Socio-Pragmatic Study of Bani Hasan Tribe’s Proverbs and Dialectical Expressions in Jordan

Abstract

The Arabic dialects have a specific linguistic repertoire, cultural singularity and social privacy. The dialect is only understood by the people who daily use it. This study aims at shedding light on the proverbs and dialectical expressions used by Bani Hasan tribe (بني حسن) in Jordan. The primary aims were to investigate the Illocutionary force of the targeted proverbs and linguistic expressions based on speech acts theoretical framework. The data were collected from various individuals who represent the whole 13 clans of this tribe. The investigated data consist of 14 proverbs and 59 expressions. Findings showed that this tribe has some unique proverbs and lexemes. The illocutionary force of the proverbs are provided and well as the meaning and the pronunciation of the frequent idiomatic colloquial expressions were discussed. Analysis revealed that most of the proverbs have the pragmatic functions of giving advice and criticism. Findings could help others to have more knowledge about the lexicon of this tribe which helps to enforce the social bonds among the tribes of the Jordanian society.