Discourse-pragmatic variation and change in Najdi Arabic

Abstract

This thesis is a sociolinguistic examination of the variation and change in the use of discourse-pragmatic features in Najdi Arabic (NA), spoken in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. It investigates three discourse-pragmatic variables: (i) MA: 2ADRI: (‘I don’t know’), presenting three variants: ma: 2adri:, ma: dri:, and madri:; (ii) TAYYIB (‘well, okay’), with two variants: Tayyib and Tab; and (iii) intensifiers, such as marrah, jiddan (‘very’), wallah (‘very, indeed’), and Sidg (‘really’). Quantitative variationist approach and qualitative methods are employed to examine the discourse-pragmatic functions of MA: 2ADRI: and TAYYIB, how linguistic and social variables impact variability, and whether lexical variation in the use of intensifiers is influenced by internal and external factors. Additionally, the research evaluates how grammaticalisation contributes to the variation and change of these discourse-pragmatic features. Self-recorded spontaneous conversations collected from 60 speakers, stratified across age (young, adult, and older-adult) and gender (females versus males) were analysed for the study. The analysis demonstrates that MA: 2ADRI: and TAYYIB perform extensive discourse-pragmatic functions, which are highly implicated in their form variation. It emerged that the choice of the variant of the variables is strongly conditioned by the speakers’ age and gender. The variation in intensifiers is constrained significantly by social factors and partially by linguistic factors. Changes in apparent time are attested by the rise of madri:, Tab, marrah, and Sidg, and the decrease of ma: 2adri:, ma: dri:, Tayyib, and wallah. Generally, younger speakers, primarily females, lead these changes. The findings suggest the variables have undergone semantic-pragmatic changes attributable to grammaticalisation processes. The developments of MA: 2ADRI: and TAYYIB exhibit further indications of grammaticalisation, including decategorialisation and phonological reduction.