Shared Vowels in English Loanwords in Arabic: Variation in Similarity-Based Adaptation

This paper investigates vowel adaptation in English-based loanwords by a group of Saudi Arabic speakers, concentrating exclusively on shared vowels between the two languages. It examines 5 long vowels shared by the two vowel systems in terms of vowel quality and vowel duration in loanword productions by 22 participants and checks them against the properties of the same vowels in native words. To this end, the study performs an acoustic analysis of 660 tokens (loan and native vowel sounds) through Praat to measure the first two formants (F1: vowel height and F2: vowel advancement) of each vowel sound at two temporal points of time (T1: the vowel onset and T2: the peak of the vowel) as well as a durational analysis to examine vowel length. It reports that measurements of the first two formants of vowels in native words appear to be stable during the two temporal points while values of the same vowel sounds occurring in loanwords are fluctuating from T1 to T2 and that durational differences exist between loanword vowels in comparison with vowels of native words in such a way that vowels in native words are longer in duration than the same vowels appearing in loanwords.

Perceptual mapping of linguistic variation in Saudi Arabic dialects

This article provides a perceptual dialectology account of linguistic diversity in Saudi Arabia. Using the map-drawing and labeling task, the study examined the perceptions and ideologies of 674 speakers of Saudi Arabic dialects about the perceived boundaries of regional dialect varieties, as well as their social evaluation of and beliefs about the dialects. The analysis of the results as displayed in composite maps using a Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping program revealed that respondents identified five major dialect areas as having the most distinct features: the Najdi, Hijazi, southern, eastern, and northern regions. Ten categories of respondents’ labels emerged out of the qualitative analysis: style, influence, Bedouin/urban, fast, open/closed, vowel lengthening, unique vocabulary, alternation of /k/ and /g/, attraction, and social media. The present findings show the salience of certain linguistic and social features that respondents associate with certain dialect areas. Such perceptions can ultimately guide and enhance future descriptions and analyses of actual linguistic variation in Saudi Arabia.

Female university teachers’ realizations of the speech act of refusal

The current study investigates how university teachers decline students’ requests and examines the teachers’ refusal strategies from cross-cultural and interlanguage perspectives. To this end, 60 female university teachers at a private Saudi university participated in 10 role-plays which involved them in declining several students’ requests. The participants consisted of three groups; 20 native speakers of American English (NSE), 20 native speakers of Saudi Arabic (NSA) and 20 native speakers of Saudi Arabic who completed the role-plays in English as non-native speakers of the language (NNSE). The role-plays were audio-recorded and transcribed. The data were coded using Beebe, Takahashi, and Uliss-Weltz’s (1990) refusal model and Trosborg’s (1995) model of internal modifiers. The results revealed the teachers’ general preference for the use of indirect over direct refusal strategies and the American teachers’ stronger tendency to use indirect and mitigating internal modifiers than Arab teachers. The results also showed that the cross-cultural differences between the American and the Arab teachers were limited and that there was no effect for negative pragmatic transfer for the NNSE. The results are interpreted in terms of relevant theoretical models and the existing literature.

Compliments and compliment responses in Egyptian and Saudi Arabic

The current study reports on a variational pragmatic comparison of compliments and compliment responses between Egyptian and Saudi Arabic. Data were collected by using Discourse Completion Tasks from 443 Egyptian and 428 Saudi undergraduates, and were analyzed using adaptations of Yuan’s (2002) and Herbert’s (1986) models. The results reveal significant differences in politeness management between Egyptian and Saudi youth, particularly with Egyptians producing more explicit compliment strategies and Saudis showing stronger preference for implicit compliment strategies and combination patterns. Less difference is noted in compliment responses with only Egyptians exhibiting higher use of additional strategies. The findings are interpreted in light of politeness theory and the interplay between cultural values and linguistic behavior.

How Much of the FUTURE Is BEHIND in Arabic? A View on the Arabic Culture and Embodiment

In the present study, the Arabic metaphorical expressions associated with the conceptual metaphors TIME IS SPACE and THE FUTURE IS BEHIND were analyzed. The analyzed tokens were searched for online. In addition, native speakers of Hijazi-Saudi Arabic confirmed the natural usage of the tokens in their dialect. The productivity of placing the FUTURE in front of the EGO and the unproductivity of placing it behind indicates the FUTURE in front of the EGO as the norm. Based on the metaphorical elements found in the tokens considered, a bidimensional conceptual location of objects on the JOURNEY OF TIME was proposed to include the front location or the elsewhere location. The elsewhere location was referred to as behind, extending the meaning of ‘behind’ to include all locations that are not front. This bidimensionality is represented by the conceptual metaphors FOCUS IS FRONT and PERIPHERY IS BEHIND. Examples associated with these conceptual metaphors were associated with the experiential embodiment. In previous research, the direction of writing and how much weight is given to cultural values have claimed to influence the placement of the FUTURE in Arabic as pre-set reasons. This study is significant because it is done without pre-set reasons for metaphor usage, resulting in none-steered findings. Also, this study opens a window to the metaphorical system of the Hijazi-Saudi Arabic, a variety of Arabic whose metaphorical system is understudied. This study invites considering the placement of the FUTURE in other languages and cultures.

The Use of English Articles in Adjective-modified Contexts

English articles are thought to be complex, ambiguous and not salient in spoken language, which is why second language (L2) learners of English exhibit usage variability. Much of the L2 acquisition literature seems to agree that L2 learners are affected, one way or another, by their first language (L1). However, the debatable and controversial issue is whether there are other factors that affect article use, independent of potential L1 effects. The present study examines whether the presence or absence of adjectives in noun phrases influences article choice among Saudi Arabic learners of English. Both Arabic and English have articles, but Arabic adjectives are different from English adjectives to the extent that they agree with nouns in definiteness, case and gender. The study was conducted with 24 L1 Saudi Arabic speakers and 6 native English speakers. A 42-item fill-in-the-blanks task was administered. The results showed that a) native speakers of English outperformed L2 Arabic speakers in all contexts except indefinite plural contexts not modified by adjectives; and b) L2 Arabic speakers were more accurate in indefinite contexts that were not modified by adjectives than those that were. These findings show that L1 Arabic speakers are sensitive to the presence or absence of adjectives in noun phrases.

Influence of Social Power and Distance on Request Strategies in Saudi Arabic

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of social power and distance on the strategies involved in performing the speech act of request by native speakers of Saudi Arabic. The participants of this study are 26 males and 8 females; all are undergraduate students enrolled in different disciplines at Taif University, Saudi Arabia. Data for this study was collected through the use of a Discourse Completion Task (DCT). The results revealed that the direct strategy is the most preferred strategy employed in making requests by Saudi Arabic native speakers and the nonconventional indirect strategy is the least strategy. It is hoped that this study will facilitate the acquisition of Saudi Arabic pragmatics by non-native speakers in a way to eliminate the miscommunications they may encounter in relation to the sociocultural norms.

The Meaning and Functions of qSdk and yʕny as Discourse Markers in Saudi Arabic

The current study aims at investigating two discourse markers that are used in Saudi Arabic, “qSdk and yʕny”, against Schourup’s characteristics of discourse markers which are connectivity, optionality, and non-truth conditionality. Additionally, this study investigates the pragmatic uses and procedural meanings of those discourse markers using Blakemore’s procedural meaning and relevance theory as a framework. By examining two discourse markers that received less attention in other studies, the current study builds on previous literature in this field. Regarding methodology, the current study is a corpus-based study in which two corpora containing texts written in Saudi Arabic are used to extract data and evidence. The study concludes that “qSdk and yʕny” behave as discourse markers by being optional, connecting two segments together, and having no influence on the truth condition of the sentence in which they are used. The discourse marker “qSdk” serves three procedural meanings: asking for clarification, correction and making irony whereas “yʕny” serves the procedural meanings of clarification and asking for clarification. Furthermore, the use of these discourse markers makes the sentence more relevant to listeners as they need less cognitive effect to derive the pragmatic meaning of the sentence.