Fuṣḥá, ‘āmmīyah, or both?: Towards a theoretical framework for written Cairene Arabic Saussan Khalil Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies School of Languages, Cultures and Societies September 2018 - !ii - I confirm that the work submitted is my own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Saussan Khalil to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2018 The University of Leeds and Saussan Khalil - iii! - Acknowledgements I would like to firstly thank my supervisor, Professor James Dickins for his support and encouragement throughout this study, and his endless patience and advice in guiding me on this journey. From the University of Leeds, I would like to thank Mrs Karen Priestley for her invaluable support and assistance with all administrative matters, however great or small. From the University of Cambridge, I would like to thank my colleagues Professor Amira Bennison, Dr Rachael Harris and Mrs Farida El-Keiy for their encouragement and allowing me to take the time to complete this study. I would also like to thank Dr Barry Heselwood, Professor Rex Smith, Dr Marco Santello and Dr Serge Sharoff for their input and guidance on specific topics and relevant research areas to this study. I am truly grateful to everyone that has listened to and discussed with me the topic of this study and related research, works and studies. Finally, I owe the greatest debt of gratitude to my daughters Noura and Amal for giving me strength and laughter. - iv! - Abstract The Arabic language is a complex, diglossic language, with varying written (fuṣḥá) and spoken (‘āmmīyah) forms. While the study of mixing between fuṣḥá and ‘āmmīyah in spoken Arabic has received some scholarly attention, far less attention has been paid to mixing in writing, which this study seeks to address. Badawi’s (1973) landmark study of Egyptian Arabic use identified five language levels, assuming naturally that written Arabic exists as either Classical or Modern Standard Arabic, while mixing between written and spoken forms is reserved as a feature of Educated Spoken Arabic (ESA), despite the proliferation of mixed literary works by renowned writers such as Tawfiq al-Hakim, Yusuf Idris and Yusuf Sibai at the time. Since Badawi’s (1973) study, studies of mixed Arabic have centred around ESA (Eid, 1988; Bassiouney, 2006), uncovering to some extent the type and degree of, and motivations for, mixing, which have been used as a backdrop for the examination of mixed writing in this study. More recently, Høigilt & Mejdell (2017), Mejdell (2014), Ibrahim (2010), and Rosenbaum (2000) have identified occurrences of mixing in written Arabic. The aim of this study therefore, is to take a holistic view of Arabic writing, across different times and media, towards establishing a theoretical framework for Egyptian Arabic writing, including fuṣḥá, ‘āmmīyah and so- called ‘mixed’ forms. The catalyst for this study, as well as for the proliferation of mixed and ‘āmmīyah writing, has been the expansion of the internet and the rapid increase in online writing. For Arabic at least, the Arab Spring and social media within it, have played an important role in the widespread use of ‘āmmīyah in writing, which this study aims to place within the wider context of Arabic writing. - v! - Table of Contents Acknowledgements .....................................................................................iii Abstract ........................................................................................................iv Table of Contents .........................................................................................v List of Tables ................................................................................................ix List of Figures ...............................................................................................x Transliteration Scheme ...............................................................................xi Preface ......................................................................................................xxiii Chapter 1 Introduction ..........................................................................................1 Chapter 2 Literature Review .................................................................................7 2.1 Arabic sociolinguistics .....................................................................7 2.1.1 Diglossia ...............................................................................9 2.1.2 Arabic Language Levels .....................................................10 2.1.3 Educated Spoken Arabic (ESA) .........................................13 2.1.4 Arabic language continuum/multiglossia ............................15 2.1.5 ‘"mm#yah in writing............................................................. 17 2.1.5.1 Middle Arabic ............................................................17 2.1.5.2 Zajal poetry and early print media ...........................19 2.1.5.3 Modern drama and fiction .......................................19 2.1.5.4 The role of gender in ‘"mmiyyah writing .................19 2.2 Internet linguistics ..........................................................................21 2.2.1 English Internet linguistics ..................................................21 2.2.2 Arabic Internet linguistics (studies of Arabic language use online) ..................................................................................23 2.3 Social media and the Arab Spring - the role of online political activism ........................................................................................25 Chapter 3 Review of existing theoretical frameworks ......................................30 3.1 Code-switching and mixing ...........................................................31 3.1.1 Code-switching in speaking ...............................................31 3.1.1.1 Principles of Code-Switching (Eid, 1988) ................32 3.1.1.2 Mixing, and stylistic variation (Mejdell, 2011-12) .....35 3.1.2 Code-switching in writing.................................................... 36 3.1.2.1 Analytical framework for multilingualism in written discourse (Sebba, 2012) ..............................................37 - vi! - 3.1.2.2 Local - global functions of code-switching in writing (Jonsson, 2012) ...........................................................39 3.1.2.3 Written code-switching in opposition newspapers (Ibrahim, 2010) .............................................................39 3.3 Translanguaging ............................................................................41 3.4 Intermediate Arabic .......................................................................42 3.4.1 Tawfiq al- Hakim’s ‘Third Language’ ...................................43 3.4.2 Yusuf Sibai (1917-1978) .....................................................46 3.4.2.1 Borrowing ................................................................48 3.4.2.2 Use of ‘low-Standard’ vocabulary ............................50 3.4.2.3 Reshaping of ‘"mm#yah expressions ......................52 3.4.2.4 Elimination of case contrasts from some nouns and adjectives .....................................................................55 3.4.3 Yusuf Idris (1927-91) ..........................................................55 3.4.4 Strategic Bivalency .............................................................58 3.4.5 Fu$%"mm#yah .....................................................................63 3.5 ‘"mm#yah writing ...........................................................................71 3.5.1 Pre-internet ‘"mm#yah writing .............................................73 3.5.2 Print & online ‘"mm#yah writing ..........................................74 Chapter 4 Proposed Theoretical Framework ....................................................75 4.1 Summary of variations between fu$%á and ‘"mm#yah ...................77 4.1.1 Phonological variation ........................................................78 4.1.1.1 Expected letter variation ..........................................78 4.1.1.2 Short vowel variation ...............................................82 4.1.1.3 Morpho-phonological variation ................................83 4.1.1.4 Syllable variation .....................................................83 4.1.1.5 Undefined phonological variation ............................83 4.1.2 Lexical variation ..................................................................84 4.1.2.1 Morphological lexical variation ................................84 4.1.2.2 Preferential/stylistic variation ..................................84 4.1.2.3 Foreign or loan words .............................................85 4.1.2.4 Undefined lexical variation ......................................85 4.1.3 Grammatical (morphological and syntactic) variation ........86 4.1.3.1 Pronouns .................................................................86 4.1.3.2 Dual forms ...............................................................88 4.1.3.3 SV-VS order preference and agreement .................88 - !vii