when najd meets hijaz: dialect contact in jeddah 215
Figure 2. Distribution of the 2nd p. fem. suffix post-consonantal variants by age
target variant [-ik] is steadily rising in all age groups. Nevertheless, the acquisition of the target form even in the youngest generation, who were born and raised in Hijaz, is not complete. Trudgill (1986: 38) maintains that complex phonological contrasts and allophonic conditioning are sometimes not acquired at all unless speakers have been exposed to them in the speech of their parents. As illustrated in Figure (3) below, in post-vocalic environment, three variants are used. Figure (3) shows that the regional variant V\-[ts] and the target variant V\-[ki] are interrelated in the same contrastive relationship as in the case of post-consonantal -its and -ki .The increase in the use of one variant is mirrored by a decrease in the use of the other. The variant [-ki] is taking over the function of feminine gender marking in the post-vocalic environment from the traditional variant [-ts]. The figure also shows that there are innovative speakers from all age groups who use the variant [-k], which is a new form to both dialects. 7.2.3. The Effect of Contact Figure (4) below shows that in the case of the high contact group there is a decrease in the use of the traditional variant [ts] and an increase in the use of the target form C\-[ik]. This correlation between these two variants and the level of contact is statistically significant