Agenda
Maarten Kossmann
Moroccan indefinite determiners in Dutch discourse
In some styles of Dutch as spoken by youth with a Moroccan heritage background, indefinite determiners are taken over from Moroccan languages, leading to sentences as the following:
hij heeft ižžən ziekte of zo, hè?
he’s got an [ižžən] illness, hasn’t he?
[from an interview recorded by Khalid Mourigh in Gouda; 2016]
ze zei dat je met shen dikke jongen had
she said that you are having (an affair) with some [šan] fat guy
[@ibrahimovic10; 5/5/2015; marokko.nl]
In this talk I want to look at these constructions from different points of view. In the first place, I will discuss the conversational indexicalities attached to these forms. Then the choice between indefinites with a Moroccan Arabic background and those with a Berber background will be considered. The second part of the talk will be about the semantic differences between Moroccan indefinites and Dutch indefinites and the extent to which this can explain thier usage in otherwise Dutch discourse. Finally, a semantic shift from indefinite to expressive meaning will be shown, both within the Moroccan community, but especially in crossing.
The data for this talk mainly come from written computer-mediated communication, especially from internet forums with a Moroccan target group, such as marokko.nl.