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LEXICAL and SOCIOLINGUISTIC VARIATION in QATARI ARABIC by Darwish Ghuloom Hussein Yousef Al-Amadidhi Thesis Submitted for the De

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LEXICAL and SOCIOLINGUISTIC VARIATION in QATARI ARABIC by Darwish Ghuloom Hussein Yousef Al-Amadidhi Thesis Submitted for the De LEXICAL AND SOCIOLINGUISTICVARIATION IN QATARI ARABIC by Darwish Ghuloom Hussein Yousef Al-amadidhi Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Edinburgh 1985 Dedication To my parents and my wife with love and gratitude Abstract This thesis embodies the result of an investigation into two linguistic variables: the (d3) and the (Q) in QD. The basic issue tackled is this: are variations observed in these variables rule governed? If so, are they linguistic or non-linguistic? A close examination of the data has shown that the variables are governed to a great extent by the class of lexical item containing the variaoles. Moreover they have demonstrated co-variation with paralinguistic factors such as social group membership, age, level of education and style. The social motivation for change and variation are highlighted. Such processes occur as a result of status-ranking of local social dialects and as a result of the tendency of the younger people to modify their speech in the direction of the superimposed variety, which is learnt at school. The impact of the process of modernization on linguistic change is also examined. Acknowledgement I would like to thank the University of Qatar for providing me with the full scholarship which made it possible for me to continue my post graduate studies and complete this work. I must also- express my deep appreciation and thanks to the Cultural Attache's Office (Embassy of Qatar) in London for the help they offered during my stay in Britain-. This thesis would perhaps not have been completed without the interest, encouragement, patience and perspicacious criticism of my supervisor, Professor James R. Hurford. I thank him, not just for his help with this thesis and the amount of time he has devoted to it, but for his wise counsel and excellent teaching throughout my four years of study at the LinguisticsDepartment at the University of Edinburgh. I owe an enormous debt of thanks also to my second supervisor, Ms Ros Mitchell. I have benefitted a great deal from her advice since she moved to the University of Edinburgh, in my final year of study. I should also like to thank Mr. Alan Kemp from the Phonetics Department, not just, for the help he has given me on numerous occasions during my years of study, but more so for the precious time he devoted to my ear-training in the first year of my research,, without which the thesis would not have begun. I am grateful to Dr. Anne Anderson for her valuable advice with the statistical test used for this study. Many thanks are also due to Elizabeth Stevenson from the Main Library for her assistance during my study. In Qatar there are far too many people who gave freely of their time for me to be able to thank each individually. The warmest thanks, however, are due to those anonymous informants who took part in this investigation. The whole study would have been impossible without them. During my fieldwork many people, while not actually taking part as informants, have offered valuable assistance. I thank them all, and in particular Mr. Abdul-hameed Allangawi, whose help and advice were always ready when needed. My deepest gratitude and appreciation go to my mother and brothers for their constant love and blessings. Last, but not least, I am indebted to my wife and my children who have been by my side all along, and without whom I would never have been able to complete this work. My wife was patient and understanding, and gave me the energy I needed to continue. Declaration This thesis is my original work and of my own execution and authorship Darwish Ghuloom Hussein Yousef A1-Amadidhi ., cr `'7,, Table of Contents Page Abstract Acknowledgement Table of contents Abbreviations Chapter I Theoretical and social perspectives 1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 Theoretical background 1.1.2 Shift of emphasis 1.1.2.1 Variable rules 1.2 Aim and scope 1.3 The problem 1.3.1 The (d ) variable 1.3.2 The (Qi variable 1.4 The locale of the research 1.4.1 Main towns 1.5 The process of modernization 1.5.1 Population 1.5.2 Family 1.6 Extralinguistic factors 1.6.1 Tribal membership 1.6.1.1 Qaba:yil 1.6.1.2 The Howala 1.6.1.3 Badu 1.6.1.4 The 'Ajam 1.6.2 Age 1.6.3 Education 1.6.4 Style Chapter II 41 Methodology 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Selection of the informants 2.2.1 The procedures in selecting informants 2.2.1.1 Randomselection from a list 2.2.1.2 Randomselection from residential areas 2.2.2 Limitation of the data 2.3 Obtaining the data 2.3.1 Face-to-face interview 2.3.2 Group recordings 2.3.3 Social network 2.4 The present study 2.4.1 The interview procedure 2.4.2 Equipment and how it was introduced 2.5 Identifying the various styles 2.6 The present study 2.6.1 The questionnaire 2.7 Difficulties 2.8 Linguistic variables 2.9 Isolating the variables 2.10 Isolating the variants 2.10.1 The (d ) variable 2.10.2 The (Q3 variable 2.11 Calculating the scores Chapter III 90 Classes of lexical items 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Dividing the lexicon 3.3 Classes of lexical items 3.3.1 Class 1 3.3.2 Class 2 3.3.3 Class 3 3.3.4 Class 4 3.4 Conclusions Chapter IV 120 Variability and class of lexical item 4.1 Introduction 4.1.1 Sallam (1980) 4.1.2 Holes (1980,1981) 4.1.3 Abdel-Jawad (1981) 4.2 The present study 4.2.1 Description of the data 4.2.1.1 The (d ) variable 4.2.1.2 The (Q7 variable 4.2.2 Similarity and differences between the two variables 4.3 Discussion 4.4 Variation and modernization 4.5 Class IV as a borrowing phenomenon 4.6 The effect of frequency 4.7 Co-occurence constraints 4.8 Phonological versus lexical variation 4.8.2 Phonological hypothesis 4.9 Summaryand conclusion Chapter V 171 Variability and social groups 5.1 Introduction 5.1.1 New York City study (Labov 1966) 5.1.2 Norwich City (Trudgill 1974) 5.2 Arabic studies 5.2.1 Palestinian Arabic (Shorrab 1981) 5.2.2 Ammandialect (Jordan) (Abdel-Jawad 1981) 5.3 The present study 5.4 Bedouin versus hadhar 5.4.1 The description of the data 5.4.1.1 The (Q) variable 5.4.1.2 The (d) variable 5.4.2 Discussion 5.5 Is [y] prestigious or stigmatized? 5.6 Variation among the four social groups 5.6.1 The description of the data 5.6.1.1 The (Q) variable 5.6.1.2 The (d ) variable 5.6.2 Discussion 5.6.2.1 The behaviour of the Qaba: yil and Howala groups 5.6.2.2 The behaviour of the sedentary groups 5.7 Acts of identity 5.8 Individual deviations 5.9 Linguistic awareness as an indicator of social insecurity 5.10 Summaryand conclusion Chapter VI 227 Variability sound change, age and education 6-A Age and variation 6.1 Introduction 6.1.1 The neogrammarian view 6.1.2 Variationist's view 6.1.3 Lexical diffusion 6.2 The present study 6.3 Description of the data 6.3.1 The (Q) variable 6.3.2 The (d ) variable 6.4 Discusgion 6.5 Change in progress 6.6.1 Are the (Q) and the (d3) variables examples of sound change in progress? 6.6.1.. 1 The (d ) variable 6.6.1.2 The (Q3 variable 6.7 The intersection of age and social factors 6.8 The behaviour of the Bedouin group 6.9 The role of frequency in linguistic change 6.10 Change from above or from below 6.11 Speech community as defined by Labov 6-B Variability and education 6.12 The distribution of the lexical items in the educational groups 6.13 The distribution of the two variables in the educational groups 6.13.1 Description of the data 6.13.1.1 The (Q) variable 6.13.1.2 The (d3) variable 6.14 Summaryand conclusion Chapter VII 292 Variation and style shifting in reading and conversational styles 7.1 Introduction 7.1.1 Style shifting in Arabic 7.1.2 Quantitative studies 7.1.2.1 Schmidt (1974) 7.1.2.2 Shorrab (1981) 7.2 The present study 7.3 Limitations of the obtained data 7.4 Description of the data 7.4.1 Lexical shift-in formal and informal styles (Conversational styles) 7.4.2 Stylistic shift in four styles 7.4.2.1 The (Q) variable 7.4.2.2 The (d ) variable 7.4.2.3 The (ar) and (ay) variables 7.5 Discussion 7.6 The intersection of style with other factors 7.6.1 Age 7.6.2 Social groups 7.6.2.1 Reading styles 7.6.2.2 Conversational styles 7.7 Summaryand conclusions Chapter VIII 341 Conclusions Appendix A Questionnaire 347 Appendix Al Colloquial poetry Appendix A2 Standard poetry Appendix B Reliability test Bibliography 360 Abbreviations QD: Qatari dialect. SA: Standard Arabic. S-rule: Standardization rule. C-rule: Colloquialization rule. Emphatic sounds are represented by capital letters. [d ]: voiced post alveolar affricate. [di : similar to [d3] except that the initial [d] is longer and firmer. [d ]: devoiced counterpart of [d3]. [fý : voiced palatal stop.
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