Language Variation: Arabic Dialects in Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Arabic sociolinguistics, namely Arabic dialectology, is a demanding area of study. Therefore, the current research was conducted to fulfill some of those needs. Qualitative methods were applied in order to answer the research questions: What are the salient linguistic features of the Hijazi Hadari dialect, Urban Bedouins Hijazi dialect, and the emerging Saudi Arabic White dialect in Madinah? When are these dialects used? What changes or accommodations are made to these dialects when communicating with the other social groups? To provide answers to those questions, observations and interviews were applied. By applying the SPEAKING model (Hymes, 1974), six participants (three from each social group) enrolled to collect the needed data. Two social factors played a role in my study: age and register. The findings present the linguistic features of the three dialects in Madinah (HH, UBH and WD). The results affirm that both social groups adapt their dialects to form the WD in order to better align with one another. However, most phonetic changes are made by HH speakers. Notably, the White dialect is more commonly spoken among the younger generation than among the middle-aged participants. However, middle-aged participants tend to use WD more when communicating with the other social group or in informal settings. On the contrary, elderly speakers do not use the WD entirely and prefer to preserve their dialects. Keywords: dialects, Arabic, Madinah, HH, UBH, WD