Arabic in the diaspora

This paper offers an overview of contact-induced change in diasporic Arabic. It provides a socio-historical description of the Arab diaspora, followed by a sociolinguistic profile of Arabic-speaking diasporic communities. Language change is analyzed at the phonological, morphological, syntactic and lexical level, distinguishing between contact-induced change and internal developments caused by reduced input and weakened monitoring. In the course of the description, parallels are drawn between diasporic Arabic and other contemporary or extinct contact varieties, such as Arabic-based pidgins and Andalusi Arabic.