Scholarly record

LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVES

O. Bernikova, O. Redkin

Abstract

The United Arab Emirates today is the country which demonstrates successful coexistence of different cultures, languages, traditions and religions. The unique situation in the region is characterized by linguistic diversity from one side and its fast development from the other. This article examines the peculiarities of the linguistic situation in the region in the historical perspective, as well as possible tendencies of its development are predicted. The key aspect of the topic is the study of the role and status of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) - the official language of the country, of which more than 85% of the population are migrants. Another phenomenon of the UAE is the fact that English became the lingua franca of the country. The situation is complicated by use of dialects - the mean of communication for the local population. The research is based on the literary review and the results of field research, carried out by the authors repeatedly in the period from 2010 to 2017. Linguistic diversity has always been a characteristic of this region. However, at various stages of its development, there were always interaction of different groups of languages and dialects. One of the key tasks of the language policy in the country is strengthening the status of MSA. The threat of its disappearance, replacement by English is increasingly being discussed in the scientific and political communities. Nevertheless, there are several factors that determine further use of MSA in the UAE, among them education policy, prevalence of television channels broadcasting in the fluent Arabic language, use Arabic as the official language in all federal authorities and establishments. Besides that, Arabic is a living symbol of the national Arab-Islamic values. Linguistic diversity in the UAE is different from that in the USA, due to the fact that state education system in the country serves its citizens. The citizenry here is exclusively Arabic in language and culture. The spread of the Arabic language also has a regional variation, which is mainly due to the difference in the number of local population living in different emirates.

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