rural dialect

This paper is part of a larger project that investigates language variation and change in the city of Tartus, Syria, where more variables are examined. The current study investigates the variable use of the Qaf variable, which is realized as either [q] and [ʔ] in the colloquial speech of Muslim Alawites in the urban and rural regions. A quantitative analysis was carried out on the data that emerged from interactions with 94 randomly selected participants. The frequency of the [q] and [ʔ] variants was recorded, and inferential statistics using the Binary Logistic Regression test was employed to examine any possible influence of the social factor of age on the realization of [q] and [ʔ]. This study adopts the statistical method commonly used by first-wave variationist sociolinguists. Data analysis revealed various [q] and [ʔ] usage patterns regarding the social categories examined. Age was statistically insignificant in the rural regions. However, the younger age groups (i.e., 19 and below, Between 20-29, and Between 30-39) were largely [ʔ] speakers in the urban region. The elder age groups (i.e., Between 40-49 and 50 and above) showed a tendency toward the [q] variant.

This study investigates the spread of two urban features used in Syrian urban centers such as Damascus and Hims to the vernacular Arabic of non-migrant, rural children and adolescents who are residing in the Syrian village of Oyoun Al-Wadi. The first of the ...

Although many researchers have attempted to include age as a variable in explaining linguistic variation, the delicate mechanisms via which variability in speech relates to age-grading aspect are still incomplete in especially lesser-known Arabic-speaking communities akin to Tlemcen, an urban city in Algeria. This paper aims at cross-sectionally investigating the sociolinguistic situation occurring in the Tlemcen speech community especially concerning the use of the glottal stop, an urban realisation of classical Arabic qaf. With the help of a survey interview, questionnaire and non-participant observation, data were collected from a convenient sample of 122 participants of different age cohorts and genders from Tlemcen. The results show that the dialect contact taking place in the community is moving towards aspects of koineisation, mainly levelling and simplification. Social and psychological features are said to explain the dialectal ruralisation guided by post-adolescent and you...

This study investigates the spread of two urban features used in Syrian urban centers such as Damascus and Hims to the vernacular Arabic of non-migrant, rural children and adolescents who are residing in the Syrian village of Oyoun Al-Wadi. The first of the ...

features [ ] and [a] in place of the rural features [q] and [e] respectively in the vernacular Arabic of rural, non-migrant children and adolescents in the village of Oyoun Al-Wadi in Syria. The study shows that linguistic change in this village is moving in two opposing directions. Girls continue to use their initially acquired mothers’ urban features in their adolescent years; boys who initially acquired and used their mothers’ urban features start acquiring the village features around the fourth grade and increase their use of these features with age. Thus, the observed variation and changes that result from the different meanings associated with the urban and rural sounds under investigation are not only gender-related but also age-related (Kerswill 1996).

In this study, I present a new model for analyzing sociolinguistic variation within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT) and the Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA). This model contributes to the advancement of sociolinguistic methodology as well as to OT and the GLA, unifying both linguistic and social factors. I propose a number of social constraints and incorporate them with linguistic constraints in the GLA. I show that incorporating social constraints yields variant-usage percentages that match real life occurrences. I follow the evaluation process of stochastic grammar in which social constraints are treated like linguistic constraints on a continuous scale of ranking strictness. Their ranking values may differ from one speaker or group of speakers to another. These differences in the ranking values may result in intra- and inter-speaker, intra- and inter-group, intra- and inter-community, or intra- and inter-dialect variation. The number and type of social constraints involved influence the percentage of occurrence of each variant and affect the ranking values of other constraints and the grammar chosen by a speaker or a group of speakers at a particular time and place.

This model enables us to show the effect of linguistic and social constraints simultaneously. It allows us to investigate individual as well as group grammars and shows that those grammars may act independently from each other. It also enables us to project expected percentages of variation by manipulating either the ranking values of constraints or the pair distribution of the output. Evidence comes from the study of the naturally occurring speech of migrant rural speakers of Colloquial Arabic to the city of Hims, Syria. These speakers show different degrees of variation, particularly regarding the use of the two variants [q] and [ʔ], based on various social factors, such as age, gender, residential area, and social class.

The aim of the study is to show how rural migrants adopt the new phonological system of the urban dialect to appear prestigious. The study will focus on the sound change of [q] to [ʔ] and the four stable variants [t] and [s] and [d] and [z]. It will show that variation may be influenced by different factors. The variable use of [q] and [ʔ] is attributed to prestige and social factors. The use of [t] and [s] and [d] and [z] is not social in nature; it has developed historically from the Standard Arabic (SA) [Ɵ] and [ð] respectively as a response to markedness constraints. Today, this variation is stable and each of the four variants is used in specific lexical items. Faithfulness constraints play a major role in maintaining the pronunciation of the input as [t] and [s] and [d] and [z] in the output. This stable phenomenon is further explained in terms of the two opposing effects of frequency (Bybee 2001).

In a situation where prestige plays a role in adopting a new variant, as in the case of rural migrants to the city of Hims, social constraints are viewed as the motivating force behind changing a grammar at a particular time and place. However, one should take into account that the activation of social constraints depends on the speaker’s selection or choice to activate them or not. Hence, these constraints may rank very high in the speech of a speaker who is highly aware of the social values attached to a certain sound. On the other hand, they may rank very low in the speech of a person who, for example, does not care to adopt a new form.

A theory that can take into account all the factors that lead to variation is a better theory than one that takes into account social factors in isolation and ignores grammatical factors or vice versa. Integrating social constraints into formal theory and showing that social constraints can have equal weight or even more weight than grammatical constraints in conditioning variation and change is essential in this study. Including social constraints in the computation provides explanation of the observed sociolinguistic variation between [q] and [ʔ] among members of the same social group or among different speakers or social groups. Interacting social constraints with linguistic constraints in the same framework is a simple comprehensive method to depict and explain the mental process of a speaker at a certain time and/or place. Feeding the GLA with the right output distribution gives the specific ranking values or grammar of each speaker or group of speakers. In other words, the model takes advantage of the stochastic grammar embedded in the GLA to generate grammars that match real life output percentages without trying all the possible rankings of constraints and counting the times those rankings give a certain output. Furthermore, where a statistical analysis fails to indicate the interaction between one social factor and others, the specificity implemented in the GLA by dividing a social factor into a number of social constraints enables us to see interaction among the same social constraints that emerged as insignificant in the statistical analysis. In this sense, implementing social factors as constraints and accounting for sociolinguistic variation within the framework of OT and the GLA has an advantage over other theories.

features [ ] and [a] in place of the rural features [q] and [e] respectively in the vernacular Arabic of rural, non-migrant children and adolescents in the village of Oyoun Al-Wadi in Syria. The study shows that linguistic change in this village is moving in two opposing directions. Girls continue to use their initially acquired mothers’ urban features in their adolescent years; boys who initially acquired and used their mothers’ urban features start acquiring the village features around the fourth grade and increase their use of these features with age. Thus, the observed variation and changes that result from the different meanings associated with the urban and rural sounds under investigation are not only gender-related but also age-related (Kerswill 1996).

The main objective of the study was to examine the variant of the sound (ech) to (ek) among residents of Irbid governorate in light of both gender and age. Sample of the study consisted of nine participants (5 females and 4 males) selected using purposeful sampling from the families residing in Irbid governorate. The sample was from different age groups. The researcher used a qualitative interview to collect data. Results of the study indicated that "ech" variant to "ek" was more apparent among youth participants. It was found that this age group used more "ek" compared to "ech" as they were in more contact with people who do not use "ech" in their speech. It was also found that female participants use more "ek" sound variation compared to males among youth and middle age participants, but not among elderly. The study concluded with some recommendations.

This paper investigates variation in the speech of Jordanian children in addition to its social and psychological motivations and outcomes. The data is collected via the task of naming images accompanied with field observation. The sample involves 29 participants aged between 5 and 13 stratified according to their gender. The study examines the dialectal realizations of qāf including the urban [ʔ], the rural [g], and the standard [q] in the performance of children. The results of the present research show that child language variation and mixing is not only developmental but also socially governed. Acquiring and performing one`s gender identity appears to be an important factor in shifting along with developing a bi-dialectal competence and social consciousness. All these motivations bring the outcome that children are participating in the process of accommodation and,therefore, are enhancing dialect change in Jordanian Arabic.

Sociolinguistics presents itself as an inherently interesting field of study and, as researchers with an interest in language use, most of us are keen on finding out about the best and most appropriate research methodology in sociolinguistics. Janet Holmes and Kirk Hazen have succeeded to edit the much-needed and highly recommended single-volume guide, Research Methods in Sociolinguistics: A Practical Guide, which comprises a collection of twenty-one articles on the major approaches toward and tools of data collection, analysis and interpretation in sociolinguistics research. The book falls into three major parts. Like other volumes published by Wiley Blackwell in this series, the most pleasing characteristic of this volume is its practical approach, providing the reader with hands-on tips on how to collect and use various types of sociolinguistic data and data collection tools. The materials covered are as follows. In

This study investigates the spread of two urban features used in Syrian urban centers such as Damascus and Hims to the vernacular Arabic of non-migrant, rural children and adolescents who are residing in the Syrian village of Oyoun Al-Wadi. The first of the two features is the spread of the urban glottal stop in place of the rural voiceless uvular stop. The second is the spread of the low back vowel [a] in place of the rural mid front vowel [e]. The study shows that linguistic change in this village is moving in two opposing directions. Girls continue to use their initially acquired mothers’ urban features in their adolescent years, whereas boys who initially acquired and used their mothers’ urban features start to switch to the village features around the age of eight and increase their use of these features with age. The study also shows that the observed variation and changes result from the different meanings associated with the urban and rural sounds under investigation, and that these variation and changes are gender- and age-related. In addition, the study shows that the youth’s emotional involvement in building a social identity starts in pre-adolescence, which indicates early sociolinguistic maturity and competence in kids.

Investigating the spread of the urban feature the glottal stop [ʔ] in place of the rural voiceless uvular stop [q] in the speech of rural children and adolescents in the Syrian village, Oyoun Al-Wadi, a bidirectional linguistic change is observed. Girls retain their mothers' urban feature in preadolescence and adolescence; boys who initially acquire the urban feature start switching to the rural feature around age eight and increase their use of this feature with age. Thus, the observed variation and changes are gender-and age-related and result from different meanings associated with urban and rural sounds. Preadolescence emerges as the period in which kids are emotionally involved in building a social identity, indicating early development of sociolinguistic competence.