Beyond lexical variation in modern standard Arabic : Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco

Product Description


Beyond Lexical Variation in Modern Standard Arabic presents several aspects concerning Modern Standard Arabic. It analyzes the different forms of lexical variation, and the causes for these variations. This starting point led to many other vital issues related to the present state of the Arabic Language such as language planning, native speakers' identity and fears and most importantly the relationship between the different Arabic varieties: Classical, Modern Standard, and dialects. The book analyzes lexical variation comprehensively and provides deep insights on the present state of the language with some speculations on its future.


Review


This is a valuable contribution in the areas of Arabic lexicology and variationism in written language...It is, therefore, a pioneering attempt to identify and analyze lexical variationin the written MSA of different Arab countries. --Islam Youssef, CASTL, University of Tromso in The Linguist List 21.293 (2009)


About the Author


Zeinab Ibrahim is a sociolinguist specialized in Arabic sociolinguistics. She received her PhD from Georgetown University, and taught Arabic as a foreign language for many years. Her publications are mainly researches in the field of Arabic sociolinguistics. In her article Borrowing in Modern Standard Arabic she researched the phenomenon over twenty years in Egyptian newspapers; her article Polysemy in the Arabic Dialects is among the few publications investigating this aspect. Figurative Language in the Speech Patterns of Egyptians and Americans investigated a very important aspect in speech patterns. Most of her publications are pioneer works in these areas. In addition to several edited books, she had researched the concept of Heritage students of Arabic in addition to code switching in Egyptian newspapers.