Thoughts on al fusHa and al’amiyya

As I have mentioned in a previous post, the debates on the issue of al fusHa versus al ‘amiyya are perennial.  Whenever the status of the Arabic language in the Arab world or in the West is discussed, both readers and listeners are showered with arguments and suggestions. Some are quite enlightening and others are not worth mentioning. 

The debate is sometimes triggered by discussions held during the meetings of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo. The Academy meets regularly to discuss new terminologies introduced into standard/classical form of Arabic. The aim of the Academy is to establish terms generally accepted and understood all over the Arab world. In other words, new terminologies, whether technical or non-technical, should have the same meaning in every Arab country.

Members of the Academy, with their usual commitment to al fusHa, comment on, discuss, reject and recommend the type of Arabic that ought to be used in the written form.

Recently, the topic was brought up in the Egyptian newspaper al shorouk. It published an article entitled  “Is al fusHa against progress? Al ‘amiyya invades areas usually restricted to al fusHa” (2/20/2010). The article was followed by Azza Hussein’s lengthy comment.

She wrote, one should also consider a third form of address that derives its legitimacy from the new generation of mobile phones and Internet. It is the Arabic written in Latin script, known as Anglo-Arabic. This, according to her brings to mind Salama Moussa’s call to use a single type of Arabic for both the written and the spoken forms. He also called for the use of Latin script, which according to him would be a ‘ leap towards the future.’ Moreover, says Hussein, in 1964 Dr. Nafoussah Zachariah Sa’id wrote a book entitled “History of the debate on the use of the spoken form and its implication in Egypt.”

Moussa’s wish, according to Azza Hussein, as well as the wish of his followers, Lewis Awad in Egypt and Youssel el Khaal and Anis Freha in Syria, is in the process of being fulfilled. Hussein mentions that the call for using al ‘amiyya has a lengthy history: 

1. Rifaa al Tahtawi called for the use of al’amiyya. He used it, himself, in his writing and translation, and was among the first to introduce it in journalism.

2. The German Orientalist Wilhelm Spita (1880) who was the director of the Egyptian National Library, years after Al Tahtawi published a book on the “Rules of al’amiyya in Egypt.” In his book Spita linked classical Arabic to underdevelopment and called for the use of al’amiyya in writing. Karl Vollers, who replaced Spita as the director of the National Library, not only called for using al ‘amiyya, but also for the use of Latin script in writing it.

3. William Wilcox, a British Orientalist, in 1893 published in Al Azhar magazine, an article entitled “Why Egyptians do not have the talent of invention?”  He linked this lack to the Arabs’ insistence in using al fusah. In 1925 he even translated the Bible into al’amiya. In an article entitled “Syria and Egypt, North Africa and Malta, People Speak Punic, not Arabic.” Wilcox maintained that al ‘amiyya spoken in Egypt, the Levant, the Maghreb and Malta is one and the same language, originally Canaanite,  Phoenician, or Punic, languages that preceded Islam. Hence it is unrelated to classical Arabic!!!!!!!! This is a statement that needs to be seriously commented on.

4. The British Sloan Wilmore (1901), director of the Civil Courts in Cairo during the British occupation, wrote a book “Local Arabic in Egypt.” He called for the use of colloquial instead of classical in literary writings.

5. Louis Massignon, French Orientalist, delivered in 1929 a lecture in Paris titled “The Arabic language will not survive unless it is written in Latin script.”

All of the above calls for the use of al’amiyya have opponents and supporters among the Arabs.  Strangely enough, among the supporters of such a call was the prominent leader of the Liberal Constitutional Party, Dr. Abel Aziz Fahmi, a classicist! In 1943 he suggested to the Academy of the Arabic Language the idea of replacing Arabic script with Latin script. Of course, this idea was vehemently rejected, criticized not only in Egypt, but also all over the Arab world.

6.  Among those supporting the use of al’amiyya in writing, was the Lebanese poet Sa’id Akel. He stated that ‘who wants the language of the Qur ‘an should go to the land of the Qur’an.’

Ahmed Megahed, in the Egyptian newspaper al shorouk of 3/1/2010, wrote an article on the same topic of al’amiyya versus al fusHa titled ‘”Language and Speech.” He quotes the great poet Hafez Ibrahim who published a poem in 1903 with the title of” The Arabic Language Mourns its Destiny Among its People.” In the poem the poet depicts the Arabic language as a person mourning his life prior to death.

رجعت لنفسى فاتهمت حصاتى وناديت قومى فاحتسبت حياتى

رمونى بعقم فى الشباب وليتنى عقمت فلم أجزع لقول عداتى

وَلَدْتُ ولما لم أجد لعرائسى رجالا وأكفاء وأدت بناتى

The poet further says that the fault does not lie in the language itself but rather in its speakers who do not follow any grammatical rules when using it. Hafez Ibrahim, says Megahed, criticized the language used in the media. At that time the only media available were newspapers and magazines.

أرى كل يوم بالجرائد مزلقا من القبر يدنينى بغير أناةِ

Had he seen the press of today, what would the great poet say?  Laments Megahed.

Recently in Egypt there has been a number of discussions about the demise of the Arabic language and the teaching of the language in schools.

This criticism of the educational system in the Arab world is not recent. As Megahed stated in his comment, Yahiya Haqi, a 20th century famous Egyptian writer, criticized school curricula that stress memorization of the grammatical rules rather than understanding them through literary works.

Recently, in a statement given to al shorouk (2/19/2010), Farouk Shousha a poet and a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language was also critical of the language used in Egypt.  Shousha maintains that the decadence of the Arabic language began after the July Revolution of 1952.   The ‘language of colonels’ (bikbaashi) evolved after 1952, says Shousha. All political speeches were delivered in al’amiyya. He further says that the educational system, and schools ‘ curricula in general, have to change. New curricula have to be introduced, and the minister of education has to be an educator himself rather than an engineer!

Today the Egyptian TV channel al masriyya was interviewing a university professor of Arabic, Dr. Ahmed Kishk. He began by stating that al’amiyya is not an official language, and criticized the media for using a mixed language. According to Kishk the media should use standard Arabic. He, however, differentiated between standard and classical Arabic, and it is the standard aspect of the language that ought to be used in the media. As for al’amiyya, says Kishk, its should be refined. The present ‘amiyya is coarse, says Kishk, and this coarseness is transmitted into the standard form of the language.

This continuous discussion on the diaglossic nature of Arabic and its ramification in the different intellectual and academic fields,  both in the Arab world and the West, are interconnected. They  prove that the topic of spoken versus written Arabic, has and will always be en vogue whether it is in the Arab world or in the West.  In the Arab world the discussion usually leads to the topic ‘demise of the language in the educational system’ and its usage in the media. While in the West most of the discussions deal with the topic:  ‘which Arabic ought to be taught’ in schools and colleges. (See my previous post of November 8,2009)

Conference on the Arabic Language in Lebanon: Comments

Lately, while on vacation, I have not been very active posting on my Blog. However, an article in the Daily Star of Lebanon prompted me to comment on three different points mentioned in the article.
The Daily Star (2/26) reported that a conference on “ Arabic Lacks Standards for Teaching, Testing-Expert” was held in Lebanon to discuss the lack of comprehensive test to measure “the capability of university students in Mother Tongue Language.”
A second point was briefly brought up, and that is the lack of tests to examine how to teach students the Arabic language.
Finally a comment made by the media, I assume the Lebanese media, attending the conference was “ their dissatisfaction about the event which was billed as focusing on the mother tongue.”
It is a fact that in most Arab countries high school students take an examination in the Arabic language as they would in any other subjects. They might fail or pass. The grade is then added to the overall score of the examination. There is no special college entrance examination to test students in Arabic prior to their admission to a university. I doubt that Arab countries, including Lebanon, would ever establish a standard entrance examination for native speakers of Arabic. It is taken for granted that when students graduate from high schools they know Arabic!
What should have been stressed in that conference is HOW TO TEACH STUDENTS THE ARABIC LANGUAGE? That is, the training of teachers should be seriously considered not only in Lebanon, but all over the Arab world.
There is definitely a regression in the teaching and the use of the Arabic language, that is modern standard Arabic, in the Arab world. This regression is due to the existing educational system, and the lack of applying modern methods in teaching the language. The archaic methods used to teach the language are the cause students dislike Arabic classes.
Finally, the use of the words ‘Mother Tongue Language’ to refer to college entrance examination was inappropriate. The media was dissatisfied that the conference did not focus on the Mother Tongue. I assume it expected the discussion of colloquial Lebanese, and its rampant use in the media.
This, of course, can lead to very interesting and heated discussions:
Is colloquial the MOTHER TONGUE, or is it rather the standard language that is the MOTHER TONGUE?
Do children begin the process of socialization in colloquial, or in standard
Arabic?
Any comment?














Copyright © 2010 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

Study Arabic!

The best advise to students of Middle Eastern languages is to study Arabic and become fluent in it.
In an article in the daily newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh (2/1/2010) Simone Cheatham quoted a statement made by Cheryl Finlay, Director of Student Employment and Placement Assistance, who said “knowing a second language can help students find jobs in an unsteady economy.” Finley further quotes Alan Juffs a linguistic professor at Pitt who stressed the importance of learning French, Chinese and Arabic. People who are fluent in those languages “might have a higher chance of getting key jobs in government offices, especially with the FBI or the CIA.” Professor Juffs went on saying that students “could also use foreign languages to help them teach English to others, …or volunteer for organizations like the Peace Corps.”
Arabic and Chinese are both languages that play important role on the global stage. Hence, studying them is not only valuable for students to find jobs with the FBI or CIA or as English teachers. The knowledge of both languages will facilitate communication in the business world. They are international languages. In our global setting the knowledge of Arabic and Chinese will create many opportunities for employment in the international business sector. Knowing both the language and the culture of ones business partner will definitely facilitate and enhance all business deals.
Reuters reported on 1/27/2010 that Arab members of the World Trade Organization are pushing for Arabic to be made a fourth official language of the global trade body. Presently, English, French and Spanish are the official languages.
As mentioned in a previous post, the US is a leading power in advocating globalization. The American educational system must drastically improve the “concept of global education.” We have to train American students to be linguistically and culturally more aware of other cultures in order to succeed in any business undertaking.
In addition to the study of foreign languages, Professor Juffs advise students to study also linguistic. “Linguistic and modern languages complement each other.”












2010 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

Arabic Novels in Translation

This post might not be related to the teaching of Arabic directly, but it is within the spirit of the blog.

Learning the Arabic language, or finding out how it is used to express the way people think, should also be of interest to readers of this blog.

In an article published in the New Yorker (1/18/2010), Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote about the translation of Contemporary Arabic Novels. She said, “We need to learn about the ways that people think and work and suffer and fall in love and make enemies and sometimes make revolutions….”

Contemporary Arabic novels will indeed teach us about contemporary Arab people, whether we read them in Arabic or in translation.

The author offers a detailed exposition of contemporary literary Arabic works, of their authors, and of the names of their translators. It is indeed worth reading. And, it would be of interest to any teacher of contemporary Arabic literature, of comparative literature, and definitely to teachers of Advanced Arabic.

Actually, the author’s following statement prompted me to write this post. She said “Arabic novels, while not yet lining the shelves of the local bookstores, have been increasingly available in English translations, offering a marvelous array of answers to question we did not know we wanted to ask.”

 From my perspective as a linguist, I think that students of advanced Arabic language should read in abundance modern novels. Possibly, they will in the future become translators of further novels. There are still many other interesting novels to be translated.

Copyright © 2010 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

Is Arabic Threatened?

Copyright © 2009 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

The article “Workshop Aims To Promote Arabic Language “ by Carol Rizk (1/16/2010) prompted me to write this post.

Rizk was reporting on an organization ‘Fil’Amr’ that sponsored an Arabic festival “with the aim of promoting and preserving the Arabic language.” She quotes Suzan Talhouq who wrote, “…The Arabic language is in a delicate and sensitive position.”

This is somewhat true. I have expressed a similar point in an earlier post ‘The Demise of the Arabic Language in Egypt’. However, the word ‘preserving’ is not appropriate when we refer to Arabic.

Talhouq in discussing the state of the Arabic language was in connection to a conference, she must have attended (The International World Conference on Linguistic Rights held in Barcelona in 1996). The attendees at the Conference discussed “ the people’s right to defend their mother language as it was threatened.”

The Arabic language is definitely not threatened. Languages such as Basque, Scottish Gaelic, Nubian might be threatened due to their contact with a dominant language, that is, there is a “tip” in favor of some other languages, such as Spanish, English, or Arabic.

Talhouq further says that “invasions” and “colonization” has led to “the mutilation 'of Arabic' in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq”

In my opinion “mutilation” is also too strong of a word. It is rather a situation of language contact where Arabic came into contact with other languages.

Whenever languages are in contact, three major processes occur: code switching, borrowing and interference. These are linguistic processes that affect all languages in contact and, hence, can explain the changes that have occurred in the Arabic of Cairo, Beirut, Amman or anywhere else where Arabic is the dominant language.

Language in contact is not a recent phenomenon. It has always occurred and will always occur. As David Wilmsen commented on this bog. “It simply shows that the language is indeed living.”

In the same article, Walid al-Kabis, an Iraqi author living in Norway, notes that Arabic will “become the third international language in 2050 because the number of Arabic speakers would multiply considerably.” That says it all.

Language and Identity

What happens to speakers of Arabic who immigrated to the USA and whose language became a minority language?

What is the role of Arabic, a minority language, in shaping the ethnic identity of Arab-Americans?

In Europe there are investigations and discussions regarding the rise of Arab identity, and to the threat it might cause to the prevailing European national identity. There are discussions as to the rising role of Arabic and/or Islam and it’s playing a major role in building an Arab/Islamic identity.

Is Arabic in its American Diaspora facing the same path of other diasporic contexts of the language, such as Moroccan in Holland or Algerian in France?

Most studies of minority languages or ethnic languages are consistent in their conclusions that the use of ethnic language gradually decreases with successive generations due to the process of assimilation. There are certain events, however, that might lead to an ethnic revival.

Fishman (the Rise and Fall of the Ethnic Revival: Perspectives on Language and Ethnicity, 1985:114) wrote about the attrition of ethnic languages such as French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Yiddish in the United States based on 1960 and 1970 census data, and stated that most who claim non-English mother-tongues no longer use them. Except for Spanish, the attrition rate of the other languages is 36%, while for Spanish it is 19%. This is, of course, due to the large number of those who claim Spanish as mother tongue, and due also to the continuous waves of new immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries.

Arabic speakers in the Detroit metro area share with Spanish speakers these two factors: first, the continuous arrival of new immigrants in their neighborhoods. Second, a large number of Arab-American speakers maintain that Arabic is their mother tongue.

I have conducted a survey of 79 Arab-Americans students studying standard Arabic as a foreign language at Wayne State University: 77out of the 79 stated that Arabic is very important to them. The subjects gave the following categories of reasons for their interest:

38% Ethnic identity

34% Religious affiliation

33% Fulfilling a language requirement

24% The importance of Arabic from a global perspective

5% The influence of parental advice

Hence, ethnic identity and religion are indeed major factors contributing to an increase in the use and learning of Arabic among Arab-Americans, whether at home or as a foreign language in schools and universities.

Standard Arabic acts as a unifying force among all speakers of the language. It is a common denominator that is bringing Arab speakers together, whether in the Arab world or among ethnic groups in the Diaspora. It is an expression of identity. Thus, the standard form of Arabic creates a sense of ethnic identity among Arab-Americans who belong to different speech communities. It is a language from which members of the different speech communities draw support and upon which they build their Arab-American ethos in the Diaspora. Hence, it creates a bond of solidarity and an ethnic identity that raises a feeling of ‘us versus them’.

I came across an article written by Mohammed Almezel in the Wereview (December 25, 09). It is a case whereby Arabic is sought in search of identity. It is the case of the Comoros.

The Union of the Comoros consists of four islands in the Indian Ocean. They declared their independence from France in 1975. Almezel wrote, “The Comoros government has lately been promoting the nation’s Arab heritage …. The majority of the Arabs are believed to have come from Oman and Yemen. The country derives its name from the Arabic word Qamar meaning ‘moon’. The islands are known in Arabic as Juzur al Qumur, which means ‘Islands of the moon”( Almezel). Furthermore, almost 98 % of the islands population is Muslim.

Arabic is still in its infancy. The local language is Shikomoro, a blend of Swahili and Arabic. Officials speak French.

Almezel quotes a high school teacher as saying, “…I am African, of course, but we are also Arab and we try to regain our language…” Unfortunately, Arab countries are reluctant to embrace the Comoros as an Arab country. When they do, they will find that the process of Arabization has already started for the people of the Comoros who want to revive and preserve their ‘Arab identity’.

The above discussion deals with two different cases of Arabic as an ethnic language. However, in both cases identity is sought. The first case of an Arab identity surge is that of a community within a country - the Arab-American community in the United States. The second case is about the identity of a country within a large community – the Arab world .

Copyright © 2009 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

Modern Standard Arabic as a Second Language

Copyright © 2009 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

In the previous post "Which Arabic Ought to be Taught," I discussed the ongoing debates between Arabic professors about how to begin Arabic teaching, i.e. the use of colloquial versus MSA.

Recently, I read an article I thought might be of interest to all of us, and specially to those teaching Arabic to Arabic speakers.

A study conducted by Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim and published in the Journal of Psychology Research and Behavior Management examined the "cognitive status of spoken Arabic versus MSA in the brain."

Dr. Ibrahim concluded that MSA is "expressed in the brain of an Arabic speaker as a second language and not as a mother tongue."

I have always discussed with my students, the difference between MSA and colloquial, and pointed out exactly what Dr. Ibrahim has stated in his study. However, my discussions were not based on any concrete research. It was simply common sense.

It is, however, important to examine the learning of Arabic, both literary and spoken, within the proper domain of language acquisition: first and second language acquisition.

Doesn't this imply that the instruction of Arabic to Arabic speakers ought to use new techniques?
Specially the teaching of Arabic in the Arab world.

Read the whole article on Dr. Ibrahim's study in Science News, and do post your comments.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104091724.htm

Which Arabic Ought To Be Taught?

Recently, there have been discussions in Egypt about the diglossic nature of Arabic, about the teaching of Arabic in schools, about the difficulties students face when learning Arabic, and about the methods used to teach the language. As a result students graduate from high schools or colleges with poor knowledge of their own language (see post, 10/12/09, Demise of the Arabic Language in Egypt).

Maher Hasan wrote in Al Masry al Yom an article entitled “Intellectual Struggle: Egyptianization of the Language” (9/4/09). He stated that the struggle about the nature of the language is one of the oldest ‘literary ‘struggles. Lutfi El Sayyed, Hasan said, wrote seven articles in Al Jarida (1913) about the Egyptianization of the Arabic language. So did his students, Mohammad Hussein Heykal and Taha Hussein. Abdel Rahman Al Barquqi and Mustafa Sadeq Al Rifaa3i who defended the sanctity of the Arabic language vehemently opposed them.

Maher Hasan concluded by saying that the Arabic language has profited from the diverse views exchanged between such luminaries as Lutfi Al Sayyid or Al Rifaa3i. Each aspect of the language is contained in its own domain. The colloquial has a domain, and the FusHa has another domain, and none is superior to the other. Borrowing from each other is allowed except the borrowing of common expressions (mubtathala), according to the author.

Reading this article rekindled in my mind the unending debates in the USA among teachers of Arabic about the diglossic nature of Arabic, and the teaching of the language. Discussions were conducted in the summer of 2007 on Arabic-1. It all started when Mustafa Mughazi announced, on Arabic-1, his program at Western Michigan University. He stated that the “first semester he teaches exclusively a colloquial dialect in the Arabic script. The second semester will continue the dialect and introduce MSA as a written language. Second and third year courses will focus mainly on MSA. Study abroad programs will focus mainly on the dialects”(Arabic-1, 6/1/07)

Different opinions were expressed following Mughazy’s message. The exchange of ideas held on Arabic-1 were between Mustafa Mughazy, David Wilmsen, Nimat Hafez Barazangi, Jeremy Palmer, James E. Bernhardt, Fred Cadora, Dina El Zarka, John Joseph Colangelo, Ola Moshref, Abdulkafi Albirini, Waheed Sami, Michael Schub, Haider Bhuiyan. Antonia Gimenez, Munther Younes, Jackie Murgida, Karin Ryding, Klaus Lagally, and Ahmad Khorshid. I hope nobody was left out!

The different discussions exchanged were interesting. I wish they were all gathered in a monograph as ‘The Dilemma of Teaching Arabic to non-Arabic Speakers: Different views, “ and circulated among students. It will make them think that both MSA and a colloquial are features of the same language, and as David Wilmsen wrote” to be deficient in either one is to miss half of the rich culture of Arabic.”( Arabic-1, Colloquial First 6/19/07)

Hence, the debate about how to begin Arabic teaching, i.e. the use of colloquial versus Fusha, seems to be perennial.

In my humble opinion every teacher of Arabic should consider what motivates, and what is most useful for his/her students, and then use the most appropriate feature or features of the language: colloquial first, colloquial and MSA, or MSA only.

Arabic is not a dead language. It should be taught in such a way as to reflect culture as a whole with all its diversity. It certainly needs a talented teacher who can joggle gracefully the different varieties of the language.

The moral of the story is that one should be aware that there isn’t a single way to begin Arabic teaching.

Comments will be most welcomed.

Language and Religion

Copyright © 2009 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

A call for papers to be published in an issue of The International Journal of the Sociology of Language prompted me to write this post. The theme of the issue is "Language and Religion." It is, nowadays, a very a propos topic.

The question is how does religion impact a language? This can partially be answered by examining, as an example, the use of Arabic in the US.

Religion is one form of identity, and when identity formation is sought, the need for ideological support arises. There is no question that there is a religious revival among Arab Americans Muslims, and Muslims in general in the US. It is an extension of the religious revival that has occurred in the Arab world and Muslim world.

The cause of such revival, although interesting, is not the topic of discussion on this post.

The question is how does religion play a role in the maintenance /shift of the Arabic language among Arab American Muslims?

Most studies of minority languages or ethnic languages are consistent in their conclusions that the use of ethnic language gradually decreases with successive generations due to a process of assimilation. There are certain events, however, that might lead to an ethnic revival. Religion is one such event.

The earliest groups of Arab Americans, those who immigrated after World War II, Christian and Muslims, tried to disassociate themselves from their ethnic heritage, especially its language, because of how they were viewed by others. Actually, as a reaction to the prevailing anti-ethnic feeling and the pressure of conformity and assimilation, some Arab Americans went so far as to Anglicize their names to escape discrimination at work or when applying for jobs, such as: Mohmad became Mike, Saleh became Sally, Bushra became Bouchard...etc.

Since the mid 1960s there has been a shift toward acceptance of ethnicity. This shift is due to three major social changes, both in the US and the Arab world: the civil rights movement in the US; the convoluted political events widespread in the Arab word continue to provide strong reasons for immigration, hence, the number of fluent speakers is increasing in the US; the revival of Muslim identity has created a need for the language with which one can fulfill his/her religious duties. In other words, this revival of Muslim identity has created a special function for Arabic - a religious function - because only Arabic can be used to fulfill the obligation of the most important pillar of Islam, the prayer.

This revival of Muslim identity is apparent on Fridays in Dearborn, Michigan, where most mosques are full at the time of the noon prayer and where women walk to the mosques wearing Islamic attire.

Did the political events following the 9/11 attack on the US affect the maintenance of Arabic among Arab American Muslims? It did not.

Recently, in Detroit, there has bee a revival in the use of Arabic among Arab Americans. This revival is reflected in the increasing number of Arabic television programs, newspapers, and cable networks that transmit directly from the Arab world. Furthermore, national religious academies have been established; private schools, where Arabic and Islamic studies are taught, have been opened. Arabic as a foreign language is taught in some public schools. Moreover, there is a definite increase in enrollment in Arabic classes in universities in Michigan, as well as other American universities (see post 8/26/09 on Can Arabic Survive in America).

I would like to conclude this post by stressing the fact that although religion is related to the maintenance of Arabic in the US, increasing interest in the Arab world plays also a major role in the preservation and expansion of the language among Arab Americans and many Americans with no Arabic background. This is mainly due to political and economic reasons.

There are many other examples where religion plays an important role in the maintenance, shift or revival of a language.

Any contribution to this topic is welcomed.

Sequel on Spoken Languages - Foreign Scripts

Copyright © 2009 Aleya Rouchdy, All Rights Reserved

Professor Fallou Ngom commented on my previous post 'Spoken Languages - Foreign Scripts,' and sent me two articles where he discusses, among other things, the use of "Ajami" in Senegal. I will add the references at the end of this post.

Professor Ngom deals with the effect of a modified Arabic script on the phonology of African languages. He said that "the influence of Arabic in the languages he works with is primarily lexical, but the phonology of Wolof and Fuuta Jalon Pular, is virtually intact."

"Wolofal refers to the adaptation of the Arabic script to transliterate Wolof. It involves the addition of new diacritics (mostly dots called "tomb" in Wolof) on some Arabic letters to transcribe Wolof sounds that do not exist in Arabic. This system is widely used among older Senegalese Muslims." p. 110, quoted from his article on Etnic Identity and Linguistic Hybridization in Senegal.

According to Professor Ngom, the early spread of Islam (14th century) accounts for the "linguistic influence of classical Arabic. However, the Arabic language has never been used as a major medium of communication in the daily life of the Senegalese people. Its use was and is still primarily restricted to religious sphere." p.96, quoted from the article mentioned above.

Professor Ngom's research would be of great interest to anyone interested in Sociolinguistics.
Such as in the topics of languages in contact, borrowings, calques, creole, and/or identity and linguistic varieties.

References of articles written by Professor Fallou Ngom:

1. Ethnic Identity and Linguistic Hybridization in Senegal. Int'l. J.Soc. Lang. 170 (2007), pp. 95-111.

2. Sociolinguistic Motivation of Lexical Borrowings in Senegal. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, Volume 30, Number 2 (Fall 2000), pp. 159-172.