Social Attitudes Towards Bedouin and Sedentary Dialects in Central Najd

Abstract

This study examines whether Bedouins in Najd are converging on the sedentary dialect due to social attitudes towards these two dialects. It is hypothesized that the social attitudes towards the sedentary dialect will be positive, as opposed to those of the bedouin dialect. The social attitudes towards the dialects will be measured using indirect approach, via the verbal-guise test. In this test, the implicit attitudes of individuals towards a language/dialect are measured. Participants are presented with stimuli (short speech excerpts) from both dialects and asked to rate each speaker on a list of selected status and solidarity traits. The results show that the sedentary dialect ranked higher than bedouin dialect in civilization, education, open-mindedness, and expressing emotions. The bedouin dialect, however, ranked higher only in self-confidence. Thus, it is stated that the bedouins are converging on the sedentary dialect because of Najdis’ social attitudes towards the sedentary dialect.