Language variation in Gulf Pidgin Arabic
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Mohammad Almoaily
Abstract
The paper is a report of an investigation of factors influencing variation among expat speakers of Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA). Evidence from GPA indicates that the morpho-syntactic features of the pidgin speakers’ L1 have a very low impact on their choice of its variants. A significant relation between the subjects’ L1 and their GPA speech was only found in one feature, conjunction, out of six morho-syntactic features. Comparison between newcomers and long-term residents in the Gulf reveals that GPA speakers shift towards Gulf Arabic, the lexifier language in one feature only (conjunction). In the rest of the features, they either fossilise or shift towards a GPA norm.
Abstract
The paper is a report of an investigation of factors influencing variation among expat speakers of Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA). Evidence from GPA indicates that the morpho-syntactic features of the pidgin speakers’ L1 have a very low impact on their choice of its variants. A significant relation between the subjects’ L1 and their GPA speech was only found in one feature, conjunction, out of six morho-syntactic features. Comparison between newcomers and long-term residents in the Gulf reveals that GPA speakers shift towards Gulf Arabic, the lexifier language in one feature only (conjunction). In the rest of the features, they either fossilise or shift towards a GPA norm.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Ethnohistory of speaking 7
- The ‘language of Tobi’ as presented in Horace Holden’s Narrative 41
- Language variation in Gulf Pidgin Arabic 57
- How non-Indo-European is Fanakalo pidgin? 85
- Language change in a multiple contact setting 101
- Pidgin verbs 141
- Area index 171
- Language index 173
- Subject index 175
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Ethnohistory of speaking 7
- The ‘language of Tobi’ as presented in Horace Holden’s Narrative 41
- Language variation in Gulf Pidgin Arabic 57
- How non-Indo-European is Fanakalo pidgin? 85
- Language change in a multiple contact setting 101
- Pidgin verbs 141
- Area index 171
- Language index 173
- Subject index 175
