The Team’s principal research object is language in all its forms; oral, written, popular, scholarly and literary. This includes Arabic principally, but also Berber (Tamazight), Hebrew, Farsi, Armenian and ancient Near Eastern languages (Aramean, Akkadian, Phoenician, Sumerian, etc.).
The approaches to this object of study—language—are extremely diverse, from data processing and analysis to textual and literary analysis, via epigraphy, linguistics, sociolinguistics or even translation theory and the sociology of culture. This combination of scholarly training and openness to the social sciences has contributed to renewing perceptions of these societies. The members of this center are all actively involved in research and training at the Department of Middle-Eastern Studies of Aix Marseille University, especially with linguistics and literature seminars. They also participate in the laboratory’s cross-disciplinary research axes
Team Leaders: Malika Assam and Stéphane Cermakian
Researchers, Professors, Emeritus, Ater: Malika Assam (MCF), Mohammed Bakhouch (émérite), Stéphane Cermakian (MCF), Salem Chaker (émérite), Alessia D’Accardio Berlinguer (ATER), Tal Dor (MCF), Jairo Guerrero (MCF), Frédéric Imbert (PU), Richard Jacquemond (PU), Pierre Larcher (émérite), Homa Lessan Pechezki (PU), Pandelis Mavrogiannis (ATER), Catherine Miller (émérite), Remo Mugnaoni (MCF), Hakan Özkan (PR), Manuel Sartori (PR) n Pechezki (PU), Catherine Miller (émérite), Remo Mugnaoni (MCF), Hakan Özkan (PR), Manuel Sartori (PR)
Associate Researchers: Maxime Adel, Claude Audebert, Annamaria Bianco, Abdallah El Mountassir, Jacopo Falchetta, Ammar Kandeel, Saïda Larej, Rosa Pennisi, Catharina Pinon, Sbeih Sbeih, Intissar Sfaxii
PhD students: Lahcen Addichane, Laalikhan Ali, Chakib Ararou, Nedjma Atoui, Saïda Belkadi, Fanny Rauwel, May Rostom, Najla Salim, Mehdi Zoghaib
Contributors: Claude Audebert, Jairo Guerrero, Pierre Larcher, Homa Lessan Pechezki, Catherine Miller, Manuel Sartori
PhD Students: Laalikhan Ali, Nassim Nekouie, May Rostom, Najla Salim
Associate Researchers: Jacopo Falchetta, Catharina Pinon
Research in descriptive and typological linguistics centers around recent evolutions in syntax and vocabulary, applied to Arabic, Arabic didactics, and Persian. One of its aims is to take these evolutions into account when compiling linguistic grammars of these languages for teaching purposes, in order to bridge the gap between conventional grammatical explanations and the reality of contemporary written use. This research focusses on the evolution of written modern Arabic, in collaboration with researchers at University Paris 3, the University of Cádiz, the University of Oslo, etc. Another dimension of this research is the critical reading of ancient grammars, taking the approach of a history of representations of the Arabic language and of the formation of knowledge pertaining to it. Research is also dedicated to building an online Egyptian Arabic contextual dictionary, which currently includes 8 letters and 2886 entries.
In sociolinguistics and dialectology, research principally centers around the contact between languages/dialects in an urban context, examining the interaction between social change and the evolving practices and representations of language : be it in daily practices, the media, cultural and artistic scenes, youth speech in the Maghreb and the Middle-East, in Egypt and in Sudan. This research also participates in an international partnership with Lacnad (INALCO), the University of Cádiz, the University of Saragossa, and the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Vienna. Specific emphasis is given to artistic productions and to the process of vernacularisation and writing of Arabic vernaculars.