Arabic word stress in the presence of an elided hamza ("hamzat al-waSl")?

Question

Word stress in MSA follows a precise set of rules, which are described consistently in various Arabic grammar textbooks, e.g. Ryding's "A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic" (2005). However, none of the textbooks I have consulted describes what happens to the stress when the word starts with an elided hamza ("hamzat al-waSl").Consider the following examples:1. اقرا ***iq-ra'*** ("Read!" [2nd person, male]) According to the rules, the first syllable should get the stress, however the presence of an elided hamza indicates that the "i" sound is auxiliary, so logically the stress should fall on the second syllable. Is this the case?2. واقرا هذه الكليمات ***waq-ra'*** haa-dhi-hi l-ka-li-maa-ti ("... And read these words!" [2nd person, male]) Unlike the first example, here the hamza actually gets elided. Where does the stress fall? If it falls on the first syllable, it means that the conjunction "and" gets the stress, but it seems unnatural that a particle would get the stress. So does the stress fall on the second syllable?3. اب وابن ***a-bun wa-bnun*** ("A father and a son.") In this case both the first syllable and the second syllable (of both words) are auxiliary, so where do the stresses fall?4. اخذت ابنا وذهبت a-khadh-tu **bnan** wa-dha-hab-tu ("I grabbed a son and walked away.") In this case the first syllable is elided, and the second syllable is auxiliary, so that the actual word is reduced to zero syllables. Where does the stress fall in this case?

Answer 1

Hi, really interesting question. As a dialectologist, I'd say that different communities of speakers, i.e. regional varieties, answer those questions differently. The spoken forms of Arabic can oftentimes diverge wildly on stress patterns, which can make mutual comprehension daunting.

As far as MSA, the problems you pose are also, as I understand them, about pronunciation. MSA is highly rule-governed but I'm not sure a language exists that isn't also reliant on convention. That is, native speakers may pronounce these words differently depending on factors such as recipient design, epistemological factors and setting/occasion. There are many registers of MSA and questions of style and diction also vary regionally.

I'd be happy to discuss further if you like. I'd also be interested to read what answers you may have come to in your research. Sorry if my initial responses are more sociolinguistic than formal or theoretical.