The Arab Gulf region is one of the standard examples of diglossia, where standard Arabic (SA), as a high variety, and colloquial Arabic (CA), as a low variety, co-exist (Ferguson, 1959; Kaye, 1970; Wardhaugh & Fuller, 2015). However, this linguistic pattern has been changing, with speakers increasingly using English due to globalization (Winford, 2002). In this paper, I examine the use of SA, CA, and English in the speech of two groups of public figures in the Arabian Gulf region: politicians and actors. It is hypothesized that the two groups will have distinct speech styles as they are constructing different personae (Eckert, 2004): a socially conservative one for politicians, and a more popular and cosmopolitan one for actors. It is further hypothesized that politicians will use standard Arabic more, because of its association with conservative values, and actors will use more colloquial Arabic and English for their popular association. The study uses naturalistic data that was obtained by examining a 30-minute interview, from public recordings on YouTube, for each of the 18 subjects: six politicians (three males, three females) and 12 actors (six males, six females). An analysis of 2,808 utterances yields results that support the hypothesis. More than half of the politicians' utterances are a mixture of SA and CA. Actors, on the other hand, adopt a different style in which CA is the dominant code, but they also use utterances that are a mixture of CA and English borrowings (12% of their speech). These findings can be seen as an indication of a linguistic change in the region: CA forms are replacing SA, not only in the speech of popular figures such as actors but also in that of more conservative speakers such as politicians. The appearance of English borrowings in the utterances of the actors is another indication that linguistic norms in the Arab Gulf region might be shifting towards the vernacular.

In this second edition of Arabic Sociolinguistics, Reem Bassiouney expands the discussion of major theoretical approaches since the publication of the book’s first edition to account for new sociolinguistic theories in Arabic contexts with up-to-date examples, data, and approaches. The second edition features revised sections on diglossia, code-switching, gender discourse, language variation, and language policy in the region while adding a chapter on critical sociolinguistics—a new framework for critiquing the scholarly practices of sociolinguistics. Bassiouney also examines the impact of politics and new media on Arabic language. Arabic Sociolinguistics continues to be a uniquely valuable resource for understanding the theoretical framework of the language.

Modern Arabic Sociolinguistics outlines and evaluates the major approaches and methods used in Arabic sociolinguistic research with respect to diglossia, codeswitching, language variation and 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, prestige, 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 between the various sociolinguistic aspects and examines the complex nature of the Arabic multidialectal, multinational, and multiethnic sociolinguistic situation. Based on the author’s recent fieldwork in several Arab countries this book is an essential resource for researchers and students of sociolinguistics, Arabic linguistics, and Arabic studies.

Modern Arabic Sociolinguistics outlines and evaluates the major approaches and methods used in Arabic sociolinguistic research with respect to diglossia, codeswitching, language variation and 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, prestige, 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 between the various sociolinguistic aspects and examines the complex nature of the Arabic multidialectal, multinational, and multiethnic sociolinguistic situation. Based on the author’s recent fieldwork in several Arab countries this book is an essential resource for researchers and students of sociolinguistics, Arabic linguistics, and Arabic studies.

This volume provides a detailed analysis of language contact in North Africa and explores the historical presence of the languages used in the region, including the different varieties of Arabic and Berber as well as European languages. Using a wide range of data sets, it provides a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms of language contact under classical diglossia and societal bilingualism, examining multiple cases of oral and written code-switching. It also describes contact-induced lexical and structural change in such situations and discusses the possible appearance of new varieties within the context of diglossia. Examples from past diglossic situations are examined, including the situation in Muslim Spain and the Maltese Islands. An analysis of the current situation of Arabic vernaculars, not only in the Maghreb but also in other Arabic-speaking areas, is also presented. This book will appeal to anyone interested in language contact, the Arabic language, and North Africa.

First Published in 1990. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

"This thesis is an examination of the use of code switching among Arab celebrities in Kuwait, Lebanon and Egypt, where they can be heard switching into English or French during T.V. talk shows. Specifically, this study is an analysis of the social functions of code switching, on the one hand, and the syntactic principles or constraints that regulate it on the other. Five celebrities were chosen as the study population. A total of 72 conversational turns were analyzed."--