Modern Arabic Sociolinguistics: Diglossia, Variation, Codeswitching, Attitudes and Identity

439 Pages·2015·5.4 MB·English

by  Abdulkafi Albirini

####
Modern Arabic Sociolinguistics
Modern Arabic Sociolinguistics overviews and evaluates the major approaches
and methods used in Arabic sociolinguistic research with respect to diglossia,
codeswitching, language variation, language attitudes and social identity.
This book:
• outlines the main research findings in these core areas and relates them to a
wide range of constructs, including social context, speech communities, pres-
tige, power, language planning, gender and religion
• examines two emerging areas in Arabic sociolinguistic research, internet-
mediated communication and heritage speakers, in relation to globalization,
language dominance and interference and language loss and maintenance
• analyses the interplay among the various sociolinguistic aspects and exam-
ines the complex nature of the Arabic multidialectal, multinational, and multi-
ethnic sociolinguistic situation.
Enriched by the author’s recent fieldwork in four Arab countries, this book is an
essential resource for researchers and students of sociolinguistics, Arabic lin-
guistics, and Arabic studies.
Abdulkafi Albirini is an Associate Professor of Linguistics and Arabic at Utah
State University.
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Modern Arabic
Sociolinguistics
Diglossia, variation, codeswitching,
attitudes and identity
Abdulkafi Albirini
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Abdulkafi Albirini
The right of Abdulkafi Albirini to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-415-70746-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-70747-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68373-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Map of the Arabic-speaking world ix
List of figures and tables x
Acknowledgements xii
Abbreviations and transcription conventions xiii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 The situation of the Arabic language 3
1.3 Goals of the book 4
1.4 Outline of the book 5
2 Arabic varieties and diglossia 9
2.1 Standard Arabic 10
2.2 Colloquial Arabic 13
2.3 Conceptualizing the relationship between SA and QA 15
2.3.1 Diglossia 16
2.3.2 Polyglossia and contiglossia 21
2.4 Revisiting the taxonomies of Arabic varieties 24
2.4.1 Standard varieties 25
2.4.2 Standard versus colloquial varieties 26
2.4.3 Colloquial varieties 30
2.5 Mother tongue, native language, or second language? 33
2.6 Language prestige 36
2.7 Local and global languages: Berber, Kurdish, English,
and French 39
2.8 Summary and conclusion 42
3 Methodological considerations 45
3.1 Goals and elements of sociolinguistic research 46
3.2 Theory, methodology, and practice 48
3.3 The study of language in context 51
3.4 Participants and participation 54
3.5 Data and data collection 58
vi ContentS
3.6 Researching diglossia, attitudes, identity, variation,
and codeswitching 60
3.6.1 Diglossias 60
3.6.2 Language attitudes 62
3.6.3 Social identities 64
3.6.4 Language variation and change 66
3.6.5 Codeswitching 69
3.7 Methodology in this book 71
3.8 Summary and conclusion 76
4 Language attitudes 78
4.1 Historical background 80
4.2 Language attitude studies in the Arab context 84
4.3 Case study 87
4.3.1 Questionnaire data 87
4.3.2 Interview data 96
4.3.3 Language behavior 99
4.4 Language attitudes and language standardization 101
4.5 Language attitudes and the “problem” of diglossia 105
4.6 Language attitudes and Arabicization 109
4.7 Language attitudes and codeswitching 114
4.8 Changes in language attitudes 117
4.9 Summary and conclusion 120
5 Social identity 122
5.1 Interplay of identity and Arabic language: a brief
historical sketch 124
5.2 National identities: pan-Arab and regional identities 127
5.3 Ethnic identities: Arabs and non-Arab minorities 133
5.4 Religious identities: Muslims and non-Muslim minorities 141
5.5 Identify politics and language planning 146
5.6 Language attitudes, identity statements, and identity acts 153
5.7 Case study 157
5.7.1 Questionnaire 158
5.7.2 Interviews 161
5.7.3 Identity in verbal behavior 165
5.8 Summary and conclusion 169
6 Language variation and change 172
6.1 Approaches to language variation and change 174
6.2 Regional variation 177
6.2.1 Descriptive regional dialectology 177
6.2.2 Koineization 180
6.2.3 Pidgins and creoles 185
ContentS vii
6.3 Social variation 188
6.3.1 Variation in relation to gender 188
6.3.2 Variation in relation to social class and education 201
6.3.3 Variation in relation to ethnicity and religion 204
6.3.4 Variation in relation to time and locality 208
6.4 Variation, power, language attitudes, and social identities 211
6.5 Summary and conclusion 213
7 Codeswitching 216
7.1 Typology: codeswitching, code-mixing, style shifting,
and borrowing 217
7.2 Theoretical approaches to codeswitching 218
7.3 Codeswitching in the Arab context 224
7.3.1 Bilingual codeswitching between Arabic
and French/English 225
7.3.2 Bidialectal codeswitching between SA and QA 228
7.3.3 Codeswitching in written discourse 250
7.4 Codeswitching in relation to diglossia, attitudes, and identity 254
7.5 Summary and conclusion 256
8 Digital media and language use 258
8.1 The evolution of digital media: a historical sketch 260
8.2 The sociolinguistic landscape of digital media:
multilingualism vs. diglossia 262
8.3 Codeswitching and the emergence of new linguistic forms 267
8.4 Digital media, language change, language attitudes,
and social identities 271
8.5 Case study 279
8.5.1 Functions of SA 281
8.5.2 Functions of QA 285
8.5.3 Functions of English 288
8.5.4 Discussion 290
8.6 Summary and conclusion 292
9 Heritage Arabic speakers: a different paradigm 295
9.1 Heritage speakers in the USA: a historical sketch 296
9.2 Heritage speakers and the diglossic context 299
9.3 Speech community versus heritage community 302
9.4 Language loss and maintenance among heritage speakers 304
9.5 Language dominance and interference 308
9.6 Codeswitching by heritage speakers 310
9.7 Language attitudes of heritage speakers 315
9.8 Identity conflict 318
9.9 Summary and conclusion 322
viii ContentS
10 General conclusion 324
10.1 Patterns of sociolinguistic stasis 324
10.2 Patterns of sociolinguistic change 326
10.3 Potential trajectories in the Arabic sociolinguistic situation 329
Bibliography 333
Appendices 377
Index 415
Map of the Arabic-speaking world