The Peculiarities of the Chadian Arabic I

The peculiarities of the Chadian Arabic Khalil Alio University of N‟Djaména, Chad Abstract: Chadian Arabic was introduced in Chad towards the end of the 14th century. It was brought by wandering Arabs and the Islamic religion, rather than by intellectuals, even though at the courts of the three Chadian kingdoms; namely, Kanem-Bornu Empire, the Wadday Kingdom and the Baguirmi Kingdom, were sitting some intellectuals whose duty was to write letters to the Arab sovereigns. Chadian Arabic has developed into a dialect with its proper linguistic system due to the influence of autochthonous languages with which it has mingled for centuries, in such a way that it ended up creating variants spread all over the Republic of Chad. Chadian Arabic has been adopted and adapted to the linguistic system of each region of Chad so that one is tempted to say that there are as many variants of the Chadian Arabic as there are regions. The aim of the present paper is to analyze the linguistic peculiarities of the dialectal Chadian Arabic in its phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic components and some sociolinguistic features such as code switching and code mixing as well. Key words: Chadian Arabic, peculiarities, varieties, characteristics linguistic components, code-switching, code-mixing. I - Sociolinguistic setting well organized infrastructures 1.1 - The standard Arabic and well trained cadres, i.e., The Arabic language was people who could master the introduced in Chad since the 14th language both on the linguistic as century (Zeltner 1976). It had been well as the pedagogical levels. first used by the kingdoms of Moreover, the objective of the Baguirmi, Kanem-Bornu and sovereigns was not to create an Ouaddaï for internal and external administration intended to govern diplomatic relations between the country in order to develop it. these kingdoms and the Arab Their objective was rather to world. It is a well-known fact conquer more space, more spoils, that the Arabic language plays an and more slaves. What they important role in Chad, because needed were therefore warriors of the geographic contiguity of but not brains. The idea of Chad with Arab countries and the imposing the Arabic language arrival of populations of Arabic was not part of their origin in the course of the history preoccupation. of Chad. Prior to the French Having reappeared with force at colonial rule, the Arabic language the dawn of the independence, was known for its golden age and the Arabic language is today de had imposed its supremacy on facto present but at the same time the region. However, it should be significantly absent. This is due emphasized that, objectively the to the combination of many Arabic language could not be factors; among these are the lack imposed and consequently could of encouragement of the teaching not expand because it would need of Arabic, the negligent of the teachers of Arabic themselves Even though the Arabic language and the lack of a coherent was declared official since 1978 language policy on the part of the and afterwards by subsequent government. provisional fundamental laws, it From the colonial period to the is only in 1996 that the Arabic independence of Chad, the language has been finally Arabic language was taught in adopted as an official language, the schools as an optional subject through a constitutional and in its Qur‟anic form. The referendum. It should be main objective of the mentioned that the Arabic administration was to attract or language question generated interest children of Islamic heated and stormy debates during communities reluctant to attend the National Sovereign the French school. But this Conference (CNS), which took resulted rather in the total place from January to April 1993 isolation of the Arabic language. and whose objective was to lay For instance, the first Arabic down the foundation of teachers were recruited among Democracy in Chad. the „Marabous‟, i.e. Qur‟anic 1.2 - Chadian Arabic teachers who had no adequate Chadian Arabic has been training. They could only give a nurtured mainly by the seasonal religious teaching, because they workers who go from Chad to the hardly conceived that the Arabic Sudan Republic. The Sudan was language could be useful to any the first country of emigration of other thing than the Islamic many Chadians. Therefore, there religion. It is actually this was pre- and postcolonial restrictive view of the use of the migration towards the Sudan. As Arabic language that has not a matter of fact, due to the allowed it to progress. To do inflexibility of the French justice to the Arabic language it colonial administration, people has to be desacralized if it is to were tired of the multiple play its role as an instrument of a conscriptions and taxes and secular government. thought it was better to go to The process of integration of the places other than French, less Arabic language in the Chadian compelling than those under administrative and educational which they were living. They system has been very long and chose to go to the Sudan which is difficult. When Chad attained neighboring Chad and which has independence, Arabic was a different system of introduced in the school system colonization. In the Sudan, the through the constitution of 1962. English have initiated However, it was only optional. construction works, such as 2 railway construction, sugar cane objects as fabrics, jewelry, plantation, cotton, sesame, etc. clothes „laffaaya‟(a long sheet of These jobs were highly paid and cloth for women, toob), swords, required plenty of workers. This turbans, „djellabiya’(gown for attracted many Chadians and has (Sudanese) men), which give contributed to the development of them prestige and became the the Chadian Arabic main reason for emigrating and The Chadians used to go there which attracted them and during the dry season after constituted the important source having harvested their crops and of emigration. return home when the rainy Chadian Arabic was first season approaches so that they propagated in the rest of the could resume with their farm Sahel zone, where native Arabs works. If at the beginning the also settled and mingle with the reasons for emigration were local population. Later it politically motivated, for instance disseminated also in the south of protests against the abuses of the Chad due to the mobility of civil colonial administration, servants and traders. Due to its economic motives were later neighborhood with the added to the political. When the autochthonous languages for seasonal workers return they centuries, the Arabic language bring along not only new objects developed in Chad to the extent but also the Arabic language and that it created a dialectal form concepts designating these which in turn further diversified. objects not existing locally. The linguistic diversity in Chad These workers come principally has so to say transposed to the from the Chad Sahel zone and Arabic language, hence the used to travel in big numbers. It multitude of its varieties. This should be mentioned that the transfer is brought about through youth of the villages were the phenomenon of interference particularly fascinated by the which manifests itself by the utterance “aaye”, the Sudanese tendency of the speaker or the response for “yes”, which they learner to realize in the second usually hear from the new language, the features, the comers, i.e. those returning from grammatical categories, the rules, the Sudan. Beside the etc. in the same manner as in his opportunities they find in the or her mother tongue or first plantations, going to the Sudan language. Finally, one can was for the young Chadian a definitely say that every region of « virile initiative » as mentioned Chad has its variety of Chadian earlier because it allowed them to Arabic. Let‟s take the example of bring to their families such the verbal phrase “I want” which 3 is said in the east of Chad ana behaves linguistically speaking daayir ; in the center it is said as a black African language. As ana nidoor and in the south it is such it is considered on the rendered by ana duuru. The only official level as a national identifiable elements of this verb language. It has gained the status is the root or the reflex *dr which of a national language, i.e. an actually is in standard Arabic *rd autochthonous language. Its for it comes from the verb raada vocabulary contains elements of meaning to like, wish or want. It the autochthonous languages. should be mentioned that there The initial Arabic language that exists interintelligibility between was brought to Chad has been these variant forms adopted and adapted to the Chadian Arabic in its various linguistic system of each region forms has been described by of Chad so that one is tempted to many authors, namely Carbou say that there are as many (1913), Hagège (1972), Roth Laly variants of the Chadian Arabic as (1976), Kaye (1977), Decobert there are regions. For example in (1985) Poummerol (1997, 1999a, the east of Chad people speak a 1999b). One could talk of mutual type of Chadian Arabic closer to influence, in that the Arabic the Sudanese or sometimes to language has adapted itself to the western Sudanese Arabic. autochthonous languages that Chadians living in the far north borrowed words from it, speak a type similar to the Libyan phonologically and one. But the “standard Chadian grammatically. Chadian Arabic is Arabic“ is that spoken in the called in Chad, in French “l‟arabe capital N‟Djamena and in the dialectal tchadien” and in Arabic whole of the Sahel zone of Chad “kalam arab ad-daariji or al- which goes from the Lake Chad mahalli”.

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