Abstract
This paper takes a sociolinguistic approach to the analysis of the informal usage of two words common in modern Lebanese political discourse; ħarf at-tanbīh (the warning interjection) “hā,” used in Arabic inter alia in calls to animals, and the hypocoristic forename “Roro,” borrowed from the French. The paper also demonstrates how these lexical characteristics of the Lebanese dialect reveal similarities to what Ferguson termed marginal systems within languages. The paper is supplemented by graphical representations and other extra-linguistic data.
Highlights
This paper takes a sociolinguistic approach to the analysis of the informal usage of two words from modern Lebanese political discourse; repeated animal call “hā,” and the hypocoristic forename “Roro,” borrowed from the French
Ferguson termed “marginal systems within languages” and “animal calls [...] or child-directed speech.”2 Like Ferguson, Boris Uspienski analyses marginal linguistic systems and defines them as a separated lexical enclave which is characterized by phonetics differing from the norm, and specific grammatical properties which seem abnormal in the background of a given language; one counts among them, for example, onomatopoeias, different forms of expressive lexis, so called “child words”, forms of calling to and fighting off animals, et cetera
We will describe: (a) the repeated animal call used in Lebanese political folklore as a pejorative re-interpretation of part of an adversary’s honorific nickname (Ar. laqab); (b) the hipocoristic forename Roro used as a Christian identity tag
Summary
This paper employs a sociolinguistic approach to the analysis of data from Lebanese oral and written—mostly, but not exclusively unofficial—political discourse, showing similarities to what Charles A. Dialectal Arabic call to animals, animal calls, and baby talk frequently have the form of reduplication, that is, inter alia, CvCv and C1vC2 C1vC2(v). Baby talk: wawa (hurt); qūqū and kūkū (sleep); kūku (fowl, pigeon); nūnu (small)14; ’aw’aw and ba‘ba‘ (to frighten). Baby talk: wawa (hurt); qūqū and kūkū (sleep); kūku (fowl, pigeon); nūnu (small)14; ’aw’aw and ba‘ba‘ (to frighten)15 In this context, we will describe: (a) the repeated animal call (donkey braying, Leb. šahnū’a) used in Lebanese political folklore as a pejorative re-interpretation of part of an adversary’s honorific nickname (Ar. laqab); (b) the hipocoristic forename Roro used as a Christian identity tag. It is worth noting here that native speakers of Arabic dialects outside Lebanon (and even some Lebanese people) often have no pragmatic competence in inferring the political connotations of the examples quoted below.
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