Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects of the language which may include a standard or regional standards, there is a very divergent, highly codified often grammatically more complex superposed variety, the vehicle of a. An overview of the arabic situation morad alsahafi king abdulaziz university abstract. More on diglossia in arabic international journal of. Andrew freemans perspectives on arabic diglossia dec. In his last major statement on the subject, ferguson himself was moved to comment on how research over the course of the preceding three decades had failed to adopt a. Arabic largely exists in a diglossic situation, which is manifested through the coexistence of standard arabic and colloquial arabic ferguson, 1959. How does rapid automatized naming ran correlate with measures of reading fluency in arabic authors. In baghdad, the christian arabs speak a christian arabic dialect when talking among themselves. In this electure, i discuss ferguson s classical article called diglossia published in 1959. Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects. Diction versus diglossia diglossia is more involved than just switching between levels of diction in the same language, such as going from slang or texting shortcuts to writing up a formal paper for a class or report. Pdf an article about fergusons nine criteria of diglossia based on his article 1959 in which he explained them thoroughly. Definition and examples of diglossia sociolinguistics.
The term diglossia was first introduced in english by charles a. Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to. Charles ferguson is credited with first using the term diglossia in an article which he wrote in 1959 called diglossia. He identified four languages, arabic, greek, haitian creole and swiss.
The middle way david deterding introduction the concept of diglossia was developed by ferguson 1959. World cultures, but characterizes a number of languages found in various parts of the world, including western europe. First of all, ferguson 1959 defined diglossia as a linguistic situation in which two or more varieties of the same language are used by some speakers under different conditions p. He is credited to be the first linguist who used the specific term, diglossia in his article. Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary linguistics. The toefl test was created under his leadership at the center for applied linguistics in washington, dc. Ferguson 1959 on chinese chinese should be cited because it probably represents diglossia on the largest scale of any attested instance ferguson 1959. The characteristics of classic instances of diglossia are subdivided into sociocultural and linguistic features, and these in turn are used as a basis for determining the extent to which different types of community might be fruitfully described as diglossic. Diglossia definition of diglossia by merriamwebster. The sociolinguistic condition known as diglossia has attracted wide attention since the publication of ferguson s seminal article 1959. It is ferguson s article diglossia 1959 ferguson, charles a. Diglossia or triglossia in morocco reality and facts by ab.
Ferguson was also the leader of a team of linguists in ethiopia under the ford. Diglossia language registers and types of diglossia. It is fergusons article diglossia 1959 that set the stage for this approach and for. Often, one form is the literary or prestige dialect, and the other is a common dialect spoken by most of the population. The creation of a typology of diglossia is not a simple task as it must be more than just a gathering of case studies of language in society, meaning a theory of language in society. Ferguson introduced the english equivalent diglossia in 1959, using the word as the title of an article, his conceptualization of diglossia describes a society with more than one prevalent language or the high variety, which pertains to the language used in literature and other social institutions. Diglossia in the arab worldeducational implications and future perspectives. His conceptualization of diglossia describes a society with more than one prevalent language or the high variety, which pertains to the language used in literature, newspapers, and other social institutions. Various scholars have proposed terminologies for a taxonomy of diglossias. Ferguson in many speech communities two or more varieties of the same language are used by some speakers under different conditions. Traditional prefirst world war eastern european jewish. The article addresses the issue of diglossia in its original and extended definition. Charles albert ferguson july 6, 1921 september 2, 1998 was an american linguist who taught at stanford university.
Perhaps the most familiar example is the standard language and regional dialect as used, say, in italian or persian, where many speakers speak their local dialect at home. He proposed an expansion of ferguson s definition of diglossia in two respects. Modelled on the french diglossie, the original concept of diglossia goes back to charles ferguson 1959. Perhaps the most familiar example is the standard language and regional dialect as used, say, in italian or persian, where many speakers speak their local dialect at home or. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. Please define and explain and give examples for diglossia. Western contexts, it is not simply a phenomenon of exotic third. But ferguson was not so much concerned with likening the linguistic situations in those 1 charles a. Diglossia definition is the use of two varieties of the same language in different social contexts throughout a speech community. Post 1959 research on diglossia has concentrated on a number of variables and important questions. He called the variety singled out for formal situations the superposed variety.
According to ferguson 1959, the hvariety and the lvariety have to be two divergent forms of the same language which are above the level of a standardwithdialects distinction, but which stay below the level of two separate related or unrelated. Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary dialects of the language, there is a divergent, highly codified superposed variety, the vehicle of a large and respected body of written. Diglossia with and without bilingualism ferguson sdefinition 1959. Then i go through its main features as introduced in his article. In many speech communities two or more varieties of the same language2 are used by some speakers. Diglossia has been the subject of attention of many linguists and philologists dealing with arabic for many decades. Such a situation exists in many speech communities throughout the worlde. It describes a situation where two languages or language varieties occur side by side in a community, and each has a clear range of functions.
Diglossia is a linguistic term that is also used in sociology. Diglossia as a sociolinguistic situation the handbook of. The main point of discussion is the validity of the defining cases of diglossia selected. Ferguson introduced the english equivalent diglossia in 1959, using the word as the title of an article. A discussion on diglossia in a sociolinguistics class slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Diglossia definition of diglossia by the free dictionary. Ferguson s concept of diglossia is examined with a view to dedetermining its applicability to creole continua. Later on, joshua fishman gave a modification of fergusons 1959 original. The term diglossia from the greek for speaking two languages was first used in english by linguist charles ferguson in 1959. Diglossia is a relatively stable language situation in which, in addition to the primary linguistics sociolinguistics 10. Ferguson referred to diglossia as a term meaning that the focus of two languages used in the same geographical region changes and impacts the sociolinguistic. Diglossia is the coexistence of language codes that are either 1 two varieties of one language or 2 two distinct languages. Below the level of nationwide functioning there are many more examples of stable diglossia cooccurring with widespread bilingualism.
The concept of diglossia in caribbean creole situations. Clearly, taking fergusons 1959 descriptions of haitian creole usage relative to french as. Joshua fishman presented a modification of ferguson s 1959 original concept and rather strict definition of diglossia in 1967. In short, sinhala exhibits the stability that ferguson regards as characteristic of diglossia. Ferguson diglossia 1 in many speech communities two or more varieties of the same language2 are used by some speakers under different conditions. Modelled on the french diglossie, the original concept of diglossia goes back to charles ferguson. He was one of the founders of sociolinguistics and is best known for his work on diglossia. One of the most distinctive features of the arabic language is the existence of diglossia.
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