The construction of identity in a divided Palestinian village: Sociolinguistic evidence

This chapter looks at some aspects of the linguistic, social, and cultural dislocation that followed from the political and economic dislocation and subsequent reintegration of one of several Palestinian Arab-speaking villages that were divided between Israel and Jordan in 1948 and reunited after 1967. Modern Standard Arabic has influenced even people with minimal education. Features from other dialects of Palestinian Arabic, especially those of the more prestigious towns and cities, and features from dialects of other Arabic countries have also invaded the general speech. The chapter examines the relationship between identities and sociolinguistic variables, looking for a mediating level between politics and language. Sociolinguistically, it is shown by low values for standardization of phonology, morphology and lexicon. In Western Bartaa, the two major identities which serve as transmitting forces are Israeli and Arab. The Arab-Palestinian identity encourages standard Arabic features, setting up a tension and modifying the degree of use.