The worldwide influence of the English language is undeniable, given its common use in various forms of international entertainment, social media, the Internet, and so on. English has affected many countries’ languages, and Kuwaiti Arabic is no exception, as evidenced by the so-called “McChicken” phenomenon. This phenomenon refers to the widespread use of English by young Kuwaitis who have low proficiency in Kuwaiti Arabic. However, despite the everyday use of the term in colloquial speech, the phenomenon has remained underexplored. In light of the above, this study investigates the development of the “McChicken” phenomenon. Through an online questionnaire survey and audio-recorded interviews, this study uncovers how Kuwait’s young generation came to rely heavily on code-switching in their communication. This study makes a significant contribution to the literature because it sheds light on this pervasive and rapidly spreading, yet barely understood phenomenon. Further, this study delves into a topic that highlights cross-cultural identities and perspectives.

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Cover illustration: Map 473a es gibt, there is, il y a, hay, c`è Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Behnstedt, P.Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte (WAD). p. cm. -(Handbook of Oriental studies. Section 1, The Near and Middle East, ISSN 0169-9423 = Handbuch der Orientalistik ; 100)Introductory matter in German and English; map legends in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis has inspired many researchers to investigate the relationship between language and thought. However, little attention has been paid to Arabic. The current study aimed to examine Arabic-English bilinguals’ perceptions of emotional words in their first and second languages. In addition, the current study aimed to detect whether gender is a significant variable affecting individuals’ viewpoints. The sample consists of 20 men and 29 women, with ages ranging from 19 to 31 years. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative methods in which the participants rated each question on a 5-point Likert scale. In addition, open-ended questions obtained informative responses from the participants. An independent t-test was used to detect differences between men and women. The results indicate that Arabic-English bilinguals feel higher emotional intensity when using their first language than when using their second. In addition, the participants’ independent variables, such as frequency of use, language proficiency, and context of acquisition, were significant because they affected their perception of emotional words in their first and second languages. Moreover, the results did not indicate any gender differences between men and women. Thus, this study provides insights into Arabic-English bilinguals’ perceptions of emotional terms in both languages.

This study examines a case of total reduplication in Kuwaiti Arabic known as contrastive focus reduplication (i.e. complete copying of words or phrases). For example, tišrab čāy ḥalīb willa ČĀY–čāy? ‘Would you like to drink tea with milk, or TEA–tea’ [denoting black tea as opposed to karak chai]. The study explores the morpho-semantic properties of this construction in the dialect, shows the different meanings it allows and how it elucidates the permissible lexical units that can be reduplicated. The reduplication of a lexical item can be applied to a range of grammatical and lexical categories. Over 150 samples were collected by observing contrastive focus reduplication from participants’ (male and female native Kuwaiti speakers in their twenties and seventies) natural speech in everyday conversations. This study contributes to research on the prosody and grammar of the dialect and the theory of semantics, thereby enhancing understanding of reduplication and repetition in Semitic dialectology.1