10.71528/jntell.2024.1192767

Constraint Interaction in Iraqi Arabic Dialects: A Focus on Baghdadi Gilit and Moslawi Qəltu through Optimality Theory

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  • Abbas Azeez Mohammed Alabid1,
  • Bahram Hadian*1,
  • Oudah Kadhim Abed2,
  • Fatemeh Karimi1,
  1. Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
  2. Department of English, College of Education for Human Sciences, Al Muthanna University, Samawah, Ira

Received: 2024-10-05

Accepted: 2024-10-29

Published in Issue 2024-12-12

Copyright (c) 2025 Abbas Azeez Mohammed Alabid, Bahram Hadian, Oudah Kadhim Abed, Fatemeh Karimi (Author)

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Mohammed Alabid, A. A., Hadian, B., Kadhim Abed, O., & Karimi, F. (2024). Constraint Interaction in Iraqi Arabic Dialects: A Focus on Baghdadi Gilit and Moslawi Qəltu through Optimality Theory. Journal of New Trends in English Language Learning (JNTELL), 3(4). https://doi.org/10.71528/jntell.2024.1192767
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Abstract

This paper aimed at a descriptive analysis of the phonological processes in two major dialects of Iraqi:
Baghdadi Gilit Dialect (BGD) and Moslawi Qəltu Dialect (MQD), within the framework of Optimality
Theory (OT). Drawing on a firm corpus of 100 hours of spoken data and recent researches, 2015–
2024, the present study probes into important phonological processes like assimilation, deletion, and
epenthesis to explore their implications from the sociolinguistic and computational perspectives. These
results show that there are significant differences in the constraint hierarchies of the two dialects,
reflecting their different sociolinguistic histories. BGD has a greater number of assimilations and
deletions, driven by markedness constraints such as HARMONY and PARSIMONY, which reflect
Bedouin speech patterns. MQD, on the other hand, is more phonologically conservative, retaining
features from Old Arabic, and thus faithfulness constraints such as MAX and IDENT-PLACE, which
favor the preservation of input segments, are ranked higher. Comparisons with recent research
highlight the continued influence of urbanization and Bedouinization on dialectal phonological
variation. The study contributes to Arabic phonology by providing a model that bridges theoretical
phonological processes with practical applications in computational linguistics, such as speech
recognition and natural language processing systems. Sociolinguistically, the research highlights the
complex interplay of demographic, cultural, and historical factors in shaping the phonological patterns
across Iraqi Arabic dialects. The implications for Arabic dialectology, language technology, and
pedagogical practices are discussed to provide an overall framework for studies that will follow in
the variation of dialect.

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