Arabizi Between Technical Necessity and Cultural Transformation: A Sociolinguistic Study in the Context of Contemporary Digital Change

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the phenomenon of "Arabizi" from a sociolinguistic perspective, considering it as a manifestation of orthographic fragmentation within contemporary digital contexts, and as one of the major challenges facing the standardization of Modern Arabic. The study traces the socio-technical and educational circumstances surrounding the rise and spread of Arabizi, while analyzing its implications for youth linguistic awareness and identity representation. Particular focus is given to the Libyan context, which presents a distinct case of limited Arabizi adoption due to a set of educational and cultural factors. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical method, integrating tools from sociolinguistics and the history of writing systems to explore the phonetic and graphic structure of Arabizi and its position in the wider conflict between classical Arabic and colloquialism, identity and heritage, openness and disintegration .