DOCSLIB.ORG

Gulf Pidgin Arabic: an Empirical Investigation Into Its Emergence and Social Attitude

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Gulf Pidgin Arabic: an Empirical Investigation Into Its Emergence and Social Attitude Gulf Pidgin Arabic: An Empirical Investigation into its Emergence and Social Attitude A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December, 2017 Lowai Ghazi Abed School of Linguistics, Speech and Communication Sciences Trinity College Dublin DECLARATION AND ONLINE ACCESS I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional repository or allow the library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgment. ___________________ Lowai Abed December 11 i SUMMARY While there are many contact languages that have been covered by sociolinguistic research, to date, most of those documented contact varieties are European-based and many have emerged out of imperial forces driven by the European colonial expansion around the world and subsequently an active slave trade between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. However, there are contact varieties that have come about without any European influence, but rather through recent international migration and economic integration generated by globalisation. This is potentially the case for the variety that has been defined as Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA) in Saudi Arabia and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the (GCC) states. This region has witnessed a rapid economic development since the early 1960s and 1970s generated by the oil industry. Hence, the region subsequently witnessed a large influx of unskilled/semi-skilled migrant labourers mainly from the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia. However, due to the indentured labour environment that this specific migrant community has to endure, GPA has emerged as a communication tool between the local Gulf nationals in the region and the unskilled/semi-skilled migrant labourers. This pidgin variety received little attention from the field of pidgin and creole studies. The rationale behind this research is primarily to bring a more globalised view on the study of contact languages by introducing GPA to the field and exploring it from a sociolinguistic point of view rather than solely linguistic. To carry out this research, a mixed method research design was applied, where both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used to examine data drawn from two distinct sources. These include a one to one semi-structured interviews and an online survey questionnaire. Thus, an extensive sociolinguistic study was undertaken in order to understand the social circumstances which have resulted in the development of GPA. In addition, the social attitude towards this language was also evaluated from the perspective of its speakers. Findings from the interviews conducted with the former disclosed that their lives primarily focused on labour-related pursuits, while exposure to the local culture within their host social environment was curtailed and restricted. In addition, GPA was found to be mainly used to communicate in work situations. Finally, data collected from the questionnaire has shown that a neutral attitude was held by the local population towards unskilled/semi-skilled migrant workers. However, respondents expressed a preference for residential segregation. In addition, the questionnaire highlighted their negative attitude toward GPA, especially in relation to its usage and spread. In summary, the conclusions drawn from this research have demonstrated that the context and social atmosphere in which GPA is spoken overlap with other contact languages that have been developed in many locations throughout the world. Based on the results of this study, the theoretical, practical and social implications of GPA are provided, as well as predictions on the future of GPA. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my former supervisor, Dr. Heath Rose, who believed in the importance and potential of this research and agreed to supervise it. I am thankful for his guidance during the initial stages of this project. I want to take this opportunity to wish him the best of luck in his academic endeavours at Oxford University. I would like to credit particular appreciation to my second supervisor, Dr. Sarah O’Brien, who agreed to take over the supervision in the midst of this project. She was always willing and happy to assist me with expert knowledge and feedback. Her positivity and continuous support were incredibly helpful. In addition, I want to thank all the people and the participants who volunteered their time and made the research possible. Special thanks to the unskilled/semi-skilled migrant labourers whom I interviewed during the hot summer of Jeddah in 2015. I am thankful for their valuable contribution. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my parents and my family for their encouragement during my studies. Special thanks to my brother Dr. Mohaned Abed from King Abdulaziz University who had always been supportive from afar throughout my journey to complete my PhD. Most of all, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my wife. Her continued patience and love have been an invaluable support to me during my research. Last but not least, I am thankful to the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia and the University of Jeddah for their generous funding throughout my postgraduate studies. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration and Online Access....................................................................................................................... i Summary ....................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................ iii List of tables ................................................................................................................................................ ix Figures .......................................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter One: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Study Background ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.3. Study Aim ...................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Study Rationale ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.5. Personal Rationale ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.6. Research Question(s) .................................................................................................................. 10 1.7. Dissertation Overview ................................................................................................................. 10 1.8. Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter Two: General and Specific Concepts in Pidgins and Creoles ......................................................... 14 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2. Language Contact and Change: A Brief Overview....................................................................... 15 2.3. Pidgins and Creoles vs Language Simplification.......................................................................... 17 2.4. Pidgins and Creoles: What are they? .......................................................................................... 18 2.4.1. Linguistically Different ........................................................................................................ 20 2.4.2 Genetically Different ........................................................................................................... 22 2.4.3. Socially Different ................................................................................................................. 23 2.5. A Sociohistorical Overview of Pidgins and Creoles ..................................................................... 24 2.6. What is a Pidgin Language? ........................................................................................................ 27 2.6.1. Failed Second Language Learning ........................................................................................... 28 2.6.2. How Do Pidgins Spread? ......................................................................................................... 29 2.6.3. Types of Pidgins....................................................................................................................... 29 2.6.3.1 Military and Police Pidgins: ..................................................................................................... 30 2.6.3.2 Seafaring and Trade Pidgins and Creoles: ..............................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Judeo-Arabic: Cultural Symbiosis of the Jews in the Islamicate Context
    INSANIYAT Journal of Islam and Humanities, Vol. 1(1), November 2016 Judeo-Arabic: Cultural Symbiosis of the Jews in the Islamicate Context Leonard C. Epafras Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), Gajah Mada University Yogyakarta, Indonesia email: [email protected] Abstract The present article studies the Jewish-Muslim intimacy through the Jewish language as a cultural space in the period of the medieval Islam. The Judeo-Arabic, as the technical terms of the Jewish language in this period and in the subsequent eras, was one of the many venues through which people negotiated the Jewish identity in the non-Jewish environments. This negotiation was the outcome of intensive meeting between the Arabs’ culture and the Jewish-specific heritages since pre-Islamic era to the period of the medieval Islam in dialectical and contested way. The Arabic language in the Hebrew script was an example of this process. In this article, the author traces back the earlier encounter between the Jews and the Arabs in the proto-Judeo-Arabic, al-yahūdīyyah, which includs the Muslim narrative of both the Prophet Muḥammad and the Jews. Next, this paper studies a later period of the Judeo-Arabic development as a Jewish specific language. The author argues that the Judeo-Arabic demonstrates a cultural symbiosis and a frontier of interaction between the Jews and the Muslims marked by the way Muslims and Jews accommodated and contested to each other. Keywords: Judeo-Arabic, Jewish-Muslim interaction, and ‘Islamicate’ context A. Introduction: Jews and Early Muslims spacefor them to engage with the dominant Close Encounter culture, but at the same time demarcating their cultural interest.
    [Show full text]
  • Arabic Sociolinguistics: Topics in Diglossia, Gender, Identity, And
    Arabic Sociolinguistics Arabic Sociolinguistics Reem Bassiouney Edinburgh University Press © Reem Bassiouney, 2009 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in ll/13pt Ehrhardt by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and East bourne A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 2373 0 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 2374 7 (paperback) The right ofReem Bassiouney to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Contents Acknowledgements viii List of charts, maps and tables x List of abbreviations xii Conventions used in this book xiv Introduction 1 1. Diglossia and dialect groups in the Arab world 9 1.1 Diglossia 10 1.1.1 Anoverviewofthestudyofdiglossia 10 1.1.2 Theories that explain diglossia in terms oflevels 14 1.1.3 The idea ofEducated Spoken Arabic 16 1.2 Dialects/varieties in the Arab world 18 1.2. 1 The concept ofprestige as different from that ofstandard 18 1.2.2 Groups ofdialects in the Arab world 19 1.3 Conclusion 26 2. Code-switching 28 2.1 Introduction 29 2.2 Problem of terminology: code-switching and code-mixing 30 2.3 Code-switching and diglossia 31 2.4 The study of constraints on code-switching in relation to the Arab world 31 2.4. 1 Structural constraints on classic code-switching 31 2.4.2 Structural constraints on diglossic switching 42 2.5 Motivations for code-switching 59 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Semantic Innovation and Change in Kuwaiti Arabic: a Study of the Polysemy of Verbs
    ` Semantic Innovation and Change in Kuwaiti Arabic: A Study of the Polysemy of Verbs Yousuf B. AlBader Thesis submitted to the University of Sheffield in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics April 2015 ABSTRACT This thesis is a socio-historical study of semantic innovation and change of a contemporary dialect spoken in north-eastern Arabia known as Kuwaiti Arabic. I analyse the structure of polysemy of verbs and their uses by native speakers in Kuwait City. I particularly report on qualitative and ethnographic analyses of four motion verbs: dašš ‘enter’, xalla ‘leave’, miša ‘walk’, and i a ‘run’, with the aim of establishing whether and to what extent linguistic and social factors condition and constrain the emergence and development of new senses. The overarching research question is: How do we account for the patterns of polysemy of verbs in Kuwaiti Arabic? Local social gatherings generate more evidence of semantic innovation and change with respect to the key verbs than other kinds of contexts. The results of the semantic analysis indicate that meaning is both contextually and collocationally bound and that a verb’s meaning is activated in different contexts. In order to uncover the more local social meanings of this change, I also report that the use of innovative or well-attested senses relates to the community of practice of the speakers. The qualitative and ethnographic analyses demonstrate a number of differences between friendship communities of practice and familial communities of practice. The groups of people in these communities of practice can be distinguished in terms of their habits of speech, which are conditioned by the situation of use.
    [Show full text]
  • Impact of Migration on Arabic Urban Vernacular : Advocating a Comparative Analysis Catherine Miller
    Impact of Migration on Arabic Urban Vernacular : Advocating a comparative Analysis Catherine Miller To cite this version: Catherine Miller. Impact of Migration on Arabic Urban Vernacular : Advocating a comparative Analysis. 5th International Aida Conference, 2004, Cadiz, Spain. pp.251-262. halshs-00150400 HAL Id: halshs-00150400 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00150400 Submitted on 30 May 2007 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON ARABIC URBAN VERNACULARS : ADVOCATING A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS Catherine MILLER CNRS-Iremam, Université d’Aix en Provence, France INTRODUCTION The meeting of Aida 5 in Cadiz created the opportunity for organizing a panel on Arabic urban linguistics.1 This panel had two main goals: a) to put together and present some on-going research on Arabic urban vernaculars, and b) to set- up a research network of people working on Arab cities, and more specifically on the issue of “migration to the city and evolution of Arabic urban vernaculars”. Some of the contributions of the panel are published in these proceedings. In this short paper, I will summarize the reasons for setting up such a research- network and present the main scientific guidelines and perspectives of the network.
    [Show full text]
  • Arabic and Contact-Induced Change Christopher Lucas, Stefano Manfredi
    Arabic and Contact-Induced Change Christopher Lucas, Stefano Manfredi To cite this version: Christopher Lucas, Stefano Manfredi. Arabic and Contact-Induced Change. 2020. halshs-03094950 HAL Id: halshs-03094950 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03094950 Submitted on 15 Jan 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Arabic and contact-induced change Edited by Christopher Lucas Stefano Manfredi language Contact and Multilingualism 1 science press Contact and Multilingualism Editors: Isabelle Léglise (CNRS SeDyL), Stefano Manfredi (CNRS SeDyL) In this series: 1. Lucas, Christopher & Stefano Manfredi (eds.). Arabic and contact-induced change. Arabic and contact-induced change Edited by Christopher Lucas Stefano Manfredi language science press Lucas, Christopher & Stefano Manfredi (eds.). 2020. Arabic and contact-induced change (Contact and Multilingualism 1). Berlin: Language Science Press. This title can be downloaded at: http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/235 © 2020, the authors Published under the Creative Commons Attribution
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Second Language Teaching and Research. Volume 5, Special Issue
    Journal of Second Language Teaching and Research. Volume 5, Special Issue Unity and Diversity within Pidginized Arabic as Produced by Asian Migrant Workers in the Arabian Gulf Najah S. Albaqawi, Wolverhampton University Abstract Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA) is a simplified contact variety of language spoken in the Gulf States in the Middle East. This unique linguistic phenomenon has resulted from the frequent language contact between the non-indigenous workforce with no Arabic skills, who come from countries such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines for job opportunities, and native speakers who do not share a common language with them. Pidgin languages have not been studied until relatively recently, since the middle of the last century. Similarly, GPA has received relatively little attention in the literature apart from a few descriptive works such as Albakrawi, 2013; Alghamdi, 2014; Almoaily, 2008, 2012; Alshammari, 2010; Al- Zubeiry, 2015; Avram, 2014, 2015; Gomaa, 2007; Hobrom, 1996; Næss, 2008; Smart, 1990; Wiswal, 2002. This study aims to propose an account of both unity and diversity within Asian migrant Arabic pidgins in the states of the Arabian Gulf in terms of a set of parameters where purely linguistic developments interact with contextual ones. The analysis of the social situation and of the available linguistic data shows that the main factor behind conventionalizing within GPA is migrants’ mobility in the Gulf region. This is basically compatible with Bizri (2014)1 who suggests that in Asian Migrant Arabic Pidgins (AMAP) “[’] mobility across the region is the major factor for homogenizing both native Arabic-speakers’ foreigner talk and migrants’ pidgin Arabic” (p.
    [Show full text]
  • Peripheral Arabic Dialects
    University of Bucharest Center for Arab Studies ROMANO-ARABICA VI-VII 2006-2007 Peripheral Arabic Dialects UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST CENTER FOR ARAB STUDIES ROMANO-ARABICA New Series No 6-7 Peripheral Arabic Dialects EDITURA UNIVERSITĂŢII DIN BUCUREŞTI – 2006/2007 Editor: Nadia Anghelescu Associate Editor: George Grigore Advisory Board: Ramzi Baalbaki (Beirut) Michael G. Carter (Sidney) Jean-Patrick Guillaume (Paris) Hilary Kilpatrick (Lausanne) Chokri Mabkhout (Tunis) Yordan Peev (Sofia) Stephan Procházka (Vienna) André Roman (Lyon) Editor in Charge of the Issue: George Grigore (e-mail: [email protected]) Published by: © Center for Arab Studies Pitar Moş Street no 11, Sector 2, 70012 Bucharest, Romania Phone/fax: 0040-21-2123446 © Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti Şos. Panduri, 90-92, Bucureşti – 050663; Telefon/Fax: 0040-21-410.23.84 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.editura.unibuc.ro ISSN 1582-6953 Contents Werner Arnold, The Arabic Dialect of the Jews of Iskenderun……………………. 7 Andrei A. Avram, Romanian Pidgin Arabic............................................................... 13 Guram Chikovani, Some Peculiarities of Central Asian Arabic From the Perspective of History of Arabic Language…………………………………………. 29 Dénes Gazsi, Shi‗ite Panegyrical Poems from the Township of Dašt-i Āzādagān (H~ūzistān)..................................................................................................................... 39 George Grigore, L‘énoncé non verbal dans l‘arabe parlé à Mardin……………… 51 Otto Jastrow, Where do we stand in the
    [Show full text]
  • Requesting Behaviour of Saudi Arabian Women in Contemporary Arabic-Speaking Situations
    Requesting Behaviour of Saudi Arabian Women in Contemporary Arabic-Speaking Situations A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Hessah Al-Ageel Bachelor of Languages and Translation (King Saud University, Riyadh) Master of Applied Linguistics (La Trobe University, Melbourne) School of Global Urban and Social Studies The College of Design and Social Context RMIT University April, 2016 Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. Hessah Al-Ageel 30-05-2016 Abstract Based on socio-pragmatic, sociolinguistic and linguistic perspectives, this research project aimed to examine requesting behaviour and linguistic interaction in contemporary Arabic amongst Saudi females in various contexts. To provide a wider scope on those different contexts and to examine emerging phenomenon resulting from globalization through examining the practices of requests, the study was divided into four studies: one main study and three sub-studies. The main study aimed to examine politeness behaviour and to focus on the speech act of requests in Saudi Arabic using Brown and Levinson’s model of politeness and applying it in the Arabic context. The coding scheme of Blum- Kulka, House and Kasper (1989) in the Cross Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (CCSAR) was adapted for the data analysis of the main study.
    [Show full text]
  • The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics
    Review Copy - Not for Distribution Youssef A Haddad - University of Florida - 02/01/2018 THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF ARABIC LINGUISTICS The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics introduces readers to the major facets of research on Arabic and of the linguistic situation in the Arabic-speaking world. The edited collection includes chapters from prominent experts on various fields of Arabic linguistics. The contributors provide overviews of the state of the art in their field and specifically focus on ideas and issues. Not simply an overview of the field, this handbook explores subjects in great depth and from multiple perspectives. In addition to the traditional areas of Arabic linguistics, the handbook covers computational approaches to Arabic, Arabic in the diaspora, neurolinguistic approaches to Arabic, and Arabic as a global language. The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics is a much-needed resource for researchers on Arabic and comparative linguistics, syntax, morphology, computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics, and also for undergraduate and graduate students studying Arabic or linguistics. Elabbas Benmamoun is Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Linguistics at Duke University, USA. Reem Bassiouney is Professor in the Applied Linguistics Department at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Review Copy - Not for Distribution Youssef A Haddad - University of Florida - 02/01/2018 Review Copy - Not for Distribution Youssef A Haddad - University of Florida - 02/01/2018
    [Show full text]
  • In Linguistics on the Arabian Peninsula
    Database Sources : From Ethos (British Library) ; Library and Archives Canada ; OATD (Open Access Thesis and Dissertations) ; NDTLD Global ETD Search PhD (in English) in Linguistics on the Arabian Peninsula 1939 – 2020 (Year of defense) 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. PhD in linguistics by chronological order ................................................................................................................................................ 3 II. PhD in linguistics by alphabetical order (author) ................................................................................................................................. 17 III. PhD in linguistics by country of study .................................................................................................................................................. 31 Arabian Peninsula (modern standard Arabic) ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Bahrain ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Kuwait .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • AIDA Bibliographie
    George Grigore A Bibliography of AIDA Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe (1992-2017) Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naţionale a României GRIGORE, GEORGE A bibliography of AIDA (Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe) : (1992-2017) / George Grigore ; pref.: Dominique Caubert, George Grigore, Stephan Procházka. - Iaşi : Ars Longa, 2016 ISBN 978-973-148-245-3 I. Caubert, Dominique (pref.) II. Procházka, Stephan (pref.) 061:811.411.21'28"1992-2017" © George Grigore © ARS LONGA, 2016 str. Elena Doamna, 2 700398 Iaşi, România Tel.: 0724 516 581 Fax: +40-232-215078 e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] web: www.arslonga.ro All rights reserved. George Grigore A Bibliography of AIDA Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe (1992-2017) Foreword: AIDA – A brief history by Dominique Caubet George Grigore Stephan Procházka Ars Longa 2016 AIDA (Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe) – A brief history1 – AIDA (fr. Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe) – International Association of Arabic Dialectology / is an association of researchers – الرابطة الدولية لدراسة اللهجات العربية in Arabic dialects, Nowadays AIDA is the leading international association in this field of research and it has become a platform that joins scholars from all over the world, interested in various aspects of Arabic dialectology. Therefore, the idea of founding an association gathering the high-rated specialists in Arabic dialects was discussed, for the first time, between Dominique Caubet (the future founder of AIDA) and a number of dialectologists such as Clive Holes (Oriental Studies, Trinity Hall, Cambridge), Bruce Ingham (The School of Oriental and African Studies, London), Otto Jastrow (Heidelberg University), Catherine Miller (Director of IREMAM, Institut de Recherches et d’Etudes sur le Monde 1 Many thanks to our colleagues Catherine Miller and Martine Vanhove for helping us to clarify the beginnings of AIDA.
    [Show full text]
  • AN OUTLINE of ROMANIAN PIDGIN ARABIC Andrei A. Avram University
    AN OUTLINE OF ROMANIAN PIDGIN ARABIC Andrei A. Avram University of Bucharest Abstract This paper looks at Romanian Pidgin Arabic, a contact language formerly in use on Romanian well sites in various locations in Iraq. The phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon of the language are described on the basis of a corpus of data collected during fieldwork. The data are discussed in comparison to those from other pidgins, with various lexifier languages. Romanian Pidgin Arabic is shown to exhibit features typical of the so-called pre-pidgins. Also discussed are the implications of the findings for the study of pidgin and creole languages, in general, and of Arabic-based contact languages in particular. 1. Introduction The present paper* describes a short-lived pidginized variety of Arabic used by Romanian and Arab oil workers in Iraq. The description is based on fieldwork conducted by the author in two locations, Kut (Eastern Iraq) and Rashdiya (north of Baghdad), over a period of five months (May- September 1984) and respectively six months (January-June 1985). The method used for collecting most of the data was participant observation (field notes). Supplementary data, in particular lists of lexical items, were elicited through interviews on location with four informants, who had been working on Romanian well sites in Iraq for periods ranging from two to five years. The sociolinguistic situation under which this Romanian Arabic Pidgin (henceforth RPA) emerged can be outlined as follows. The participants in the language-contact situation consisted of speakers of Romanian, Egyptian Arabic and Iraqi Arabic respectively. Only a very small minority spoke (some) English.
    [Show full text]