A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Monday, July 2, 2012

A Belated Discovery: The Arabizi Blog, Dealing With Issues We Often Discuss Here

Readers are aware that I've posted a lot about the problems of diglossia in Arabic and the debate over the so-called "death of Arabic," usually proclaimed to be imminent. I'm a bit abashed, therefore, to admit that I've only just discovered a highly relevant blog, Arabizi, by Ph.D. candidate Fatma Said, which seems to have been around since 2010 but which I've been sadly unaware of until now. It spends a lot of time devoted to just those issues, among others related to Arabic as it is spoken and used (Arabizi is from Arabiyya and Inglizi, referring to the mixed jargon often heard ins some Arab circles). Don't miss the "Arab Linguistic Imperialism and the Decline of Arabic: Does Anyone Here Speak Arabic?," Parts One and Two, the most recent posts as I post this.

No comments: