Chapter one
1.1.Introduction
Most Jordanians are religiously committed. Islam is the main religion in Jordan. Therefore, in the religious domain, Islamic customs affect people's lives and behaviors. One of these customs that Jordanians tend to use is swearing. It is used to confirm speeches, attitudes, promises and beliefs. Swearing words are commonly used throughout society. They are noticeable and heard from university students, people in markets or in streets on the way to work, or even out in their communities. These words are also used in the mass media including television, radio stations, movie theaters, as well as magazines and newspapers. Jordanians from all walks of life use swearing words. Children, teenagers, and adults utter them. A huge number of swearing words are used by Jordanians, especially religious words such as (wallah, by God), (qasaman billah, I swear by God), (wiħyat Allah, by the life of Allah), (biṣalatak, by your prayer), and others like honor words (bi؟arḍ uxtak, by the honor of your sister) and so on. Acceptance of these words varies from person to person, from one community to another and it is affected by situation.
Swearing can be classified under social politeness. Brown (1976) says that politeness is" a special way of treating people, saying and doing things in such a way as to take into account other people's feelings". Social politeness includes various social customs like greetings, partings, invitations, thanks, swearing, condolences, and congratulations. Beebe (1995) explains that swearing can be either polite or impolite. It is polite when it promotes social harmony (e.g. wallahi ra'i؟, by the name of God that is a nice thing) or reinforces persons. It is rude or impolite when it is used to affront or attack and threat someone (e.g. wallahi la a'ḍrobak, by the name of God I will beat you).
1.2. Definition of Swearing
It has been noted that swearing words are substitutions for words, phrases or expressions that may assert or confirm something. The word "swear" has been defined as" to assert or promise emphatically or earnestly" (Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2015). The word has also been defined in the Oxford Dictionary as" Make a solemn statement or promise undertaking to do something or affirming that something is the case "(Online Oxford Dictionary, 2015). Montagu (1967:100) indicates that swear words include "all words possessing or capable of being given an emotional weight".
Jay (2000) adds that swearing is the use of taboo or inappropriate words with the purposes of expressing the speaker's emotional states and communicating that information to listener.
Irrespective of above-mentioned, Jay and Janschewitz (2008:269) argue that "swearing is impossible to be universally defined because it is culturally and personally determined". In addition, Locher and Watts (2005) say what is impolite can't be universally constructed since it depends upon the relationship between interlocutors.
1.3. Sociolinguistic Perspective
Since sociolinguistics studies the relationship between language and society, it is unquestionable to say that swearing patterns are part of language that is studied under this science. Therefore, the effects of social factors (gender, age and educational background) can be noticeable in such patterns.
The age of speakers is one factor that may contribute to different views of swearing. Jay(1992:71) argues that children begin learning and using swear words in varying degrees of offensiveness from the time they start using language ,then the admonition of this behavior follows. Parents no longer are able to watch or listen to what their children say all the time. Simultaneously, the chance of using new swear words grows in the late teens and early twenties (Murray, 1990: 152).
Also, Kasper (1990) emphasizes that young children and non-native speakers require time and experience to attain an adult native speaker's knowledge of what is offensive or rude. Further, Holmes (1997: 199) handles some issues like identity, language and gender. She suggests that "women’s identity is signaled not so much by the choice of particular linguistic variants which contrast with those preferred by men, but rather by the ways in which women are often required to use language to construct a much wider range of social identities and express wider range of social roles than men".
Jay (1992) demonstrates that men are more likely to swear in public than women and use more offensive words than women. However, both women and men are less likely to swear in mixed-sex contexts than in the same-sex contexts.
Murnen (2000: 319) adds "it's theorized that language is part of the ‘societal propaganda’ that communicates social roles for men and women in the realm of sexuality". Regardless of language that someone speaks, it shapes identity and reflects cultures, including gender.
In Jordan the social factor that mostly affects the use of swearing words is the religious commitment. People who are religious follow the instructions of Allah and always try to avoid swearing by anything except Allah. Moreover, well-educated people avoid inappropriate words in swearing like (wiʃaraf ummi, by the honor of my mother).Furthermore, we cannot ignore the importance of the situation or when someone utters the swear words in places like courts, mosques or when he speaks with high-ranking persons.
The likelihood of hearing swearing words increases in informal environments more than in formal ones. For instance, schools or universities are the most likely places to hear swearing words, whereas in academic offices or classes these words are the least likely to be heard.
Besides the effects of social factors (gender, age and educational background) on swearing, the social distance and social status of the participants should be considered in the interpretation of swearing behavior. The relations between speakers and listeners such as friends, roommates, coworkers and classmates differ from the relations among people who are related to different social groups.
The degree of solidarity among speakers and listeners determines swearing utterances within such contexts. The difference in social status such as the relationship between teacher and students, doctor and patients, and employer and employees influences the choice of language and the type of words that are used in swearing context.
1.4.1. Swearing Words in Jordanian Arabic
Numerous words, expressions and terms are used to express different swearing patterns. They are coined by Jordanians to emphasize and assert their promises, speeches, emotions and attitudes. Hence, the researcher classifies swearing patterns into eight categories:
1. Swearing by the name of God( Allah)
These words are commonly used by people regardless of their social background. In this case, the speakers usually use the name of God (Allah) to form a swearing term. For example, the speaker utters words such (wallah, by God), (qasaman bilah, I swear by God), (wallah al-؟'ðeem) (wiħyat Allah , by the life of Allah), (wi rab elbait, by the lord of ka؟ba).
2. Swearing by the name of the prophet
The name of prophet here refers to our prophet Mohammad (pray and praise be upon him). Jordanians use many examples to express swearing in such way like (biṣalat Mohammad, by the prayer of Mohammed) (wiħyat innabi, by the life of the prophet) (wiħyat irrasoul, by the life of the messenger) and (biṣalat Mohammad ؟alik, by the prayer of Mohammad upon you).
3. Swearing by religious duties
Most Jordanians are Muslims and they perform several religious duties such as (ṣalah) prayer, (ṣiam) fasting, (Zakah) paying money, (Haj) pilgrimage and (؟ Umra ) small pilgrimage.
Speakers can use the words of their religious duties to coin various swearing patterns that are observable in everyday life such as (biṣalatk, by your prayer), (biṣymak, by your fasting), (weṣymai, by my fasting), (biħajak, by your pilgrimage), (bizakatak, by your money that you pay for God) and (bi؟umrtak, by your small pilgrimage).
4. Swearing by honor words
Although honor words are considered as taboo or impoliteness, many people especially young and adult speakers still use them abundantly. Honor (ʃaraf or ؟erdh) in Jordan is a sensitive issue because it refers to females (sisters, mothers, daughters and aunts).
Jordanian speakers form swearing patterns by comprising the word (ʃaraf or ؟erdh) to one of relative female words like mother, sister and daughter. The following examples show how people swear (wiʃaraf ummi, by the honor of my mother), (wiʃaraf uxti, by the honor of my sister), wi؟ardh banati, by the honor of my daughters), (wiʃaraf ummak, by honor of your mother), (bi؟rdh xawatk, by the honor of your sisters).
5. Swearing by religion (deen)
Religion plays important role in Jordanians' lives, so speakers use the word "deen" frequently in forming swearing terms such as (wideeni, by my religion,) (wideenak, by your religion), (wideen Mohammad, by the religion of Mohammad),( wideenkuu, by your religion)( bedeenkuu, by your religion).
6. Swearing by relatives' life
Jordanians respect their relatives especially elderly people such as mothers, fathers, parents and children. There are plenty of examples on these patterns such as (wiħyat ummak , by the life of your mother), (wiħyat uxtak, by the life of sister), ( wiħyat ummi, by the life of my mother),( biħyat abuuk, by the life of your father) biħyat elɣali ؟indak, by the life of your dearest).
7. Swearing by parts of body
Jordanians swear by parts of the body to express their pride and ability to do something. Some parts of the body are used to form swearing such as (eyes, head, mustache, beard and forelock). These parts are important because they reflect manhood and high social value of customs. For instance, (wimen sharbi, by my mustache), (men liħeti, by my beard) and (wimen qistti, by my forelock); this term is used solely by women).
8.Using the word swear (uqsem)
Some swear words begin with verbs such as uksem and ahllif to emphasize something. For example, (aħlif billah, I swear by God), (qassamn billah, I swear by God) (aħlif bilmuṣħaf, I swear by muṣħaf), ( uksem, I swear).
1.4.2. Constituents of swearing terms
Classifications of swearing terms according to the researcher show that many of them contain words such as Allah, prophet, life, honor, relative expressions and parts of the body. Moreover, the usage of prepositions (wa and bi) is salient. Also, most swearing patterns begin with names whereas few of them initiate with verbs.
1.5. Statement of the Problem
Swearing patterns have a very observable presence in Jordanian Arabic and different forms of swearing are used all over the country. Moreover, the terms of swearing which are formed in various ways and are affected by a number of social factors play an important role in the lives of most Jordanians. Swearing expressions of various ways by different people represent the problem the proposed study will address.
1.6. Purpose of the Study
The main goal of this study is to explore and to analyze swear words that are socially used by Jordanian speakers. Moreover, it aims at analyzing what is acceptable or unacceptable among the speakers of Jordanian Arabic from a sociolinguistic perspective.
1.7. Significance of the Study
It is assumed that the current study will help Jordanians to be aware of the power of language and its role that affects people's relations. In addition, this study helps in understanding when, where, how, and why these words are used and to recognize the values associated with them, and to know which of these words are acceptable or unacceptable. Furthermore, it identifies the most common swearing words used by Jordanians and the most frequent words used by males and females. This study is also significant because it fills a gap in the literature.
1.8. Limitations of the Study
This study will be limited to a small number of participants, 200 respondents, from different age groups, gender and level of education in the north of Jordan mainly Irbid. Swearing terms in other parts of the country are beyond the scope of this study.
1.9. Questions of the study
The study tries to answer the following questions:
1- What are the most frequent words used in swearing by the speakers of Jordanian Arabic?
2- Do gender, age and the level of education of the speakers affect the use of these patterns?
3- What are people's attitudes toward swearing?
1.10. Methodology
1.10.1. Data Collection
The data of this study will include swearing words used by speakers of Jordanian Arabic. To fish the required data, the researcher will adopt a personal observation method, an interviewing method and a questionnaire to collect appropriate and relevant data. Prior to the construction of the questionnaire, the researcher will interview some Jordanians of different age, gender, and educational level to discuss the swearing patterns that they usually and frequently tend to use. The responses of the participants and what the researcher himself observes will serve as a basis for constructing the questionnaire.
1.10.2. Procedure
The researcher will use the questionnaire in Arabic to guarantee full understanding by respondents. Also, he will conduct several interviews with the participants.
1.10.3. Data analysis
After the required data are collected, the data will be analyzed in accordance with the different items of the problems of study. The researcher collects the questionnaires and checks them one by one to see whether there are unfilled ones or some that do not returned back. Then, the researcher fills the responses using Microsoft Office Excel sheets. The researcher analyzes these responses depending on the sociolinguistics perspective factors such as: age, gender, educational back ground and place of residence.