Diwan: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra Arab
Vol. 18 No. 1 (2026)

Vowel lengthening as the default strategy of arabization: Phonological adaptation of English culinary loanwords in Arabic digital media

Husnul Khatimah (Imam Bonjol State Islamic University, Padang, Indonesia)
Nurain (Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Arini Alfa Mawaddah (International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
Amal Syahidin (Ezzitouna University, Tunis, Tunisia)



Article Info

Publish Date
05 Jun 2026

Abstract

Although the rapid proliferation of Arabic-language digital media platforms has significantly accelerated the process of arabization of English culinary vocabulary, the underlying phonological mechanisms have not been systematically studied in a digital domain-specific context. Addressing this gap, this study identifies and analyzes patterns of vowel change from English to Arabic in the maṭbakh section of the sayidaty.net website, using al-Jawaliqi's arabization theory as the primary analytical framework. A qualitative descriptive design was adopted, with data comprising English culinary loanwords sourced from the maṭbakh rubric of sayidaty.net. Data were collected through systematic non-participant observation and documented using structured note-taking techniques, then analyzed using distributional methods and translational equivalent methods with the International Phonetic Alphabet transcription system. The results show that the nine English vowel phonemes [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ], [a], [ə], [ʊ], and [ʌ] produce 21 distinct phonological adaptation patterns out of 112 instances found. Three cross-phonemic rules emerged as dominant: systematic vowel lengthening as the default strategy of arabization; lexical stress sensitivity; and segmental conditionality. This research contributes to the development of a domain-specific phonological model of arabization that extends al-Jawaliqi's classical framework with the dimension of contextual conditionality, while establishing a replicable methodology for the study of vowel adaptation on Arabic digital media platforms.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

diwan

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

Diwan: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra Arab is specially designed for studies on Arabic language and literature. Firstly published in 2009, Diwan : Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra Arab purposes to facilitate scholarly articles on Arabic language and literature. Diwan : Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra Arab is a ...