Paratactic Conditionals in Syrian Arabic: A Study Based on Deir Ezzor Dialect

It is not always necessary to have a conditional particle to express conditionality; there are some conditional constructions called paratactic conditionals (PCs) that can express conditionality though no conditional particle is used. This study sheds some light on the structure of these constructions, gives a descriptive account of their meanings, shows that imperative clauses used in forming PCs do not always express order or command, and discusses the two main types of PCs. The examples show that PCs can be similar to typical conditionals and suggest that further research is needed to show that PCs can be a language universal. This study can also assist linguists to conclude that PCs in English show a considerable degree of similarity to their Deir Ezzor dialect (DED) counterpart with respect to the ways they are structured and interpreted.