Neither fuṣḥā nor ‘āmmiyya: how to reach a simplified Arabic language writing for theatre. Linguistic devices in Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm’s theory and practice of the Third Language

In search of a language fit for the theatre Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm, the greatest Egyptian playwright, brings a significant theoretical and practical contribution to the definition of what he calls al-luġa aṯ-ṯāliṯa, the Third Language, a new variety that could solve the problem of performing on the stage a text correct from a normative linguistic perspective and comprehensible to the whole audience. A drama written in this language seems vernacular but can also be read or acted according to the norms of standard Arabic. Through three of his works the dramatist develops a linguistic theory and puts into practice its rules, starting from aṣ-Ṣafqa (1956), an example of how a text in Arabic can be neither vernacular nor standard, or can seem either vernacular or standard, continuing with aṭ-Ṭa‘ām li-kull fam (1963), written in standard Arabic but with an afterword in which al-Ḥakīm reflects on the need to search for the Third Language, and finally reaching a simplified form of standard Arabic called al-luġa al-‘arabiyya al-mubassaṭa in al-Warṭa (1966). In carrying out these experiments Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm shapes a new model of Arabic and affirms his commitment to a linguistic renewal attainable by the rapprochement between varieties, a proposal of reform not yet fulfilled.