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Jordanian Bengali Pidgin Arabic



Author(s)

Fawwaz Al-Abed Al-Haq, Ibrahim Al-Salman

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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2014.05.001

Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan

This study aims at providing a linguistic description of the JBPA (Jordanian Bengali Pidgin Arabic) which is a variety in use between the Bengali workers and Jordanians who live and work in Al-Hassan Industrial City, Irbid, in the north of Jordan. The primary purpose of this study was to find out whether or not this variety constituted a true pidgin. Data collection was based on interviews with 10 Bengalis. To identify this variety, the author examined it with reference to three linguistic features of the JA (Jordanian Arabic): the phonology, the verbal system, and the negation. The study revealed that the phonology of JBPA was not fully compatible with that of the JA, and that most of the JA sounds tended to change their phonological behavior in the JBPA. In addition, the verb was invariant and simplified; also, the negation in the JBPA was realized by three negative particles: mafiŝ’, ‘ma, and ‘muŝ’. Finally, the study revealed that the JBPA has the characteristics of a “pre-pidgin” rather than a “stable pidgin”.

Jordanian Pidgin Arabic, Arabic-based pidgins, pidgin Arabic