Idioms as Pragmatic Messages

Sharif  Alghazo; Imran  Alrashdan; Mohd  Nour Al Salem; Essa  Salem

doi:10.35516/hum.v49i4.2092

Authors

Sharif Alghazo The University of Jordan/ University of Sharjah
Imran Alrashdan The University of Jordan
Mohd Nour Al Salem The University of Jordan
Essa Salem The University of Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v49i4.2092

Keywords:

Pragmatics, Jordanian Arabic, idioms, implicature

Abstract

This study argues that idiomatic expressions are essentially used as pragmatic messages which are heavily laden with implicatures and/or contextual effects. This implies that idiomatic expressions are not pure propositional elements that necessarily have (non-compositional) semantic content, whereas any pragmatic messages are affiliated with context. In this study, we defend an alternative view that idioms are composed of fixed semantic content, plus a variant speaker-related meaning. In order to show this, the current study draws on data from Jordanian Arabic (JA) and a judgement survey where 30 speakers are asked about the difference with respect to a certain meaning when delivered through the use of an idiomatic expression or through equivalently propositional content

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