B(i)- / fi comme marqueur de l’objet dans les dialectes arabes. Premières considérations

In the vast majority of Arabic dialects, fi (rarely bi-) is the most used differential object marker. This contribution follows in the same vein as M. Woidich’s presentation on Egyptian Arabic at the 6th AIDA conference and other recent papers on Maghrebine dialects (mainly Tunisian). In it, we first consider whether it is appropriate to see the origin of this dialectal construction with fi in the bi- construction of Ancient and Middle Arabic. Then, within the limits of the presently available documentation on both Oriental and Maghrebine dialects, we try to provide a comprehensive overview of highly contrasting situations and, in an attempt to suggest future lines of research, we highlight the main differences existing between these situations. Finally, we propose to consider this use of fi as one of the ways through which to describe a verbal process in a concrete and detailed manner, a characterization that allows for an explanation of the variety of context-induced values that we observe