The Distribution and Position of the Negative Particles in Hijazi Arabic

Abstract

This paper studies the negative particles that are used to express negation in the dialect of Hijazi Arabic. The two negative particles that are used by this dialect are maa and muu. This paper explores the distribution as well as the position of these negative particles in different structures within the minimalist framework based on the work of Adger (2003). In the present paper, I argue that the negative particle maa in Hijazi Arabic has an uninterpretable c-selectional feature V. Thus, maa must be merged with a verbal element with a matching V feature in order to check the uninterpretable feature in it. Also, it must be adjacent to this verbal element in the sentence as a sequence of satisfying the constraint of Checking under Sisterhood. The other negative particle muu lacks this uninterpretable c-selectional feature and hence it cannot be merged with a verbal element with the interpretable V feature. As a consequence, muu can be merged with other elements which are nouns, adjectives, and prepositional phrases.