In every language there are a lot of variations, such as in English and Arabic. And it occurs mostly when you are speaking. Linguistic geography is "The investigating aspects of language variation based on where that language is used" page 194.
Standard language is the official language in your country. For example: standard الفصحى Arabic in Arabian countries is
You can find it in printed books, newspapers, newscasts, and formal programs; also it's used in teaching at schools as written or spoken language. This also goes on English as well. But how people speak in their everyday life, when they speak standard language just in those occasions?
Because of the regional variation, every region speaks with an accent and a dialect. Dialect means "the features of vocabulary and grammar as well as pronunciation" page 195. So, it means the choice of words, or even having their own words to describe a thing or an action. For example: Najdi and Hijazi dialects.
أعطيها / اطلعي براNajdi:
أدّيها / اطلعي فوق Hijazi:
As for accent. Accent means the differences in pronunciation. And everyone has an accent whether it is clear and recognizable, or it's hard to recognize it. An example for very clear and recognizable accents, the standard American English and the standard British English saying the word Car. It would be clear for you the differences between them especially at the British accent where they usually don't pronounce the sound /r/. In British English they say the word car like /ka:/. But in American English they pronounce the /r/ in /ka:r/.
As in Arabic, you would easily recognize Hijazi and Egyptian accents because they don't pronounce some letters. For example in the word:
ثلاثة
سلاسة Egyptian accent:
They replace the sound / θ/ with the sound /s/.-
تلاتةHijazi accent:
θ/ with the sound /t/. They replace the sound /-
The study of different dialects in any country is called Dialectology. It is "the study of dialects to distinguish between two different dialects of the same language. And tow dialects in two different languages." page 196. In Saudi Arabia we have five regions. Every region has its own dialect, with its own features. There are also many different dialects at the same region. For example: Riyadh and Shaqraa are in the same region but has different dialects.
كلمها / اخباركي / حنّا Riyadh dialect:
إزهمها / اخبارتس / أنحنShaqraa dialect:
When I am between my family and relatives, let's say, in a gathering together. I usually tend to speak in Najdi dialect, because I understand them and I know they understand me. But when I am at school I tend to speak with my friends in sort of a white dialect that everybody understands. Or otherwise we would turn it into a translation sessions. But a friend of mine, she is from Riyadh and her mother is from Bahrain. So, with us, she speaks with Najdi dialect. And with her mother and relatives she can switch to Bahraini dialect. Speaking with two dialects in the same language is called Bidialectal.
Canada is officially bilingual country. Bilingual means "when people talk two distant languages." Page198. In Canada's case, they speak English and French. To the point that Quebec's citizens speak French, and study English at school as a second language. It also goes on Lebanon where they speak Arabic and French.
You can notice people when they speak to non Arabic speakers, like maids or drivers. They use pidgin. Pidgin is "a variety of language that developed for some practical purpose, such as trading. Among groups of people who had a lot of contact. But who didn't know each other's language." Page201. An example for an Arabic pidgin:
- انا يعطي فلوس واحد ريال، بعدين انتا جيب حليب.
- كلام بابا جيب فلوس عشان عبي بنزين.
Arabic is the lexifier language if it is an Arabic pidgin. It means it's the main source of words. It doesn't mean that those words will have the same pronunciation or meaning as in the source language.
"When a pidgin develops beyond its role as a trade or contact language, and becomes the first language of a social community it is described as Creole." Page202. Surprisingly in Arabic we have creoles, and one of them called Nubi. "An Arabic-based Creole spoken by descendants of Sudanese soldiers mainly in Kenya and Uganda, formed in the nineteenth century from a Sudanese Arabic-based pidgin used for intercommunication among Southern Sudanese ethnic groups."
Finally, every language has its own dialects with its own features, and its changes according different geographical areas. How the language changes from a long time ago depends on many reasons. For example, how much they use the standard language. Also it can be affected by the countries near it. Like Hijazi dialect is affected by Egypt, and Dammam dialect is affected by Bahrain. Studying regional variation is interesting and enjoyable. It's not something to be ignored and not studied.
Sources:
1) The study of language. George Yule.
3rd edition.
2) Arabic-based Creole languages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic-based_creole_languages
# A research I did for Linguistics class.
My resources are bad I didn't know back then how to resourse properly.
Approximately second half of 2009
Approximately second half of 2009
Nice work
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