A_SOCIOLINGUISTIC_STUDY_OF_DIALECT_CONTACT_AND_ACCOMMODATION_IN_BENI_SNOUS

Abstract

The purpose of this sociolinguistic study is to shed light on the phenomenon of dialect contact and analyse its linguistic consequences in the speech of three rural groups from Beni Snous valley (forty-five kilometres south-west of Tlemcen) because of their long-term contact with each other since they moved to live together in Beni Hammou village. As it examines linguistic variation and change through the lens of dialect contact and accommodation, the purpose is to find out which original forms in the speech of these groups are reduced and which new forms are adopted via the process of linguistic accommodation. The study is set in two different settings: a local rural setting inside the mentioned village to see whether the three groups accommodate to the speech of the majority immobile group: and an external urban setting outside the valley to see their accommodation to the urban speech.