Face in the Hijazi Idioms: What Does It Reveal?

Abstract

This cognitive semantic corpus-based study attempts to outline the biological and social role/s regarding the face in the Hijazi Dialect of Arabic (HDA). The aim is to check the embodied conceptualization in relation to the kinds of emotions, character qualities, and cultural values (Maalej and Yu, 2011) that Hijazi face idioms represent in the conceptual system of HDA-speakers. This paper uses the theoretical framework of the Conceptual Theory of Metaphor and Metonymy (CTMM) (Lakoff & Johnson (1980), Lakoff (1987), and Kövecses (2002)) in analyzing the specific cognitive structures (i.e. conceptual metaphor/s, conceptual metonym/ies, image schema/s) that are thought to be implemented in the conceptual system of those speakers. It also agrees and incorporates Kövescses (2002), Maalej (2004), and Yu's (2009) views on the importance of experience, embodiment, and culture when analyzing idioms to dig beneath what appears on the surface in the form of idiomatic expressions referred by Yu (2002) as the "tip of the iceberg". Representing a rather conservative society, face is seen as a strong reflection of the culture and values embedded in the Hijaz.

Metaphor comprehension in the acquisition of Arabic

“…Arabic countries present a classic example of di-or even triglossia (Ferguson, 1959). Classical Arabic is the language of the Quran and old literary texts; Modern Standard Arabic is used primarily in formal settings such as education, media, and official documents; meanwhile, in everyday lives, Arabic-speakers from northern Africa, the middle East, and the diaspora dispersed across the globe use a number of mutually intelligible or unintelligible dialects descending from Classical Arabic (Al-Jahdali, 2011). These dialects are classified into six groups which share some geographical influences: Maghrebi Arabic (used in western Islamic Africa), Egyptian Arabic (used primarily in Egypt), Sudanese Arabic (used primarily in Sudan), Mesopotamian Arabic (used in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Kuwait), Levantine Arabic (used across the Levant, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and parts of Turkey) and Peninsular Arabic (used across the Arabian peninsula).…”