Early Language Behavior in a Diglossic Context: Code-Switching Between Standard Arabic and Najdi Arabic in Preschool Children

Authors

  • Majedah A. Alaiyed

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Languages and Humanities, Qassim University, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i8.9732
Received: 28 April 2025 | Revised: 23 June 2025 | Accepted: 7 July 2025 | Published Online: 4 August 2025

Abstract

This study investigated diglossic code-switching among 30 Najdi Arabic-speaking preschool children aged 4 to 6 years, focusing on gender differences in the direction and frequency of switching between Standard Arabic (SA) and Najdi Arabic (NA). Data were collected through an individual storytelling task in which each child listened to and retold three short stories in SA. The analysis focused on intra-sentential code-switching within verbal clauses, particularly switching from SA or NA verbs to SA or NA nouns to examine structural constraints. The results showed that both male and female children were capable of understanding and using SA despite limited formal exposure. Quantitative analysis revealed systematic switching, with a higher frequency of switches occurring from NA verbs to SA nouns, consistent with Eid's (1988) directionality constraints and Petersen's (1988) dominant language hypothesis. While switching from SA verbs to NA nouns was also observed, it occurred less frequently. Female participants showed a slightly higher overall use of SA,whereas male participants exhibited a stronger tendency to switch from SA verbs to NA nouns; however, the difference between the two groups is negligible. The study concludes by recommending further research into diglossic code-switching across different Arabic dialects, linguistic structures, and broader populations to deepen understanding of early bilingual development in diglossic contexts.

Keywords:

Diglossia; Code-Switching; Standard Arabic; Najdi Arabic; Male Preschool Children; Female Preschool Children; Linguistic Constraints

References

[1] Abu Rabia, S., 2000. Effects of Exposure to Literary Arabic on Reading Comprehension in a Diglossic Situation. Reading and Writing. 13, 147–157.

[2] Mejdell, G., 2006. Mixed Styles in Spoken Arabic in Egypt. E.J. Brill: Leiden, Netherlands.

[3] Albirini, A., 2016. Modern Arabic Sociolinguistics: Diglossia, Variation, Codeswitching, Attitudes, and Identity. Routledge: Abingdon, UK.

[4] Miller, C., Caubet, D., 2009. Arabic Sociolinguistics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In: Ball, M. (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World, 1st ed. Routledge: New York, NY, USA. pp. 238–256.

[5] Haeri, N. 2000. Form and Ideology: Arabic Sociolinguistics and Beyond. Annual Review of Anthropology. 29, 61–87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1.61

[6] Ibrahim, R., 2009. The Cognitive Basis of Diglossia in Arabic: Evidence from a Repetition Priming Study within and between Languages. Psychology Research and Behaviour Management. 2, 93–105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S5138

[7] Ferguson, C. 1959. Diglossia. Word. 15, 325–340.

[8] Bassiouney, R., 2006. Functions of Code-switching in Egypt. Brill: Leiden, Netherlands.

[9] Alaiyed, M., 2018. Diglossic Code-switching between Standard Arabic and Najdi Arabic in Religious Discourse [Doctoral Thesis]. Durham University: Durham, UK. Available from: https://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12578/ (cited 15 Mach 2025)

[10] Sabir, M.H., Safi, S.M.Z., 2008. Developmental Diglossia: Diglossic Switching and the Equivalence Constraint. JKAU Arts and Humanities. 16(2), 91–110. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4197/art.16-2.4

[11] Gumperz, J.J., 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.

[12] Gardner-Chloros P., 2009. Code-switching. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.

[13] Sayahi, L., 2014. Diglossia and Language Contact: Language Variation and Change in North Africa. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.

[14] Shetewi, O., Corrigan, K.P., Khattab, G., 2024. Children's Multilectal Repertoires: Diglossic Style-shifting by Palestinian Children and Adolescents in Syria. Languages. 9, 341. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9110341

[15] Albirini, A., 2011. The Sociolinguistic Functions of Codeswitching between Standard Arabic and Dialectal Arabic. Language in Society. 40, 537–562. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404511000674

[16] Soliman, A., 2008. The Changing Role of Arabic in Religious Discourse: A Sociolinguistic Study of Egyptian Arabic [Doctoral Thesis]. Indiana University of Pennsylvania: Indiana, PA, USA.

[17] Chakrani, B., 2015. Arabic Interdialectal Encounters: Investigating the Influence of Attitudes on Language Accommodation. Language & Communication. 41, 17–27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2014.10.006

[18] Holes, C., 1993. The Use of Variation: A Study of the Political Speeches of Gamal Abd al Nasir. In: Eid, M., Holes. C. (eds.). Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, V. John Benjamins: Amsterdam, Netherlands. pp. 13–45.

[19] Abu-Melhim, A., 2014. Intra-lingual Code Alternation in Arabic: The Conversational Impact of Diglossia. Theory and Practice in Language Studies. 4(5), 891–902. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4304/tpls.4.5.891-902

[20] Walters, K., 1996. Diglossia, Linguistic Variation, and Language Change in Arabic. In: Eid, M. (ed.). Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, VIII. John Benjamins: Amsterdam, Netherlands. pp. 157–197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.134.12wal

[21] Tsiplakou, S., 2009. Code-switching and Code-mixing between Related Varieties: Establishing the Blueprint. The International Journal of the Humanities. 6(12), 50–65. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9508/CGP/v06i12/42576

[22] Muysken, P., 2000. Bilingual Speech: A Typology of Code-mixing. Camb ridge University Press: Cambridge,UK.

[23] Mejdell, G., 2006. Code-switching. In: Versteegh, K., Eid, M., Elgibali, A., Woidich, M., Zaborski, A. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Vol. I: A–Ed. Brill: Leiden, Netherlands. pp. 259–269.

[24] Auer, P., 1995. The Pragmatics of Code-switching: A Sequential Approach. In: Milroy, L., Muysken, P. (eds.). One Speaker, Two Languages: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Code-switching. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. pp. 115–135.

[25] Auer, P., 1998. From Code-switching via Language Mixing to Fused Lects: Toward a Dynamic Typology of Bilingual Speech. Interaction and Linguistic Structures. 6, 1–27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9508/CGP/v06i12/42576

[26] Davies, E., Bentahila, A., Owens, J. 2013. Codeswitching and Related Issues Involving Arabic. In: Owens, J. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Arabic Linguistics. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. pp. 336–347.

[27] Sharma, D., 2018. Style Dominance: Attention, Audience, and the 'Real Me'. Language in Society. 47, 1–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404517000835

[28] Andersen E., 1992. Speaking with Style: The Sociolinguistic Skills of Children. Routledge: London, UK.

[29] Palva, H., 1969. Notes on Classicization in Modern Colloquial Arabic. Studia Orientalia. XL, 3.

[30] Eid, M., 1982. The Non-randomness of Diglossic Variation. Glossa. 16, 54–84.

[31] Eid, M., 1988. Principles for Code-switching between Standard and Egyptian Arabic. Al-Arabiyya. 21, 51–79.

[32] Petersen, J., 1988. Word-internal Code-switching Constraints in a Bilingual Child's Grammar. Linguistics. 26, 479–493.

[33] Poplack, S., Wheeler, S., Westwood, A. 1989. Distinguishing Language Contact Phenomena: Evidence from Finnish-English Bilingualism. World Englishes. 8(3), 389–406. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971x.1989.tb00677.x

[34] Manel, M., 2020. Diglossic Switching by Preschool Children. Revue des Sciences Humaines. 30(5), 387–403.

[35] Trudgill, P., 1983. On Dialect: Social and Geographical Perspectives. Blackwell: Oxford, UK.

[36] Bassiouney, R., 2009. Arabic Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, UK.

[37] Trudgill, P., 1972. Sex, Covert Prestige, and Linguistic Change in the Urban British Dialect of Norwich. Language in Society. 1(2), 179–195. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500000488

[38] Holmes, J., Meyerhoff, M. (eds.). 2003. The Handbook of Language and Gender. Blackwell: Oxford, UK.

[39] Romaine, S. 2003. Variation in Language and Gender. In: Holmes, J., Meyerhoff, M. (eds.). The Handbook of Language and Gender. Blackwell: Oxford, UK. pp. 98–118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470756942.ch4

[40] Salami, L., 1991. We Speak Code-mix: Some Perceptions of the Yoruba Language in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Journal of Asian and African Studies. 1, 35–48.

[41] Labov, W., 1982. Building on Empirical Foundations. In: Lehmann W., Malkiel, Y. (eds.). Perspectives on Historical Linguistics (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory). John Benjamin Publishers: Philadelphia, PA, USA. pp. 17–92.

[42] Abdel-Jawad, H., 1981. Phonological and Social Variation in Arabic in Amman[Doctoral Thesis]. University of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, PA, USA.

[43] Bakir, M., 1986. Sex Differences in the Approximation to Standard Arabic: A Case Study. Anthropological Linguistics. 28, 3–9. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30027941

[44] Sallam, A., 1980. Phonological Variation in Educated Spoken Arabic: A Study of the Uvular and Related Plosive Types. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 43(1), 77–100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X00110559

[45] Daher, J., 1998. Gender in Linguistic Variation: The Variable (q) in Damascus Arabic. In: Benmamoun, E., Eid, M., Haeri, N. (eds.). Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XI. Benjamins: Amsterdam, Netherlands.. pp. 183–208.

[46] Miller, C. 2005. Between Accommodation and Resistance: Upper Egyptian Migrants in Cairo. Linguistics. 43, 903–956.

[47] Albirini, A., Benmamoun, E., Chakrani, B. 2013. Gender and Number Agreement in the Oral Production of Arabic Heritage Speakers. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. 16(1), 1–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728912000132

Downloads

How to Cite

Alaiyed, M. A. (2025). Early Language Behavior in a Diglossic Context: Code-Switching Between Standard Arabic and Najdi Arabic in Preschool Children. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(8), 511–522. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i8.9732

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 8 (August 2025): In progress

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Majedah A. Alaiyed

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.