BULLETIN OF TRE FACULTY OF ARTSA Synchronic Study of Metathesis in Eastern Arabic with Reference to Makkan and Cairene Dialects Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar Teacher College-Jeddah Abstract ‘The present study focuses on metathesis as the phonological process ‘whereby in certain Iaguages and under certzin conditions, sounds appear to ‘exchange position with one another. This reordering of segments within the phonological string is discussed in details to give a formal account for ‘metathesis. A synchronic analysis is carried out to provide evidence that describe the sequential change involving metathesis in Eastern Arabic with reference to Makkan and Cairene dialects at the beginning of the twenty first century. Makkan and Cairene Arabic are known to be the most understood ‘Arabic varieties and thns they were chosen to be analyzed as representatives of Eastem Arabic. A synchronic description of the interchanging of sounds is illustrated in tables and a statistical result is tabulated. As a conclusion, the study recorded phonological variation presented in two different output of Eastem Arabic. Most of the metathesised sounds are the same in both varieties. Adjacent and non.adjacent metatheses are found Synchronic metatheses occur between root radicals within the root itself Root-infix ‘metathesis took place too. This causes. change in verb pattem and thus an infix tumed info a prefix. Finally, sonorant consonants are reported to be more frequent within the metathesised sounds.A Synchronic Study of Metathesis in Eastern Arabic with Reference to Makkan and Cairene Dialects Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar 1. Introduction Ambic itself is commonly subclassified as Classical Arabic, Eastem_ “Arabic, Westem Arabic, and Maltese. A modemized form of Classical “Ambic exists and is referred to as Modem Standard Arabic. Arabic, as it ‘exists today, constitutes many dialects used in everyday speech The ‘colloquial varieties of Arabic are called Ammiyyah. They hold more ‘ational characteristics which vary from region to region. ‘The variety of Arabic dialects reflects the ethnic and social diversity of its speakers. There are two main classes of Arabic dialects: Western and Eastem Arabic as in (2). Westem Arabic is the dialect spoken in Libya, ‘Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Mauritania. Eastem Arabic includes: Egyptian Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Saudi Arabie, Levantine Arabie which is spoken in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan, Southem Arabic which is spoken in Yemen and part of Oman and finally Gulf Arabic. (Bateson 1967).