6.2.1Expressing well wishes

This component is defined here, following Wierzbicka (1987Wierzbicka, Anna 1987 English Speech Act Verbs. New York: Academic Press., 226), as future-oriented action in which the congratulator wishes the recipient good fortune and success in time to come. In several cases, the speech act of congratulation is followed by an expression of well wishes, which shows “the compatibility of the expressions of congratulations and of well wishes” (Kochovska 2013Kochovska, Svetlana 2013 “Expressing Congratulations in Latin: The Case of Cicero’s Correspondence.” Literatūra 55: 27–37. , 30). Well wishes are described as borderline cases between expressives and directives as “the speaker expresses emotions toward the state of affairs that is not yet realized and whose realization often involves some kind of action by the addressee” (Kochovska 2013Kochovska, Svetlana 2013 “Expressing Congratulations in Latin: The Case of Cicero’s Correspondence.” Literatūra 55: 27–37. , 31).Well wishes in the data are formulaically realized through the use of the prospectively oriented optative formula ʕuqbāl, which is a distinctive feature of the congratulating speech act in Arabic. The expression is a combination of the standard Arabic noun ʕuqba ‘after’ and the preposition li ‘for [someone]’. It is uttered after the basic congratulatory formula mabrūk or mubārak and is accompanied by mention of another achievement that the congratulator wishes the recipient to accomplish in the future after the current one. Accordingly, ʕuqbāl constitutes a positive politeness expression with the meaning of ‘may this (achievement) be followed by (another achievement)’, thus wishing the recipient further success and progress in his/her future plans, such as graduate studies, work, or marriage:

The addition of the formula ʕuqbāl to the basic congratulatory message, besides boosting the illocutionary force of the speech act, indicates that the speech act extends beyond the present moment in which it is performed and, via this formula, is projected into the future, making the formula a type of future-oriented discourse that serves as a positive prediction of the graduate’s future prospects. As Examples (6a–f) illustrate, these prospects may be universal, like getting a job after graduation (6f), pursuing a graduate degree (6d–e), or specific to the sociocultural context in terms of importance or priority, like getting married after college. The notion of marriage as a prospective achievement after graduation is seen in (6a–c). Reference to this notion can be understood in light of Arab-Islamic normative cultural understandings of marriage. While wishing someone to ‘get a job’ after graduation may be universal, wishing someone to ‘get a bride’ (6a) or ‘get a groom’ (6b) after graduation reflects to a great extent how marriage is framed and constructed in Islamic discourse. Regardless of the influence of external cultural narratives and discourses, marriage in the traditional Arab context is so significant that it is metaphorically quantified as fulfilling ‘half of one’s faith’, which makes an “unmarried man or woman rather an oddity in Muslim society” (Hassan 2005Hassan, Riffat 2005 “Marriage: Islamic Discourses.” In Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, ed. by Suad Joseph, vol. 3, 246–249. Leiden: Brill., 246). Thus, wishing the recipients to get married after graduation may be viewed as communicating desire that the recipient would avoid this social ‘oddity’. These references to marriage can further be understood in terms of the significance of marriage in traditional Arab culture, in which it is considered as a paragon of manhood and procreation for men, and metaphorically depicted as sitr wa ġaṭā “cover and protection” for women (El-Aswad 2014El-Aswad, El-Sayed 2014 “Metaphors Arab Women Live By.” Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World 12: 36–48. , 39). Well wishes of marriage, however, are conveyed via the gender-neutral expression al-farḥah al-kubra ‘the biggest joy’ in (6c) which conventionally refers to getting married in Jordanian Arabic, thus being subtle, less direct and less intrusive concerning the idea of marriage after graduation. In (6d) and (6e), the congratulators’ future-oriented ʕuqbāl refers to a different prospective accomplishment, namely, getting a graduate degree, which has become a common practice when congratulating someone who has just earned an undergraduate degree. This reflects the increasing sociocultural importance attached to shahada ‘university degree’ in Jordan and its centrality as part of social identity in Jordanian society today (Cantini 2016Cantini, Daniele 2016 Youth and Education in the Middle East. London: I.B. Tauris. ). This formula ʕuqbāl is an optional yet an important component of the congratulation speech act, especially when congratulating the addressee on only the first step in their endeavors. As Kochovska (2013Kochovska, Svetlana 2013 “Expressing Congratulations in Latin: The Case of Cicero’s Correspondence.” Literatūra 55: 27–37. , 31) points out, “some expressions of well wishes, when used in an appropriate context, are actually expressions of congratulations by their illocutionary point: by performing the expression of well wishing, the speaker actually congratulates the hearer”.

In addition to using the ʕuqbāl formula, some congratulators chose to express well wishes through the use of the ‘Allah Lexicon’, that is, expressions heavily used in Arabic discourse and involve reference to God (Morrow 2006Morrow, John (ed.) 2006 Arabic, Islam and the Allah Lexicon. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen.). Among those found in the data are the common expression inshallah ‘God willing’ and the more formal formula bi-iḏn illāh ‘with the permission of God’, as in (7):

From a sociocultural perspective, the presence and use of these expressions in everyday communication is motivated by the predominantly fatalist view of the Arab society, namely, that one’s plans and volition are ultimately controlled by and attached to divine will. Thus, the well wishes expressed in (7) above, namely, getting a doctorate and achieving more success, are presented as achievements that ultimately depend on divine will, rather than only on one’s own individual abilities. In addition to indexing one’s identity and beliefs, linking one’s well wishes for the recipient to divine will shows the congratulator to be socioculturally appropriate and as an ‘insider’. This reference to God thus becomes an act whereby congratulators “express their faith and obedience to God” and “express common attitudes” (Vanderveken 2001Vanderveken, Daniel 2001 “Illocutionary Logic and Discourse Typology.” Revue Internationale de Philosophie 2: 243–255., 246) of the speech community.

6.2.2Complimenting

As might be expected, the congratulatory messages contained compliments toward the recipient, defined here as explicitly attributing positive traits to the recipient. Given the context, all of these compliments praised the graduate only in terms of his/her personal attributes and qualities, thus making the congratulating speech act as a testimony of the graduate’s character and personality:

The illocutionary force of the congratulating speech acts in which these compliments were embedded is boosted by complimenting the graduate’s polite behavior (8a), kindness and great character (8b and 8c), and diligence, excellence and hard work (8d). This shows that there is a strong compatibility between expressions of congratulations and expressions of compliment, so that congratulating someone is essentially complimenting them for some accomplishment. This is consistent with compliments being expressions of positive evaluation or approval that attribute credit to the addressee.

When congratulating someone, one often needs to “compliment, laud, and sometimes acclaim” the recipient (Vanderveken 2001Vanderveken, Daniel 2001 “Illocutionary Logic and Discourse Typology.” Revue Internationale de Philosophie 2: 243–255., 248). However, the way such complimenting is done varies across cultures since “compliments are culture-specific” and “loaded with cultural values and associated with cultural norms” (Taavitsainen and Jucker 2008Taavitsainen, Irma, and Andreas Jucker 2008 “Speech Acts Now and Then: Towards a Pragmatic History of English.” In Speech Acts in the History of English, ed. by Andreas Jucker and Irma Taavitsainen, 1–26. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. , 15). The compliments in (8) tend to be hyperbolic, which can be attributed to Arabic sociocultural norms of exaggerated praise, whose origin can be traced to Arabic panegyric tradition. Propensity for hyperbolic compliments can be seen in the positive evaluation conveyed by the use of hyperbolic adjectives which are an integral part of direct compliments (Farenkia 2012Farenkia, Bernard 2012 “Compliment Strategies and Regional Variation in French: Evidence from Cameroon and Canadian French.” Pragmatics 22: 447–476. , 458). This is seen in the juxtaposition of the two adjectives almuʔaddab ‘polite’ and al-xalūq ‘well-mannered’ in (8a), and of the three adjectives muʔaddabih wa mujtahidih wa mutafawwiqah ‘polite, diligent, and outstanding’ in (8d). The use of the superlative aḥsan ‘best’ in (8b) and arwaʕ ‘most wonderful’ in (8c) further attests to the propensity for exaggeration in these congratulations, which is facilitated by the writing medium and the fact that the speech act will be a permanent record of the writer’s positive evaluation of the recipient.

While exaggerated praise would be face-threatening in face-to-face interaction, the medium of writing allows the writer to perform the congratulating speech act and add somewhat elaborate compliments that would be otherwise rather awkward in face-to-face compliments. This awkwardness stems mainly from compliments, and the expression of emotions they involve, being inherently face-threatening in face-to-face encounters. Furthermore, while a compliment is at the same time face-enhancing and face-threatening (Taavitsainen and Jucker 2008Taavitsainen, Irma, and Andreas Jucker 2008 “Speech Acts Now and Then: Towards a Pragmatic History of English.” In Speech Acts in the History of English, ed. by Andreas Jucker and Irma Taavitsainen, 1–26. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. , 195), these written compliments are only face-enhancing since they only describe the recipient’s personal qualities as commendable, but do not describe any of their possessions as desirable, which in some cultures may put an obligation on the addressee to offer the desirable good to the complimenter (Taavitsainen and Jucker 2008Taavitsainen, Irma, and Andreas Jucker 2008 “Speech Acts Now and Then: Towards a Pragmatic History of English.” In Speech Acts in the History of English, ed. by Andreas Jucker and Irma Taavitsainen, 1–26. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ).

6.2.3Banter

Some congratulators exploited ‘mock impoliteness’ (Leech 1983Leech, Geoffrey 1983 Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman.), defined here as jocular/humorous insults or ‘banter’ used to display or create solidarity, and constitutes a form of “underpoliteness” that has the effect of “establishing or maintaining a bond of familiarity” (Leech 1983Leech, Geoffrey 1983 Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman., 144). As explained by Haugh and Bousfield (2012Haugh, Michael, and Derek Bousfield 2012 “Mock Impoliteness, Jocular Mockery and Jocular Abuse.” Journal of Pragmatics 44: 1099–1114. , 1099), “banter appears to be impolite, but since what is said is regarded as untrue by participants, it is understood as really being a means of conveying politeness, and creating or affirming solidarity”. Therefore, in the present context, the function of such impoliteness is face-supportive and affiliative rather than face-threatening and disaffiliative (Haugh 2010Haugh, Michael 2010 “Jocular Mockery, (Dis)affiliation, and Face.” Journal of Pragmatics 42: 2106–2119. ), as in (9):

These mock impoliteness remarks followed the performance of the central (genuine) speech act of congratulating. Their occurrence communicates a close relationship between the congratulators and their recipients, so this jocular impoliteness is used by way of displaying camaraderie toward the recipient. In (9a), the congratulator jocularly expresses relief that the recipient is finally graduating and leaving them alone, implying that the recipient was ‘a nuisance’. The use of the verb azaġrit in biddi azaġrit ‘I want to ululate!’ adds to the banter as azaġrit is jocularly used in colloquial speech to express relief that a ‘bad’ situation has ended. This is in turn borrowed from the sociocultural practice of zaghareed which refers to the successive trilling ululation made by women at local weddings, and on other happy occasions, as an expression of celebration and joy, which is described by Jacobs (2008)Jacobs, Jennifer 2008 Ululation in Levantine Society: The Cultural Reproduction of an Affective Vocalization. Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania. as a widely recognized, culturally reproduced, affective display in Levantine communities that is both ‘emotional’ and ‘communicative’. Through this reference to ‘celebratory sounds’, the congratulation speech act is embedded in a local cultural practice, thus giving the speech act situatedness in the local culture’s wedding traditions. Referring to this practice hence serves as a membership marker whereby the congratulator shows him/herself to be a social insider and a member of the same community as the recipient.

The banter in (9b), ‘Finally we will get rid of you and your grumpiness!’ jocularly attributes a negative quality to the recipient, that of a grumpy character, again expressing ‘impolite’ relief that the ‘grumpy’ student in question will graduate and leave. Finally, (9c) contains the directive ‘do not forget me after graduation’, which is “a request for continuing friendliness” (Elwood 2004Elwood, Kate 2004 “ ‘Congratulations!’ A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Responses to Another’s Happy News.” The Cultural Review 25: 355–386., 366) and expresses the wish that the congratulator and the recipient will see each other again. This directive contact formula is followed by the jocular speech act of threat ‘… or I will kill you!’ in case of noncompliance. This is a case of “mock impoliteness” that “remains on the surface, since it is understood that it is not intended to cause offence”, which “reflects and fosters social intimacy” (Culpeper 1996Culpeper, Jonathan 1996 “Towards an Anatomy of Impoliteness.” Journal of Pragmatics 25: 349–367. , 352). These instances of mock impoliteness constitute “a means for implying that the relationship is so close and well-established that it cannot be endangered even by seemingly rude utterances” (Kienpointer 1997Kienpointer, Manfred 1997 “Varieties of Rudeness: Types and Functions of Impolite Utterances.” Functions of Language 4: 251–287. , 262). Although such impoliteness can be used in speech in face- to-face interaction, the medium of writing here seems to eliminate or minimize “high risk” teasing and banter that may arise in conversational encounters. These humor practices serve face-supportive functions in the congratulatory message and reaffirm the social connection among the congratulators and recipients.

6.2.4Evoking shared experiences

Evoking shared memories and experiences is defined here as the framing of college study as a shared experience between the congratulator and the recipient. Shared memories “play a central role in everyday communications. They are usually based on interpersonal and cultural knowledge of a shared past among group members” (Bietti 2010Bietti, Lucas 2010 “Sharing Memories, Family Conversation and Interaction.” Discourse & Society 21: 499–523. , 499). Thus, the GN and congratulations therein become a way of briefly telling a story or reminding the graduate of a particular event or moment during their study. The congratulation speech act in this way functions as a means of not only staying connected via the permanence of the medium of writing, but also as a symbolic connection through reminding of past shared experiences, feelings, activities, and events. These GNs thus serve as a record of past events and discourses in the lives of participants:

This evocation of past memories and experiences constitutes supportive moves for the overall speech act of congratulating. This practice, which is based on past spoken interactions, serves to reinforce the congratulator and the recipient’s social relationship beyond college, as evoking such past encounters, experiences and memories help the congratulator and the recipient reorient to their personal rather than academic or professional self. These evocations further show how the congratulators and the recipients utilized the medium of this celebratory notebook to evoke and recycle certain memories in their college study, express feelings of nostalgia, and recall past important moments. Key words used in evoking these memories are the interrogative btiḏḏakkari? ‘remember?’, the commissive miš raḥ ansa ‘I’ll never forget’ and the noun ḏikrayāt ‘memories’. In (10a), the congratulator reminds the recipient of a common experience that the latter had, namely, when she was expelled from class, presumably for transgressive classroom behavior. Although being dismissed from class is a negative experience in the academic space, the congratulator recycled and reproduced it in a new way, transforming it into a nostalgic experience that has become a positive part of their personal relationship. As being expelled from the classroom for some transgression was part of the graduate’s experience, evoking this memory reflects peer discourses on the perceptions these graduates, as a community, have of themselves, in terms of normative classroom behavior and challenging teacher authority as an expression of their student identity.

Example (10b) evokes shared memories regarding the formation of friendship between the congratulator and the graduate, followed by a statement nostalgically cherishing the time the two participants shared together. Finally, Example (10c) evokes a sense of nostalgia, specifically evoking a nostalgic experience that occurred in the collectively shared space of the campus. The sharing of the memory of the moment of meeting for the first time, put in the form of a question, is followed by the optative yā rayt tirjaʕ hāḏi il-ayyām ‘If only those days come back!’ This expression of wish serves to signal the discontinuity of the ‘college journey’ and the shift toward a new one. Taken together, these evocations constitute “reminders of shared knowledge of the past” (Bietti 2010Bietti, Lucas 2010 “Sharing Memories, Family Conversation and Interaction.” Discourse & Society 21: 499–523. , 499) embedded in the congratulation speech act. They constitute shared remembering and shared memories whose function is to “create a feeling of connection and maintain a consistent feeling of identity”, which suggests that the local congratulation notebook has become a sociocultural praxis in which “a shared past is managed, communicated and negotiated” (Bietti 2010Bietti, Lucas 2010 “Sharing Memories, Family Conversation and Interaction.” Discourse & Society 21: 499–523. , 499). Embedded in the speech act thus is a process of remembering through which the participants construct their sense of community and identity as college students and hence their sense of togetherness and belonging.

6.2.5Expressing validation

Validation refers to the use of expressions conveying that the deeds of the graduates are well-earned and merited. Just as “smiles can be used to validate or reinforce, or conversely nullify and void whatever speech act they are accompanying” (Mey 2017Mey, Jacob 2017 “Unloading the Weapon: Act and Tact.” In Doing Pragmatics Interculturally, ed. by Rachel Giora and Michael Haugh, 389–397. Berlin: De Gruyter. , 395), the written congratulation speech acts in the data were validated, with the main function of confirming that the graduates in question did deserve their degrees. In contrast with compliments which praised personal aspects of the graduate (cf. 5.2.2 above), these expressions of validation serve as an attestation of the recipients’ academic strengths, abilities, and distinction, and the efforts they made to finish their degrees. Expressions of validation are used when “the speaker wants to show a higher degree of strength of the sincerity condition of the speech act of congratulating” (Kochovska 2013Kochovska, Svetlana 2013 “Expressing Congratulations in Latin: The Case of Cicero’s Correspondence.” Literatūra 55: 27–37. , 31). This validation embedded in the congratulation speech act positions the recipient as having made exceptional or extra efforts in their academic endeavors:

The examples in (11a–d) involve expressions of support, pride and approval of the graduate. Being embedded within a speech act of congratulating, these comments serve as a validation and confirmation of the recipient. This supportive function becomes even clearer in the case of written congratulations in which the writer has the time and space to be more elaborate in the performance of the speech act. In (11a), the writer emphasizes increased pride in the graduate, which is similarly stressed in (11d) in which, given the vocative ibnati ‘my daughter’, a father is congratulating his daughter and lauding her success, which is reinforced by the compliment wa-aʕtazz biki ‘and you make me proud’. Believing in the recipient’s abilities and competence is made clear in (11b) in which the writer predicts that the recipient will have a ‘prestigious position’. In (11c), the validation is done through the conversational oath formula wallah, literally ‘by Allah’. Apart from its judicial use in a court of law, this formula has become an extra-judicial conversational oath used routinely in Arabic daily interactions (Abdel-Jawad 2000Abdel-Jawad, Hassan 2000 “A Linguistic, Sociopragmatic and Cultural Study of Swearing in Arabic.” Language, Culture and Curriculum 13: 217–240. , 218). One main function of this conversational use is to validate speech acts such as inviting, offering, apologizing, and, as in (11c), congratulating. This pragmatic use of a God-invoking formula to validate a speech act in Arabic reflects how oaths can function as “a cultural index of the community” as they “reflect the cultural patterns, values and themes that are dominant in this community” (2000Abdel-Jawad, Hassan 2000 “A Linguistic, Sociopragmatic and Cultural Study of Swearing in Arabic.” Language, Culture and Curriculum 13: 217–240. , 217).

6.2.6Using expressions of encouragement

This component refers to the use of future-oriented, supportive, and affiliative expressions within the congratulating speech act to motivate the addressee to achieve more accomplishments. These expressions of encouragement aim to give the graduates motivation and hope about their future. Accordingly, they serve as a form of advice-giving whose purpose is to add support and encouragement and convey a sense of optimism (DeCapua and Dunham 2007Decapua, Andrea, and Joan Dunham 2007 “The Pragmatics of Advice Giving: Cross-Cultural Perspectives.” Intercultural Pragmatics 4: 319–342. ) for the graduates regarding their emotional states or potential new post-graduation experiences:

These examples illustrate a kind of supportive advice embedded in the congratulating speech act. The encouraging imperatives offered support for the graduates by expressing sympathy and encouragement. Although advice is intrinsically face threatening, the threat is neutralized and offset, first, by being embedded in the face-supportive speech act of congratulation, and, second, as a result of communicative setting of traditional written communication via GNs, in which no direct interaction is possible between the congratulator/advisor and the recipient, and the congratulator/advisor cannot register face threat. Furthermore, although the three examples all begin by imperative verbs, which are associated with directness and strong illocutionary force, the imperatives used here, following DeCapua and Dunham (2007Decapua, Andrea, and Joan Dunham 2007 “The Pragmatics of Advice Giving: Cross-Cultural Perspectives.” Intercultural Pragmatics 4: 319–342. , 326), “reflect weak illocutionary force” since the information following the imperative form, i.e. be (always) happy and work hard, “carries a “counseling” tone that mitigates the force of these imperatives”. The weakly communicated illocutionary force is further influenced by being part of a congratulatory message emphasizing the achievement of the recipient.

6.2.7Expression of happiness

Expression of happiness in the data refers to the use of linguistic expressions that manifest pleasure at the good fortune of others. Such empathetic expressions of happiness develop an illocutionary force of congratulation (Unceta Gómez 2016Unceta Gómez, Luis 2016 “Congratulations in Latin Comedy: Types and Functions.” Journal of Politeness Research 12: 267–290. ) and reinforce the positive face of the graduates by emphasizing shared feelings of joy and happiness. These expressions thus fit appropriately into the overall speech act of congratulating within which they are used, which is inherently ‘expressive’ in speech act terms. These statements “express psychological conditions, and thus not beliefs or intentions” (Norrick 1978Norrick, Neal 1978 “Expressive Illocutionary Acts.” Journal of Pragmatics 2: 277–291. , 279):

The congratulators here show emotional involvement in the congratulation event. As such, these examples illustrate the type of speech acts in which the congratulators are referring to their “inner” rather than “external” world (Maíz-Arévalo 2017Maíz-Arévalo, Carmen 2017 “Expressive Speech Acts in Educational E-chats.” Sociocultural Pragmatics: 1–28. ). In (13a), through describing the graduation as the happiest event in their life, the writer expresses happiness about the graduation of a friend in a hyperbolical way by resorting to “a rather strong formulation”, as congratulations, in contrast with assertions, “can be – and often are – exaggerated” since the speaker/writer feels that they have to use “an exaggerated formulation in order to seem more credible” (Claridge 2010Claridge, Claudia 2010 Hyperbole in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , 18). The expression of happiness in (13b) is similarly based on hyperbole. It involves even a stronger degree of exaggeration, which suggests that the writer put greater effort in writing it, making it a more conscious speech act “based on a greater degree of intentionality” (Claridge 2010Claridge, Claudia 2010 Hyperbole in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , 101). This shows that “the more striking forms of creative hyperbole are more common in writing”, which “reflects the simple fact that there is more time to think of and to refine new instances of hyperbole or build constructionally more complex forms of exaggeration” (Claridge 2010Claridge, Claudia 2010 Hyperbole in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , 101). This is supported by the fact that this congratulatory speech act was written in Standard Arabic rather than in the colloquial variety that was used in the majority of the congratulatory messages.

Example (13c) provides a normative case of congratulation whereby the congratulator performs a direct speech act to convey happiness about the referent’s graduation. In contrast with the hyperbole seen in (13a–b) where the writers exaggerated their feelings, the writer in this example conveys their happiness in a basic and less affective way. This way most probably conveys an ordinary relationship between the congratulator and the addressee, while in (13a–b) this relationship seems stronger and more affective. This is in line with the findings that “people who are emotionally involved often choose to express themselves in a more exaggerated manner in order to convey their affect” (Claridge 2010Claridge, Claudia 2010 Hyperbole in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. , 78). Thus, although the writer of this particular congratulation had all available space and time to construct a more elaborate and refined congratulatory message, it seems that the nature of the social relationship played a crucial role in the performance of congratulations. Thus, the speech act of congratulating seems to be hyperbolically heightened when the congratulator and the recipient have a strong and well-established relationship, leading to further ratification of the recipient’s positive face, which is made all possible through the unfettered availability of space and time when performing the congratulation speech act in writing.

6.2.8Using self-directed well wishes

Some congratulatory messages contained what will be called ‘self-directed well wishes’. These are expressions whereby the congratulator wishes that he/she will graduate soon after the recipient, as illustrated by the following example:

The use of such self-directed well wishes is part of showing identification with the recipient and sharing with him/her the celebration of graduation. While the expression ʕuqbāl is typically other-directed, that is, used to wish the recipient more and more achievements after graduation (see Examples (6a)–(f) above), it is used in (14) reflexively to wish one’s own self graduation from the university and thus joining the recipient in this accomplishment. This self-directed discourse conveys the message that the writer so highly values the recipient’s graduation that he/she views it as an accomplishment which he/she wishes for him/herself, which boosts the accomplishment of the recipient. This self-directed wish constitutes a request speech act embedded within the main congratulation speech act. However, while a request is a directive speech act in which the speaker asks the hearer to perform an action for the benefit of the speaker (Trosborg 1995Trosborg, Anna 1995 Interlanguage Pragmatics. Berlin: De Gruyter. ), and hence is intrinsically face-threatening, this case of requesting is both literally and figuratively monological: it appears as if the writer is ‘making a request to him/herself’ to finish study and graduate. This ‘figurative self-directed request’ constitutes a culture-specific formulaic requesting expression in which no addressee or hearer is asked to perform the action in question, i.e. graduating. Here it is the ‘self’ that is addressed and is implicitly motivated to achieve the same accomplishment as the ‘other’. Addressing the self in this culture-specific congratulation speech act signals a transition from social talk to self talk and continuity between social talk and self talk, showing how congratulations in this context can be both “other-directed and self-directed speech acts” (Geurts 2018Geurts, Bart 2018 “Making Sense of Self Talk.” Review of Philosophy and Psychology 9: 271–285. , 284).

6.2.9Attaching a ‘gift’

A non-verbal component of the congratulation speech act in the data is the practice of attaching banknotes or coins to the page on which the congratulatory message is written. This is a manifestation of a sociocultural contextually constrained practice of gift-giving known in Jordan as naqūṭ, whereby a gift in the form of cash is given to a newlywed couple, which constitutes community members’ ritual contribution to the wedding expenses. This tradition is deeply rooted in Arab society, but has been extended nowadays to include giving money as a gift on three other social occasions, namely, getting engaged, having a baby, and graduation, with the same sociocultural function of providing communal material support (see Figures (1)–(3) below).

As Figures (1)–(3) show, this non-verbal component is embedded in the congratulation speech act, with all three texts involving a compliment toward the receiver. However, the three examples differ in terms of the communicative meanings of the gift-giving. In (1) the gift-giving is real and genuine as a banknote of 50 is attached, the highest denomination in Jordan (about $70), reflecting a genuine wish to give this sum of money as a naqūṭ. In addition to actually attaching the money to the note, the genuine intent of gift-giving is evidenced by the message ‘you deserve this naqūṭ’. In (2) and (3), the money gift-giving is playful rather than genuine since the money attached is trivial, only $1.40 in (2), and $0.14 in (3), offered in coins. Therefore, this gift-giving has only a symbolic and humorous function as it playfully imitates the social frame of naqūṭ in the culture. Brown and Levinson (1987)Brown, Penelope, and Stephen Levinson 1987 Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. listed gift-giving as a positive politeness strategy by which the giver shows closeness and rapport with the receiver. However, this particular practice of gift-giving, enacted semiotically in these congratulatory messages, is more of a “social ritual”, or “an expression of duty” (Paltridge 2012Paltridge, Brian 2012 Discourse Analysis. London: Bloomsbury. , 54) than a positive politeness strategy, since Jordanians have several gift-giving occasions throughout the year that cover the events listed above, which is a physical manifestation of the supportive function of congratulations. The examples illustrate how community norms regarding gift-giving naqūṭ are practiced by the congratulators/givers and embedded in the overall written congratulation speech act.