OT Analysis of Tri-consonantal Imperative Verbs in Standard Arabic

This study sheds light on imperative verbs in Standard Arabic. It discusses the different types of tri-consonantal imperative verbs within the OT framework, with focus on the epenthesis that takes place word- initially in these verbs. It is shown that an epenthetic /ʔi/ is inserted to satisfy *complex^ons when the verbal stem starts with a consonant cluster. The study also deals with certain verbs that are considered as exceptions. These verbs are initially glottalized verbs with /u/ vowel in the verbal stem. The study reveals that these verbs undergo deletion of a primary consonant with no epenthesis in order to satisfy GLOTTAL SIMILARITY* constraint that outranks MAX-IO and DEP-IO.