On the Notion of Familiarity and Arabic Discourse

Abstract

This paper applies Prince's taxonomy to Arabic in an attempt to test its reliability. The study analyzes two Standard Arabic written texts: a narrative, dialogue type text, and a non-narrative, didactic one. The results of the study show that with certain modifications, Prince's taxonomy works well for Arabic. The study proposes a number of changes in light of the Arabic data. These changes are essential if the taxonomy is to claim universality..