This article tackles a phenomenon in Urban Jordanian Arabic (UJA) where young individuals (mainly females) in Amman, the capital of Jordan, add the Arabic suffix -?k, which is glossed as second female singular or as a possessive pronoun, to English loanwords to sound more "modern," for example, "I love you" becomes [l?vv?k].…

Detailed study of Detroit-area adolescents provides explanations for the spread of sound change outward from urban areas and upward through the socioeconomic hierarchy. Social network structure, orientation to the urban area, and phonology are contrasted for the two adolescent social categories, "Jocks" (middle class) and…

Sociolinguistic studies of spoken Arabic show at least three varieties at different levels of prestige: (1) Modern Standard Arabic (MSA); (2) regional standard with local prestige; and (3) vernacular varieties. The social function of the local prestigious nonstandard features can override the influence of the prestige of MSA. (Author/LMO)