Language and Society in the Middle East and North Africa / Edition 1

by Yasir Suleiman

Overview

This book investigates issues of central importance in understanding the role of language in society in the Middle East and North Africa. In particular, it covers issues of collective identity and variation as they relate to Arabic, Berber, English, Persian and Turkish in the fields of gender, national affiliation, the debate over authenticity and modernity, language reforms and language legislation. In addition, the book investigates how some of these issues are realized in the diaspora at both the micro and macro levels.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700710782
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/17/1999
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1: Language and Political Conflict in the Middle East; 2: Why Do Different Variables Behave Differently? Data from Arabic; 3: Sociolinguistic Reflexes of Socio-Political Patterns in Bethlehem; 4: Hebrew and English Borrowings Inpalestinian Arabic in Israel:; 5: Pronouns and Self Presentation in Public Discourse; 6: Language Choice, Language Policy and the Tradition-Modernity Debate in Culturally Mixed Postcolonial Communities; 7: The Status of Berber; 8: Comparative Perspectives on Language Planning in Iran and Tajikistan; 9: The Story of a Failed Attempt; 10: Gender in a Genderless Language; 11: The Sociolinguistic Connotations of /p/ and /v/ in Cairo Arabic; 12: Language and Diaspora; 13: Sociolinguistic Meaning in Code-Switching; 14: The Arabic Proverb and the Speech Community

Editorial Reviews

'Suleiman has done an outstanding job in editing these important sociolinguistic and anthropologically-oriented studies.' - Alan S. Kaye, Bulletin of SOAS

'the volume succeeds in giving a sense of unity - thanks to the guiding hand of the editor.' - International Journal of the Sociology of Language

From the Publisher