On the interplay between case and focus in Classical and dialectal Arabic systems

Dialectal tanwīn and nom-case in Classical Arabic are compared for the first time from within an analytical syntactic approach. acc /​non-​ nom -​marking as manifest through the former is argued to reflect the same focus expressed through nom -distribution within the Classical system. The nom -to- acc shift within the dialectal system is hypothesised to have developed as part of a drive towards a more canonical correspondence between case -marking and thematic-role, giving rise to a differential subj -marking system. In revisiting nom-case marking in Classical/Standard Arabic, the study concentrates on those instances where nom-case marks what is here analysed as obj , and what that is implicative of in the grammar. The study adds further to the literature which claims that Arabic is a discourse-configured language and specifically argues that case in the Classical/Quranic and Medieval dialectal Arabic systems is understood as an in situ discourse function index.