Phasal polarity in Tunisian Arabic

This paper gives a corpus-based descriptive account of the phasal polarity system (still,already,not yet, andno longer) in the Arabic vernacular of Tunisia. The aim is to broaden the empirical foundations for cross-linguistic research in this domain, and to narrow the gap between typologically oriented and philological research on Arabic varieties. Like many languages (van Baar 1997: 118), Tunisian Arabic has autochthonous expressions for the three conceptsstill,not yet, andno longer.stillis primarily expressed via a construction < ‘has not ceased’. Despite its conceptual transparency, this appears to be a cross-linguistically uncommon source.not yetis expressed via the inner negation ofstill, andno longervia a construction < ‘has not repeated’. Foralready, northern sedentary varieties have borrowed from French (replacing an older autochthonous expression), whereas southern Bedouin varieties have a “gap” in their system. The description further includes notes on the synchronic and diachronic variation of individual items, and functions of these outside the realm of phasal polarity.