Geographic Location and Linguistic Diversity: The Use of Intensifiers in Egyptian and Saudi Arabic

Abstract

Numerous studies have indicated that geographic location plays an essential role in language variation and the emergence of dialects. That is, when speakers of the same group are geographically apart, it is more likely that they use language differently. The unprecedented widespread of communication channels in what is referred to now as the global age, however, has raised many doubts in relation to the connection between space and geographic location on the one hand and language variation on the other hand. In other words, many linguists have come to question the rationality of geographic location in language variation. In the face of this controversial issue, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of geographic location on linguistic diversity in relation to Arabic. The study is limited in scope. It is only concerned with the use of intensifiers in the spoken forms of Egyptian and Saudi spoken Arabic. The rationale is that intensifiers are very frequent in everyday communication and occur naturally without much thinking on the part of speakers. In order to achieve this objective, the study is based on a corpus of selections from the Egyptian radio show Ish Sabahak (Live Your Morning) on Nogoum FM Radio Channel and the Saudi radio show Caffeine on Mix FM. Results indicate clearly that there are linguistic differences between Egyptian and Saudi speakers in the use of intensifiers in terms of frequency, type, and the linguistic structure. This suggests that distance or geographic location is still a considerable factor in linguistic diversity since it is deeply rooted in the cultural evolution of people from different nations.