Rawaa from Gafsa

Wiss from el Kef

Yosra from Siliana

Nidhal from Kasserine

Sarah from Tunis

Khayri from Kasserine

Gladly friends and those who became friends over the course of the work helped us out. Welcome to our new colleagues Rawaa and May from Gafsa, Wiss from el Kef, Yosra from Siliana, Sarah from Tunis as well as Khayri, Nidhal and a further new colleague from Kasserine! Moreover, the Austrian Embassy in Tunis kept on supporting the TUNOCENT field research and thus, the entire project.

“It was a great experience to be part of the TUNOCENT project. Even though creating a relaxed atmosphere and encouraging people to talk was not easy, it deserves the try! I had the chance to meet exceptional people; the beautiful thing is the paradox between the happiness of the people I met and the lack of comfort that they are facing. The extraordinary beauty of those places in my precious country amazed me. Finally, I want to thank you for this opportunity even though it was only for a short period but it was remarkable for me.” (Sarah)

While our actual researcher team kept themselves busy with explaining, coordinating and managing, their new colleagues found themselves facing the challenging job of field research. Despite being locals, it proved difficult to them, too. Although the interviewers were Tunisians, some people used standard Arabic even after being reminded to talk in their local dialect multiple times, Wiss reports. Others, in turn, were unable to translate the requested sentences because of their different education levels.  

“Some persons were difficult to deal with, others were more  friendly and open minded.” (Khayri)

“I learnt to exercise patience and got to know many new people. Being part of the TUNOCENT team was an honour for me and made me happy!” (Yosra)

For other people the recordings simply took too much time and concentration. Many people for instance did not understand what a dialectal research is about and doubted in it, Wiss explains. Convincing people to cooperate was a difficulty in this job, Nidhal agrees. Yosra continues that some people even associated her with politics and suspected her to work as politician. May shares this experience:  

“I am very happy to be a part of the TUNOCENT team. In fact, it gave me the opportunity to discover new places in my country. It is each time an adventure: I listen to new stories about the history of the places and very amusing myths. Also meeting new different people and watch their behavior, live with them their daily life and taste their traditional food was so fun for me. Despite these pleasing parts, I have faced some problems. At the beginning 15 hours seemed so easy to collect but then I discovered is not easy at all. In fact, it is not that evident to find someone who wants to talk for more than 30 minutes. Finding the perfect environment (no noise, no children …) for the recording is very hard, too. Still, the most annoying thing is explaining people that you are not a spy.” (May)

This attitude complicated the matters. As male researchers, Khayri and Wiss experienced also women’s refusal of recording. Furthermore, all our new colleagues had struggles with the transportation. Nevertheless, Rawaa, May, Wiss, Khayri, Yosra, Sarah and Nidhal eventually were very glad to be part of our team. They gained exciting experiences and shared their best moments with us.  

“I liked this work very, very much because I got to know a lot of things about my country of which I was not aware before. Even customs from other places that are not far from my hometown were new to me! Moreover, I got in touch with very kind new people!” (Rawaa)

“I very much enjoyed listening to the stories of elders. Thereby, I learnt new things and got insights about how my own people used to live in previous times. Also, I joked with the interviewees and we had fun.” (Wiss)

Nidhal describes his job experience as a change of perspective. Learning about the life of locals in his own region, he started to focus on details.

“This job is an amazing experience for me. It opens my eyes as I am going through a journey of self-discovery. I feel like an alien trying to learn about life here. Words cannot capture my gratitude for this opportunity. I won’t look at my country the same way as I did before.” (Nidhal)

At this point we would like to express our gratitude to all our supporters, especially to all the helpful people in Tunisia, to whom we dearly wish the best getting through these days!

Y3yychkom!

!يعطيكم الصحة

The project’s cooperation partners Stephan Prochazka and Dominique Caubet with Henriette Walter and Farah Zaiem in the campus of Manouba-University

Group photo with the organisers of the conference and the founding members of the ATL at the University of Manouba

Veronika at the Association Derja

Furthermore, the two Austrian dialect specialists Veronika Ritt-Benmimoun and Stephan Procházka use the possibility to get in touch with members of the Association Derja . whom they share their passion for the Tunisian dialect. Holding a conference, the association, also exhibits an impressive collection of books written in different Tunisian dialectal varieties — that kind of literature Arabic dialect researchers love.

As part of the VICAV project, the collection and transcription of sample text recordings is embedded in a transnational comparison of Arab dialect varieties. At the same time, the possibility to compare sample text readings of so many different reference points within just one country is unique within this project!

Working on the spot, Ilona, Aleksandra and Franziska sometimes had to remind their interviewees to keep on talking their dialect – ­and not just reading the given text as it is written. Working on its transcription, nevertheless, means going much more into details and focusing on the linguistic nuances.

Aleksandra reports:

Veronika and Ilona join the conference with their presentation “The Perception of ‘rural’ as ‘backward’ and ‘urban’ as ‘advanced’ and the resulting linguistic behaviour in Central Tunisia”. Focusing on the linguistic differences between the countryside and the city and the consequences of the general perception of a certain variety, Veronika and Ilona give an insight into a socio-linguistic issue examined within the TUNOCENT project. Although their post-lunchtime presentation follows a series of interesting lectures from other linguists, Veronika and Ilona hope to keep participants attentive and interested well into the afternoon. Their intensive preparations paid off!

 

Moreover, there is another reason why the participation on the conference is a great success for the TUNOCENT team: While we keep on collecting and systematizing the data, we are – as the presentation shows –, for the first time, even able to draw conclusions. A huge motivation for the TUNOCENT project!

*Organized by Catherine MILLER, Jacopo FALCHETTA, Jairo GUERRERO from IREMAM (AMU–CNRS) and Montserrat BENÍTEZ FERNÁNDEZ from EAA (CSIC)

The three field researchers Aleksandra, Ilona and Franziska reunite with the project leader Veronika in Vienna. Each of the researchers spent two field trips abroad during the last months. The amount of data grew. Aleksandra and Ilona industriously work on laying a foundation for its further processing. In addition, Franziska has just started to build the web site. As a number of questions arose and a few technical issues still need to be discussed, we are looking forward to the meet-up with our cooperation partners at the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Gladly Zsofia joined the team exactly at the right moment serving from now on as central contact for technical support. Welcome, Zsofia!

Three different reseachers, five different field trips and hundreds of different recordings needing systematizing. Aleksandra and Ilona face a huge amount of paperwork trying to bring the collected data into some kind of order and improve the labelling system. Of all the material collected so far, transcribing and finalizing the recorded sample texts and feature lists has priority. Ilona and Aleksandra subsequently pass their results to our cooperation partners from the Austrian Academy of Sciences for the data’s digital processing. At the same time, Aleksandra and Ilona start to write short articles about the sites they have been working at. These profiles expand the investigations’ linguistic focus sharing also some insights into the region, its people and some local cultural characteristics.

Franziska, meanwhile, finds herself back in Tunisia after just three weeks in Austria between the two trips. Strengthened by her positive experiences she continues the survey in the most southern part of the area to investigate the governorate of Gafsa. “People of the South” in Tunisia are renowned for their hospitality and warm hearts. Indeed, this reputation is fully deserved! Thanks to the support of the locals, Franziska conducts nomerous interviews in the capital Gafsa as well as in the small town El Guettar which is about 20 km to the south of the capital. She also gets in touch with people from the village Lala, located between these two cities. The researcher interviews people from the governorate’s eastern part, namely from the mountain region Bir Saad and the village Talah and went to the far west of the governorate of Gafsa, the commune of Redeyef and the town Moulares (Oum el Araies) to the north of it.

Three weeks after a great deal of exiting interviews and some exhausting marriages […], Franziska is back to El Kef. Although, the stay in this beautiful governorate is associated with some bureaucratic burdens, the investigation continuous very successfully:

Having finished the town of Tajerouine and its coutry side including Sbiat, Mahjouba, Kalaat es Senam and Sidi Mtir as well as the sites Smeena and Dir within the closer surrounding of El Kef, Franziska now focuses on the commune of Dahmani. Recording people in Shmeysiya and Maskhiya, both neighbouring Dahmani, but also in the mountain region Ain El Ksiba on the border to the governorate of Kasserine, she keeps on capturing dialectal varieties.

And then, there is still a surprise in El Kef: the opportunity to get in touch with some students from the Kasserine town of Sbiba, who are available for an interview too.

However, the working conditions are not that easy for the researchers. Tunisia’s scorching sun means that locals rarely leave their homes throughout the day during summer months. Interviewees are hard to catch as they are usually found at home, enjoying a siesta in the shade. These circumstances demand late-night hours interviewing those who are available after their afternoon naps. Being flexible allowed us to adapt to the timing and availability of potential interview partners.

Nonetheless, the lack of infrastructure often restricted our eager plans. Many regions – rural areas and small towns – do not offer any public transportation after five o’clock. Sometimes there is even no connection before five! Our partial reliance on local guides had somewhat of an impact on our schedules, and meant that early mornings, coupled with evening ḥōš-assemblies*, were the general order of the day – taking every opportunity for Franziska and Aleksandra to catch valuable sleep. Ilona, for her part, acquired a taste for the local’s daily rhythm and happily adopted their siesta custom gaylūla.

 

All the more, we are very satisfied with our fieldtrip’s outcome: The work in the governorates Beja and Siliana is completed, the wide parts of the governorate El Kef covered and even first sites in Jendouba opened up. Moreover, though working separately in different governorates, our researcher team manages to meet up in the capital for a joint lunch, strong hugs and to compare their notes and as their trip draws to its close.

* ḥōš: depending on the Tunisian dialect variety, the word ḥōš, also pronounced ḥūš, can imply either the meaning “house” or – as in this case – “courtyard”, in which family members, neighbours and friends gather in summer nights. People tell stories and jokes and sometimes even sing songs during those late-night assemblies.

Every two years, scholars from all over the world gather at the conference of the International Association of Arabic Dialectology (Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe, AIDA – الرابطة الدولية لدراسة اللهجات العربية) for a mutual exchange about Arabic Dialectology’s different issues.

This year Veronika presents TUNOCENT! Explaining her project as a first attempt to linguistically illuminate a part of Tunisia, which has long remained understudied, she is bringing conference delegates up to speed with the investigation. As the field of Arabic Dialectology covers, amongst other things, the description of dialects, dialectal geography, specific aspects of phonology, morphology and syntax, code-switching, the lexicon of Arabic dialects as well as comparative and diachronic studies and sociolinguistics, the TUNOCENT project has plenty of areas to explore. The international community of scholars is listening to Veronika’s presentation attentively.