Arabizi Effects on the Arabic language
‘Arabizi’ Effect on the Arabic language
A focused study at the American University of Sharjah
Table of Contents
I. Introduction 3
II. Literature Review 4
III. Research Question 11
IV. Methodology 11
V. Results 14
VI. Discussion 18
VII. Conclusion 21
VIII. References 23
IX. Appendix 25
I. Introduction: Whenever you walk at the campus of the American University of Sharjah, you will definitely find the young Arab girls wear trendy Western dresses as well as the Arab boys wear stylish Western clothes. And even students with more conservative dresses seem more Western than Eastern. No matter how young Arab people wear or look like nowadays, they even tend to be different in the language they use in typing and communicating. There is a widespread linguistic phenomenon that tremendously encroaches their lives and ultimately leads them to write in an unusual language. This language is well-known nowadays among Arabs especially the youth as “Arabizi”. Arabizi, a slang term derived from the words arabi or Arabic and englizi or English, is used to describe the melding between Arabic and English (Yaghan, 2008). It is a common contemporary trend for typing that has largely spread among young Arabs who use Arabic numerals and Latin characters to communicate, i.e. “5alas”. Given the linguistic, cultural and social significance that Arabizi has in contemporary society, indeed it is extremely interesting and also important to deeply investigate this phenomenon in order to determine its dimensions, causes and possible consequences. Questions, controversies and concerns have been heavily raised over this issue. Questions like “Why do young people use Arabizi?”, “To what extent will it affect our language which is a critical component of our Arabic identity?” and so on have been asked by many specialists and scholars and even ordinary people. Some users may think it is helpful and easy to communicate, but also others are concerned about how Arabizi can
A focused study at the American University of Sharjah
Table of Contents
I. Introduction 3
II. Literature Review 4
III. Research Question 11
IV. Methodology 11
V. Results 14
VI. Discussion 18
VII. Conclusion 21
VIII. References 23
IX. Appendix 25
I. Introduction: Whenever you walk at the campus of the American University of Sharjah, you will definitely find the young Arab girls wear trendy Western dresses as well as the Arab boys wear stylish Western clothes. And even students with more conservative dresses seem more Western than Eastern. No matter how young Arab people wear or look like nowadays, they even tend to be different in the language they use in typing and communicating. There is a widespread linguistic phenomenon that tremendously encroaches their lives and ultimately leads them to write in an unusual language. This language is well-known nowadays among Arabs especially the youth as “Arabizi”. Arabizi, a slang term derived from the words arabi or Arabic and englizi or English, is used to describe the melding between Arabic and English (Yaghan, 2008). It is a common contemporary trend for typing that has largely spread among young Arabs who use Arabic numerals and Latin characters to communicate, i.e. “5alas”. Given the linguistic, cultural and social significance that Arabizi has in contemporary society, indeed it is extremely interesting and also important to deeply investigate this phenomenon in order to determine its dimensions, causes and possible consequences. Questions, controversies and concerns have been heavily raised over this issue. Questions like “Why do young people use Arabizi?”, “To what extent will it affect our language which is a critical component of our Arabic identity?” and so on have been asked by many specialists and scholars and even ordinary people. Some users may think it is helpful and easy to communicate, but also others are concerned about how Arabizi can
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