Social categories and everyday talk in Jish Arabic (northern Israel): a pragmatic and ethnolinguistic study

Abstract

This article explores the semantics and pragmatics of ten social category terms, used in the largely undocumented Jish Arabic linguaculture (ways of speaking and living). By consulting native Jish Arabic speakers, examining WhatsApp messages texted by them, and using Natural Semantic Metalanguage, each of these terms is described and explicated in simple, (semi-)universal concepts. This makes the explications easily understood and readily cross-translatable, and thus accessible to cultural insiders (people living in Jish) and cultural outsiders. In addition, this study reveals complex dynamics of identity and belonging, especially when it comes to one of these terms, jishshāwiyyi (جشّاوية). While this term should in principle refer to all the residents of il-jishsh (الجش) ‘Jish,’ it is used to refer to only about 70 % of them. This study, therefore, contributes to the fields of linguistics, sociology, and anthropology. In particular, it explores the interplay between language and social identity in Jish, showing how speakers signal belonging, mark boundaries, and negotiate relationships in everyday interaction.