About

TUNOCENT

(April 2019 → March 2023):

funded by The Austrian Science Fund (FWF)

The project “Tunisia’s Linguistic terra incognita: An Investigation into the Arabic Varieties of Northwestern and Central Tunisia (TUNOCENT)” aims at the collection, documentation and analysis of dialectal varieties in the northwestern and central Tunisian governorates:

Under the leadership of Veronika Ritt-Benmimoun from the Department of Oriental Studies, University of Vienna and in cooperation with the national research partner Karlheinz Mörth from the Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a team of three field researchers from the University of Vienna contributes to the TUNOCENT project. The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) finances the investigation, for which a period of four years was determined, starting in April 2019. For latest information about our research status as well as current developments, check News & Activities.

 

The Background

– What is the deeper motive of this research? –
In 1950, the famous French dialectologist William Marçais affixed the term “terra incognita” to Tunisian Bedouin-type dialects, differentiating them into what he called the H- (Hilal) and S- (Sulaym) dialects. His judgement that further research into these almost completely unknown varieties is urgently needed still holds true now, almost 70 years later. Therefore, this project is the first attempt to linguistically illuminate a part of Tunisia which has long remained understudied, in contrast to some dialects spoken along the coast.

– And what should be the outcome? –
Our project promises to be a giant stride in our knowledge of Tunisia’s linguistic landscape, and will be of great importance for an understanding of the complex relationship between the Tunisian dialects and those spoken in adjacent areas of Algeria and Libya. It will also provide new insights into the diachronic and synchronic linguistic situation in the central Maghreb.

The Approach

– How do we work? –
The first phase of the project will involve the recording and collecting of linguistic data through fieldwork using mainly qualitative methods, considering the relevant diatopic and diastratic parameters.
In the second phase, selected dialects will be categorised and two varieties representing the main dialectal areas described in detail. Intra-dialectal comparison will reveal the common traits and differences of Tunisian Bedouin-type dialects and should enable a detailed classification of them, something which has hitherto never been undertaken. The shared history of (semi)nomadism and the current social reality of settlement will allow us to consider how “Bedouin” these dialects are and whether some of them have gone through a process of urbanization.
Ultimately a digital and fully searchable corpus of transcribed and translated narrative and ethnographic texts and conversations will be built. This corpus and the gathered data will be hosted at the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage (Austrian Academy of Sciences). This will ensure both open access and long-term preservation of our data.

Cooperations

Through cooperation agreements we profit from the scientific experience, knowledge and contacts of our national and international partners: