Bumper Stickers in Jordan: A Structural Analysis

Husam Al-Momani,Abdullah Ahmad Jaradat,Yousef Mohammad Khaled Alshaboul,Baker Mohammad Jamil Bani-Khair

doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.4p.91

Husam Al-Momani, Abdullah Ahmad Jaradat + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.4p.91

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Abstract

This study has set out to determine the structural patterns of bumper stickers in Jordan. This study is significant since it is the first one to approach bumper stickers structurally. The study has investigated 227 stickers, which can be considered the corpus of stickers in Jordan. The study has found that around 90% of the stickers are sentences, most of which are simple sentences expressed in the present tense. This combination of the three elements i.e. sentence, declarative and simple is what facilitated the job of drivers to write their opinions, attitudes, beliefs, etc. and is what made it possible for the others i.e. drivers and pedestrians to understand the stickers. The study has also found that imperative and negative imperatives are quite common since the stickers are not addressed to the writer/driver rather to the others so as to inform them about his state, his miserable condition, his opinions, his loyalties, and his vehicle. The stickers are addressed to others to demand certain behaviors from them such as driving wisely, not challenging the sticker writer, respecting him if he is driving a truck or a lorry, etc.

Highlights

The spread of vehicles has led to the spread of a new genre of discourse which has distinctive features content- and structure-wise
This study has set out to determine the structural patterns of bumper stickers in Jordan
One can say that sentences are the preferable structure for stickers in Jordan

Summary

Introduction

The spread of vehicles has led to the spread of a new genre of discourse which has distinctive features content- and structure-wise. This genre is called bumper stickers since it involves phrases or sentences that are usually written on stickers attached to bumpers. The phrases or sentences that the stickers include are characterized by the following visual features. The first is brevity; stickers include brief statements since there is not sufficient space to write long sentences not to mention paragraphs. The second is that they are large in size so as to be seen and read . The third is simplicity so as to be read and understood by all readers

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