A Dialectological Study of
Phonological and Grammatical Variations
in Urban Hijazi Arabic from 1940-2000
in Urban Hijazi Arabic from 1940-2000
2002
Shadia Yousef Banjar, Jeddah
Preface
This dissertation is a survey of the generation differences in the urban dialect of Hijaz, It is an effort to record the phonological and grammatical variations in Urban Hijazi Dialect. To achieve the goal, the researcher has tried her best to redress the balance between regional and structural dialetology in recognizing the linguistic variation without losing touch with the realities of natural human language.
The researcher's motivation for the study of variation in Urban Hijazi Arabic springs from a general concern with language change. Variations across individuals and time were recorded. At first they seemed to be very chaotic and puzzling but finally showed to have a systemaatic shape which could be described.
Emphasis on the dialectology as a branch of linguistics has taken place throughout the work. The findings of this dialectological study have been incorporated into the models of the language. Thus, to provide systematic heterogeeneity of variation in language structures has been the foca point of the study.
Although the work is a dialectological study, the researcher hopes that it will also prove useful to computer science, anthrpology, sociology, and other disciplines which are concerned with the analysis of human languages.
ABSTRACT
The study intends to contribute to the field of linguistics. It serves as a dialectological study of phonological and grammatical variations in Hijazi Arabic which is spoken by the urban population of the western region of Saudi Arabia. It also outlines the variation in forms and functions providing the synchronic and diachronic relationship between the old and modern varieties of Urban Hijazi Dialect.
The initial impetus for this dialectological work lay in comparative philology between two-age groups to investigate linguistic change in ‘Apparent Time’. The linguistic variable is the unit of comparison with two or more variants. It is involved in covariation with other social and/or linguistic variables. The linguistic variables are phonological and grammatical. They are correlated with age variables.
The study begins with a concise yet comprehensive introduction dealing with the domain of the study; the hypotheses, the operational steps, history and finally the relevant studies and concepts.
By comparing old and modern varieties of the dialect under investigation, the researcher has recorded variations at phonological, morphological, and syntactic levels have been recorded. Casual and systematic variations were found. The result of the study indicates that most of the variations at all levels tend towards standardization. The direct borrowing from the standard into the urban variety is one of the main ways by which non-dialectal linguistic elements enter the dialect. Thus the gap between the standard and the local dialects is becoming narrower.
On the phonological level, the realization of /θ/, /ð/, /ž/, and /q/ even in informal speech is considered as a part of the dialectal norms.
On the morphological level, derivational type is less than the inflectional type. Moreover regular patterns are preferred by the new generation than irregular ones.
On the syntactic level, significant differences between the two generations are observed. Subordination is used as an alternative means to coordination for clause linkage. New generation tends to use relatively more subordinated, and fewer coordinated sentences compared to the older generation.
It is true that differential change may cause variation to the point that communication becomes impossible. This only occurs when the line of communication is no longer needed. Those who keep the line of communication open are constantly engaged in adapting their language to oppose and lessen the effects of differential change. The result is that they preserve a relatively homogenous variety of the language.
Finally, the researcher expresses her wish that this work would be an insight for further descriptive and analytical research.
The initial impetus for this dialectological work lay in comparative philology between two-age groups to investigate linguistic change in ‘Apparent Time’. The linguistic variable is the unit of comparison with two or more variants. It is involved in covariation with other social and/or linguistic variables. The linguistic variables are phonological and grammatical. They are correlated with age variables.
The study begins with a concise yet comprehensive introduction dealing with the domain of the study; the hypotheses, the operational steps, history and finally the relevant studies and concepts.
By comparing old and modern varieties of the dialect under investigation, the researcher has recorded variations at phonological, morphological, and syntactic levels have been recorded. Casual and systematic variations were found. The result of the study indicates that most of the variations at all levels tend towards standardization. The direct borrowing from the standard into the urban variety is one of the main ways by which non-dialectal linguistic elements enter the dialect. Thus the gap between the standard and the local dialects is becoming narrower.
On the phonological level, the realization of /θ/, /ð/, /ž/, and /q/ even in informal speech is considered as a part of the dialectal norms.
On the morphological level, derivational type is less than the inflectional type. Moreover regular patterns are preferred by the new generation than irregular ones.
On the syntactic level, significant differences between the two generations are observed. Subordination is used as an alternative means to coordination for clause linkage. New generation tends to use relatively more subordinated, and fewer coordinated sentences compared to the older generation.
It is true that differential change may cause variation to the point that communication becomes impossible. This only occurs when the line of communication is no longer needed. Those who keep the line of communication open are constantly engaged in adapting their language to oppose and lessen the effects of differential change. The result is that they preserve a relatively homogenous variety of the language.
Finally, the researcher expresses her wish that this work would be an insight for further descriptive and analytical research.
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