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Iconicity in Cognition and across Semiotic Systems
Edited by Sara Lenninger, Olga Fischer, Christina Ljungberg and Elżbieta Tabakowska
[Iconicity in Language and Literature 18] 2022
► pp. 389–404

The iconicity of emotive Hijazi non-lexical expressions of disgust

A phono-semiotic study

| Cardiff University, UK

This study examines the non-arbitrary relationship between Hijazi Arabic Non-Lexical Expressions (HNLEs) and their meanings of disgust based on a semiotic framework. I examine the meanings of the eight HNLEs [ɪf], [uf], [ɔf:u], [ɪf:i], [ɪx:i], [kɪx], [jɪʕ], and [ǀ], the last of which is produced with repetition and deceleration, and argue that this relationship is motivated. The data was elicited from Hijazi speakers by means of an open questionnaire, with the analysis revealing that the physical vocalizations of HNLEs bear similarities to the physical gestures signalling disgust, including how the speakers shape their mouths in a specific manner. The HNLEs stand as motivated representations for the emotion of disgust.

Keywords: icon, iconicity, vocalization, disgust, HNLE
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.NLEs that realize the emotion of disgust
  • 3.HNLEs interpreted as semiotic signs
  • 4.Data collection and analysis
  • 5.Results and discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 10 November 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ill.18.18ass
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