On a Friday night, while the family was gathering at my grandfathers’ house, we were watching television. My grandpa suddenly shouts out “where is the Hakoom?”, no one understood what he meant by “hakoom” but when he corrected the word and said “remote control” the remote was handed in to him. This issue, Arabizi penetrating the Arab world, gave rise to Dalia al Kury to film the documentary, Arabizi. The production company O3 filmed the documentary in Jordan, Kuwait and Egypt. These specific countries were chosen; as Jordan represents the Sham countries, Kuwait, the GCC and Egypt, the African Arabic countries. Arabizi is the mixing of Arabic with English; as Arabs claim that they can express themselves more clearly. To be more specific as mentioned in the article, In Jordan the Young and Hip Speak Arabizi “It is easier to express yourself in English about topics that are considered taboo, like sex”(Villelebeitia,I.,2005, In Jordan the Young and Hip Speak Arabizi, Reuters, 17 December). The documentary, Arabizi, indicates the spread of this phenomenon in the Middle East. Moreover, the film interviews professors from different areas that explain how Arabizi is affecting the Arabic language and if it causes any identity crises.
It is known that Arabizi builds a meaningful reference to how this hybrid language has a weak identity, to clear up; it doesn’t retaliate to the national standards. Around ten minutes into the documentary, Dalia Al Kury interviews Khaldoun Al-Naqib a Political sociology professor in Kuwait University where he analyses this diverse. Professor Khaldoun discusses the weaknesses of Arabizi. Also, he rationalizes how we should not be afraid of this transitional phenomenon. Kuwait University is a public university where the courses are taught in English. Dr. Khaldoun concludes that teaching in English is scandalous, in this manner; universities dominant goal is to glorify the local culture to a higher level. In other words, when
References: Ibkis. (2010, September 19). Arabizi [Video file]. http://www.ikbis.com/shots/256844