In search of a Koine in S&dotbelow;an'a'.

Abstract

Koineization is the stable result of dialect mixing that occurs with contact between mutually intelligible varieties or varieties that share the same superposed variety. In S&dotbelow;an`a', the capital city of Yemen, there are many different dialects represented. Today, less than 20% of the people in S&dotbelow;an`a' speak the dialect of the old walled city. Dialect contact has been in progress for more than 30 years. It is surprising that there is not a koine or interdialectal middle form in S&dotbelow;an`a'. Based primarily on language use questionnaires, but also using corroborating evidence from linguistic informants and representations of Yemeni dialects in the electronic media, this study shows that there is no koine. Instead there are at least two different and competing dialect systems spoken in S&dotbelow;an`a' that are developing independently of each other. If there were a process of koineization these two dialects would be moving closer to each other not growing farther apart. This result is explained by looking at the settlement patterns. Both the migrants and the S&dotbelow;an`anis have very strong attachments to their home communities. The majority of the migrant workers do not consider themselves to be S&dotbelow;an`anis, nor do they consider themselves permanent residents of S&dotbelow;an`a'. If they are married their wives and children live in their home communities away from S&dotbelow;an`a'. They tend to live, work and spend their leisure time with life long friends from their home community. In this way the migrants are maintaining many of the features of their home dialects. At the same time the S&dotbelow;an`anis, tend to only associate with other S&dotbelow;an`anis and are also maintaining their distinct dialect. It is posited that the S&dotbelow;an`anis dialect and the migrants' dialects will never have much effect on each other as long as the migrant population is arriving in S&dotbelow;an`a' as adults and not being exposed to S&dotbelow;an`ani until after they have acquired their native variety. This is an important result both for linguists studying contact languages and for Arabists working within the field of Arabic dialectology, especially experts working on Yemeni dialects.