Phonotactic Patterns and Syllabic Organization in the Consonant Clusters of the Hadhrami Eastern Bedouin Dialect: An Optimality Theoretic Analysis

الملخص

This paper presents a comprehensive Optimality Theory analysis of the syllable organisation and 
phonotactics patterns of the Hadhrami Eastern Bedouin Dialect (henceforth HEBD), showing that 
surface forms arise from the coordinated influence of root-and-pattern morphology and phonological 
well-formedness constraints, including the Maximal Onset Principle (MOP), closed syllable preference, 
and biconsonantal cluster limits. Syllabification patterns, onset maximization, coda realization, and 
consonant cluster distribution in HEBD reflect an integrated constraint system in which morphological 
faithfulness (MAX-ROOT, ALIGN-MORPH) and phonological markedness jointly determine possible 
outputs. Evidence from suffixation behavior, resyllabification, and cluster formation demonstrates that 
the dialect systematically balances the requirements of morphological structure and phonological 
optimality, with morphological templates shaping available options and phonotactic constraints 
selecting the preferred surface forms. Analysis of onset maximization, coda retention, cluster tolerance, 
and gemination reveals a nuanced interaction of constraints unique to HEBD. Cross-dialectal 
comparison with Arabic dialects and other Yemeni varieties situates HEBD within the wider 
typological landscape of Arabic phonological systems and highlights its distinctive interplay of 
morpho-phonological constraints. The findings provide new empirical evidence for understanding the 
interaction of morphology and phonology in Arabic and demonstrate the value of dialect-specific 
analysis for refining theoretical models of syllable structure and constraint hierarchy.