that allows them to ask freely without changing their way of speaking. It is claimed by the researchers that Ammani dialect includes eight question types; some of them include movements and others keep the wh-word in situ. It is also noticed that sometimes Jordanians can form questions using intonation rather than adding any wh-word. This paper investigates the cases where we have obligatory wh-movement, optionally wh-movement, wh-word in situ, and the rhythmically question forming.