A Contrastive Analysis of Haplology Patterns in Modern Standard English and Modern Standard Arabic

Phonologically speaking, each word in a language consists of one or more syllables. In both modern standard English (henceforth MSE) and modern standard Arabic (henceforth MSA), a syllable may be followed by an identical one. In this case, one of such syllables is eliminated. This phonological process is referred to as haplology. The present study aims at finding out similarities and differences of haplology patterns between MSE and MSA. Accordingly, a comparison of haplology patterns between such two languages has been conducted. This phonological phenomenon results in the fact that differences are more than similarities of such patterns between both languages. Additionally, it appears that all eliminated syllables in MSE consist of onset and centre without coda and that they occur only in a medial position. As far as MSA is concerned, all elided syllables consist of onset and centre except the syllables [Ɂit] and [zil] which consist of onset, centre and coda, and the syllables [un],[an] and [in] which consist of a centre and coda without onset. Some of such syllables can occur initially, others medially and that most of them occur finally. Such results lead to the conclusions that haplology patterns are mentioned to make pronunciation easy and that elision of some syllables in certain contexts investigates musical rhythm. .


Introduction
The purpose of this study is to investigate the similarities and differences between MSE and MSA haplology patterns. This is necessary and beneficial for those interested in dealing with the phonological aspects especially the elision of a whole syllable in both languages.
Haplology is a phonological process whereby a whole syllable is elided when two similar syllables occur successively. It is originally related to Greek and identified by the American philologist Maurice Bloomfield in the 20th century (Webster, 2008). According to Trubetskoy (1969, p. 305), haplology is responsible of naming the nation which is regarded as the cradle of English, namely "England" whose original form is "Engla" and "land" where one of the repeated syllables (la)/lə/is eliminated. Campbell (2004) points out that haplology is the phenomenon where the repeated sequence of sounds is rendered to a single occurrence. Consider the following example in which the syllable /li/ is elided because it is followed by the same one as in "humblely" /hʌmblili/ which becomes "humbly" /hʌmbli/. In the same respect, Trask (1996, p. 68) indicates that when the final syllable of a word is similar to the initial syllable of the following word, one of them is omitted as illustrated in the following example in which the syllable (ar) /a:/ is omitted: sagar ardo  sagardo.
Similarly, Bussmann (2006, p. 500) affirms that haplology is considered a special type of dissimilation where one of two identical neighboring syllables is eliminated as shown in the following example in which the syllable (ta) /tə/ is elided, e.g. preventative /priventətiv/  preventive/ priventiv/. Crystal (2008, p. 224) states that haplology refers to the omission of successive sounds when pronounced at the same place of articulation. Consider the following instance where the two final neighboring consonants/t/and/s/are elided since both of them are alveolar, i.e., they are pronounced when the tip of the tongue touches or is near the alveolar ridge: cyclists /saiklists/  /saiklis/. In the same sense, some psycholinguists assert that the term haplology is mentioned to indicate a tongue slip as in: running jump /rʌniη ʤʌmp/  rump /rʌmp/. Some adverbs ending with (ly)/li/are preceded by the same syllable(le)/li/. In this respect, Trubetskoy (1969, p. 305) points out that the syllable (le)/li/is eliminated as in: gentlely /ʤentlili/  gently /ʤentli/and ablely /eiblili/  ably /eibli/.
Some examples are stated to show that haplology is mentioned to refer to the reduction of two consonants different only by voice (haplology with voice assimilation) as in: a. cupboard /kʌbəd/ (/p/ is assimilated to /b/). b. sit down /sidaun/ (/t/ is assimilated to /d/). c. black guard /blᴂga:d/ (/k/ is assimilated to /g/) (ibid).
In these examples, the medial syllables such as /ni/, /mi/ and /si/ are elided because they are adjacent to syllables beginning with the same onsets such as /n/, /m/ and /s/ respectively.
There is a relationship between Stress, which is defined as the force by which the syllable is uttered, and syllable elision. The word ''probably'' /probəbli/, for instance, is stressed on the first syllable. It is stated that the stressed syllable is more important and interesting than the unstressed syllables especially in understanding and producing words. In rapid speech, speakers are inclined to reduce the contrast in the vowels in the understood syllables. The production of a stressed syllable requires more muscular energy than that of the unstressed one. If a word such as ''probably'' is pronounced slowly and carefully, it'll take a form like ''pro-bablee''. But if it is pronounced faster, the medial unstressed vowel seems to be less distinct. Accordingly, the syllable /bə/ is elided and the word is pronounced as ''probly''/probli/ (The week.com/articles44 8898/why-say-probly and libry instead of probably and library).
There is a relation between the internal structure of a word and syllable elision. In this case, morphological haplology is known as a common process of inflection in which an affix is elided when the adjacent part of the stem is homophonous to it (Stemberger, 1981, p. 791). According to Katamba (2006, p. 57-58), haplology refers to the elimination of one of the similar elements. As far as morphological haplology is concerned, such elements form identical morphs that belong to identifiable morphemes as illustrated in the following examples: a. Cats (''s'' plural is attached to the noun). b. The cat's ears (possessive ''s'' is attached to a singular noun). c. The cats' ears (plural and possessive ''s'' co-occurring). d. The oxen's ears (irregular plural combined with possessive ''s'').
Such examples show that when two similar morphs such as plural and possessive are attached to the noun, they involve the merger of the phonological content of the two morphs. This results in ambiguity as in example (c) above. It should be noted that the ambiguity does not occur in an irregular plural as in (d) above since its phonological form is different from the possessive one. In this sense, Stemberger (1981, p. 791) states that morphological haplology is considered as a dissimilated process that interacts with the morphological structure. Haplology is referred to as the elimination of similar phonetic or phonological forms in complex words. According to Booij (1983, p. 257), haplology can occur in any language whose morphological structure permits creating identical phonological sequences. Thus, it can be concluded that morphological haplology is considered to be universal in some sense with language specification in another sense.
Crystal (2008, p. 150) agrees with Bussmann (2006, p. 228) that dissimilation is a phonological process where one sound segment affects the articulation of a neighboring one so that they can become less alike or different. For instance, the sound /r/ in the Latin word ''peregrinus'' is dissimilated to /l/ to become ''pilgrim'' in English with some modifications such as: 1. The first (e) changes into (i), 2. The second (e) is elided and 3. The final letters (nus) change into (m). Hudson (2000, p. 415) indicates that dissimilation is uncommon but it sometimes occurs in child speech as in the pronunciation of ''chimney'' /ʧimni/ where /n/ changes into /l/ to become ''chimley'' because both /m/ and /n/ are nasal, i. e. they are pronounced when the soft palate is lowered and the air passes through the nasal cavity. Another example is that the first /l/ in ''colonel'' /kolənel/ is replaced by /r/. This type of dissimilation occurs between non-neighboring sounds. A special case of dissimilation is haplology where the second of two similar syllables is elided. This can be illustrated in the following instances where the syllable /si/ is elided: a. Worcester /wusistə/  /wustə/ b. Gloucester /glosistə/  / glostə / (Wells, 2000, p. 165).
According to Angleo and Pyles (2005) one of /r/ sounds is omitted as illustrated below: Cate(r)pillar, cante(r)bury, rese(r)voir, terrest(r)ial. Denham and Lobeck (2010) point out that the suffix-''al'' is attached to nouns to form adjectives such as ''person'', ''personal''. When the noun ends with ''l'', the suffix-''al'' changes into -''ar'' as a result of dissimilation as in: module modular. In this case, Sihler (2000) points out that such a phonological change results in a decrease of similarity between adjacent segments.

Haplology in Modern Standard Arabic
Haplology is a phonological phenomenon whereby a heavy pronunciation of a word is reduced by means of eliminating a syllable so that such a word can be easily pronounced. Such an elimination can be initial, medial and final. In addition, sometimes a whole word is elided and what remains is only an affix.

Initial Elision
Initial elision refers to the elision of a syllable at the beginning of a word as illustrated in

Final Elision
Final elision refers to the elimination of a syllable at the end of a word. Arabic language is considered one of the languages where the elision of a final syllable makes the preceding vowel long as illustrated in the following instances: Such a type of omission is mentioned to make the pronunciation easy (Anees, 1994, p. 135). Vol. 20 No. 1 -April 2020ISSN: 1410; 2580-5878 (online)

Methodology
The present study is mainly concerned with phonology as it is related to analyzing and contrasting the syllables elided in both (MSE) and (MSA). This linguistic phenomenon can be investigated by surveying the literature of both languages so that data can be collected. The researcher has adopted English and Arabic reliable references as well as online ones to find out haplology patterns (elided syllables) in (MSE) and (MSA). In addition, English phonemic transcription of the examples stated in this paper has been taken from "Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English". (MSA) transliteration depends on a list of vowels and some consonants. Contrasting the elided syllables in (MSE) and (MSA) shows that there are six similar syllables elided in both languages. Additionally, some syllables are elided in (MSE) without counterparts in (MSA) and vice versa.

Results and Discussion
This section is concerned with contrasting the syllables elided in both (MSE) and (MSA) so that similarities and differences between (MSE) and (MSA) elided syllables can be conducted.
There are six syllables elided in both (MSE) and (MSA). They are stated and discussed in the following points: 1. The syllable /tə/ The syllable /tə/ consists of the onset /t/ and the centre /ə/. In (MSE), such a syllable occurs only medially as in: representative /reprizentətiv/ representive /reprizentiv/.
In (

Conclusion
The contrastive analysis of haplology patterns in (MSE) and (MSA) leads to the fact that differences are more than similarities between such patterns. Also, it is concluded that all the elided syllables in (MSE) consist of onset and centre without coda and that they occur only medially. They are about eleven syllables six of which are similar to those occur in (MSA). All the elided syllables in (MSA) have no coda except the syllable [Ɂit] which consists of onset, centre and coda, and the syllables [un], [an] and [in] which consist of a centre and coda without onset. Some of (MSA) elided syllables occur initially and medially but most of them occur finally. Haplology, as a linguistic phenomenon, is common among human languages especially (MSE) and (MSA) because people, in general, are always inclined to make their speech brief so that it can be easily pronounced and understood. Patterns of haplology are obviously represented in poetry where the rhyme of the poem urges the poet to eliminate a whole syllable or certain sounds so that the poem can be recited with a beautiful musical rhythm. This, of course, attracts the readers and listeners' attention and it makes the words strong and expressive.