In their own voices, in the own words: a collection of stories

Introduction

Over the past 30 years various research projects have been conducted under the auspices of Bayreuth Arabistik, nearly all of them based in part or wholly on sociolinguistically-determined texts collections. All of the texts have been transcribed and are here made available in audio and transcriptoinal format. Many of the texts are translated wholly or partly into English. Because they are sociolinguistically informed, individuals from across the relevant population spectrums are to be found in them.

We would explicitly note that the basis of the texts are sociolinguistic. This means they are large enough to support quantitative sociolinguistic research on a comparative basis, as indeed they have been and continue to be used for on many occasions. They are not to be construed as what has now become language documentation texts. Language documentation typically involves the detailed linguistically parsed texts defined across various explicit linguistic levels (phonetic, phonological, orthographic, morphological, morphophonological, semantic …). Here there is a trade off between the quantity needed for a sociolinguistic corpus (typically hundreds of thousands of words) and the linguistic precision of language documentation. To the extent one is dealing with so-called low resource languages, such as dialectal Arabic still is, and not with dominant, infra-structurally supported languages such as English, French and German, marrying the two in one common format remains an outstanding challenge. It is precisely in cognizance of such a challenge that the project "Modernity, Migration and Minorities: Three Case Studies of Arabic in Contact" (2020-2024) supported the computer program Corpus Compass (Adnan, M., and Brandizzi, N. 2023. CorpusCompass: A tool for data extraction and dataset generation in corpus linguistics). This allows the ad hoc, but thorough and relatively fast tagging and extraction of project-defined linguistic (in this context, sociolinguistic) features.

Codeswitching Hide

Introduction

The transcriptions of the codeswitching texts are presented in part in two formats. In one the
texts are presented as straight transcriptions with nothing added. In the second the extensive
coding which was used as the basis of various publications (see bibliography) is included.
Those interested can contact Jonathan Owens for the coding key. Many variables were
tagged for, but among them is a code for identifying which languages are in play where. In
both formats many of the Hausa passages are translated (in purple), so that for those who
have a background in Arabic at least, the gist of the entire text can be followed. An English
translation for about half of CS 5 is provided, and a short translation passage from CS 7 will
be provided as well.
All of the CS recordings took place in Maiduguri, many of the speakers in these texts also
appearing in the Maiduguri interviews and group conversations.

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CS 5 (transcription) PDF
CS 5 (tagged) PDF
CS 5 (audio file) Audio
CS 5 (translation) PDF

Group Conversations Hide

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Maiduguri Hide

Introduction

Maiduguri interviews
The Maiduguri interviews were the first to be collected. Their purpose was twofold. On the one hand a sample of 56 individuals was made with a basic 2 x 2 division of men/women and under 30 vs. over 50. Added to these two basic demographic variables, there were four areal concentrations, three in neighborhoods with a high Arab density (Gwange, Gambori, Ruwan Zafi) and one a sampling of Arabs living in largely non-Arab districts. As the sociolinguistics of Maiduguri (unfortunately, like too much of the Arabic-speaking world) was completely terra incognita, the survey established basic benchmarks. As far as the content of the interviews go, they were largely orientated towards factors which elucidate the dynamics of Arabic as a minority language in a growing urban area. Most interviews therefore entered around a fairly set protocol, though the questions were always introduced in as informal, conversational a manner as possible. After asking basic biographical information, questions included the language repertoire of the interviewees and their immediate family and circle of friends, whether they had studied formally either in the Quranic school system (sangaaya*) or western education and in which languages they were literate, their exposure to media Arabic, including non-Nigerian Arabic stations (BBC,Kuwait, Chad, Sudan etc.), how common inter-ethnic marriages were and what they implied for language use in the family, whether the interviewees could distinguish different dialects of Nigerian Arabic, and general questions about the social life and institutions of Arabs in Maiduguri. The senior author was always accompanied by an Arab colleague, who was encouraged to participate in the questioning as well. As the interviews progressed, they became more fluent, if slightly routine. Mr. Dana Allamin became particularly adept at guiding the Maiduguri interviews, as well as many of the village ones.
* Curiously, the same etymological origin as ‘synagogue’, probably from North Africa.

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Translated

Villages Hide

Introduction (PDF)

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For aficionados (transcriptions only)

Translated

The Boko Haram Story Hide

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In their own voices, in the own words: a collection of stories

Introduction

Introduction

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Introduction

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Translated

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Translated