From: nmouawad@waterloo.edu (Naji Mouawad)
Subject: Re: AlpaLeb V 1.0
Organization: University of Waterloo
	<1992Sep29.225504.6097@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 20:16:53 GMT



It does come as no surprise that someone would react rather bluntly to
our proposal. 

As far as linguistics are concerned there is no clear way to
differentiate a "dialect" from a "language". As one linguist puts it:
"a language is a dialect with an army".

What he meant I suppose is that a language is a dialect with enough
political, social and economical power to be called a "language". In
case of Arabic, one may add relegious as well.

Thus one may consider Lebanese as a language or a dialect depending on
one's views of the world. The education we received in Lebanon makes
such a clear distinction between al-lugha l-@ammiyey wal l-lugha
al-fosHa (observe the extra-linguistic judgement: the language of the
people vs the language of knowledge) that it has become diffuclt for
anyone to immagine calling Lebanese a language.

If one was to observe the evolution of Europe, one would detect a
similar conflict involving the role of Latin.

Latin was the language of the Church more than that of the Roman
Empire. For what allowed Latin to survive after the demise of the
Empire was the Catholic Church. Before Vatican II it was unthinkable
to pray in the common language (that which was called "dialect" --
French, English, German ...), to study or to write in any of these
dialects.

When the Church lost its temporal power (meaning its economical and
military means) things began to shift quietly. That was I believe the
begining of the XVII  century, although others may disagree. The Industrial
Revolution coupled with Protestantism quickened the pace of
transformation. Soon enough Latin became a "dead language". Dialects
were promoted to languages. They gained this noble stature while their
linguistic properties did not change much. They drifted apart and
became independant languages.

Based on this rather sketchy senario would one be lead to believe that
the Arab world would follow along this historical path ? Not so. The
fundamental difference on the linguistic level between Islam and
Christianity lies within the role the language.

Without dipping into the Islamic theology and theophany one can safely
say that Arabic is fundamental to Islam, that all prayers must be said
in Arabic. This has become central to the Islamic cultus to the point
where touching Arabic the language amounts to touching Islam the
religion, the culture and the identity.

On the other hand, enforcing Latin as a dominant language in the
Catholic Church has only political ramifications. One may even argue
that it is contrary to the Christian Spirit. Vatican II changed that
without touching the gospel or the christian identity. Followers of
Lefevbre may disagree but this is for another forum.

Which gets us back to our local discussion. Lebanese may be perseeved
as a language or a dialect. When I speak of the Lebanese language I am
clearly promoting a Lebanese identity, distinct as I perceive it from
that of my surrounding, yet having commonalities with many
neighbouring cultures. Should this stress of the Lebanese identity
constitute a threat ? It could if someone wants to perceive it as
such. For as far as I am concerned, Lebanese is not antipodal to
Arabic, it is just another language. I do read and like many of the
Arab poets and I treat Arabic like any other language I have come to
learn and love. No more no less.

Thus, if one is not willing to use and play with Alphaleb, one is free
to do so. But no one who believes himself or herself tolerant and open
minded can trash it out as an insult. After all it was the exchange of
ideas, beliefs and culture which made Lebanon a country to be proud
of. 

naji.

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    | Naji Mouawad  |          nmouawad@watmath.waterloo.edu            |
    |  University   |---------------------------------------------------|
    | Of Waterloo   |   "The Stranger in us is our most familiar Self"  |
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