The Role of the Auxiliary Gud in Yemeni Arabic: Bridging the Gap to the English Present Perfect Tense

Author Name: 1. Dr. Marwan Mohammad Al-Thunaibat, 2. Rashed Aurshood Attalaheen

Volume/Issue: 05/07

Country: Malaysia

DOI NO.: 08.2020-25662434 DOI Link: https://doi-ds.org/doilink/12.2024-49668438/UIJIR

Affiliation:

1. Universiti Utara Malaysia.
2. Mutah University.

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the auxiliary Gud in Yemeni Arabic, examining its structural and semantic functions and exploring its potential as a bridge for understanding the present perfect tense (PPT) in English. The PPT is a notable linguistic challenge for Arabic speakers due to differences in tense and aspect systems between English and Arabic. While Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) relies on the simple past tense and contextual adverbs to convey completed actions, dialectal variations, particularly in Yemeni Arabic, reveal unique constructions that may offer insights into the English PPT. A key focus of this study is the auxiliary Gud—used with past tense verbs (e.g., قد أكلت for "I have eaten")—which functions similarly to the English PPT by indicating an action that has been completed and is relevant to the present. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with 12 native Yemeni speakers in Alkarak, Jordan, chosen for their diverse educational and professional backgrounds. The study aimed to capture both the use of Gud in natural speech and the participants' understanding of its meaning and context. Analysis included thematic coding to identify patterns in the usage of Gud, revealing that it consistently precedes past tense verbs and conveys a completed action with current relevance. The findings demonstrate that Gud serves as an aspectual marker, aligning with the PPT's function in English and contributing to a deeper understanding of tense-aspect relationships in Yemeni Arabic. The pedagogical implications of this research are significant, offering a foundation for instructional strategies that leverage the existing linguistic knowledge of Arabic speakers to facilitate English language learning. By recognizing the similarities between Gud and the PPT, educators can develop targeted activities and exercises that bridge the gap between the two languages, making the acquisition of English tense structures more intuitive for learners. Future research should expand the analysis to include more diverse dialects within Yemen and other Arabic-speaking regions, as well as comparative studies with languages that feature similar aspectual constructions. This will further illuminate the role of auxiliary verbs in language structure and the cognitive processes involved in learning tense and aspect across languages

Key words: Yemeni Arabic, auxiliary Gud, present perfect tense, tense and aspect, second language acquisition, language teaching.