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Article published In: Language, Interaction and Acquisition
Vol. 13:1 (2022) ► pp.29–62

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Numeral form selection and accommodation in Gulf Pidgin Arabic

 | University of Ha’il
Published online: 24 August 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.21010.als
Abstract
This study deals with the creation of cardinal numerals and accommodation in Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA) as it is spoken among foreign workers (FWs) and native Saudi Arabic speakers (Ss) in Saudi Arabia. Under the Feature Pool Hypothesis ( (2001). The ecology of language evolution. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and the Mutual Accommodation Theory (Thomason, S., & T. Kaufman. (1988). Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics. University of California Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), this study looks at the features of gender and number agreement, and word order of the cardinal numeral and the noun. Data comes from interviews between Ss and FWs in GPA, and photo elicitation interviews used with Ss to identify how cardinals are used in Najdi Arabic. Through the lens of the Feature Pool Model, I offer a brief account of how cardinal numeral forms are selected in GPA. In particular, I examine how well cognitive factors account for the development and restructuring processes of the cardinal numeral system in GPA by taking into account factors such as frequency, perceptual salience (detectability), and pattern regularization, as well as the Foreigner-Talk register and accommodation. The results reveal strong tendencies of accommodation and conventionalization in numeral form selection.
Résumé
Cette étude traite de la création des formes numérales cardinales et de leur adaptation en pidgin arabe du Golfe (PAG), tel qu’il est parlé par les travailleurs étrangers (TE) et les locuteurs natifs de l’Arabe Saoudien (LS) en Arabie Saoudite. Inspirée de l’hypothèse du feature pool ( (2001). The ecology of language evolution. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) et de la théorie de l’accomodation mutuelle (Thomason, S., & T. Kaufman. (1988). Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics. University of California Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), cette étude examine les caractéristiques de l’accord en genre et en nombre, ainsi que l’ordre des mots du numéral cardinal et du nom en PAG. Les données proviennent d’entretiens entre des LS et des TE en PAG, et d’interviews avec les LS basées sur des photos pour identifier comment les cardinaux sont utilisés en Arabe Najdi. Dans l’optique du modèle de feature pool, je rends compte brièvement de la manière dont les numéraux cardinaux sont sélectionnés en PAG. En particulier, j’examine dans quelle mesure les facteurs cognitifs justifient les processus de développement et de restructuration du système de numération cardinale en PAG, en prenant en compte la fréquence, la saillance perceptive (détectabilité) et la régularisation des formes, ainsi que le registre du foreigner talk et son accomodation. Les résultats révèlent de fortes tendances à l’adaptation et à la conventionnalisation dans la sélection des formes numérales.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Socio-historical overview of Gulf Pidgin Arabic
  • 3.Cardinal numerals in Northern Najdi Arabic
  • 4.Theoretical preliminaries
    • 4.1The feature pool and form selection
      • 4.1.1Frequency
      • 4.1.2Perceptual salience (detectability)
      • 4.1.3Pattern regularization
    • 4.2Social factors
  • 5.The current study
  • 6.Methods
    • 6.1Participants
    • 6.2Data collection – Tasks and materials
    • 6.3Coding scheme
    • 6.4Exclusions
  • 7.Results
    • 7.1Numerals 1–2 + Noun
    • 7.2Numerals 3–10 + Noun
    • 7.3Compound numerals – 13–99
    • 7.4Conventionalization of cardinal numerals in GPA
  • 8.Discussion
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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