Revue des Sciences Humaines & Sociales
Volume 11, Numéro 2, Pages 282-300
2025-12-31
The Influence Of Social Class On The Morpho-phonological Adaptation Of French Loanwords In Algerian Spoken Arabic
Authors : Adda Sekrane Chifaa . Belarbi Khaled .
Abstract
The present study examines the role of social class in the morpho-phonological adaptation of French loanwords in Algerian Spoken Arabic. Employing a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods design, data were collected from 139 purposively selected participants from the centre of Relizane through semi-structured interviews and audio recordings of French loanwords elicited from unstructured storytelling tasks. The findings demonstrate that social class significantly influenced loanword adaptation patterns. Upper-middle-class speakers generally preserved the original French pronunciation, with only few adaptations, to reflect their professional and educational influence. Middle-class speakers showed a notable tendency to adapt the French loanwords, while only a few preserved them due to considering French as linguistic capital. Lower-class speakers, however, consistently adapted the loanwords, further reinforcing a shared Algerian identity. The study concludes with a set of recommendations proposed based on the findings.
Keywords
Algerian Spoken Arabic ; French Loanwords ; Lexical borrowing ; morpho-phonological adaptation ; social class
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