A Sociolinguistic Study of Street Names in Amman, Jordan

Abstract

The present study investigates street names in Amman, Jordan from a sociolinguistic point of view. It is mainly concerned with categorizing these names and investigating the reasons behind using them, which leads necessarily to an investigation of the relationship between street names and culture. For the purpose of the study, a total of 845 street names were obtained from Amman Greater Municipality. Data shows that street names can be classified into five major categories: names of Arabic/Islamic significance, names of nationalistic significance, geographical place names, or names expressing abstract and religious values, and names from nature. This study also shows that names of Arabic/Islamic significance form the largest group of street names in the sample. A questionnaire is also designed and distributed to 50 people who live in Amman with the purpose of answering questions of the study. The analysis shows that the public would select names of Arabic/Islamic significance if they were to name a street.