To be or not to be your son’s father/mother
A cognitive-pragmatic perspective on terms of address in Najdi and Tunisian Arabic
The current article offers a comparative account of the address system of two dialects of Arabic, Najdi and Tunisian Arabic. Capitalizing on the theory of Idealized Cognitive Model, the article defends the view that the two systems display Idealized models, which are central to the system, and non-Idealized models, which are peripheral to it. Najdi Arabic includes Idealized terms such as first names, teknonyms, and kinship terms while non-Idealized models include a battery of terms of address. Tunisian Arabic Idealized models hinge on Si/Lalla + first names, first names, and kinship terms while non-Idealized models make use of endeared first names, kinship terms, and diminished kinship terms. The two systems are shown to differ at the level of types of encounter (including formality, closeness, and deference), availability of address options, social horizontality-verticality, and use of metaphor and metonymy.
Article outline
- Introduction
- 1.The theory of idealized cognitive models
- 2.Overview of terms of address
- 3.Najdi Arabic address system
- 3.1Propositional structure of Najdi Arabic address system
- 3.1.1Idealized Cognitive Models
- 3.1.2Non-Idealized Cognitive Models
- 3.2Image-schematic structure of Najdi Arabic address system
- 3.3Metaphorical mappings of Najdi Arabic address system
- 3.4Metonymical mappings of Najdi Arabic address system
- 4.Tunisian Arabic address system
- 4.1Propositional structure of the Tunisian Arabic address system
- 4.1.1Idealized Cognitive Models
- 4.1.2Non-idealized cognitive models
- 4.2Image-schematic structure of the Tunisian Arabic address system
- 4.3Metaphorical mappings of the Tunisian Arabic address system
- 4.4Metonymical mappings of the Tunisian Arabic address system
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusion
- Note
-
References
References (50)
References
Agha, Asif. 1994. “Honorification.” Annual Review of Anthropology 231: 277–302. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Al-Khatib, Mahmoud A. 2003. “Address Norms in Jordanian Arabic: A Sociolinguistic Perspective.” Grazer Linguistische Studien 591: 1–20.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Alrabaa, Sami. 1985. “The Use of Address Pronouns by Egyptian Adults: A Sociolinguistic Study.” Journal of Pragmatics 91: 645–657. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Barakat, Halim. 1993. The Arab World: Society, Culture, and State. Berkeley: University of California Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bin Towairesh, Abdullah. 2012. “The Use of Term of Address in the City of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.” Ph.D. dissertation: University of Queensland.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bratt Paulston, Christina. 1976. “Pronouns of Address in Swedish: Social Class Semantics and a Changing System.” Language in Society 5 (3): 359–386. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Braun, Friederike. 1988. Terms of Address: Problems of Patterns and Usage in Various Languages and Cultures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Brown, Roger, and Albert Gilman. 1960. “The Pronouns of Power and Solidarity.” In Style in Language, ed. by T. A. Sebeok, 253–276. Mass.: MIT Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Clyne, Michael. 2009. “Address in Intercultural Communication Across Languages.” Intercultural Pragmatics 6 (3): 395–409. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Clyne, Michael, Heinz-Leo Kretzenbacher, Catrin Norrby, and Doris Schüpbach. 2006. “Perceptions of Variation and Change in German and Swedish Address.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 10 (3): 287–319. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Edwards, Derek. 1997. Discourse and Cognition. London: Sage Publications.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
El Guindi, Fadwa. 2012. “Milk and Blood: Kinship among Muslim Arabs in Qatar.” Anthropos 1071: 545–555. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
El Guindi, Fadwa, and Wesam Al-Othman. 2013. “Transformationality and Dynamicality of Kinship Structure.” Structure and Dynamics 6 (1): 1–18.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fang, Hanquan, and J. H. Heng. 1983. “Social Changes and Changing Address Norms in China.” Language in Society 12 (4): 495–507. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Farghal, Mohammed, and Abdullah Shakir. 1994. “Kin Terms and Titles of Address as Relational Social Honorifics in Jordanian Arabic.” Anthropological Linguistics 36 (2): 240–253![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fasold, Ralph. 1990. The Sociolinguistics of Language. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Feghali, Ellen. 1997. “Arab Cultural Communication Patterns.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 21 (3): 345–378. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fillmore, Charles J. 1982. “Frame Semantics.” In Linguistics in the Morning Calm, ed. by The Linguistic Society of Korea, 111–137. Seoul: Hanshin Publishing Company.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fillmore, Charles J., Miriam, R. L. Petruck, Josef Ruppenhofer, and A. Wright. 2003. “Framenet in Action: The Case of Attaching.” International Journal of Lexicography 16 (3): 297–323. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Givón, Talmy. 1989. Mind, Code and Context: Essays in Pragmatics. Hillsdale, New Jersey and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. New York: Harper and Row.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Holmes, Janet. 1992. Introduction to Sociolinguistics. London and New York: Longman.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jones, Doug. 2004. “The Universal Psychology of Kinship: Evidence from Language.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 8 (5): 211–215. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kasanga, Luanga A. 2009. “Language Socialization: The Naming of Non-Kin Adults by African Children and Preadolescents in Intercultural Encounters.” Intercultural Pragmatics 6 (1): 85–114. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kramer, Chris. 1975. “Sex-related Differences in Address Systems.” Anthropological Linguistics 17 (5): 198–210.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, George. 1982. “Categories: An Essay in Cognitive Linguistics.” In Linguistics in the Morning Calm, ed. by The Linguistic Society of Korea, 139–193. Seoul: Hanshin Publishing Company.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lakoff, George. 1987. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Levinson, Stephen C. 1983. Pragmatics. London: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Maalej, Zouheir. 2010. “Addressing Non-Acquaintances in Tunisian Arabic: A Cognitive-Pragmatic Account.” Intercultural Pragmatics 7 (1): 147–173. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Martiny, T. 1996. “Forms of Address in French and Dutch: A Sociopragmatic Approach.” Language Sciences 18 (3–4): 365–375.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Masliyah, Sadok. 1998. “Abu and umm in the Iraqi Dialect.” Journal of Semitic Studies 43 (1): 113–129. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Myers Scotton, Carol, and Zhu Wanjin. 1983. “Tóngzhì in China: Language Change and its Conversational Consequences.” Language in Society 12 (4): 477–494. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Myers Scotton, Carol, and Zhu Wanjin. 1984. “The Multiple Meanings of shī.fu, a Language Change in Progress.” Anthropological Linguistics 26 (3): 326–344.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pajusalu, Renate, Virve-Anneli Vihman, Birute Klaas, and Karl Pajusalu. 2010. “Forms of Address across Languages: Formal and Informal Second Person Pronoun Usage among Estonia’s Linguistic Communities.” Intercultural Pragmatics 7 (1): 75–101. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Parkinson, Dilworth B. 1985. Constructing the Social Context of Communication: Terms of Address in Egyptian Arabic. Berlin/New York/Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Peipei, Ren. 2007. “Sociolinguistic Study on the Term of Address ‘meinü’ in Present-Day China.” Canadian Social Science 3 (6): 101–106.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Potter, Terrence M. 1995. “Moroccan Terms of Address in the Film Dmu’al-Nadem (Tears of Regret).” The Georgetown Journal of Languages and Linguistics 3 (2–4): 218–226.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rosch, Eleanor. 1978. “Principles of Categorization.” In Cognition and Categorization, ed. by Eleanor Rosch, and Barbara B. Lloyd, 27–48. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Romaine, Suzanne. 1994. Language in Society: An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Salami, L. Oladipo. 2004. “Deference and Subordination: Gender Roles and other Variables in Addressing and Referring to Husbands by Yoruba Women.” Linguistik online 211: 65–80.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, Dan I. 1963. “Some Aspects of the Use of Pronouns of Address in Yiddish.” Word 19 (2): 193–202. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Thomas, Jenny A. 1995. Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics. London/New York: Longman.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Trudgill, Peter. 1983. Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wardhaugh, Ronald. 1986. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wong, Andrew D. 2005. “The Reappropriation of Tongzhi.” Language in Society 34 (5): 763–793. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yassin, M. Aziz F. 1977. “Kinship Terms in Kuwaiti Arabic.” Anthropological Linguistics 19 (3): 126–132.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yoon, Kyung-Joo. 2004. “Not just Words: Korean Social Models and the Use of Honorifics.” Intercultural Pragmatics 1 (2): 189–210. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zhucheng, Ju. 1991. “The ‘Depreciation’ and ‘Appreciation’ of some Term of Address in China.” Language in Society 20 (3): 387–390. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Albury-Garcés, Nathan John
2024.
Choosing between Cyrillic and Latin for linguistic citizenship in contemporary Serbia.
International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2024:286
► pp. 161 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.