Divine Will and its Extensions: Communicative Functions of maašaallah in Colloquial Jordanian Arabic

Abstract

This study examines the communicative functions of the Arabic religious formula maašaallah in light of speech act theory, Gricean maxims, and Brown and Levinson's politeness model. Analysis of 500 instances of this formula in a variety of naturally occurring settings in colloquial Jordanian Arabic shows that the expression, as an extension of its semantic value of expressing divine will, is used as an invocation, a compliment, an expression of gladness, an expression of modesty, a marker of sarcasm, and as a conversational backchannel. The data suggest that this formula is also used as a mitigating device, whereby it is used to soften face threatening acts such as refusal, complaint and criticism. It is concluded that this formula serves as a membership marker whose use marks the speaker as a social insider who avoids acting in a way that would invite the “evil eye.”

Keywords:

• Religious Formulas
• The Evil Eye
• Speech Acts
• Politeness
• Face Threatening Acts
• Gricean Maxims

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for Communication Monographs for their comments and suggestions which have greatly improved this paper. Any remaining shortcomings are, of course, the authors’ own responsibility.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fathi Migdadi

Fathi Migdadi is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan

Muhammad A. Badarneh

Muhammad A. Badarneh is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan

Kawakib Momani

Kawakib Momani is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan