Table of Contents

1. Diglossia and the Arab world; 1.1 An overview of the study of diglossia; 1.2 Theories that discuss diglossia in terms of levels; 1.3 The idea of Educated Spoken Arabic; 1.4 The concept of prestige as different from that of standard; 1.5 Groups of dialects in the Arab world; 2. Code-switching; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 Problem of terminology: code-switching and code-mixing; 2.3 The study of constraints on code-switching; 2.4 Motivations for code-switching; 2.5 Studies on diglossic switching as part of code-switching; 2.6 The relationship between code choice and speaker's role in Egyptian political discourse, a case study; 2.7 Conclusion; 3. Language variation and change; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Social class and social networks; 3.3 Methodology; 3.4 Sociolinguistic variables; 3.5 Levelling; 3.6 Conclusion; 4. Arabic and gender; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 Politeness in relation to gender; 4.3 "Mister master", names, status and identities; 4.4 When a chicken crows like a cock, women narrators; 4.5 Language variation and change in relation to gender; 4.6 The symbolic use of language; 4.7 Gender universals re-examined; 4.8 Conclusion; 5. Language policy and politics; 5.1 The power of language; 5.2 The domains of language policy; 5.3 Factors governing language policies; 5.4 Case studies (North Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine and Israel, The Sudan; 5.5 The role of language academies in the Arab World; 5.6 MSA, politics and the aching nation, a case study; 5.7 Conclusion; 6. General conclusion.

About the Author

Reem Bassiouney is Assistant Professor of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Georgetown University.

Reviews

[This] book is the first of its kind in Arabic sociolinguistics. It will set the standard for the field with its rich insights, brilliant range, and copious examples that make the subject come alive. I have no doubt whatsoever that this book will quickly emerge as the primary text on any course on Arabic in the social world. -- Yasir Suleiman, Director, Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge A welcome addition to the literature in this important and growing field. Arabic Sociolinguistics is to my knowledge the only up-to-date, comprehensive manual on the whole subject. The book is written in a pleasingly informal style, and is full of acute (and often personal) observations on the subtle ways in which language and society interact in the Arabic-speaking world. It should be of great benefit both to the student of Arabic and the general linguist with no knowledge of Arabic. -- Clive Holes, Professor for the study of the contemporary Arab world, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford For those interested in the Arab situation from a sociolinguistic point of view, it seems indispensable. The enthusiasm of the author and the abundant and insightful examples make this a good book to be discovered by readers of traditional introductions into sociolinguistics, which, so this book demonstrates, have as their point of departure a western way of looking at things. For many readers, a renewed acquaintance with sociolinguistics will arise after reading it. The book thus calls for more descriptions of language variation situations that are not western. -- Dick Smakman, University of Leiden This is an excellent effort in linguistic data collection and analysis and is a remarkable addition to sociolinguistics and indeed to the phenomenology of Arabic language and its reform; no library should be without it. -- Amidu Olalekan Sanni, Lagos State University British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies A useful new text book on Arabic sopciolinguistics... It presents a good overview of the literature... and will teach students to look at Arabic language habits as phenomena, and not only as objects of normative discussion. -- Maartten Kossmann, Leiden Journal of Arabic Linguistics Arabic Sociolinguistics offers a new perspective on language variation and change, and makes it clear that language variation in the Arab world is undoubtedly different from that in the West. With a readable style, the book addresses the very complex diglossic situation in the Arab world with concrete examples resulting from interesting case studies that challenge the findings of recent studies on different sociolinguistic issues... We highly recommend this book to all readers who wish to gain a better understanding of Arabic and the Arab world. -- Radia Benzehra and Don R. McCreary, University of Georgia Journal of Sociolinguistics [This] book is the first of its kind in Arabic sociolinguistics. It will set the standard for the field with its rich insights, brilliant range, and copious examples that make the subject come alive. I have no doubt whatsoever that this book will quickly emerge as the primary text on any course on Arabic in the social world. A welcome addition to the literature in this important and growing field. Arabic Sociolinguistics is to my knowledge the only up-to-date, comprehensive manual on the whole subject. The book is written in a pleasingly informal style, and is full of acute (and often personal) observations on the subtle ways in which language and society interact in the Arabic-speaking world. It should be of great benefit both to the student of Arabic and the general linguist with no knowledge of Arabic. For those interested in the Arab situation from a sociolinguistic point of view, it seems indispensable. The enthusiasm of the author and the abundant and insightful examples make this a good book to be discovered by readers of traditional introductions into sociolinguistics, which, so this book demonstrates, have as their point of departure a western way of looking at things. For many readers, a renewed acquaintance with sociolinguistics will arise after reading it. The book thus calls for more descriptions of language variation situations that are not western. This is an excellent effort in linguistic data collection and analysis and is a remarkable addition to sociolinguistics and indeed to the phenomenology of Arabic language and its reform; no library should be without it. A useful new text book on Arabic sopciolinguistics... It presents a good overview of the literature... and will teach students to look at Arabic language habits as phenomena, and not only as objects of normative discussion. Arabic Sociolinguistics offers a new perspective on language variation and change, and makes it clear that language variation in the Arab world is undoubtedly different from that in the West. With a readable style, the book addresses the very complex diglossic situation in the Arab world with concrete examples resulting from interesting case studies that challenge the findings of recent studies on different sociolinguistic issues... We highly recommend this book to all readers who wish to gain a better understanding of Arabic and the Arab world.