Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The languages of the Maghreb; 3. Diglossia and bilingualism; 4. Language contact under diglossia and bilingualism; 5. Lexical borrowing under diglossia and bilingualism; 6. Diglossia and contact-induced language change; 7. Diglossia and the emergence of new varieties; 8. Conclusion.

Promotional Information

A multilevel analysis of language contact under classical diglossia and societal bilingualism in North Africa.

About the Author

Lotfi Sayahi is Associate Professor of Linguistics and Chair in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the State University of New York, Albany, where he teaches courses on sociolinguistics, bilingualism, and language contact.

Reviews

'Sayahi's fascinating history of the collision of languages in the Maghreb reclaims the original definition of diglossia and will transform the way linguists conceptualize its role as a mechanism of language change.' Barbara E. Bullock, University of Texas, Austin

'Combining synchronic and diachronic research on Arabic and the languages with which it has been in contact around the western Mediterranean, this book masterfully demonstrates the role diglossia can play in language change.' Keith Walters, Portland State University

'I have found the book as a whole to be very illuminating. It contains a great deal of new information, and also newly-packaged older information.' Uri Horesh, Journal of Sociolinguistics