Sociolinguistic Variation and Change in a Bedouin Dialect in Tabūk City: Production and Perception

This study presents a systematic sociolinguistic investigation of the Banī ʿAṭiyyah (BA) dialect, a Bedouin variety spoken in Tabūk City, Saudi Arabia. Drawing on production data from sociolinguistic interviews, enactment, and picture-naming tasks, as well as perception data from a task adapted from the SCAT method (Llamas et al. 2016), the study examines three linguistic variables: the realisation of the 2nd person singular feminine suffix [-ki], the 2nd person plural feminine suffix [-kin], and the high back vowel /u/. These variables are analysed in relation to social factors including age, gender, style, social network, and attitude. A Social Network Index (SNI) and an Explicit Attitude Index (EAI) were developed to quantify speakers’ orientation and exposure.
The results reveal an ongoing process of language change in the BA dialect. For the morphological variables, there is an apparent-time shift toward the supralocal forms [-ik] for the 2nd person singular feminine suffix and [-kum] for the 2nd person plural feminine suffix. This shift is led by younger female speakers in the case of [-ik], and by both middle-aged and younger speakers for [-kum]. The realisation of /u/ exhibits complex variation, including [ə], [u], and [i]. While not strictly phonologically conditioned, the distribution of variants shows a preference for certain phonological environments. Social differentiation is also evident, with female speakers favouring both the widely used [u] and the supralocal [i] variants. Across all variables, convergence toward supralocal forms is most common among individuals with open social networks and weaker local orientations. Within these processes, different patterns have emerged, including simplification and the use of intermediate forms. Importantly, the results show that perception and production do not always align—while some features show strong correlations between awareness and use, others diverge, often in ways that reflect ideological resistance or social orientation.
This study contributes to Arabic dialectology by providing the first quantitative and perceptual analysis of the BA dialect. In the linguistically diverse context of Tabūk—shaped by internal migration and dialect contact—the findings offer insight into dialect levelling, supralocalisation, and language change in urban Saudi Arabia. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the study not only analyses linguistic behaviour but also how features are perceived and evaluated, offering a more comprehensive understanding of sociolinguistic change.