Arabic Sociolinguistics: Second Edition

The second edition of Arabic Sociolinguistics offers an extended commentary on the important findings of new critical approaches to language and society in Arab-speaking countries. Following a recent wave of political upheavals in the Middle East, the book engages with latest academic works that relate language to power and conflict in the Arab world. In addition to thoroughly updated accounts of diglossia, code-switching, gender, language policy and language variation in the region, Reem Bassiouney discusses the most important recent development in the field critical sociolinguistics in a new dedicated chapter that challenges the tendency of applying Western linguistic methods and terms to superdiverse communities. By covering the key developments of linguistic theories and contexts with up-to-date examples to help explain the phenomena under discussion, this is the most comprehensive book on Arabic sociolinguistics today.

Table of Contents:
List of charts, maps and tables; List of abbreviations; Conventions used in this book Introduction 1. Diglossia and dialect groups in the Arab world 1.1 Diglossia 1.1.1 An overview of the study of diglossia 1.1.2 Theories that explain diglossia in terms of levels 1.1.3 The idea of Educated Spoken Arabic 1.2 Dialects/varieties in the Arab world 1.2.1 The concept of prestige as different from that of standard 1.2.2 Groups of dialects in the Arab world 1.3 Conclusion 2. Code-switching 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Problem of terminology: code-switching and code-mixing 2.3 Code-switching and diglossia 2.4 The study of constraints on code-switching in relation to the Arab world 2.4.1 Structural constraints on classic code-switching 2.4.2 Structural constraints on diglossic switching 2.5 Motivations for code-switching 2.5.1 Motivations and discourse functions of classic code-switching 2.5.2 Motivations and discourse functions of diglossic switching 2.6 A holistic approach to code-switching 2.6.1 Translanguaging and the challenge of two grammatical systems 2.6.2 Motivations for switching in light of a social construct approach to language 2.7 Conclusion 3. Language variation and change 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Language variation and change 3.2.1 Social class approach 3.2.2 Social networks approach 3.2.3 Third wave approach to variation studies: community of practice 3.3 Methodology 3.4 Sociolinguistic variables 3.4.1 Ethnicity 3.4.2 Religion 3.4.3 Urbanisation 3.4.4 Social class 3.4.5 Other factors 3.5 Levelling 3.6 Conclusion to sections 3.1–3.5 3.7 Variation and the social approaches to sociolinguistics 3.7.1 Meaning, indexes and stance 3.7.2 Stance as the mediator between form and meaning 3.7.3 Studies that adopt a novel approach, method or data in Arabic sociolinguistics 3.7.4 Discussion and conclusion 4. Arabic and gender 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Approaches to language and gender 4.2.1 The deficit theory and Lakoff’s contribution to the study of language and gender 4.2.2 The dominance theory 4.2.3 The difference theory 4.2.4 Community of practice theory: third wave approach to variation studies 4.3 Women in the Arab world: framing and background information 4.3.1 Diversity in education 4.3.2 Diversity in urbanisation 4.3.3 Economic diversity 4.3.4 Diversity in traditions and religious practices 4.3.5 Honour and modesty 4.4 Politeness in relation to gender 4.5 ‘Mister master’: names, status and identity 4.5.1 Names and why they are hidden 4.6 When a chicken crows like a cock: women narrators 4.7 Language variation and change in relation to gender 4.7.1 An overview of studies on language variation in relation to gender 4.7.2 An overview of linguistic variation in relation to gender in the Arab world 4.8 Projection of identity in the speech of educated men and women in Egypt: evidence from talk shows 4.8.1 Description of data 4.8.2 Categorising the data 4.8.3 Detailed description of the data 4.8.4 Conclusion 4.9 The symbolic use of language 4.10 Gender universals re-examined 4.11 Conclusion 5. Language policy and politics 5.1 The power of language 5.2 What is language policy? 5.2.1 Language ideologies 5.2.2 Language practices 5.2.3 Language planning 5.3 Nation and state 5.3.1 The relation between nation and language 5.3.2 The Arab nation 5.4 Countries with SA as the official language 5.5 French versus British patterns of colonisation and their relation to language policies 5.5.1 French patterns of colonisation 5.5.2 British patterns of colonisation 5.6 Language policies in other parts of the Arab world 5.7 The role of language academies in the Arab world 5.8 SA, politics and the aching nation: a case study 5.9 Linguistic rights and political rights 5.10 English and globalisation 5.11 Conclusion 6. A critical approach to Arabic sociolinguistics 6.1 Critical sociolinguistics 6.1.1 Problems with sociolinguistic research 6.2 The binary approach to sociolinguistics: a methodological challenge 6.2.1 The inaccuracy of the binary approach to linguistic variation 6.2.2 The confusion surrounding standard in Arabic 6.2.3 The correlation of independent variables to linguistic ones 6.3 The native speaker 6.4 Power, legitimacy and the social approach to language 6.5 The neutral linguist 6.6 Principles of methodological approaches in critical sociolinguistics 6.7 Western hegemony of the field of sociolinguistics 6.8 Conclusion General conclusion Bibliography; Index

About the Author :
Reem Bassiouney is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Applied Linguistics at the American University in Cairo. Her academic books include, Functions of code-switching in Egypt (2006), Arabic Sociolinguistics (2008), Arabic and the Media (2010), Arabic Language and Linguistics 2012 (co-ed). Her research and publications focus on topics in Arabic sociolingusitics, including code-switching, language and gender, leveling, register, language policy and discourse analysis. She is also an award winning novelist.