Dear Mubarak , Irhal means Imshi : Analyzing the Relationship Between Arabic Regional D ialects and Modern Standard Arabic

Abstract

In most Arabic-speaking nations, almost everyone speaks two distinct but related dialects, an informal dialect unique to a particular region such as Egyptian or Jordanian Arabic, and a more formal variety found across the Arabic-speaking world, known as Modern Standard Arabic. This common dialect is maintained despite pressure from the regional dialects in large part because of the prestige that Classical or Koranic Arabic has among Muslims, in addition to the practical benefits of being able to communicate across regional boundaries. However, this continued bidialectism also has interesting linguistic implications, in terms of how the use of one dialect or another can reflect social and political realities both through history and in the modern world. For example, one sign in the recent Egyptian protests read “irhal means imshi,” (roughly, “go away” means “beat it”), pretending to translate between the two dialects to reinforce the protester’s message to Mubarak. This presentation draws from a variety of sources, including recent Middle Eastern politics and theories of structural and historical linguistics to examine how regional dialects of Arabic and the standard interact with each other.