Negative Markers in the Spanish Arabic Dialect

Among Semitic languages, negation exhibits a wide range of differences, not only due to the diversity of markers and their positions within the sentence but also in their grammatical treatment. In Arabic, a process of simplification has occurred, which is also characteristic of the Spanish Arabic dialect, although this process has been slower compared to other Arabic dialects in the Western group. In addition to lá, má, and š(i), a new set of negative markers, such as la/is, íš, líš, and íš, was also employed. These negative markers will be studied here using texts from different periods, spanning from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. This approach allows the author to adopt a diachronic perspective on the evolution of negation in this dialect.