Arabizi – Help Or Harm?

ARABIZI – HELP OR HARM?

ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACTS OF ARABIZI -THREAT OR BENEFIT

TO THE WRITTEN ARABIC LANGUAGE?

Thesis

Submitted to

The College of Arts and Sciences of the

UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

The Degree of

Master of Arts in English

Abdurazag Ahmed Saide M.S.

Dayton, Ohio

December 2019

ARABIZI – HELP OR HARM?

AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACTS OF ARABIZI - THREAT OR BENEFIT TO THE WRITTEN ARABIC LANGUAGE?

Name: Saide, Abdurazag Ahmed

APPROVED BY:

______Bryan Bardine, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor.

______Thomas Wendorf, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor

______Kirsten Mendoza, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor

Abdurazag Saide

2019

iii

ABSTRACT

ARABIZI – HELP OR HARM?

AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACTS OF ARABIZI - THREAT OR BENEFIT TO THE

WRITTEN ARABIC LANGUAGE?

Name: Saide, Abdurazag Ahmed University of Dayton

Advisor: Dr. Bryan Bardine

In the 21st century, the Arab world has undergone significant change, which has had profound impacts in the lives of Arab people throughout many occupations, fields, and locations. New technological advancements, communication innovations, and globalization efforts have been the core drivers to open the Arab world to Western civilization. The Arab world is characterized by unique cultural traditions, moral principles, and religious beliefs that differ greatly from those of the West. However, the globalization movement has had multiple impacts on Arab culture and the Arabic language. When comparing the Arabic language with the languages of Latin origin, it becomes clear that there exists multiple distinctions, especially in their writings and language. These distinctions did not play such a serious role several centuries ago, but with the increased cooperation between Arab nations and the Western world, these language dissimilarities have become well-recognized. Social media such as internet chatting and cell phone texting have appealed to the younger Arab generation as a platform for them to adapt with the changing times. Arabizi has emerged as a form of shorthand combining traditional Arabic with English numerals. Arabizi is an efficient and

effective solution for young Arabs to reduce the gap between Arabic and English and ease communication.

However, as with any important social change, the widespread use of Arabizi in the modern Arab world has had both positive and negative effects on Arab language and culture. Identifying these positive and negative impacts is a critical issue. Multiple researchers, such as Wid Allehaiby, Ibrahim Al-Shaer, Lamiyah Bahrainwala, Ruba

Mustafa have been interested in researching the effects of Arabizi such as diminished language skills such as poorer spelling and writing skills in the native Arabic language.

This paper examines their research and studies to explore the benefits of using Arabizi in the modern Arab world. Also, because the Arabic language is so closely tied with Arab culture and the Muslim religion, a brief look at these threats is included.

Every challenging work needs personal efforts as well as the guidance of

Elders, especially those who are very close to the heart.

My humble effort I dedicate to my sweet and loving

Mother & Soul of my Father,

Whose affection, love, encouragement and prayers of day and night

Love helped me achieve such success and honor.

To My Wife

Samar Elemam

For her love, sacrifices

To My Friend

Dr. Thomas Wendorf

who served as my inspiration and strength during stormy days.

To Allah

For always being with me-thank you for everything.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My special thanks to Dr. Bryan Bardine, my advisor, for his support, motivation, patience, and immense knowledge. His guidance helped throughout the research and writing of this thesis. I couldn’t have imagined having a better advisor for my thesis.

Besides my advisor, I would like to express my appreciation to the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Thomas Wendorf and Prof. Joe Pici, for their encouragement, insightful comments, and hard questions. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Slade, the

Associate Professor and chair of the department of English, for always having open doors to assist and help me.

Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my mother Sofia Asadawy, the soul of my father, and to my wife, Samar Elemam, for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT…………………..………………………………………....….….………...iv

DEDICATION…………………………….....……..………………….…...…...…….... vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………..…...…… vii

LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………...... ix

LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………….…………….x

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION……….……………………….…………...…………...1

CHAPTER 2 DESCRIPTION AND GROWTH OF ARABIZI……..…………..……....3

CHAPTER 3 POSITIVE IMPACTS OF ARABIZI…….………….…………...……....13

CHAPTER 4 NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF ARABIZI…….………………………...…...16

CHAPTER 5 ARABIZI IN LIBYA……….…………………………………...……….20

CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION…………………….…………....…..29

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………….....32

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: On-line Survey Questions……………………………………………....23

Figure 2: Demographics and Use of Arabizi of Survey Respondents………….…25

Figure 3: Charts of question 9 and 13 writing skills in formal Arabic……………28

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Numerals used in Arabizi to represent native Arabic sounds ……… 6

Table 2 Letters used in Arabizi to represent native Arabic sounds ……..…… 7

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Because Arabizi has gained popularity among young Arab-speaking people recently, multiple researchers have been trying to identify positive and negative impacts of this language on Arab countries. Arabizi is a short-hand written version of Arabic that combines Latin alphabet with numerals. Because of its ease, brevity, and compatibility with technology, it is used primarily as a “chat language”. These features make it convenient to use with the internet and texting on cell phones. Certainly, it has undergone significant growth and popularity, especially with young Arabs. This growth has been propelled by rapid technical communication advancements, the evolving consolidation of

Arab youth into the western world, and the widespread emergence of English as a prevailing international language. The growth of Arabizi is already showing that it could have profound effects upon Arab culture, traditions, and identity. It is therefore important to understand the impacts of Arabizi, both positive and negative, to the Arabic language as Arabizi continues to grow and spread.

The purpose of this study is to examine the growth and impact of Arabizi on the

Arabic language and on Arab society, as a whole. The Arab world is very broad and far reaching, and therefore the first goal is to explore the background, growth, and use of

Arabizi throughout the Arab world. This will form the foundation for the next goal that is to examine the impacts of Arabizi on Arab society. As with any major social change,

Arabizi has shown both positive and negative impacts. By identifying these impacts, a better understanding of future effects of Arabizi on Arabic language can be achieved.

This could be done through studing a single country, a more in-depth understanding of how Arabizi has evolved and its impact on Arabic language can be achieved.

Furthermore, a single country analysis will demonstrate the impacts of Arabizi specifically to a select group of modern Arab people. These impacts, from the increased use of this encoding language system, are examined for both their benefits and detriments to the Libyan society. A key question of this study is: Is Arabizi contributing a loss of the

Arabic language and culture through the written language?

CHAPTER 2

DESCRIPTION AND GROWTH OF ARABIZI

The Arabic language plays an important role in the world community and in Arab countries. Today, over 300 million people in various Arab countries use the Arabic language as their mother tongue, making it one of the world’s premier major languages.

Arabic is widely utilized as a major language in many non-Arab African countries as well, and as a minority language in other places, including Iran and Afghanistan (Abu-

Absi, para. 1). In addition, over one billion Muslims in such countries as India, Indonesia,

Pakistan and Tanzania study Arabic as a foreign or second language for liturgical and scholarly use. Religion (Islam) is a primary reason that the Arabic language remains one of the most important languages in these countries and throughout the world. The significance of Arabic in the world community was further underscored in 1974, when

Arabic was adopted as one of the six United Nations official languages, joining English,

French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese.

Considering the significance of Arabic for multiple countries, the study of Arabizi is important. In fact, Arabizi is relatively new, with its earliest roots traced to the late

1990’s, when technology became more popular the Arabic culture changed to reflect that and one of these changes is the use of the Arabizi. However, with the explosive growth of communication technology, Arabizi has also experienced a parallel growth.

Being predominantly a written language, Arabizi was created out of and exists today as both a necessity and convenience. It is primarily used for informal messaging, such as instant messages, texts, and “tweeting”, but users report that they also feel comfortable using it for writing notes to themselves or taking notes during a class lecture. This is due

to the shorthand ease of writing the letters and numbers, as opposed to writing in Arabic.

Thus, it is certainly a convenient mode of writing.

Arabizi was not a spontaneous phenomenon, and there were multiple reasons for creating this language. “Arabizi” is a hybridized word that blends the two words “Arab” and “English”. So Arabizi is an informal, near-English version of Arabic. Since Arabizi originated with Internet chatting and phone texting messages, the shortened phrases and ease of use have made this language variation well suited for technological devices and as a replacement for the formal Arabic alphabet. The main reasons for the creation of this language involve three features. First, text entry of Arabic into mobile devices is difficult.

Standard Arabic has characters not represented on English keyboards and therefore is difficult, if not, impossible to use with computers and mobile devices. Second, in the early days of texting, messages were limited in length, typically to 160 characters. Third, it simply made texting faster. Consequently, Arabizi is more of an evolved language than an invented one. The technology, with its early restrictions, forced the creation of acronyms and numbers representing sounds. As its popularity increased, the users themselves introduced new words and abbreviations. Some caught on and some didn’t, but the language simultaneously grew and changed to what it is today.

Arabizi has its own peculiarities that distinguish it from both the Arabic and

English languages. Arabizi uses the English alphabet and numerals together to form abbreviations that sound close to Arabic words. Analogically, Arabizi is like English phonetics, and it also blends with American style chat terms. Arabizi mingles not only with English letters, but also with many English words and constructs. Dr. David

Wilmsen, linguist and a professor of Arabic at the American University of Beirut, says,

“Given the fact that English is the current lingua franca and that most technology is originally in English, this blending is necessary” (Salhani, para. 8). Moreover, some

Arabizi and English words have a common written form but describe various things and realities. Kareem Darwish in his comparative study of English, Arabizi, and Arabic provides the following example: “Ana 3awez aroo7 men America leh Canada” (I want to go from America to Canada). The word “men” meaning “from” is also an English word

(218). This example illustrates how some Arabizi words may look like English words but still represent Arabic words with different linguistic meanings. However, the increased amount of Arabizi words having the same written form as English words can become a problem. The continual amalgamation of the Arabic language with English may cause unpredictable consequences of replacing native Arabic words with foreign (English) words. This could have impacts to Arabic language, and an erosion to the self-identity of

Arab people themselves.

The mechanism of forming Arabizi words has a rather specific nature. Some of the Arabizi script represents Arabic sounds using the Latin alphabet. For example, the

means “really” in English and is written “amma” in Arabizi. Even “أما“ Arab word though the characters “amma” are from the English alphabet, the sounds that are produced are uniquely Arabic. It is like a phonetic form of Arabic sounds. In fact, it is worth noting that researchers have not found the converse to be true. That is, English sounds, except for direct English words or proper names, have not been represented in

Arabizi. For example, “finally!!b3tely msg !!” in Arabizi means in English “Finally you

in Arabic). This often causes the combination of an أخيرا ارسلت لي رسالة) ”!send me a message

English word with letters and numerals into an Arabizi abbreviation, which does not

strictly follow every particular Arabic sound. For example, the Tweet “ana w nta hn3ml

in لي وسوف تقوم بعمل دويتو معا) (”duet m3 b3d” – (“me and you will perform a duet together

Arabic) contains the abbreviation of the word “ana” to “na”, which does not reflect the

Tobaili 55). Arabizi is a language made up from Arabic and) (أنا) ”Arabic word “me

English to create its own phonetic style. Therefore, Arabizi is widely used for its ability to bridge Latin and Arabic alphabet systems.

The system of transforming Arabic sounds unto Latin words is rather complex.

All Arabic linguistic sounds have been mapped to Arabizi by combinations of Latin letters and numbers, removing any limiting factors to translating Arabic words into

Arabizi. One unique feature of Arabizi is that numbers often represent Arabic sounds.

The numbers are the “code-switching” that makes abbreviations much simpler. In fact, the Arabizi word for Arabizi is “3ngleezy”. The table below shows numbers and their corresponding Arabic sounds. This is the phonetics part of Arabizi which is difficult for non-Arab persons to grasp.

Table 1. Numerals used in Arabizi to represent native Arabic sounds

2 2’ 3 3’ 5 6 6’ 7 8 9 9’

ض ص ق ح ظ ط خ غ ع ء ا

Table 2: Letters used in Arabizi to represent native Arabic sounds

Therefore, Arabizi communications are loosely structured and use abbreviations when possible. In addition, emotions can be expressed by using pictorial cartoons- commonly called “emoticons”. The inclusion of emoticons adds another dimension to

Arabizi. Even though Arabizi is now a recognized written form of communication, it is very informal in nature. Some researchers regard Arabizi as a type of slang language. For instance, Lamiyah Bahrainwala, in her research, observed that all fifteen interviewees found that Arabizi lacked seriousness (22). They perceived Arabizi as a system of communication that could not be considered valuable and rejected the idea of using it due to its shortcomings (23). These shortcomings include its lack of rigid rules, use of English characters and lack of uniformity. These can certainly create problems that affect their

writing and speaking skill of native Arabic. However, this has not stopped younger Arabs from learning or using Arabizi widely.

Nevertheless, Arabizi enjoys great popularity. One of the reasons for the growth of Arabizi is its ease of use with communication hardware. The explosion of the internet, cell phones, mobile communication devices, along with countless “apps,” that have had tremendous effects on world languages – both positive and negative. People from all corners of the globe can now communicate more quickly and efficiently than at any time in history. But speed often demands an abundance of abbreviations, and spelling and grammar shortcuts that threaten the traditional language structures that have existed for centuries. On the one hand, Internet users have an opportunity to save time and communicate more effectively when using various abbreviations and new words. On the other hand, the victors of speed become the victims of slang. For example, the increased use of social media by modern American youth has caused a situation where texting starts to affect spelling and grammar skills of modern American adolescents (Brent and Lewis

118). In other words, serious changes in writing have occurred, and modern young people neglect grammar and spelling rules when they communicate via social media and messengers (Brent and Lewis 118). This constant use of shorthand language can also affect young people beyond the reach of social media. Informal communication in social media creates some forms of dialects, which prevent young people from using traditional language (Bryant 181). More and more American researchers and English teachers are concerned with the fact that young people are losing literacy skills, which can result in a catastrophe such as the loss of effective writing skills (Guzetti and Lesley 509). In fact, all Internet abbreviations and neologisms discourage using the English language

correctly. Thus, the same situation may take place in America as with the case with

Libya.

In our hyper-connected world of today, fast and effective communication is needed. In the English-speaking world, a whole new jargon of abbreviations and acronyms has emerged. Examples such as LOL (Laughing Out Loud), CU (See You),

IMO and (In My Opinion) are but a few. However, even with these informal “chatting” expressions, formal business documents and reports have not been negatively impacted.

Similarly, Arabizi has filled that need which was lacking in the Arab world.

Informal chatting among young Arabs is not only fast and convenient but many youths regard it as fun. However, it is constantly changing and evolving.

The extreme popularity of Arabizi among Arab teenagers has attracted the attention of researchers. In this context, Ruba Mustafa published an interesting thesis in the summer semester of 2010/2011 in her work, “SMS Code-switching among Teenagers in Jordan” (xiv). Her study examined the phenomenon of SMS (Short Message Service) code-switching among teenagers in Jordan. Mustafa was one of the first researchers to analyze the emergence of Arabizi and the core reasons young Arabic people choose

Arabizi over Arabic or English. She found that five factors have shaped the use of code- switched SMS. She found that these five factors were integration with Western culture, the type of educational facility and educational level, the targeted receiver of the message, persons with mixed marriage parents or living abroad, and some settings of the smartphone (Mustafa 116). In her study, Mustafa indicated that Arabizi emerged in chat rooms first and then found its niche in mobile messages service (85). Mustafa also mentioned other rationale for using Arabizi such as the condensed space needed for

writing and the ability to insert English words easily. However, this can lead to confusion especially to those who do not use Arabizi. It is typically the older generation who do not use Arabizi and this confusion can lead to a generational divide not unlike that seen in the

USA.

One area of the Arabic world that has been affected by this change is Jordan. In fact, current use of Arabizi among teens in Jordan is also attributed to similar reasons as

Mustafa identified (Abandah, Khedler, and Zghoul 450). First, it is the language of choice in chat rooms. The study by Abandah, Khedler, and Zghoul has shown that most teenagers tend to use Arabizi when writing chat room messages because of its brevity and ease of use with the internet (450). Second, the ability to use numbers as alphabets

(Abandah, Khedler, & Zghoul 450). The research has proven that teenagers prefer to use

Arabizi because the coding allows them to use numbers as shorthand alphabets – this simply makes the task of entering a message easier. Third, the Arabic language has a strong emotional impact on the addressee. Using Arabic gives the meaning of the word extra authenticity when it comes to meaning what we say or write (Abandah, Khedler, &

Zghoul 452). So, when people use Arabizi rather than straight English, this emotional conveyance is retained even though the letters and sounds are different from Arabic. In their opinion, when Arabizi is used the Arabizi word remains more Arabic than English giving it an extra emotional impression when expressing love, appreciation, or anger.

However, despite the emotion held within Arabizi, traditional Arabic speakers still do not consider Arabizi relevant. Finally, it is simply easier to cheat using Arabizi. Perhaps that explains its popularity among college students. Arabizi words are generally not well known by older professors and teachers, and therefore can easily pass as casual

conversation, but could be a form of sharing answers on test questions. This assertion was supported by Mustafa in his research when he states, the coded words, such as

“BMB=bu7ki ma3ak bu3deen” - which means “I’ll talk to you later" cannot be understood and decoded by everyone. Besides, it is easier to use Arabizi when teenage students want to cheat in exams (Mustafa 84-88). Although this example does not represent the briefness of Arabizi compared to the English variant, this message is shorter

and reflects the opportunity of Arabic students ”سأتحدث إليك الحقا“ than the Arabic variant to codify their messages (Mustafa 86).

The rapid growth and transformation of Arabizi has also become a point of interest for linguists and researchers. One area of interest involves whether Arabizi has evolved to a standard language. Since Arabizi is a mix between Arabic and English, each language has added and taken from the other to create a new Arabizi alphabet. Also, linguists are interested in how the written form engages with the spoken form. The last point reveals the uniqueness of Arabizi as a new hybrid, mixed form displaying both written and spoken features of Arab and English Because Arabizi has become the informal Arabic language of choice for internet communication, it is imperative to understand its features and different characterizations. Mustafa, in his conclusion, predicted that Arabizi would soon transform into an individual language in the Middle

East, which would be widely used by local Internet users (121). Today, even Google translator shows Arabizi as a separate language (Mustafa 121). Even though Arabizi contains not only letters, but also numbers, its simplicity and innovativeness continue to attract more and more people. Despite reluctance from traditional Arab speakers and

writers, Arabizi continues to grow. It may even become the standard universal Arab language of choice for online communication.

CHAPTER 3

POSITIVE IMPACTS OF ARABIZI

Writing is a communication language that has been used between human beings since thousands of years. It’s the way we structure our thoughts or the words we choose or the language in which we write. It is thoughts expressed that another person can interpret without necessarily having to understand the original intent of the author, although that may affect their interpretation. Being an extremely influential language in

Arab countries, Arabizi is characterized by many positive impacts.

Foremost is that the widespread use of Arabizi has helped to spread knowledge of the Arabic language to other cultures. Lamiyah Bahrainwala explores this theme in her paper, “You say Hello, I say MAR7ABA: Exploring the Digi-Speak that Powered the

Arab Revolution.” She claims that Arabizi has its own purpose and effect. One purpose is to simply shorten the words and phrases. This is accomplished with numbers allowing writers, not only to shorten words, but also to reproduce various sounds of the Arabic language. For example, the number “7” represents the sound of the Arabic language

Bahrainwala 3). Thus, the word ‘hayati’ is written) “ح “ haah’, which has a sign form‘

“7ayati”, to reproduce Arabic sound ‘h’ in this particular word (Bahrainwala 3). So here

Bahrainwala introduces the idea that Arabizi facilitates the pronunciation of Arabic letters when speakers want to say them in English. Bahrainwala also indicates that ““3ngleezy” users emerged from the necessity to be verbally conversant in Arabic while writing in

English (4). Because Arabic has many dialects throughout the Arab world, Arabizi can be a way to communicate between all these people, regardless of dialect because dialects does not affect their communication. With Arabizi, people in the Middle East can

communicate with persons in North Africa, even though their education systems and learning levels are different. For example, Ghadeer Ibrahim from Saudi Arabia who is considered Middle Easter graduate student at the University of Dayton in the English

Department and I am from Libya which is considered a North African country. She shared with me her paper about Arbizi.

Another positive impact of Arabizi is that it greatly simplifies the process of notetaking. Ghadeer shared with me her paper about Arabizi a Textual Discourse and she said it is easier to use Arabizi because of the widespread use of abbreviations throughout

Arabize. The general use of abbreviations dates back 120 years when telegraphs were sent abroad. In fact, the high cost of sending a telegraph was a primary driving factor propelling the growth of a writing pattern that allows the fewest number of letters to represent long words or phrases. Space, time, and cost ultimately affected profits.

Moreover, abbreviations have also served as a shorthand for note taking in modern business environments (Statsky and Sarachan 226). With the help of clear abbreviations, such important business processes as reporting, note-taking, and presentations have become more efficient (Statsky and Sarachan 226). In most cases, this form of shorthand communication has not had a negative effect on business writing that requires fast ways to communicate. For students, Arabizi has been a blessing in that it greatly simplifies the process of note taking. Especially college students that take lecture hall classes, the ability to quickly transcribe profess as lectures into paper notes has facilitated their study immensely.

Another positive impact of Arabizi is to enhance the integration between the Arab world and Western civilization. In the modern world, it is very important for all people

from different countries and cultures to find effective ways of communicating. Because

Arabizi is based on a Latin alphabet, it is easier for western users to adapt to Arab terms.

Also, syntax and ideologies from the English language are easier for those coming from the Arab world. (Wees, Bisazza, and Monz 47).

Moreover, its predominant informal use enhances the process of expressing emotions during the communication process, building effective relationships between users. Additionally, Arab youth need an opportunity to use slang in their informal communication to enhance communication in social media, and slang makes their conversations trendy and up to date (Allehaiby 57). Also using Arabizi in slang helps people who do not understand Arabic as well or do not understand English as well to communicate effectively. Due to the sacredness of the Arabic language and its close ties with religion, it’s hard for Arab youth to use it informally. Allehaiby explains that representatives of Arab youth believe that classical Arabic is interconnected with formal and religious discourses leaving no space for the use of slang (57). Thus, when using

Arabizi for messaging, Arab youth can use slang and Internet neologisms without fear of being disrespectful to Arabic. Moreover, they can express a wider range of emotions when using Arabizi in their daily communication. Allehaiby notes that Arab youth choose Arabizi for showing various emotions, but use classical Arabic script for other purposes, such as religion, business, and education (58). Arabizi helps Arab youth to achieve satisfaction with their ability to express their emotions more clearly and freely.

CHAPTER 4

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF ARABIZI

As the use of Arabizi understandably grows, a major concern is that this new generation of Arabizi users will become illiterate in the formal Arabic language, which is the mother tongue of Arab and Muslim countries. One concern, however, is that this virtual communication takes users time and often prevents them from reading encyclopedias, books, and newspapers written in classical Arabic (Allehaiby 53). The widespread use of Arabizi prevents younger generations from reading literature written in

Arabic. In addition, according to the study by Allehaiby, by using Arabizi for their everyday writing, they may lose their ability to write in standard Arabic in addition to losing their ability to read. Thus, the concern is that individuals using Arabizi daily, might lose not only their native Arabic language skills but also to retrieve wisdom of the writings contained in the original Arabic language.

Being an informal language, Arabizi lacks the core features of the Arabic language, not only the spelling, but also the whole structure and grammar of the language that is taught in schools. As Darwish explains, “There are no rules; there is no Dictionary of Arabizi”. Consequently, simply by its nature, Arabizi presents challenges and complications potentially having negative implications. These complications are further exasperated from a lack of any oversite or regulation between Arabizi and the various

liberty), has various) “ تحرير" Arabic dialects. For example, the standard Arabic word

Arabizi spellings: “tahreer” ,“ta7rir”, “tah7reer”, “t7rir” (Darwish). . Arabizi lacks a formal set of rules that exist in the Arabic language. This shortcoming can lead to misunderstandings even among Arabizi users themselves.

Irregular spelling has attracted attention from various researchers. Ibrahim Al-

Shaer investigated the impact of using Arabizi on standard Arabic spelling skills of young

Palestinian students. The purpose was to determine if Arab influenced the spelling skills on the mother tongue of the students. He conducted a two-step experiment. First, students took a standard Arabic language spelling test, followed by a short survey. The survey examined possible reasons why Arabizi could affect their spelling skills and other effects on their writing.

Al-Shaer’s research shows that poor performance on the Arabic Spelling Test

(AST) does have a negative correlation with widespread use of Arabizi, social media, and the Internet (Al-Shaer 29). The more students used the Internet and chose Arabizi as the language of messaging, test results were lower. (Al-Shaer 29). This at least suggests a possible causal relationship.

The main finding from Al-Shaer’s study was that among teenage students, a direct correlation does exist between those who use Arabizi on the Internet and those students exhibiting weaker native language spelling skills. His survey consisted of 256 students who used Arabizi and 162 students that never used Arabizi. The results were: mean score of 17.49 (max score 40) for the Arabizi users verses a mean score of 23.48 (max score

40) for the non-users. This means that as the amount of time spent using Arabizi increases, mean spelling scores decrease and vice versa. A t-test was conducted on the data against a hypothesis that “as the extent of the eighth-grade students’ use of Arabizi decreases, their Arabic spelling performance will increase.” The results were that there is a highly significant difference at the 5% level related to the performance on the spelling test to the use of Arabizi as compared to those students who do not use Arabizi (Al-Shaer

29). The results of this study and test show that using Latin characters and numbers as an alternative for the Arabic script weakens the students' spelling performance.

Because this test considered spelling only, it is still important for future studies to measure other significant skills such as essay writing and grammar in order to determine the negative impacts of Arabizi more precisely.

Other research has suggested users of Arabizi may experience an erosion of language skills in both their primary language and the second language they are trying to learn. It’s not the only an issue for the primary language learners because secondary language learners will not fully learn English either (Thonhauser 57). Many young Arab students, especially the second language users, are typically exposed to multilingual diversity that is reflected in their education system where, French, English, and German serve as languages of instruction. In a 1999 summer study, in the early days of Arabizi, done by Jasmine, a classroom of eighteen students wrote essays in their second language.

(Thonhauser 57). In Jasmine’s study, she mentions that proficiency in a second language in reading or writing is a very common demand in employment.

So, Arabizi is not considered an official language but it can impact students or learners in the future to find jobs as it’s just erasure of primary language.

The core question is whether secondary language students would be able to learn

Arabic and any second language with equal proficiency (Thonhauser 54-55).

Closely correlated to the lack of language proficiency is that students with half- language skills will face problems throughout their education. Reading and writing skills are a basic tenet of understanding any academic area and a lack of these skills will have a

carry-over effect to other subjects. Complaints about the lack of reading and poor writing skills are frequently voiced in the context of education. Researcher Al-Shaer supported this thesis when he concluded that the concern about half–languages is justified (29).

Since there are many dissimilar dialects of Arabic language, and that Arabizi has no standardized writing structure, half-language learners face problems with incorrect translations. Also, Al-Shaer state that the constant switching between Arabizi and the various Arabic dialects leads to confusion, lack of understanding, and incorrect use of standard Arabic. They are at risk of forgetting Arabic grammar rules. Arabizi might not be the only reason but may exasperate their lack of skills.

Likewise, there is a gap between the spoken and written standard Arabic language itself. Children learn first to speak their local dialect of Arabic, which they usually understand well. However, in school, teachers often present proficiency in written Arabic as an almost unattainable goal. Students become confused between their local dialects and the accepted standard Arabic. Because Arabic is already difficult language to learn

Arabizi may make it harder.

Later, when students encounter an educational system outside of Arabic speaking countries that actively uses a foreign language such as English or French, they must also deal with a western approach to education and literacy in general. In the western world, the gap between spoken and written is much less visible. This cross-culture training expounds the difficulty of the process learning written standard Arabic because the

Arabic and English languages begin to blend together. Students may, therefore, be well able to communicate in their native dialect, such as spoken Lebanese Arabic, but in many cases, lack confidence to writing standard Arabic language (Thonhauser 58).

CHAPTER 5

ARABIZI IN LIBYA

Libya is the third-largest country in Africa. It is located on the northern part of the

African continent, between Tunisia and Algeria on the west and Egypt on the east. To the south are the Sudan, Chad, and Niger. On the north side, Libya has the longest coast on the Mediterranean Sea, measuring over 2000 kilometers. The capital and largest city of

Libya is Tripoli. It is both the political and economic capital with a population of more than two million people. Libya has a diverse population of 6.4 million people. The majority are Arabs, with Amazeg, Tabo, Twareg, and Barber ethnicities. Arabic is the main language of Libya and the first language of most of its people. However, each ethnic group has its own language besides Arabic. Surprisingly, English and Italian are considered as second languages, although English has become more predominant due to the disappearing trend in Italian-users. One of the prime reasons for the growth of Arabizi in Libya is the popularity of the Internet. So, Arabizi is rising despite a relatively complex linguistic environment in Libya.

Libya serves as the classic example of country where young people actively use

Arabizi (Bahrainwala 18). In fact, Libya has seen enormous growth in the use of Arabizi

(Bahrainwala 1). Although modern smartphones allow young people to use the classic

Arabic language for sending messages, most Libyan youth prefer to use Arabizi as the main language of Internet communication (Volk 324). Moreover, Arabizi is still gaining popularity with advertising targeted toward the younger generation (Volk 324). This further widens the linguistic gap between the younger generation actively communicating

via social media and those Libyans and Arabs preferring to use the classic variant of the

Arabic language (Shaalan, Hassanien, and Tolba 642).

Although Libya is a country that faces multiple internal problems that seem more important than any language considerations, the sacred status of the Arabic language remains important for local people (Albrini 133). The unstable state of the Libyan educational system also serves as an encouraging factor for the local youth to use Arabizi instead of the Arabic language. The quality of education in this country remains rather low, even after the end of the Qaddafi regime (John 124).

Those students who study in Libya often complain that Libyan education should become more up-to-date (Jabry para. 13). They start to perceive the Arabic language as archaic and choose Arabizi as the language for communication instead of using Arabic as their main form of interaction (Jabry para. 13). Consequently, they often lack Arabic literacy skills, which even further slows or hinders their educational progression. Thus,

Arabizi becomes not a solution to the problem, but even a real threat to the Arabic and second-language students’ future.

Another problem is that local students are often forced to flee Libya in pursuit of quality education and successful employment (Kirdar 321). Those students returning from Western countries have often forgotten their native language skills. In such situations, Arabizi has become a communication bridge to them. In addition, being unable to recall their native language, they also start to lose their cultural identity and lose the significant connection with local traditions.

Survey of Libyan People

As part of this research, a survey was conducted of Libyan students residing in the US and Canada. This was accomplished using the internet and the popular on-line social media application Facebook. Two web pages were developed called

“Libyan Living in America” and “Libyan Living in Canada”. These pages have a following of nearly 70,000 people. The purpose of this survey was to gather data concerning the demographics of Arabizi users and to characterize the effects of using

Arabizi upon their Arabic language skills. Figure XX below shows the survey questions that were used.

A total of 27 responses were received. These respondents were graduate-level students

(88.5%) and undergraduate students (11.5%). Slightly more men than women responded.

Of these responses, only 30% reported that they even use Arabizi at all. This was a surprise in that the underlying research suggested a broad growth of the use of Arabizi. However, this survey did show that many of the users of Arabizi are in their teens. The respondents to this survey were older. This age differential may explain a lack of being exposed to

Arabizi during their teen years or a turning away from its use as they get older. Although this is a small number, the survey results highlight that the use of Arabizi may not be as widespread, especially among Libyans, as previously believed. Figure XX shows the demographics and use a profile of the survey respondents.

In the survey, some questions were subjective in nature, requiring a written response to explain and comment on Arabizi use, strength, and weakness. In addition, they were asked to make a self-assessment of their writing skills.

1- 1. What is your gender? Male ------Female ------2- 2. How old are you? 10-15 ------16-20 ------21-25 ------26-30 ------31- 35 ------3- 3. At what stage are you in your education? A. Middle school ------B. High school ------C. College ------D. Graduate school ------4- 4. How often do you use Arabizi? A. None ---- B. Daily ----- C. Weekly ----- D. Monthly ----- 5. How would you define Arabizi? (Open ended) 6. What are the strengths of Arabizi? (Please write all that apply) 7. What are the weaknesses of Arabizi? (Please write all that apply) 8. Why do you use Arabizi? (Please write all the reasons you think of)

9. How often do you write in Arabic? E. None ---- F. Daily ----- G. Weekly ----- H. Monthly ----- 10. How often do you use Arabizi instead of formal Arabic? A. Never ------B. Sometimes ------C. Often ------D. Always ------11. Do you think Arabizi has affected your writing in formal Arabic? Yes ------No ----- (Please explain your answer)

12. How would you rate your writing skills in formal Arabic? A. Poor ------B. Average ----- C. Good ------D. Excellent ----- Figure 1: On-line Survey Questions

1. What is your gender? 53.8% male, 42.3% female, 4% no response.

2. How old are you? 25 responses, 2 no-response. 52% were between 30-35 and 32% between 24-29. Three were above 38 and one youth, less than 12 years

old.

5- 3. At what stage are you in your At what stage are you in your education? education? 6- All of the respondents are college or High school 0 7- graduate level students. 88.5% Middles school 0 Collage students 11.5 were Grad students 88.5 8- graduate students. The remaining 9- 11.5% were undergraduate college 0 20 40 60 80 100 level.

4. How often do you use Arabizi? 27 responses with 70.4% reporting no use. 11.1 % reporting daily and monthly use. The remaining 7% using Arabizi weekly or monthly.

9. How often do you write in

Arabic?

The response showed 74.1%

writing in Arabic on daily basis and

another 14.8% on a weekly basis.

This is logical and consistent with

Question 4.

10. How often do you use Arabizi instead of formal Arabic?

69.2% said Never, 23.1% Sometimes, and 7.7% Often.

11. Do you think Arabizi has affected your writing in formal Arabic?

72% responded No, 28% Yes. This is consistent with Question 11. If they never use it, then it is expected that it has no effect on their formal written Arabic.

Figure 2: Demographics and Use of Arabizi of Survey Respondents

Written Response Questions

(Question #5) How do you define Arabizi?

The survey response to this question varied considerably. The majority of participates confirmed that Arabizi is a short-hand version of Arabic. However, many of the respondents were not even aware of the meaning of Arabizi. Several responses called

Arabizi a slang language or a “street” language. One respondent described Arabizi as a

“trash style”, is difficult to read and not suitable to be a written language.

This further supports the theme that Arabizi may not be as widespread among

Libyans as compared to other Arab nationalities.

(Question #6) What are the strengths of Arabizi? The survey showed that, of the Arabizi users, they do like to use it and consider

Arabizi an easy and simple way to communicate. There is a learning curve associated with its use; however, once this hurdle has been overcome, it appears that Arabizi does provide a facilitative method of communicating.

(Question #7) What are the weaknesses of Arabizi? The majority of the respondents do not think that Arabizi is a good way to communicate. One prime comment is that Arabizi constitutes a threat to the written

Arabic language. Respondents felt that Arabizi can affect grammar and writing and that there is no benefit of using it. Persons who use Arabizi will never improve their native

Arabic because they keep using Latin letters. In addition, some felt that the pronunciation of some native words could get distorted over time.

Others feel that Arabizi words are difficult and not easy to understand. This leads to confusion and an inability to be able to complete the reading of a passage. Much of the difficulty lies with the mixing of numbers with letters that do not belong to Arabic. One respondent replied that “mixing Arabic expression with English letters this makes me feel crazy”. The difficulty may also be caused by the inherent nature of an unstructured style and the generation-gap between users and non-users. In the English world, their lies a similar generational gap in understanding much of the internet chat language, idioms, and acronyms that have sprung up and are commonly used by American youth. This supports much of the research and possibly explains the large percentage of non-users of Arabizi from the respondents.

(Question #8) Why do you use Arabizi? The primary reason cited for using Arabizi is that it is an easy and simple way to communicate. Other responses were that Arabizi is “easy and funny”. Also, Arabizi is used for convenience especially when there is not an Arabic keyboard available.

Communication is made speedy by using English letters and numbers. Some do feel that

Arabizi is “a great language” which shows some pride in learning and becoming proficient using Arabizi. Also, even though the user may have an Arabic keyboard, the person with whom he is communicating, may not have that kind of keyboard. Texting on cell phones is another reason for using Arabizi. There may be receivers of messages that are not of Arabic origin and only know Arabizi. Peer pressure is another reason cited. If your friends are using it, then you will be persuaded to use it too. A few responses indicated a level of frustration in that, they would prefer to use standard Arabic or standard English rather than code switching between the two. As users become proficient in using Arabizi, it becomes authentic to them and has value as a communication medium.

(Question #12) How would you rate your writing skills in formal Arabic? The survey response was 80% excellent and 20% good. The non-Arabizi users reported mostly excellent with rating their skills as good. The 11.5% who uses the

Arabizi on daily basis reported that they do have some problems in their native Arabic writing especially in their spelling. This was a subjective self-evaluation of their skills but supports the thesis that the use of Arabizi does affect the grammar and spelling skills of native Arabic. So, it is apparent that the non-use of Arabizi is at least correlated with an excellent evaluation of their native Arabic skills.

Figure 3: Charts of question 9 and 13 writing skills in formal Arabic

CHAPTER 6

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Arabizi has grown substantially in the past decade throughout the Arab world and the West. This is because of advances in communication technology and its inherent compatibility with computers, cell phones, and other mobile devices. Arabizi has become a language of its own, especially among Arab youth, who have literally grown up with modern telecommunication devices.

The analysis of the current language situation in the Arab world has helped to identify that Arabizi’s popularity has various effects, both positive and negative, on different spheres of life in Arab countries. By reviewing the articles of various scientists

(such as Wid Allehaiby, Ibrahim Al-Shaer, Lamiyah Bahrainwala, Ruba Mustafa and others) interested in identifying the role of Arabizi in the Arab culture, this research has investigated the most important positive and negative impacts of Arabizi on the written

Arabic language.

The most important positive contribution of Arabizi is that it has helped to spread the Arab language throughout the western world. With the advent of personal computers, modern telecommunications, and the internet, Arabizi has grown in popularity not only among Arabs but with westerners seeking to learn about Arab culture and language. Arabic youth, especially those born in western countries, who do not learn standard Arabic as a first language, can at least begin to learn and appreciate their ancestry

Second, Arabizi is a great facilitator for pronunciation and communicating Arabic words. For westerners, the near phonetic sounding Arabizi words help students to learn

how to speak and understand native Arabic. For many in the Western world, this has been a near impossible task.

Third, for Arab students, Arabizi makes the process of note-taking easier and faster.

Many college classes are still lecture style, requiring students to rapidly take accurate notes of the presentation. Arabizi is a favorite method of many students to accomplish this.

Fourth, Arabizi makes it easier to express emotions. Native Arabic is not conducive to expressing thoughts emotionally. It is highly structured and regarded with reverence because of its close ties to the Muslim religion. Arabizi is less stringent, has fewer rules, and offers a slang version of Arabic. This permits more emotional feelings to be communicated especially when using social media.

The most negative effects of Arabizi is that it diminishes the native Arabic language skills. This is seen both in grammar and spelling skills. Many researchers have conducted tests that show an erosion of language skills from frequent users of Arabizi.

This affects the learning process in Arab countries where high native Arabic skills are needed.

The second negative effect is that the erosion of skills in the mother tongue can also lead to erosion of skills in the new language. Students could become just half- language proficient by forgetting Arabic and not learning the grammatically correct

English or other second language they are trying to learn.

Third, beyond language effects, spending too much time with Arabizi may lead to an erosion of Arab culture and sustainability. Native Arabic is closely associated the history, culture, and religion. The widespread use of Arabizi has shown that modern Arab youth are forgetting the standard Arabic language and losing their identity with Arab

culture and traditions. Although not proven, ultimately, Arabizi has the potential to thwart the Muslim religion and understanding of the Quran itself.

A survey was conducted of Libyan persons living in the USA and Canada. This survey showed that 70% of undergraduate and graduate Libyan students do not even use

Arabizi. They expressed some of the same concerns that other researchers have suggested. That Arabizi is difficult to learn, that it will decrease their native Arabic skills, and that they would rather not use it. The survey did show that the users of Arabizi see it as an easy way to communicate, as offering flexibility and speed, and as being enjoyable to use. This survey suggests that, at least for Libyan students, many of the fears of growing Arabizi use may not be warranted.

Arabizi will likely continue to grow in the future especially with youth and young people. The long-term impacts will remain for future studies to analyze. Certainly, there is hope that Arabizi will be able to provide many benefits while preserving the culture and traditions of the Arab world.

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