www.iaset.us editor@iaset.us A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO CONDITIONALS IN MOROCCAN ARABIC Abdelhakim Boubekri Mohamed V University, Rabat, Morocco ABSTRACT This study describes conditional constructions in Moroccan Arabic (henceforth MA) using a cognitive approach. Adopting the typology of conditional constructions suggested by Dancygier (1999) and Dancygier & Sweetser (2005), this study examines conditional constructions that are introduced by the particles īla ( إﻻ), lūkān (ﻟوﻛـــــــــــﺎن), ūkakān (وﻛﻛــــــــــﺎن), kūn (ﻛـــــون), kānkūn (ﻛــــــــــــﺎﻧﻛون), ūkān (وﻛــــــــﺎن). MA has the three main categories that exist in English, namely predictive conditionals, non-predictive conditionals, and generic conditionals. However, unlike English, MA has just eight sub-types. The two types which do not exist in MA are Elliptical conditionals and the absence of the distinction between weak and strong predictive conditionals. The two belong to one type called distanced predictive conditionals. MA conditionals are introduced by either īla or kūn. The main distinction between the two lies in the attitude the speaker has toward the fulfillment of the propositions expressed in the construction. Concerning, non-distanced predictive conditionals, both conjunctions are used except for speech act conditionals. Verb forms reveal the position the speaker holds toward the fulfillment of the proposition in the different conditional types. Finally, a generic conditional category in MA behaves in a different way than it does in English. While it can refer to both present and past in English, it seems that it is independent of time in MA. Hence, we cannot use adverbs of time with a generic conditional. KEYWORDS: Perfective, Imperfective, Predictive, Non-Predictive, Generic Conditionals Article History Received: 27 Jun 2018 | Revised: 09 Jul 2018 | Accepted: 16 Jul 2018 INTRODUCTION Conditional constructions manifest the cognitive power of humans to examine miscellaneous situations and to infer consequences on the basis of known or hypothetical conditions. It has been assumed that mostly all languages have a way to form conditional sentences; therefore conditionals do exist in natural languages of the world if not all. Classical Greek, German, Standard Arabic, Latin, Chinese, Japanese are examples of natural languages in which conditional constructions do exist (Traugott, 1986). This study describes conditional constructions in Moroccan Arabic using a cognitive approach. Adopting the typology of conditional constructions suggested by (Dancygier (1999) Dancygier& Sweetser (2005), this study examines conditional constructions that are introduced by the particles īla ( إ), lūkān (ن), ūkakān (نو), kūn (ن), kānkūn (ن), ūkān (نو). All of these conjunctions are equivalent to “if” and play the same role “if” does in English. The choice of which conjunction to use depends on which part of Morocco the speaker belongs to. For instance, Fasi people use ūkakān (نو), while Casawi people use kūn (ن) and lūkān (ن). Therefore, I will limit myself to the use of īla ( إ) and kūn (ن) since they are the most used ones all over Morocco. International Journal of Linguistics and Literature (IJLL) ISSN(P): 2319-3956; ISSN(E): 2319-3964 Vol. 7, Issue 5, Aug - Sep 2018; 1-12 © IASET