A Reading in the Relationship between Language and Society

Abstract

This research aims to investigate some sociolinguistic issues raised by Al-Jahiz in his two books: Al-Bayan wa Al-Tabeen (Statement and Clarification) and Al-Hayawan (The Animal), especially during his lifetime ー from the time of Caliph Harun Al-Rashid rein until Caliph Al-Mutawakkil’s, and in places which he traveled to, mainly the cities of Basra and Baghdad. He paid attention to all the linguistic issues that would be raised by contemporary sociolinguistics that was founded in the sixties of the twentieth century, in the United States of America in particular. Their main concern was studying the relationship between language and society and the forms of interaction between them, which is, in turn, represented by language differences at multiple levels if taking into account social classes, ethnic affiliations, gender differences, age disparity, cultural and educational variations, and contextual uses. Contemporary sociolinguistics also focuses on the characteristics and features of dialects and the phenomena of linguistic debates such as bilingualism, multilingualism, and urban sociolinguistics.