Aspects of Language Contact in Algeria Case Study of Ain Temouchent Speech Community

Abstract

Algeria, no doubt is a nation that has witnessed a crosscurrent of linguistic activities due to its inherent multilingual nature coupled with her colonial experience under the colonisations, The research work revolves around sociolinguistic situation in relation to the language contact in Algeria. The objective of this research work is to shed light on language contact phenomena in Ain Temouchent speech community in order to analyse language varieties among its citizens. This contact between languages gives birth to language mixes between Arabic, French and Berber code switching. The data analysis is based on a questionnaire to one hundred informants from Ain Temouchent and its small towns. They are from different ages, genders and levels. It is a set to test hypotheses related to the earlier mentioned objectives. The data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results of the analysed data reveal that most citizens of Ain Temouchent code switch and mix between the following languages Arabic, French and Berber