WHAT IS THE WAY ALLAH'S WORD MANIFESTS ITSELF IN YEMENI ARABIC?

Authors

  • Yousef Ali Ahmed Saleh Al-Nahdi Communication University of China, Beijing, 100024, P. R. of China
  • Zhao Shuo Communication University of China, Beijing, 100024, P. R. of China
  • Fuzhen Si Beijing Language and Culture University, No. 15, Xueyuan Road, Haidian, Beijing, 100083, P. R. of China
  • Tehmina Firdous Communication University of China, Beijing, 100024, P. R. of China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejlll.v6i3.412

Keywords:

Allah, Arabic, expressions, Islam, Yemeni Arabic

Abstract

The paper shows how "Allah" is used in Yemeni Arabic (YA daily conversations). As in the Arabic world and the Muslim world, the term Allah has a variety of meanings in Yemeni Arabic, reflecting the belief that Allah alone handles all their affairs, blesses, and is eager or criticizes someone to do something. Therefore, it shows several expressions containing the word Allah when it contains a sentence. Some of these expressions have multiple meanings, such as /Allah alaik/, which has two meanings: (“You are the best!” and the irony, “this is like a disaster!”) The word Allah is present in other expressions but with entirely different meanings, such as when expressing moaning or aiming for guidance. This research-based is on social life contact, reaction, and cultural influence of native Yemenis. Other most common expressions have been discussed in this paper, which shows the word, in its rule, has a significant religious and cultural bias in Yemeni society using this term.

Author Biographies

  • Yousef Ali Ahmed Saleh Al-Nahdi, Communication University of China, Beijing, 100024, P. R. of China

    Al-Nahdi Yousef Ali Ahmed Saleh is a doctoral student at the Communication University of China (2020). He specializes in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. In 2020, He received a master's degree in Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics from Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, the People's Republic of China. In 2014, he earned a Bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature from Thamar University, Dhamar, The Republic of Yemen. His primary interests include motivation in Second Language acquisition, general linguistics, cultural studies, language learning, and bilingualism. orcid.org/0000-0002-7681-2895  E-mail: aliucv@yahoo.com

  • Fuzhen Si, Beijing Language and Culture University, No. 15, Xueyuan Road, Haidian, Beijing, 100083, P. R. of China

    Dr. Prof. Fuzhen Susan Si received her PhD degree from Beijing Language and Culture University and worked with Professor Noam Chomsky as a Post doctorial visiting scholar in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT 2006-2007. Her major research and teaching interests include theoretical linguistics and language relevant interdisciplinary areas: biolinguistics and brain sciences, in particular. More recently, Fuzhen Susan Si is focusing more on syntactic cartography and its consequences in language use, language acquisition and language disorders associated with aging. Her major theoretical contributions are as follows: (1) theoretical assumptions on various Chinese functional heads (as can be seen in a series of articles on Chinese “DeP”, and articles on split light verb structures, possessive structures, demonstrative structures and so on); (2) theories on “language motivations” aiming at answering various “Why”  uestions relevant to origins of Chinese words and structures; (3) introduction of Chomsky’s theories, biolinguistic theory in particular, into Chinese; (4) studies on scientific methodologies in linguistics. The language data in her studies are mainly from Chinese, English, and some Turkic languages (Uygure and Kazakh for example). Fuzhen Susan Si is a co-founder (together with Dr. Prof. Rector Li Liu) of the Department of Linguistics at BLCU and the founder of the International Association of Syntactic Cartography (based in Macau). As a theoretical linguist, she has maintained close collaborations with many international linguists and scientists from EU, US, UK and other Asian Countries. As a founding director of the newly established department of linguistics at BLCU (the pioneering one in China as well), she is willing to work together with more colleagues, inside and outside of the department, from home or abroad, and to build up a “Dream Team of Theoretical Linguistics”, making the new-born department a new center in linguistic studies, in China and in Asia as well, in a near future some years from now; e-mail: sifuzhen@blcu.edu.cn

  • Tehmina Firdous, Communication University of China, Beijing, 100024, P. R. of China

    Tehmina Firdous Butt is a doctoral student at the Communication University of China (2020). She specializes in Linguistics and Applied linguistics. In 2020 she received a master’s degree in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from the Communication University of China. In 2013 she gained a master’s degree from the National University of Modern languages Pakistan. Her primary interests are Discourse analysis, cultural studies, and communication studies. APHS society Rawalpindi 46000 Pakistan; teminabutt789@gmail.com;  orcid.org/0000-0002-9729-4847

References

Al-Ashqar, O. S. (2007). The holy names of Allah: Guiding to him and leading to knowing him. Amman: Dar Al-Nafa es. (In Arabic).

Alsohaibani, Ali (2017). Influence of Religion on Language Use: A Sociopragmatic Study on the Influence of Religion on Speech Acts Performance. Ph.D. thesis, University of East Anglia, School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies, Norwich, UK.

Attwa, Mona (2019). On the Way to Understand the Pan-Arab Voice. In Studies on Arabic Dialectology and Sociolinguistics, Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of AIDA, Marseille, France, 30 May–2 June 2017. Edited by Catherine Miller, Alexandrine Barontini, Marie-Aimée Germanos, Jairo Guerrero and Christophe Pereira. Aix-en Provence: Institut de Recherches et D’études sur les Mondes Arabes et Musulmans, Collection: Livres de l’IREMAM. Available online: https://books.openedition.org/iremam/4449 (accessed on 27 May 2021).

Brustad, K., Al-Batal, M., & Al-Tonsi, A. (2006). Alif baa. Georgetown: Georgetown University Press. Castleton, B. (2006). Frequency and function of religiously based expressions. In J. A. Morrow (Ed.), Arabic, Islam, and the Allah lexicon: How language shapes our conception of God (pp.71-115). Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press.

Cleft, R., & Helani, F. (2010). Insallah: Religious invocations in Arabic topic transition. Language in Society, 39, 357-382. De Ruiter, Jan Jaap, and Mona Farrag Attwa. 2021. Allah, Allah, Allah: The Role of God in the Arab Version of The Voice. Religions 12:412.

Clift, R., & Helani, F. (2016). Inshallah: Religious invocations in Arabic topic transition. September. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404510000199

Ferguson, C. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15, 325-340.

Gilesnan, M. (2000). Recognizing Islam: Religion and society in the modern Arab world. Pantheon.

Mace, J. (1998). Arabic grammar: A reference guide. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Jaradat, A. A. (2014). The Linguistic Variants of Allah Expressions in Jordanian Arabic. 1979, 61–68. https://doi.org/10.3968/j.ccc.1923670020141001.2795

Mehawesh, M. I., & Jaradat, A. A. (2015). Inshallah: Extensive flouting of grice’s maxim of quality. Asian Social Science, 11(4), 319–327. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v11n4p319

Morrow, J. A. (Ed.). (2006). Arabic, Islam, and the Allah Lexicon: How language shapes our conception of God. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press.

Morrow, J., & Castleton, B. (2007). The Impact of Globalization on the Arabic Language. Intercultural Communication Studies, XVI(2), 202–212. http://www.uri.edu/iaics/content/2007v 16n2/16 Morrow Castleton.pdf

Piamenta, M. (1979). Islam in everyday Arabic speech. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Schiffrin, D. (1988). Discourse markers. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Slackman, M. (2008, June 20). With a word Egyptians leave it all to fate. New York Times.

Versteegh, Kees (2014). The Arabic Language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Versteegh, Kees (2020). Can a Language be Islamic? Eurasian Studies 18: 5–25.

Downloads

Published

2023-02-02

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 3 (2023)

Section

Articles