An Examination of the /m-/ Definite Article in Upper Faifi Arabic research-article Abdullah Alfaifi, Stuart Davis Zeitschrift für arabische Linguistik, Jahrgang 2021 (2021), Ausgabe 73, Seite 36 - 52 This paper describes the occurrence of the /m-/ definite article in Upper Faifi Arabic, an understudied dialect spoken in the southwest corner of Saud Arabia. In this dialect, the /m-/ definite article attaches to most nouns, including some proper nouns. While Standard Arabic and most Arabic dialects have the definite article /l-/, the definite article in Upper Faifi Arabic is predominantly /m-/. As found in other dialects in the region, though, Upper Faifi Arabic does have the /l-/ definite article but in limited usage. While Upper Faifi Arabic does possess both /l-/ and /m-/ as definite articles, there are certain semantic and syntactic conditions that determine the occurrence of either definite article. This paper examines a range of issues regarding the occurrence of the definite articles in Upper Faifi Arabic, including the role of the dialect's phonology on the choice between the two allomorphs of the /m-/ definite article, [m-] and ['im-].