ISSN 3062-262X

The Morphological Meter in Arabic Prose: A Stylometric and Rhythmic Analysis of Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad

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Dr. Malaoui Atmane

Abstract

Authorship attribution and stylometry in Arabic literature have long leaned on lexical frequencies, syntactic trees, and the distribution of non-contextual function words. What remains largely ignored, however, is the latent rhythm hardwired into the Arabic language’s derivational, root-and-pattern morphology. To address this gap, this paper introduces "Morphological Meter" (التفعيلة الصرفية النثرية)—a theoretical framework that treats Arabic morphological templates (Awzan) as quantifiable rhythmic units, much like poetic feet (Tafa'eel). Applying this methodology to Ahmed Saadawi’s celebrated novel Frankenstein in Baghdad (2013), this study maps the author's subconscious morphological fingerprint across three narrative modes: the macabre descriptive, the kinetic action, and the introspective. Our analysis uncovers a mathematically consistent stylistic signature. Saadawi heavily accumulates passive participles (Maf'ool/Mufa'al) in static, descriptive environments, which sharply contrasts with his dynamic reliance on active participles (Fa'il/Mufta'il) in the accusative state to drive action sequences. Ultimately, we argue that authorial style in Arabic prose can be mapped structurally through morphological sequencing, offering a new metric for computational linguistics and literary criticism.

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