Cover not available
Part of
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXIX: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2015
Edited by Hamid Ouali
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 5] 2017
► pp. 7–30

Chapter 1
A new direction for Arabic sociolinguistics

| The American University in Cairo

In this study, I explore three cases related to linguistic variation and the individual in the Egyptian sociopolitical context. In all three cases, linguistic variation and code choice are mediated not only through linguistic and sociolinguistic variables, but through an ideological process in which talk about language is at times as significant as linguistic choices. Within this social context, an individual’s linguistic choices are not just natural but performed, and at times may be the result or reflection of a wider conflict. I analyze these three cases using the concepts of indexicality (Silverstein 1996) and stance (Du Bois 2007).

Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Case one: Use of a local dialect in a written text
  • Case two: Globalization, access to linguistic resources, and identity construction
    • Forcing a stance: The case of Jordanian actor Ijad Nassar
    • Forcing a stance: The case of Syrian actor Qusajj
  • Case three: Linguistic unrest and political upheaval; the war over access to resources
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.5.02bas
References
Abbud, G.
(2011) Anaː Iskandiranijjah dˁidd al-irhaːb. youm 7, 4 January. Available from: [URL] [Accessed 16 February 2015].
Bassiouney, R.
(2006) Functions of code-switching in Egypt: evidence from monologues. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
(2009) Arabic sociolinguistics: topics in diglossia, gender, identity, and politics. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2014) Language and identity in modern Egypt. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015) Dialect and stance-taking by non-Egyptian celebrities in Egypt. Open Linguistics, 1 (1), 614–633. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bucholtz, M. and Hall, K.
(2010) Locating identity in language. In Llamas, C. and Watt, D. (Eds.) Language and Identities (pp. 18–28). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Caubet, D.
(forthcoming 2017) New elaborate written forms in Darija: Blogging, posting and slamming in Morocco. In Bassiouney, R. and Benmamoun, E. (Eds.) Handbook of Arabic linguistics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chambers, J. K.
(2009) Sociolinguistic theory: linguistic variation and its social significance. Rev. ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Du Bois, J.
(2007) The stance triangle. In Englebretson, R. (Ed.) Stancetaking in discourse: Subjectivity, evaluation, interaction (pp. 139–182) Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eckert, P.
(2008) Variation and the indexical field. Journal of sociolinguistics, 12 (4), 453–476. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, C.
(1959) Diglossia. In Giglioli, P. P. (ed.) Language and social context (pp. 232–251). Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Hachimi, A.
(2013) The Maghreb-Mashreq language ideology and the politics of identity in a globalized Arab world. Journal of sociolinguistics, 17 (3), 269–296. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hazen, K.
(2014) A historical assessment of research questions in sociolinguistics. In Holmes, J. and Hazen, K. (Eds.) Research methods in sociolinguistics: a practical guide (pp. 7–22). Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar
Heller, M.
(2007) Bilingualism: a social approach. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2011) Paths to postnationalism: A critical ethnography of language and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Irvine, J. T.
(2009) Stance in a colonial encounter: how Mr. Taylor lost his footing. In Jaffe, A. (ed.) Stance: sociolinguistic perspectives (pp. 53–72). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jaffe, Alexandra
(2009) The sociolinguistics of stance. In Jaffe, A. (ed.), Stance: Sociolinguistic perspectives (pp. 3–28). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Johnstone, B.
(2005) Reflexivity in sociolinguistics. In Brown, K. ( et al.) (Eds.) Encyclopedia of language & linguistics. 2nd edn (vol. 10, pp. 463–4). Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
(2007) Linking identity and dialect through stancetaking. In Englebretson, R. (ed.) Stancetaking in discourse: subjectivity, evaluation, interaction (pp. 49–68). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2010) Locating language in identity. In Llamas, C. and Watt, D. (Eds.) Language and identity (pp. 29–36). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Johnstone, B. and Baumgardt, D.
(2004) ‘Pittsburghese’ online: vernacular norming in conversation. American Speech, 79, 115–145. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Labov, W.
(1972) Sociolinguistics Patterns. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Lacoste, V., Leimgruber, J. and Breyer, T.
(2014) Authenticity: A view from inside and outside sociolinguistics. In Lacoste, V., Leimgruber, J. and Breyer, T. (Eds.) Indexing authenticity: Sociolinguistic perspectives, (pp. 1–13). Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Mejdell, G.
(2012) The elusiveness of lugha wusta, or, attempting to catch its ‘true nature’. In Bassiouney, R. and Katz, G. (Eds.) Arabic language and linguistics (pp. 157–167). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, C.
(2012) Mexicans speaking in dârija (Moroccan Arabic): Media, urbanization, and language changes in Morocco. In Bassiouney, R. and Katz, G. (Eds.) Arabic language and linguistics (pp. 169–187). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Milroy, L.
(1987) Language and social networks. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ochs, E.
(1992) Indexing gender. In Duranti, A. and Goodwin, C. (Eds.) Rethinking context: language as an interactive phenomenon (pp. 335–358). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ross, J.
(2016) What that Cruz-Rubio ‘He doesn’t speak Spanish’ thing was about. Washington Post 14 Feb 2016.Google Scholar
Schilling-Estes, N.
(1998) Investigating ‘self-conscious’ speech: The performance register in Ocracoke English. Language in Society, 27 (1), 53–83.Google Scholar
Shohamy, E.
(2006) Language policy: hidden agendas and new approaches. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Silverstein, M.
(1996) Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life. In Ide, R., Parker, R. and Sunaoshi, Y. (Eds.) Salsa III: proceedings of the third annual symposium about language and society (pp. 266–295). Austin, TX: University of Texas, Department of Linguistics.Google Scholar
(2003) Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life. Language & communication, 23 (3–4), 193–229. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Suleiman, Y.
(2004) A war of words: language and conflict in the Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Trudgill, P.
(1972) Sex, covert prestige and linguistic change in the urban British English of Norwich. Language in society, 1 (2), 179–195. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Karin Ryding & David Wilmsen
2021. The Cambridge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics, DOI logo
Sinatora, Francesco L.
2021. Variation and Social Change on Syrian Dissidents’ Social Media. In The Cambridge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics, ► pp. 532 ff. DOI logo
Sinatora, Francesco L.
2023. Social media soft affective politics through discursive and algorithmic synchronization. In Social Media and Society [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 100], ► pp. 60 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 may 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.