37.2090, Diss: Arabian Peninsula Arabic, Arabic; Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Najdi Arabic; Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics: Amereh Almossa: "Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change in Najdi Arabic"

Tue Jun 16 17:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2090. Tue Jun 16 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2090, Diss: Arabian Peninsula Arabic, Arabic; Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Najdi Arabic; Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics, Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics: Amereh Almossa: "Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change in Najdi Arabic"

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Date: 15-Jun-2026
From: Amereh Almossa [aialmosa at pnu.edu.sa]
Subject: Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change in Najdi Arabic

Institution: University of York
Program: Language and Linguistic Science
Degree Date: 2024
Level: PhD

Author: Amereh Almossa

Dissertation Title: Discourse-Pragmatic Variation and Change in Najdi
Arabic

Dissertation URL: https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/35587/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Computational Linguistics
                     Pragmatics
                     Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): Arabic (ara)
                     Gulf Arabic (afb, gulf1241)
                     Najdi Arabic (ars, najd1235)

Language Family(ies): Arabian Peninsula Arabic (arab1393)
                      Arabic (arab1395)

Dissertation Director(s): Claire Childs and Carmen Llamas

Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis is a sociolinguistic examination of the variation and
change in the use of discourse-pragmatic features in Najdi Arabic
(NA), spoken in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. It investigates three
discourse-pragmatic variables: (i) MA: 2ADRI: (‘I don’t know’),
presenting three variants: ma: 2adri:, ma: dri:, and madri:; (ii)
TAYYIB (‘well, okay’), with two variants: Tayyib and Tab; and (iii)
intensifiers, such as marrah, jiddan (‘very’), wallah (‘very,
indeed’), and Sidg (‘really’). Quantitative variationist approach and
qualitative methods are employed to examine the discourse-pragmatic
functions of MA: 2ADRI: and TAYYIB, how linguistic and social
variables impact variability, and whether lexical variation in the use
of intensifiers is influenced by internal and external factors.
Additionally, the research evaluates how grammaticalisation
contributes to the variation and change of these discourse-pragmatic
features. Self-recorded spontaneous conversations collected from 60
speakers, stratified across age (young, adult, and older-adult) and
gender (females versus males), were analysed for the study. The
analysis demonstrates that MA: 2ADRI: and TAYYIB perform extensive
discourse-pragmatic functions, which are highly implicated in their
form variation. It emerged that the choice of the variant of the
variables is strongly conditioned by the speakers’ age and gender. The
variation in intensifiers is constrained significantly by social
factors and partially by linguistic factors. Changes in apparent time
are attested by the rise of madri:, Tab, marrah, and Sidg, and the
decrease of ma: 2adri:, ma: dri:, Tayyib, and wallah. Generally,
younger speakers, primarily females, lead these changes. The findings
suggest the variables have undergone semantic-pragmatic changes
attributable to grammaticalisation processes. The developments of MA:
2ADRI: and TAYYIB exhibit further indications of grammaticalisation,
including decategorialisation and phonological reduction.

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