Destabilizing Arabic diglossia?
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Abdulrahman Alkhamees
Abstract
This paper problematizes current understandings of Arabic diglossia by demonstrating the ways in which it is clearly being reconfigured thanks to the linguistic practices of younger users of the language in the New Media. Analysis of social media data from two undergraduate students, native users of Arabic, illustrates the ways in which such practices are translingual; that is, users do not limit themselves to a single language, language variety, or script, but rather employ multiple resources, including nonlinguistic ones, that they assume will be understood by their addressee(s). These literate practices represent a clear break with traditional academic and lay understandings of diglossia, particularly with regard to the user-based conventionalization of writing dialectal Arabic.
Abstract
This paper problematizes current understandings of Arabic diglossia by demonstrating the ways in which it is clearly being reconfigured thanks to the linguistic practices of younger users of the language in the New Media. Analysis of social media data from two undergraduate students, native users of Arabic, illustrates the ways in which such practices are translingual; that is, users do not limit themselves to a single language, language variety, or script, but rather employ multiple resources, including nonlinguistic ones, that they assume will be understood by their addressee(s). These literate practices represent a clear break with traditional academic and lay understandings of diglossia, particularly with regard to the user-based conventionalization of writing dialectal Arabic.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction ix
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Part I. Phonetics and phonology
- Incomplete phonetic neutralization 3
- Diminutive formation in a Libyan dialect with some phonological implications 31
- Diminutive and augmentative formation in northern Najdi/Ḥā’ili Arabic 51
- Post-lexical strata 75
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Part II. Sociolinguistics and pragmatics
- Destabilizing Arabic diglossia? 105
- Dialect contact in the Tunisian diaspora 135
- Speaker-oriented attitude datives as authority indexicals 159
- Generic expressions in Tunisian Arabic 181
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Part III. Language acquisition
- Palestinian Arabic dual formation in typically developing heritage speakers of Palestinian Arabic 207
- Interactions between temporal acoustics and indexical information in speech rate perception 235
- Index 263
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction ix
-
Part I. Phonetics and phonology
- Incomplete phonetic neutralization 3
- Diminutive formation in a Libyan dialect with some phonological implications 31
- Diminutive and augmentative formation in northern Najdi/Ḥā’ili Arabic 51
- Post-lexical strata 75
-
Part II. Sociolinguistics and pragmatics
- Destabilizing Arabic diglossia? 105
- Dialect contact in the Tunisian diaspora 135
- Speaker-oriented attitude datives as authority indexicals 159
- Generic expressions in Tunisian Arabic 181
-
Part III. Language acquisition
- Palestinian Arabic dual formation in typically developing heritage speakers of Palestinian Arabic 207
- Interactions between temporal acoustics and indexical information in speech rate perception 235
- Index 263
