The Sociolinguistic Dimensions of Code-switching between Arabic and English by Saudis
The neglected area of Arab speakers’ verbal performance in mixed-sex contexts is the focus of this study. This paper attempts to contribute to this area by studying the frequency and type of code-switches from Arabic into English in the casual conversations of young bilingual Saudis. Findings indicate that Saudi females’ style of speech was characterized by substantially more code-switching from Arabic into English particularly single noun and adjective switches than their male counterparts in both single and mixed sex interactions. Women’s turn-switches were marked by more linguistic convergence between one another, however they were less inclined to turn-switch to the language of a speaker of the opposite sex. Men’s code-switching performance at a turn boundary was overall more inclined towards linguistic divergence. The findings in relation to turn-switching would indicate that although these women and men interacted in mixed-sex settings, they still seemed to adhere to Saudi cultural values that encourage social distance between the sexes. It is argued that underpinning Arab women’s and men’s code-switching behavior are lingering cultural customs and gendered ideologies of language.
The chapter explores language attitudes and motivations to accent switches between the reflexes of /k/ in the colloquial speech of a diverse range of Saudi women and men from different…
Little attention has been given in the Arabic sociolinguistics literature on examining levelling influences across speakers of different dialects and social backgrounds. Moreover, the effect of…
The study examines the clitic [-ki] as it occurs in the second person feminine singular object/ possessive pronoun suffix of stem final consonants in the speech of Saudis of Arabic Najdi dialect…