Vowel Shortening in Wahrāni Spoken Arabic

The study investigates the phonological process of vowel shortening in Wahrāni Spoken Arabic (WSA): an Algerian Arabic dialect spoken in the north-western region of Algeria. The researcher uses recordings and field notes of spontaneous speech of fifty normal (non-impaired) native male and female Wahrāni adult speakers in a natural context as data for the study. The study shows that vowel shortening (VS) in WSA occurs in both closed and open syllables. In the case of closed syllables, vowelsshorten to avoid trimoraic syllables. In open syllable, long vowels shorten due to deletion of coda consonants rendering CVVC syllables open. CVV syllables are not allowed in WSA and so the vowel is shortened leading to mora loss.