haga tani?: An Examination of Degendered Adjectival Agreement in Cairene Arabic

• Published in: al-'Arabiyya (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 1999-01, Vol.32, p.219-238
• Main Author: Wilmsen, David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0889-8731

The sociolinguistic implications of the use of the degendered form of the adjective tani in Cairene Arabic are examined. W. Labov's department store approach was used in markets in affluent & folk neighborhoods where gifts were bought to elicit the phrase haga tanya or haga tani 'anything else'. The responses of subjects (N = 58 men & 22 women) were recorded along with information about the setting, participants' sex, age & social class. Results indicated that degendered agreement is more utilized in rich neighborhoods than in folk neighborhoods, & that older speakers use more strict agreement than young speakers. The findings indicated that, while urban respondents favor degendered agreement, traditional participants avoided it. It is argued that the use of degendered agreement is more common among prosperous urban classes as the result of the shift of rural migrants' speech toward the sociolect of the young educated & urbanized elite. It is claimed that while strict agreement serves as a means of cohesiveness & solidarity in the rural & traditional neighborhoods, degendered agreement leads to upward mobility. Furthermore, it is contended that men use more degendered agreement than women, suggesting that women are not involved in large-scale linguistic change. 5 Tables, 28 References. F. Ngom