Tirawis: The Dialect and The Society In Tirat Haifa (Palestine) Prior to 1948

Abstract

This is a sociolinguistic study that peers into the strong relation between the social and cultural nature of the Tirawi dialect, and the preserving of their dialect, and the preservation of some names and naming of people and other stuff. The study shows that the distinctiveness of the Tirawi society, socially and culturally, is reflected in a sense of peculiarity in their dialect. Prior to 1948, the Tirawi society was a closed and conservative society where belonging to the Tirawi community requires preserving their dialect, following their way of naming their children and the aliases they use within their society. Linguistically, both females and males behaved similarly in that they categorically preserved the [q] variant. As a result the key feature [q] became indissolubly linked with the Tirawis. It has become an identity feature for a Tirawi whether he or she uses it or not. In addition, the dialect became distinguished from the rest of the dialect in the area not only in its having the /q/ variant in its phonetic inventory, but also this dialect became distinguished even in the way the people of Tirat Haifa name some stuff and some proper names. Thus, to be recognized as “a real Tirawi”, the /q/ variant is to appear in your dialect, in addition to the use of some family names or special way in naming other stuff such as “dress”, surnames, and many other examples.