Arabic
in the Digital Age
Prof. Reima Al-Jarf
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
[email protected]http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf
Language Policy & Language learning Conference (LPLL).
University of Limerick, Ireland. June 18-20, 2009.
Introduction
} Arabicisadiaglossic language.
} Ithasaspokencolloquialformandastandard
writtenform.
} Thestandardformisthelanguageofthemedia
andformalsituationssuchaslectures.
} Thespokencolloquialformisusedininformal
situationssuchastalkingtofriends,shopping.
} Anewlinguisticphenomenonhasemerged,
especiallyamongSaudicollegestudents,with
theintroductionofSMSandemailmessages,
students onlinediscussionforums,blogs,
Facebook,Twitter,andchatsoverMSNorYahoo
Messenger.
AimsofStudy
} Toexaminethelanguageofonlinediscussion
forumArabiclanguageuse.
} Identifythestrategiesusedinonline
communication.
} Why
DataCollection
} Asampleofemailmessages,forum andblog
posts wasrandomlyselectedfromtheKing
SaudUniversityStudentsforums,blogs,
Facebook,andemailmessages.
} Asampleofcollegestudentswassurveyedto
findoutthereasonsforthisnewsocio
linguisticphenomenon.
ContentAnalysisResults
X Moststudentsuseslangandcolloquial
languageinsteadofStandardArabic.
..
..
..
Y InFacebook,Arabicmessagesarefully
Romanized:
La7awlawala Ghowata ella Bellah Al3ali
Al3atheem
wala ana aktar ya noooooor mwah
reham inti elamarwallah
Z Slangwordsarespelledininventedwaysthat
makesthemdifficulttoreadandcomprehend.
Useofseverallongvowelswithinawordsuchas:
.
THAAAAAAAAANKSUAREREALLYMYFREINDS!!!
MWAAH
MUNAAAAAAAAAAAALATFDA7INI LO0O0O0O0L
mesaa2el5eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!!1loo0o0olz
O3ARTH O5TI SA7!LOOOOL
OMG!7ARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!
3anjaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad7araaaaaaaaaaaaaaam
zainab werana 3asooooooooooooool
[ UseofattachedArabicletterformsinword
finalposition:
\ AmixtureofEnglishandArabicorFrenchand
Arabicwordsisused(i.e.anewformofcode
switching).ArabicwordsareinsertedinEnglish
messages.
Khalto Habeebti... I miss you, and hope you
are doing well... Keefik? I am so happy that
you are on facebook and you keep in
touch.... Keeef Iowa... do u see Rami and the
family... All the love min Nablus...
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comeon7aram3alekmalek andmissu
reham mwah
ranaaa youlooksooo cute7abibti,,,how's
everything?andsaifooo :):)
Naif :( it's just wedding arrangement stuff !
allah ye3een :**
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] English words are inserted in Arabic
messages:
Allah y5leekom 4each other
Dyala ,, Allah yebarik feek ya rab :*
merci merci cousin
Faro7a thanx,, love ya
thanx amiga Ala'a ;)
7ayatyranosha betjanini missu
kteeeeeeeeer
^ EnglishorFrenchwordsaretransliteratedand
interspersed.
_ SomeevenwritepoetryusingamixtureofArabic
andEnglishwords.TheyuseEnglishrhyming
wordsthatfitverywellinArabicpoetrymeters.
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Infection
Direction
Mention
Section
Selection
Action
Exception
Tension
Connection
Reaction
Affection
Passion
Conversion
` Newsymbolsandnumbers(suchas3,6,7)are
usedtotranscribeArabicphonemesforwhich
noequivalentgraphemesareavailablein
Englishsuchas7for,8for,6for,3for,asin
7aleem,3ali,6aleb).
Mashallah allah y7fa6'hom
7abeebte rannosh
3o8balna ya rab
3izzee la m3laish 5al el rashaash fe
awgat o5ra ;) :***
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w Nonstandardusepunctuationmarks(too
many,combinationofdifferenttypes):
ranaaa youlooksooo cute7abibti,,,how's
everything?and saifooo :):)
damdoooom thanx 7abibti 3yonekelhelweh!
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QuestionnaireResults
} Studentsreportedthatitiseasierforthemto
expressthemselves inslangandcolloquial
ArabicratherthanstandardArabic.
} Theyliketowritethewaytheyspeak.
} Inforumspeoplechatandexpresstheir
opinions,thususespokenlanguage.
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} SomeexpressedtheirinabilitytouseStandard
Arabic(havedifficultywithspelling,grammar),
despitethefactthatSaudistudentuseStandard
Arabicingradeschoolfor12yearsandstudyall
contentcoursessuchasmath,science,
geography,history,socialstudies,religionin
StandardArabicinadditiontoArabicpoetry,
grammar,reading,andcompositioncoursesin
everygradelevel.
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Recommendations
} Neweducationalandlinguisticpoliciesfor
reinforcingtheuseofStandardArabamongthe
younggeneration,especiallycollegestudents
needtobeestablished.
} Rulessetbyonlinediscussionforumsthat
emphasizeuseofStandardArabic(aruleinmy
forum).
} Raisingyoungpeoplesawarenessofthis
linguisticphenomenainthemedia.
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Thanks for your
attention!
!
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