Sociolinguistic Reflexes of Socio-Political Patterns in Bethlehem

This is the preliminary report on a series of studies of the sociolinguistic structure of the West Bank Palestinian town of Bethlehem that will also deal with related questions concerning the emerging language education policy of the Palestinian Authority. ¹ In it, we provide a brief introduction outlining the socio-political pattern of the city. This reveals an ongoing transition from its earlier status as a mainly Christian village with international repute for its historical past into an important Palestinian city with a developing Muslim majority. Looking at the sociolinguistic reflexes of this pattern as demonstrated especially in some changes in the phonology of the vernacular Arabic spoken in the town, we present evidence of changing identities and of linguistic markers of the Muslim-Christian division. Looking more closely at social issues, our study confirms that in Bethlehem, as in other Palestinian sociolinguistic communities that have been studied recently, whether directly or indirectly (Al-Wer 1999; Amara 1994; Amara 1996; Sawaie 1994; Spolsky and Amara 1997; Suleiman 1999), there are sound changes and other linguistic changes in progress, adding up to an educationally mediated shift from vernacular to standard variants. Of particular interest in Bethlehem is clear evidence of gender and religious differentiation in the distribution of this shift, in resistance to it, and in the development of an alternative prestige standard.