1. Pharyngealisation in Kurmanji Kurdish
by Daniel Barry (the Graduate Center, CUNY)

2. But how?
Presence of pharyngeal pronunciation of Arabic words likely result of some level of communal bilingualism
But what then explains the existence of pharyngeal sounds in inherited vocabulary?

3. Pharyngealisation: from Arabic?
A Western Iranic language, no reconstruction of any branch of Iranic or indeed IE currently posits inherited pharyngeals
Kurdish phayngealisation held to be result of contact with Arabic (Haig and Matras 2002), despite presence in inherited vocabulary

4. Examples of pharyngeals in Kurmanji Kurdish
Written Kurmanji
Pharyngeal pronunciation
Gloss
<ewr>
[ʕæwɾ]
“cloud”
<heft>
[ħæft]
“seven”
<ewtîn>
[ʕæwtin]
“to bark”
<pehn>
[pæħn]
“flat”
<spehî>
[spæħi]
“pretty”
<mahîn>/<mehîn>
[mæħin]
“mare”
<çav>
[tʃæʕv]
“eye”
<baz>
[bæʕz]
“falcoln”
<mar>
[mæʕɾ]
“snake”

5. Perceptual Magnet Effect
The Perceptual Magnet Effect is a phenomenon by which sounds which are “surrounding” a phonemic category are “perceptually assimilated to [the category... t]he prototype of [which] serves as a powerful anchor for the category” (Kuhl 1991)
In other words, a sound which can be perceived as “like” an exemplar of a phonological category will be assimilated to it

6. Perceptual Magnet Effect
In many cases this is seen in the treatment of non-native sounds in loanwords. Many languages, lacking an /æ/ phoneme, will assimilate loanwords with this sound into /a/ or /e/, depending on which it is perceived to be “closer” to
However, in instances of areal sound change, the reverse may happen, with certain native vocabulary being reanalysed based on perceptual similarity to loan vocabulary (Blevins 2017)

7. /h/ vs. /ħ/ Assume PIE *s > Kurdish *h
With increased bilingualism, speakers must distinguish /ħ/ from /h/
Fairly reliable acoustic cues: pharyngeals are associated with raising of F1, lowering of F2 (Ghazeli 1981)
What then is the source of confusion for inherited vocabulary?

8. Examples of pharyngeals in Kurmanji Kurdish
Written Kurmanji
Pharyngeal pronunciation
Gloss
<ewr>
[ʕæwɾ]
“cloud”
<heft>
[ħæft]
“seven”
<ewtîn>
[ʕæwtin]
“to bark”
<pehn>
[pæħn]
“flat”
<spehî>
[spæħi]
“pretty”
<mahîn>/<mehîn>
[mæħin]
“mare”
<çav>
[tʃæʕv]
“eye”
<baz>
[bæʕz]
“falcoln”
<mar>
[mæʕɾ]
“snake”

9. Association between labials and pharyngeals
Both labials and pharyngeals cause F2 lowering, making them perceptually similar, Arabic pharyngeals are often “enhanced” by labialisation (Holes 1995)
Many common Kurdish words with pharyngeals of Arabic origin also contain an adjacent labial, reinforcing the association: [mæʕlɪm], [bæħɾ], [mɪħæmæd], [ħæb], [wæħʃi]
For further evidence of the role labials play, note the words [mæʕmuɾ] and [ħæwandɪn] (from Arabic /ʔawa:/, Chyet 2003), which gained a pharyngeal in Kurdish where they were none in Arabic

10. What about if there's no labial?
Some words without a labial but which have a pharyngeal may be less obvious loans: [ħænæk] may come from the Arabic word for “jaw” or “palate”
Others, like [ʒæħɾ], may be analogised from similar sounding already pharyngeal words (in this case [bæħɾ])
Still others may be contaminated by frequent adjacency, such as [ħæʃt]

11. Vowels
It may be noted that almost all native words with a pharyngeal are adjacent to /æ/
This is partially expected on statistical grounds: PIE short vowels merge as *a in Proto-Indo-Iranian
However, are there any inherited items of the type [ħem] or [biʕ], with a pharyngeal not at all adjacent to /æ/?

12. Vowels
Almost all pharyngeals are adjacent to /æ/, with the rest adjacent to a “lax” high vowel, the canonical Arabic “short” vowels!
Arabic “long” vowels are often analysed as diphthongs in Kurdish, and less exemplars may have created a vocalic association
The “lowness” or /æ/ and the [+RTR] of “lax” vowels may also be associated with pharyngealisation for phonetic reasons

13. Syllable structure
Pharyngealisation is often perceived as a syllable-level feature (Blevins 2004)
Vocalic association results in pharyngeals surfacing around certain vowels
In practice, this results in “movement” of pharyngeals in Arabic words, e.g. Arabic /ʔardˤ/ > Kurdish [ʕærd].

14. Phonemic status
Lack of uncontroversial cross-dialectal contrasts based on pharyngealisation calls into question phonemic status
Predicted to not be able to attain phonemic status due to the way it spreads
Despite lack of contrastive quality, highly salient to native and L2 speakers

15. GELEK SPAS!