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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
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