The Semantics of Habitual Sentences in Jordanian Arabic

Abstract

This article investigates the semantic structure of habituals in Jordanian Arabic. The article
challenges the prevailing view that simple habituals are merely a homogeneous subtype of generics
(Carlson 2012). Instead, it advocates the existence of a distinct operator named ‘Hab,’ separate from
‘Gen’. This operator functions as a "modalized existential quantifier over sums of events." (Boneh and
Doron 2013, 177) Habituals in the dialect can be categorized into two types: quantificational and nonquantificational.
The former exhibits a restrictor in the form of an adverbial adjunct, often exemplified by
cyclicity adverbials such as da:jman esˤ-sˤubeħ, ‘always in the morning’. On the other hand, the latter
refers to bare habituals that do not include such a constraining adjunct. These habituals often occur in
conjunction with atelic predicates. Furthermore, the investigation underscores the feasibility of deriving
habituals from kind generics, where such constructions either incorporate stage-level predicates or present
a form of weak generalization.

Highlights

1- This article argues for a distinct 'Hab' operator that functions separately from 'Gen' in Jordanian Arabic.

2- Habituals within the dialect are categorized into quantificational and bare forms. 3- The study identifies scope ambiguity in the use of bare plurals within these habitual constructions. 4- Jordanian Arabic habituals occur with both individual-level and stage-level predicates. 5- The paper demonstrates that habitual readings can be derived from kind generics when utilizing stage-level predicates.