A Variationist Approach to Complementizer Agreement in Jordanian Arabic

Noor   Al-Omyan

doi:10.35516/hum.v51i2.3614

Authors

Noor Al-Omyan English Language Department, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6564-3176

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v51i2.3614

Keywords:

Linguistics, sociolinguistics, agreement, person features, complementizer agreement, jordanian arabic, variationist approach

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to assess the impact of linguistic and social factors on the compatibility of source tools in the Jordanian dialect.

Method: Thirty-six sociolinguistic interviews were conducted with 36 speakers residing in Jordan's capital, Amman. These interviews were recorded using a high-sensitivity, low-disturbance digital voice recorder and were transcribed into pre-prepared Excel tables. Statistical work was conducted, considering the coding protocol and using the GoldVarb X software. The study centered on three social factors: gender, educational level, and age, and three linguistic factors: sentence type, actor definition, and actor identification.

Results: The study found that complementizer agreement is not limited by any social factors but is connected to one of the linguistic factors discussed in the study, namely, nominal characteristics (1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person). This is due to the presence of a "common context" in cases involving the 1st person and 2nd person, while this context is not evident with the 3rd person.

Conclusion: The study concluded that social factors do not influence grammatical diversity, unlike phonological diversity, which can be affected by social factors.

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