Language and Identity in the Arab World

344 Pages·2022·11.968 MB·

by  Fathiya Al Rashdi, Sandhya Rao Mehta

Language and Identity
in the Arab World
Language and Identity in the Arab World explores the inextricable link between
language and identity, referring particularly to the Arab world. Spanning I ndonesia
to the United States, the Arab world is here imagined as a continually changing
one, with the Arab diaspora asserting its linguistic identity across the world.
Crucial questions on transforming linguistic landscapes, the role and implications
of migration, and the impact of technology on language use are explored by
­established­and­emerging­scholars­in­the­field­of­applied­and­­socio-linguistics.­The­
book­asks­such­crucial­questions­as­how­language­contact­affects­or­transforms­
identity,­how­language­reflects­changing­identities­among­migrant­communities,­
and how language choices contribute to identity construction in social media.
As well as appreciating the breadth and scope of the Arab world, this anthology
focuses on the transformative role of language within indigenous and migrant
communities as they negotiate between their heritage languages and those spoken
by the wider society.
Investigating the ways in which identity continues to be imagined and
­re-constructed­in­and­among­Arab­communities,­this­book­is­indispensable­to­
students, teachers, and anyone who is interested in language contact, l inguistic
landscapes, and minority language retention as well as the intersections of
language and technology.
Fathiya Al Rashdi is Assistant Professor in Sociolinguistics and Discourse
Analysis, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, and editorial board member of
Discourse, Context and Media.
Sandhya Rao Mehta is Associate Professor of Global Literature, Sultan Qaboos
University, Oman, and editor of three critical anthologies, including Language
Studies: Stretching the Boundaries and Language and Literature in a Glocal
World.
Routledge Studies in Language and Identity
Series­Editor:­Reem­Bassiouney
The­Routledge­Studies­in­Language­and­Identity­(RSLI)­series­aims­to­examine­
the­intricate­relation­between­language­and­identity­from­different­perspectives.­
The­series­straddles­fields­such­as­sociolinguistics,­discourse­analysis,­applied­lin-
guistics, historical linguistics and linguistic anthropology. It aims to study identity
and language by utilizing novel methods of analysis as well as ground breaking
theoretical approaches.
Titles­in­Series:
Translation as a Set of Frames
Ali Almanna and Chonglong Gu
Languages, Identities and Intercultural Communication in
South Africa and Beyond
Russell H Kaschula
Linguistic Choices in the Contemporary City
Postmodern Individuals in Urban Communicative Settings
Edited by Dick Smakman, Jiří Nekvapil and Kapitolina Fedorova
Linguistic Identities in the Arab Gulf States
Waves of Change
Edited by Sarah Hopkyns and Wafa Zoghbor
Language and Identity in the Arab World
Edited by Fathiya Al Rashdi and Sandhya Rao Mehta
For­more­titles,­please­visit:­www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Language-
and-Identity/book-series/RSLI
Language and Identity
in the Arab World
Edited by Fathiya Al Rashdi and
Sandhya Rao Mehta
First published 2023
by­Routledge
4­Park­Square,­Milton­Park,­Abingdon,­Oxon­OX14­4RN
and­by­Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
©­2023­selection­and­editorial­matter,­Fathiya­Al­Rashdi­and­Sandhya­Rao­
Mehta; individual chapters, the contributors
The­right­of­Fathiya­Al­Rashdi­and­Sandhya­Rao­Mehta­to­be­identified­as­
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters,­has­been­asserted­in­accordance­with­sections­77­and­78­of­the­
Copyright,­Designs­and­Patents­Act­1988.
All­rights­reserved.­No­part­of­this­book­may­be­reprinted­or­reproduced­or­
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
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Trademark notice:­Product­or­corporate­names­may­be­trademarks­or­
registered­trademarks,­and­are­used­only­for­identification­and­explanation­
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A­catalogue­record­for­this­book­is­available­from­the­British­Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN:­978-1-032-00640-6­(hbk)
ISBN:­978-1-032-00643-7­(pbk)
ISBN:­978-1-003-17498-1­(ebk)
DOI:­10.4324/9781003174981
Typeset­in­Times­New­Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Tables viii
List of Figures ix
List of Maps xi
List of Contributors xii
Preface xviii
Introduction 1
SANDHYA­RAO­MEHTA
PART I
Linguistic Landscapes 11
1 Persia and Oman: An Historical and Linguistic Intersection 13
ROBERTA­MORANO
2 Landscaping in Moroccan Arabic: Language
Regimentation, Practices and Ideologies 29
ADIL­MOUSTAOUI­SRHIR
3 Arabic in Michigan: An American Linguistic Landscape 51
CAMELIA­SULEIMAN
4 Translanguaging in Gulf English-Medium Instruction
Higher Education 76
SARAH­HOPKYNS
5 Linguistic and Conceptual Challenges of Public Opinion
Surveys in the Arab Gulf States 93
RUSSELL­E.­LUCAS
vi Contents
PART II
Unpacking Identities 113
6 A Place to Belong: The Social Construction of Badu Identity
in Jazan, Saudi Arabia 115
JULIE­LOWRY
7 Intersecting Scapes, Global Flows, and New Identity
Options: Female Qatari Students’ Informal Learning
of Turkish Language 134
SARA­HILLMAN
 8  Arab Influencers and Social Media: A Sociolinguistic Study 
of a New Culture 153
MEIS­AL-KAISI­AND­MAI­ZAKI
9 Multilingualism in Lebanon: Code-Switching as Cultural
Representation 174
LUBNA­BASSAM
10 Perceptions of Codeswitching and Identity in the Egyptian
Context 190
NADIA­ABDULGALIL­SHALABY
PART III
Arabic in Migrant Communities 209
11 Dialect Variation Among Omani Migrants in Muscat:
The Construction of Social Identity Through Style Shifting 211
SUAAD­AMBU-SAIDI
12 The Asymmetric Linguistic Identities of African Soqotris:
A Triadic Interaction 236
SARALI­GINTSBURG­AND­ELEONORA­ESPOSITO
13 The Role of Education and Dialect Contact in the Realiza-
tion of (ðˤ) and (dˤ) in the Speech of Palestinian Children 
and Adolescents in Syria 255
OUROOBA­SHETEWI
Contents vii
14 Family Language Policy Between Ideology and Practice: A
Domain-Based Exploration of Arabic as a Heritage Lan-
guage in the United States 281
REDA­MOHAMMED
15 Aspects of Speech in the Hadhrami-Descent Community of
Indonesia 299
ABDULLAH­HASSAN­AL-SAQQAF­AND­NABIEL­ABDUL­KARIM­
HAYAZE’
Index 317
Tables
1.1 Persian Loanwords in the Omani Dialect Spoken in
the­District­of­al-ʿAwābī­ 24
­ 3.1­ Top­15­Non-English­Languages­Spoken­by­Michiganders­ 56
5.1 Question Wording of Competing Public Opinion
Conceptualizations 105
­ 6.1­ List­of­Words­With­[tʃ]­and­[k]­ 121
­ 6.2­ Lexical­Items­Linked­With­Badu­Identity­ 125
­ 8.1­ Data­by­Social­Media­Platform­and­Influencer­Account­ 159
­ 8.2­ Total­Linguistic­Content­by­Platform/Language­ 160
­11.1­ The­Use­of­the­Labialization­Process­in­Nizwa­Dialect­ 217
­11.2­ The­Use­of­the­Syncope­Process­in­Nizwa­Dialect­ 218
­11.3­ The­Use­of­the­Second-Person­Feminine­Singular­
Suffix­in­Nizwa­Dialect­ 218
­11.4­ The­Use­of­the­Future­Morpheme­in­Nizwa­Dialect­ 218
­11.5­ Possible­Misunderstanding­in­Reading­the­Nizwa­Dialect­
Future Particle 219
­11.6­ The­Use­of­Yes/No­Question­Clitics­in­Nizwa­Dialect­ 220
­11.7­ Summary­of­the­Results­of­the­Mixed-Effects­Logistic­
Regression­Tests­ 221
12.1 Overview of Interview Data 240
13.1 Participant Groups 259
­13.2­ Distribution­of­(ðˁ)­and­(dˁ)­Variants­Across­Data­ 260
­14.1­ Parents’­Preferences­(Four­Skills­of­Arabic)­ 288
­14.2­ Parental­Perceptions­Regarding­Islamic­School­Enrollment­ 290
­15.1­ Indonesian­Hadhrami­Word­List­ 307
Figures
­ 2.1­ Poster­in­Moroccan­Arabic­for­the­Telecommunications­
Company Méditel 34
2.2 Multilingual Second Campaign Video of February 20th 35
­ 2.3­ Text­in­MA­ 39
­ 2.4­ Text­in­MA­ 40
­ 2.5­ Text­in­MA­ 42
­ 2.6­ Text­in­MA­ 43
­ 2.7­ A­Handwritten­Message­in­MA­in­a­Small­Food­Kiosk­ 44
­ 2.8­ Text­in­MA­ 45
­ 3.1­ Certificate­of­Naturalization­for­Mustafa­Darwish,­a­Muslim­Arab­ 53
­ 3.2­ Sign­at­Greenfield­Village­ 54
­ 3.3­ Detroit­Metro­Airport­with­a­Sign­in­Arabic­ 58
­ 3.4­ A­Billboard­on­I-94,­Dearborn,­in­Arabic­and­English­ 58
3.5 Sign Welcoming Immigrants in Spanish, English and Arabic 59
­ 3.6­ Sign­Welcoming­Immigrants­in­Arabic,­Spanish,­Hebrew­
and English 60
­ 3.7­ Copy­of­the­FBI­Letter­to­the­Arab­Community­after­
September 11, 2001 61
­ 3.8­ A­Sign­in­Dearborn­in­Front­of­a­Popular­Grocery­Store­ 62
­ 3.9­ Advertising­a­House­for­Rent­ 63
­ 3.10­ An­Advertisement­for­a­Bakery­in­Dearborn­ 64
­ 3.11­ Advertisement­for­a­Restaurant­in­Dearborn­ 65
­ 3.12­ The­Inside­of­an­Iraqi­Bakery­in­Dearborn­ 65
3.13 Sign Listing Services in Arabic in Dearborn 66
­ 3.14­ A­Page­from­the­New­Testament­in­Arabic­and­English­ 68
­ 3.15­ A­Christian­Chaldean­Home­in­Sterling­Heights­ 69
­ 3.16­ A­Muslim­Home­in­Dearborn­ 70
­ 3.17­ Billboards­in­English­and­Arabic­Encouraging­Arab­Americans­
to Participate in the US Census for 2020 74
­ 8.1­ Language­Classification­of­Posts­in­the­Data­Set­ 160
­ 8.2­ Language­Distribution­by­Country­ 161
­ 8.3­ Language­Choices­of­Twitter­Influencers­ 162
­ 8.4­ Language­Choices­of­Instagram­Influencers­ 165