PRESSURE OR ATTRACTION FROM THE ALLEGIANCE LANGUAGE? ISSUES OF LANGUAGE USE AND LANGUAGE SHIFT PHENOMENALITY AMONG YOUNG CHAOUI SPEAKERS LIVING IN ORAN

 

Mimouna ZITOUNI

Associate Professor, University of Oran 2, Oran, Algeria, mimouna.zitouni.oran2@gmail.com

 

 

Abstract

The present work will mainly revolve around the sociolinguistic behavior of the chaoui speech community living in Oran-Algeria. We choose to undertake this particular delving because it is substantially descried that scant literature has been gathered, produced and disseminated about this very peculiar minority group especially at the linguistic and socio-linguistic pattern of practice. The investigation scrutinizes moulds of language use among a group of chaoui youth to diagnose whether multilingualism is thriving or the local languages are threatened by a potential shift. To address the question and collect data, a sample of chaoui speakers was selected to be surveyed by use of a detailed questionnaire with conspicuous sections that delved into language use patterns.  The sample was chosen randomly –counting high school pupils, university students and wage earners– but the selection was willfully restricted to a corpus of a young age bracket. This work’s findings reveal that young chaoui people display negative attitudes towards the chaoui variety. Furthermore, the great majorities of them neither speak it nor understand it. Results also show that there are many factors determining language use among minority groups falling under two main categories: sociolinguistic and/or socio economic factors. It is also observed that findings clearly indicate that this very particular minority group is witnessing a case of language shift among its youth with a leaning tendency towards Algerian Arabic which is the majority language.  Accordingly, a case of language shift among a minority group is heavily inducing to language endangerment. In this respect Bren Zinger (1989 :276) states “ a limited use of minority language leads to limited exposure to that language which results in increasing reliance of the dominant language in domains of daily life which itself leads to it displacement” . Studies have also revealed that languages do not necessarily die just because their speakers die but languages also die, and often so, as a result of shift of allegiance by their speakers to other languages (Landweer, 2000). How fast a language shifts will probably rely on the amount of pressure or attraction from the new language that receives allegiance.

Keywords: Factors,  Attitudes, Repertoire, Algerian Arabic, Standard Arabic, French, Chaoui Variety, Language Maintenance, Language Shift, Language Endangerment, Majority Group, Minority Group, Oran, Language Loss, Linguistic Choices, Linguistic Situation, Diglossia, Bilingualism.