Social Variables and Dialectal Shifts: A Study of Linguistic Changes in Karbala and Baghdad
Mustafa Talib Mutashar Jabri
1
(
Department of English, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
)
Bahram Hadian
2
(
Department of English, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic AzadUniversity, Isfahan, Iran
)
Raad Shakir AbdulHasan AlNawas
3
(
Department of English, College of Education for Humanities, University of Thi Qar, Iraq
)
Atefeh Sadat Mirsaeedi
4
(
Department of English, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic AzadUniversity, Isfahan, Iran
)
کلید واژه: Social variables, dialectal shifts, Karbala dialect, Baghdad dialect, phonological, syntactic, and semantic features,
چکیده مقاله :
This study investigates the impact of education, age, and gender on linguistic changes within the dialects of Karbala and Baghdad, Iraq. Utilizing a sociolinguistic approach, the research analyzes how these social variables influence phonological, syntactic, and semantic features. A mixed-methods design was employed, gathering data from 192 participants in both cities, encompassing urban and rural environments. The findings highlight education and age as critical factors driving dialectal variations, with urban populations showing a stronger tendency to adopt standardized linguistic forms. Younger generations, particularly in urban settings, lead the shift toward prestigious urban language norms. Gender also plays a significant role, with female speakers more likely to adopt prestigious language forms. These results contribute to the understanding of dialectal evolution in Iraq and align with broader trends in Arabic sociolinguistics, highlighting the interplay between social factors and language change.
Linguistic change is an inevitable consequence of the dynamic interaction between language and society. In many communities, language evolves in response to various social forces, such as education, age, gender, and geographic location. In the case of Iraq, the cities of Karbala and Baghdad offer an ideal context to study how these social variables influence dialectal features. Baghdad, as the capital and a cosmopolitan center, represents urban linguistic prestige and is a hub of linguistic innovation. Karbala, with its more traditional and religious atmosphere, exhibits a different set of linguistic characteristics, especially in its rural regions.
چکیده انگلیسی :
This study investigates the impact of education, age, and gender on linguistic changes within the dialects of Karbala and Baghdad, Iraq. Utilizing a sociolinguistic approach, the research analyzes how these social variables influence phonological, syntactic, and semantic features. A mixed-methods design was employed, gathering data from 192 participants in both cities, encompassing urban and rural environments. The findings highlight education and age as critical factors driving dialectal variations, with urban populations showing a stronger tendency to adopt standardized linguistic forms. Younger generations, particularly in urban settings, lead the shift toward prestigious urban language norms. Gender also plays a significant role, with female speakers more likely to adopt prestigious language forms. These results contribute to the understanding of dialectal evolution in Iraq and align with broader trends in Arabic sociolinguistics, highlighting the interplay between social factors and language change.
Linguistic change is an inevitable consequence of the dynamic interaction between language and society. In many communities, language evolves in response to various social forces, such as education, age, gender, and geographic location. In the case of Iraq, the cities of Karbala and Baghdad offer an ideal context to study how these social variables influence dialectal features. Baghdad, as the capital and a cosmopolitan center, represents urban linguistic prestige and is a hub of linguistic innovation. Karbala, with its more traditional and religious atmosphere, exhibits a different set of linguistic characteristics, especially in its rural regions.
Abu-Haidar, F. (1991). Christian Arabic of Baghdad: A sociolinguistic study. In Language and Society in the Middle East (pp. 123-145).
Albirini, A. (2016). Language and digital communication in the Arab world: The impact of social media on language use. Journal of Arabic Linguistics, 8(2), 45-67.
Al-Rojaie, A. (2013). Social stratification and language variation in Saudi Arabia. Arab World English Journal, 4(3), 34-56.
Ferguson, C. A. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15(2), 325-340.
Ingham, B. (1997). Dialectal change in the Gulf region: A sociolinguistic perspective. Gulf Arabic Studies, 12(1), 78-92.
Labov, W. (1966). The social stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Labov, W. (1990). The intersection of social and linguistic factors in language change. In Language Variation and Change (pp. 1-20).
Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic Patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Tagliamonte, S. A. (2021). Variationist sociolinguistics: Change, observation, interpretation. Cambridge University Press.
Trudgill, P. (1974). Linguistic change and social networks in Norwich. In Sociolinguistics: A reader (pp. 23-38).
