A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF DIGLOSSIC CODE-SWITCHING IN RELIGIOUS DISCOURSE BY PREACHERS OF FRIDAY SERMONS IN JORDAN

Abstract

Purpose: The study aimed to examine the phenomenon of diglossic code-switching in religious discourse used by preachers of Friday mosques in Jordan when they deliver their Friday sermon.  Methodology: To achieve the study objective, the researcher recorded (21) Friday sermons from three different geographical locations: cities, villages, and plains. The study primarily investigated the types of functions, the forms of code-switching and subject matters that make Friday preachers code-switch from high variety to low variety. A descriptive analysis was performed by the researcher. Main Findings: The study reveals that diglossic code-switching is purposeful and functional serving ten sociolinguistic functions such as clarity and simplicity, giving directions, warnings, etc. The analysis also reveals that Arabic consists of high variety (standard) and low variety (nonstandard). Even though high variety is much better and is frequently used in official settings, there are instances in which low variety is used because high variety does not meet Arabic speakers' daily- life communication. The study also concludes Arabic is not a pigeonholed variety as Ferguson's claimed.  Therefore, Friday preachers vacillate from high to low variety to serve certain sociolinguistic functions. The research results also found three forms of code-switching: extra- sentential or tag-Switching, inter-sentential and intra-sentential. Extra-sentential was the most frequently used in the study. Implication: This paper can be useful to a better understanding of the phenomenon of diglossic code-switching in the religious discourse in sociolinguistics in general and in particular studying the linguistic features of cod-switching in the religious discourse in the Arab world. Novelty: No studies were conducted on diglossic code-switching in the religious discourse by Friday sermons not only in Jordan even in the Middle East.