The Dialects of the Egyptian Oases: Western or Eastern Arabic?

Phonological, morphological, & lexical features of the Arabic dialects spoken in oases west of the Nile Valley of Egypt are compared with corresponding elements of western (Maghreb) & eastern (Middle Egypt & Western Nile Delta) dialects of Arabic. Both isoglosses & oral tradition sup...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zeitschrift für arabische Linguistik 1993-01, Vol.25, p.340-359
Main Author: Woidich, Manfred
Format: Article
Language:ger
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Summary:Phonological, morphological, & lexical features of the Arabic dialects spoken in oases west of the Nile Valley of Egypt are compared with corresponding elements of western (Maghreb) & eastern (Middle Egypt & Western Nile Delta) dialects of Arabic. Both isoglosses & oral tradition support the conclusion that oasis dwellers first adopted Arabic from Egyptian sources; immigrants from the west introduced a Maghreb element that left the basic structure of the oasis dialects unaffected. The relative value of arguments based on isogloss bundles & on the principle of peripheral conservatism is assessed in this context. 37 References. J. Hitchcock
ISSN:0170-026X