Linguistic levelling trends in the Bedouin-type dialects of Western and Central Tunisia

Article in a scientific peer-reviewed journal This paper investigates the impact the prestigious dialect of Tunis has on the dialects spoken in Northwestern, Central and Southwestern Tunisia. The variables to be considered in our study are (1) the use of [q] versus [g], (2) the realisation of the personal pronoun of the 1st person singular, (3) the plural of III-weak verbs (e.g. yžī and yansa) and (4) the loss of gender distinction in verbs. Our research questions touch both diatopic and diastratic issues. We want to investigate (1) if all of the seven governorates show the same or similar developments regarding the four investigated variables, (2) special developments within an area and their possible reasons, (3) the role of age, gender and level of education. The data that underlie our analysis were gathered in various field-work trips by methodical inquiry into salient linguistic features and by elicitation of linguistic data in the seven Tunisian governorates of Jendouba, Beja, Kef, Siliana, Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid and Gafsa. Our investigation is based on approximately 190 speakers from about 90 different locations.