Diglossia (Linguistics)--Egypt

Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
The Arabic language includes many dialects that
differ considerably from one another. In fact, they
differ in almost every linguistic category : syntax,
morphology, phonology, style and the lexicon. Written
and spoken varieties also differ greatly , which is
why Arabic is a prime example of diglossia within a
single language. The dialects of Arabic were
influenced by languages spoken previously in those
regions. In addition, written Arabic has remained
syntactically, morphologically and phonologically
essentially unchanged for over a millennium. The
spoken varieties, however, have evolved freely. This thesis will describe some of the differences that
exist between these dialects and it will demonstrate
that some of these differences are a result of the
influence of substratum languages on Arabic. In
particular, it will focus on the influence of Coptic
on Egyptian Arabic.