The Dialect(s) of Sidi Bel-Abbes : Variation, Accommodation and Change

Abstract

The growing mobility and the rapid urbanisation in many Arab (and/or Arabic-speaking) cities have triggered significant changes in regional and communal dialects, and Sidi Bel-Abbes is no exception. The present research examines dialectal variation, accommodation and change in the city of Sidi Bel-Abbes, northwestern Algeria, focusing on contact-induced dialectal variation and change among Belabbesi speakers of rural origin and, to a lesser extent, those of Tlemceni origin, thus raising issues pertaining to the formation of new dialects, the question of prestige dialects and the direction of change in the new urban vernacular(s) of Sidi Bel-Abbes.