Theme 3 - Linguistics and Sociolinguistics

Contributors: Claude Audebert, Jairo Guerrero, Pierre Larcher, Homa Lessan Pechezki, Catherine Miller, Manuel Sartori
PhD Students: Laalikhan Ali, Nassim Nekouie, May Rostom, Najla Salim
Associate Researchers: Jacopo Falchetta, Catharina Pinon

Research in descriptive and typological linguistics centers around recent evolutions in syntax and vocabulary, applied to Arabic, Arabic didactics, and Persian. One of its aims is to take these evolutions into account when compiling linguistic grammars of these languages for teaching purposes, in order to bridge the gap between conventional grammatical explanations and the reality of contemporary written use. This research focusses on the evolution of written modern Arabic, in collaboration with researchers at University Paris 3, the University of Cádiz, the University of Oslo, etc. Another dimension of this research is the critical reading of ancient grammars, taking the approach of a history of representations of the Arabic language and of the formation of knowledge pertaining to it. Research is also dedicated to building an online Egyptian Arabic contextual dictionary, which currently includes 8 letters and 2886 entries.

In sociolinguistics and dialectology, research principally centers around the contact between languages/dialects in an urban context, examining the interaction between social change and the evolving practices and representations of language : be it in daily practices, the media, cultural and artistic scenes, youth speech in the Maghreb and the Middle-East, in Egypt and in Sudan. This research also participates in an international partnership with Lacnad (INALCO), the University of Cádiz, the University of Saragossa, and the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Vienna. Specific emphasis is given to artistic productions and to the process of vernacularisation and writing of Arabic vernaculars.