The fronting of the Comment in Arabic The

The fronting of the Comment in Arabic The obligatory and the optional fronting

The Obligatory Fronting of the Comment ﻭﺟﻮﺑ ﺗﻘﺪﻳﻢ ﺍﻟﺨﺒﺮ ● ● There are four cases where the comment is fronted obligatorily in Arabic: 1. If the Comment is an adverbial or a prepositional phrase and the Topic is indefinite: . ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺭ ﺭﺟ ﻋﻨﺪﻱ ﻛﺘﺎ

● 2. If the Comment is an interrogative particle: ● ﻣﺎﻫﺬﺍ؟ 3. If the Topic has a possessive pronominal suffix that is anaphoric with the Comment: . ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺭ ﺻﺎﺣﺒﻬﺎ

● 4. if the Comment is restricted by the exceptive particles “ ﺇﻻ BUT” and “ ﺇﻧﻤﺎ only” ● ﻣﺎﺍﻟﺬﻛﻲ ﺇﻻ ﻋﻠ ﺇﻧﻤﺎ ﺍﻟﺬﻛﻲ ﻋﻠ Ali is the clever one. ● ●

● ● The optional fronting of the Comment ﺗﻘﺪﻳﻢ ﺍﻟﺨﺒﺮ ﺟﻮﺍﺯ Speakers and writers in Arabic use this syntactic strategy in order to mark information structure in a sentence or to mark contrast or focus. ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺤﺪﻳﻘﺔ ﺍﻟﺒﻨ It is fronted to signal contrast, if someone says that the girl is in the house. . ﺍﻟﺮﺟ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﺪﺍﺭ