ABSTRACT
The wide range of variability in spoken Arabic across the diglossic High variety vs. Low variety dichotomy is a well attested phenomenon and has been the focus of several studies in Arabic linguistics. Suggestions have been made to define various numbers of intermediate levels or varieties between the two poles and basic codes of standard fuṣḥā and the local vernacularʿāmmiyya. My inclination is to regard the highly fluctuating and variable speech produced by different speakers in response to similar situational contexts as a matter of individual verbal strategies, as stylistic choices. This paper is an attempt to relate some analytical concepts from contributions to the study of style in the general sociolinguistic literature to a sample of what I conceive of as stylistic variation. The sample is a recording of Egyptian grand author Nagīb Maḥfūẓ talking about his life (published in the cassette series Mishwār ḥayātī, presentations of outstanding cultural figures intended for the broader public.) I have investigated 90 minutes of a total of approx. 200 minutes, and a few excerpts will be attached in transcription for illustration. 1
