Constructing the Social Context of Communication: Terms of Address in Egyptian Arabic [Reprint 2015 ed.] 9783110857351, 9783110105377

Table of contents :
Acknowledgments
List of Tables
List of Figures
Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 2. The Sisters of ’Inta
Chapter 3 The Syntax and Pragmatics of EA Terms of Address
Chapter 4 Names and Labels
Chapter 5 Family Terms
Chapter 6 Terms of Respect
Chapter 7 Friendly and Joking Terms
Chapter 8 Terms of Abuse
Chapter 9 Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Terms

Citation preview

Constructing the Social Context of Communication Terms of Address in Egyptian Arabic

by Dilworth B. Parkinson

Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York · Amsterdam

Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Parkinson, Dilworth B., 1951 Constructing the social context of communication. (Contributions to the sociology of language ; 41) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Arabic language — Dialects — Egypt. 2. Arabic language — Address, Forms of. 3. Arabic language — Social aspects — Egypt. I. Title. II. Series. PJ6783.P3 1985 49Γ.77Ό962 85-28446 ISBN 0-89925-148-X (alk. paper)

CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme

der Deutschen

Bibliothek

Parkinson, Dilworth Β.: Constructing the social context of communication : terms of address in Egyptian Arabic / Dilworth B. Parkinson. — Berlin ; New York ; Amsterdam : Mouton, 1985. (Contributions to the sociology of language ; 41) ISBN 3-11-010537-3 NE: G T

Printed on acid free paper.

© Copyright 1985 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form — by photoprint, microfilm, or any other means — nor transmitted nor translated into a machine language without written permission from Mouton de Gruyter, a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin. Printing: Ratzlow-Druck, Berlin. — Binding: Dieter Mikolai, Berlin. Printed in Germany.

Acknowledgments

Many people deserve thanks for their help in bringing this book to publication. Professor Ernest McCanis, and the late Professor Ernest Abdel Massih provided valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Professor Joshua Fishman, the editor of this series, also provided valuable comments, and much encouragement I would also like to thank Professor Everett Rowson who provided invaluable comments and insights into the material. My wife, Laura Beth, was a constant source of emotional strength and help. I would especially like to thank my workers, Muhammad, Ashraf, Ismat, Bulbul, Maha and Isaam who are largely responsible for the high quality of the data in the natural corpus. Finally, I would like to thank Elhamy Naguib, an informant and friend who provided constant help and insight. The data on which this book is based was gathered under the sponsorship of a Fulbright-Hayes Dissertation Grant, and an earlier report of the findings is contained in my University of Michigan Dissertation entitled Terms of Address in Egyptian Arabic.

Contents

Acknowledgments

ν

List of Tables

ix

List of Figures

χ

Chapter 1 Introduction

1

Chapter 2 The Sisters of 'Inta

15

Chapter 3 The Syntax and Pragmatics of EA Terms of Address

32

Chapter 4 Names and Labels

42

Chapter 5 Family Terms

64

Chapter 6 Terms of Respect

118

Chapter 7 Friendly and Joking Terms

187

Chapter 8 Terms of Abuse

200

Chapter 9 Conclusion

215

Bibliography

226

Index of Terms

235

List of Tables

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

Number of Terms in the Natural Corpus EA Consonants EA Vowels Statistical Summary of Natural Data for Sisters of 'inta Internal Syntax of EA Terms of Address Terms with the Pattern ya term ilterm Some Common Nicknames Names Alone, Names With Terms, and Terms Alone Statistical Summary of Natural Data for Names and Nicknames Terms of Address for Fathers Terms Used to Refer to Uncles and Aunts in the Third Person Typical Usage of a Middle Class Speaker to Various Classes of Relatives Statistical Summary of Natural Data for ibni and bind Statistical Summaiy of Natural Data for 'axi, axuuya and uxti Statistical Summary of Natural Data for @amm Statistical Summary of Natural Data for @amm fulaan Ranking of the Forms of walad and bint Summary of Natural Data for walad and bint and Their Variants Second Terms Occurring With walad and bint Forms Double Terms Based on the term ilterm Pattern Statistical Summary of Natural Data for 'ustaaz Statistical Summary of Natural Data for ¿teex Statistical Summary of Natural Data for 'usta Statistical Summary of Natural Data for rayyis Statistical Summary of Natural Data for hagg Statistical Summary of Natural Data for afandim Statistical Summary of Natural Data for «¿di Statistical Summary of Natural Data for baaSa Statistical Summary of Natural Data for beeh Ranking of Abusive Terms by Interview Informants Data Summary for the Terms of Abuse, As a Group Comparison of Light, Medium, and Heavy Terms of Abuse to Each Other

11 12 13 21 33 35 47 50 52 66 73 75 82 88 99 103 108 109 114 120 129 135 143 146 151 155 160 174 178 203 204 206

List of Figures

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Model of the Meaning of an Utterance Example of a Natural Data Card Comparison of siyadtak and hadritak for Power and Solidarity Representation of the aaba, baaba, baabi Continuum Speaker Sex for 'axi, axuuya and uxti Social Gass Distribution of sitt and madaam

2 7 24 69 90 164

Chapter 1

Introduction

Mitwalli: Basyuuni, I didn't say.... Basyuuni: (interrupting angrily) Don't call me Basyuuni! You understand?! Don't call me Basyuuni! Mitwalli: (staying calm) I'm sorry, Basyuuni. What do you want me to call you? Basyuuni: (enraged) I said, don't call me...! Mitwalli: (interupting angrily) Good God! Why don't you tell me what to call you and I'll call you that! Good God! What's he so uptight about?! Should I call you Basyuuni Beh? Basyuuni: That would either be mocking me or attacking me. I don't know what you should call me. You tell him, Uncle Huseen. Mitwalli: Aha! OK! I finally got it. But you could have let me know without getting so upset. OK, Professor Basyuuni ('ustaaz basyuuni) even if you've been just plain Basyuuni for seven years. (from the play biir il'amh by Ali Salim) Introductory Statement Terms of address, defined loosely as words used in a speech event that refer to the addressee of that speech event, can be extremely important conveyors of social information. Students of communication have long held that communication in any speech event takes place on several levels simultaneously, and that the form of an utterance and the way it is said encode not only a referential meaning, but also encode much information about who the speaker believes he is, who he believes the addressee is, what he thinks their relationship is, and what he thinks he is doing by saying what he is saying. Terms of address, which often play little or no part in the basic grammatical structures of sentences, add little to the referential meaning of

2 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

utterances, but they are often crucial in accurately conveying the other (social) kinds of information. Trubetzkoy, in his final work Principles of Phonology (English edition, 1969), develops a model for the meaning of speech events based on ideas current in the Prague Linguistic Circle of which he was a member. This model is based on the obvious, but even today still often overlooked, fact that all speech events involve at least a speaker, one or more addressees, and a topic, the thing being spoken about. Trubetzkoy demonstrated that in the actual physical sound flowing from speakers' mouths are mingled conventional signals which are related to these three aspects, i.e. signals relating to the topic, signals relating to the speaker, and signals relating to the addressee. The overall meaning of an utterance would include the composite message of all of these signals. He further pointed out that the speaker and addressee related meanings (what he called the "manifestation" and "appeal" levels of meaning) together share much in common and are both quite different from the topic related meanings (which he called "representation"). Although this model has been expanded and clarified by Jakobson and others, it is still sound in its original form. A simple version of it appears in Figure 1. It draws a line through the entire meaning of an utterance, showing referential or representational meaning—the overt content of the utterance-above the line, and showing the "manifestation" and "appeal" levels of meaning below the line. Representation

(it)

Appeal

(you)

Manifestation

(digital)

CONTENT

(analogic)

RELATIONSHIP

(I)

Figure 1. Model of the Meaning of an Utterance These second two types of meaning, referred to as the "relationship" part of the meaning, are present in every utterance, though they may be submerged to varying degrees. Manifestation refers to anything that the utterance implies about the speaker, and appeal refers to anything it implies about the addressee. It should be noted that on the content level, "above the line," there is something approaching a one to one correspondence between the morphemes in the utterance and the representational meaning. Below the line, however, there is often no such one to one correspondence, the word "analogic" representing this fact in the model. Investigating the meanings of terms of address requires one to look not only on the content level, but also

Introduction 3

below the line. Studies in the pragmatics of language use have shown that defining and maintaining relationships is one of the most important functions of speech, and since terms of address deal directly with these two functions it is to be expected that the structure of a term of address system will be closely related to social variables defining speaker, addressee and their relationship to each other. It will be shown in this book that Egyptian Arabic terms of address are used by speakers specifically to contextualize their utterances, to mark in the utterance itself what they believe the social universe of the utterance is, and (or perhaps or) what they want addressee to accept as the social universe of that utterance. Even the overt content of an utterance must sometimes be re-interpreted in light of the social meanings (or social contextualization) provided by the use of terms of address. Naturally, different speech communities may make different uses of terms of address as a whole, some using them only occasionally as relatively minor conveyors of social information, and others using them constantly and having them carry a relatively large portion of the social communicative load. It is the impression of many foreign residents of Cairo that Egyptian Arabic (defined here as that variety of spoken Arabic used in the Cairo speech community, hereafter EA) fits into the latter category. There seems to be a large number of terms used, they seem to be used very frequently, and people seem to care very much about ¿heir use (as is evidenced by the section from the play quoted at the beginning of this chapter). These impressions will be amply justified in the following chapters. This book is an attempt to describe the EA term of address system from a sociolinguistic point of view. This means looking not only for traditional "linguistic" structure, but also for the social structure of the terms as a linguistic subsystem. This does not mean that performance rather than competence is the focus of the analysis (although the research is based on a corpus of performances); rather, the Chomskian notion of linguistic competence is rejected in favor of Hymes' broader "communicative competence," which refers to a speaker's ability to function effectively in a whole communicative situation rather than merely the ability to produce grammatical sentences. The specific question asked of the data is: who is using what terms to whom and in what situations? It is assumed that term of address usage is rule-governed behavior, and the answers to the above questions will help us see the kind of rules that are involved and will give us at least a good idea of what factors constrain these rules. It is these rules, of course, that will tell us what the terms mean (or can mean) on the higher levels of communication referred to above. In short, then, we are looking in this study for the meanings of EA terms of address, in the broadest sense of the word.

4 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Other Studies of Terms of Address During the past twenty years a rather large number of studies of terms of address have appeared, dealing with numerous languages and speech communities. Space considerations forbid a review of them here, but many of them will be found in the bibliography, and references to certain of them will be found in the text and notes of the following chapters. Notable among these are Brown's (1960 and 1964) analyses of the axes of power and solidarity in both pronoun and term of address usage, and Ervin-Tripp's (1972) analysis of the system of address of one speaker. Yasin (1977a, 1977b, 1978) has done several studies of term of address usage in Kuwaiti Arabic, and Mitchell (1975) has done a short study of term usage in a Jordanian village. The only study of EA terms of address of which the author is aware (other than lists of terms with glosses to be found in Abdel Massih (1978), Kamel (1980) and alTonsi (1981)) was done by Schmidt and reported in an unpublished paper read at the 1975 Annual Meeting for Applied Anthropology in Amsterdam. In this paper, Schmidt points out several differences between American and Arabic term usage and then gives a list of twenty common terms with glosses. Although sometimes reflecting only upper class usage, the glosses are generally accurate. Some criticisms, however, will be dealt with in later chapters.

The EA Research The Natural Data The goal of the research upon which this book is based was to gather a large quantity of natural data on term of address usage. It was felt that survey and interview techniques, while providing valuable information, were not an adequate substitute for a large dose of the actual raw data of naturally occurring speech. Labov* and others have shown that self-reported usage often does not match real usage and comparison of the data gathered for this book with a set of interviews about term usage done later suggests that speakers do not necessarily use the terms in the way they say they do (or even in the way they think they use them). Thus, a way needed to be found to gather naturally occurring speech events in which terms of address were used with as little interference from the gatherer as possible in the situation. Further, those speech events needed to

^This idea appears throughout Sociolinguistic Patterns and in many of his other writings. Wolfson, in an article in Language in Society (5:189-202) calls for the development of creative techniques for the gathering of naturally occurring speech samples.

Introduction 5

be gathered from a wide variety of situations with all possible combinations of speakers and addressees in terms of sex, age, social class, and other variables. This was done first by choosing several parts of the city of Cairo, each section fairly representative of a certain social class and life style. Then one street or area within each section was chosen randomly from a map, and the author frequented that street, chatting with bystanders, sitting in coffee houses, and in general acting friendly. Partly because Egyptians are naturally friendly, and partly because they tend to like foreigners who have made an effort to learn their language, this technique allowed the author to become well acquainted with several families on each street and to gain access to most of the shops and workshops in each place. Through friends made in this way he also gained access to schools, a university, weddings, funerals, and family gatherings. People who were visited regularly were told that the author wanted to write a book that would teach Americans to speak Arabic, and that he needed to sit in on all kinds of situations to hear how people really talk so that his book would be accurate. He said that he wanted to sit in various places, listen to what was going on, and write down his observations. People were not told that he was specifically interested in terms of address. It was assumed that at first the author would be the center of attention, and this seemed in fact to be the case. But as he continued to come regularly, and as people got used to his being there, he came to feel that he was able to observe a great deal of interaction that went on around him with no apparent reference to his presence. In short, it seemed that people were comfortable with his being there. In Egypt in general it is socially acceptable and expected for a person to visit a certain set of people or places regularly. Chatting is possible and usual but it is certainly not required every minute. People seemed more surprised when circumstances kept the author from coming at his usual time then they were at his being there in the first place. In short, conditions were about as ideal as they could conceivably be for the gathering of natural data. (Of course, none of this is to imply that the author's presence had no effect whatsoever on the proceedings. It almost certainly did.) In the first six months he was able to gather data among peer groups, at sporting clubs, at a high school, a university, in factories, stores, coffee houses, with families, at a wedding, a funeral, in a pharmacy and in several other places. Just by being a resident of Cairo he was also able to record a large amount of "free" data, overheard on buses, trains, in restaurants, taxis, stores, on the street and in other public places where he happened to be. After doing this for several months the author realized that although much of the data was very good (that from peer groups, schools, stores, factories, buses, etc.), there were some kinds of data that he simply did not have access to. For example, whenever he would enter the home of one of his friends, he would be ushered off into the salon, a nice room isolated from the rest of the house. This was a show of respect to a guest, of course, but it effectively cut him off from any real observation of inner family interaction. Since his

6 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

stipend was fairly generous, he asked five of his friends (from different parts of town and different social classes) to be his paid assistants. They were to carry a little book around with them and record speech events that occurred in the normal course of their lives. The author would check on the assistants weekly and go over all of their data with them. This allowed him to make suggestions on aspects of the speech situations which they had failed to record, and soon all of the workers were providing high quality data, much of it from inner family interaction and other situations the author would personally not have had access to. The worker who lived in a lower class neighborhood was particularly conscientious in recording whole long sequences of speech exchanged between several participants. To the extent that the author had time before leaving Cairo, he transcribed the data of the workers by having the person who gathered it read the recorded sentences to him as he remembered hearing them. This made the record somewhat more reliable since there is no standardized way of writing colloquial Arabic using Arabic letters, and all of the workers used rather different ways. At the end of the year in Cairo, after gathering all the data together and transcribing it onto cards, it was found that we had amassed well over five thousand instances of EA term of address usage, representing a large number of situation types and terms. This natural corpus forms the basis for most of the information on the various terms in the following chapters. For the sake of ease of analysis, one card was made for each instance of term of address usage. On each card were recorded the general setting, the sex, approximate age, dress, and approximate social class of both speaker and addressee, the apparent degree of their acquaintance, their "official" relationship (if any), the tone of voice used, the specific setting (including all information that would make the situation clear to a native speaker, including any sentences spoken), and the whole sentence in which the term of address was used. A typical card looks like the one copied in Figure 2 with its translation and interpretation given below iL In the actual recording of the data, both the workers and the author soon developed various shorthand notations that allowed them to get the maximum amount of information in the shortest time. This meant that it was physically possible to enter a particular setting, exchange a few greetings and then proceed to record every (or in some cases almost every) term of address used in that setting for any particular period of time.

The Interview To supplement the corpus of natural data, nineteen EA speakers from various social groups were interviewed directly about terms of address. A body of information about speakers' subjective reactions to various terms was desired, as well as people's theories about why certain terms are used the way they

Introduction 7 are. It was also important to see to what extent reported usage would match the actual recorded usage.

(M.Ali) 17 July 1979 University Sp: f a r r a a S M 40 west lmc unk loud-dihk Add: student M 20 west mc Env: Add. just discovered that he succeeded in his exams and was "joyfully" walking down the hall past Sp. who called out to him as he went by: -mabruuk ya beeh!

(person who gathered the data) (date gathered) (General Setting) (Formal Relationship) (sex)(age)(dress)(social class)(familiarity)(voice tone) Speaker: janitor Male 40 western lower middle class don't know loudAddressee: student Male 20 western middle class each other laughing Environment: (Specific contextual information) (the sentence) -Congratulations, O Bey! Figure 2. Example of a natural data card Ten males and nine females were interviewed, and all social classes are represented among the informants. The interview was divided into five sections. In the first, the informants were told only that the author was interested in what they would say in certain situations, no mention being made of terms of address specifically. They were then presented with various situations in which the variables of age, dress, social class, official relationship, etc. were manipulated and they were asked what they would say in such a situation. In some cases no term at all was elicited, but in many cases rather clear patterns of term usage emerged. In the second section of the interview the informants were told that the interviewer was interested mainly in terms of address. Various types of addressees (landlord, bus driver, waiter, etc.) were then described and the informants were asked how they would address such a person. Very clear patterns emerged from this section. For many categories of addressee, a particular term exists that everyone agrees is correct for these people.

8 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

In the third section, the informants were presented with various terms of address, and asked if they themselves ever used them, and to whom and in what situation. If they said they never use a particular term, they were asked who used it to whom and in what situation. From the information gathered in this section numerous insights into subjective attitudes towards the terms were obtained. In the fourth section of the interview the informants were asked to compare two terms that might seem equivalent to an outsider ( s i t t / m a d a a m , rayyislusta, etc.). They were to state whether the two forms were used in exactly the same way or if there were differences. If they said there were differences, they were asked what the differences were. In the last section the informants were presented with a few examples of actual usage which had been gathered previously and which seemed to be somewhat problematic. They were then asked to explain why the terms in the examples were used in the way they were used. Informants answers to the questions in the last two sections likewise provided numerous insights both into usage and into subjective evaluations by native speakers of others' usage. All of the interviews were taped and transcribed onto cards for ease of analysis. Analysis of the Data The data gathered using the methods described above were analyzed from both a qualitative and a quantitative point of view. Since such a large body of data was gathered it was felt that statistical analysis was appropriate to capture the interrelationships between the variables and to describe numerical trends in the data in a concise and understandable way. However, it became clear that statistical analysis was not an adequate substitute for a fine-grained qualitative analysis in which the usage of the terms was described from the native speaker's point of view in an effort to include all aspects of the meaning of the term in any particular use. Both types of analysis are used throughout the book. The statistical analysis of the data made use of both the chi-squared test and a method of multivariate analysis developed specifically for discrete data which makes use of the standard logistic measure of uncertainty, a normalized measure of Delta-Η or change in entropy. In general, mostly because there was so much data, almost every variable of interest is highly statistically significant according to both of these tests. This is not a particularly helpful result, since statisticians note that with enough data almost any phenomenon in the world can be shown to be related to almost any other phenomenon statistically. The logistic uncertainty measure, however, allows one to assess the relative strength of the variables, giving us an idea of how much any particular variable or combination of variables is affecting the outcome for a particular term.

Introduction 9 It should be understood that these statistical methods are being used to describe the corpus of data; it is not assumed that the statistical proportions that result from this analysis are automatically transferable to variable rules existing in native speakers' heads. Term of address usage in EA does appear to be rule-governed behavior, but the present study takes no stand on the nature of the variable rules involved. The author does find it intuitively appealing to consider the rules in an analogical framework, the native speaker making the choice of a particular term in a particular environment based on the degree of similarity of the present situation with past situations in which he has heard this and similar terms used. As Skousen (forthcoming) points out, the results of looking at variable behavior in this framework are very similar to those resulting from a more traditional variable rule analysis, but more "leakage" in favor of alternative usages is allowed, and input from similar but not precisely equivalent environments is taken into account. Further, one is not forced to posit the rather unlikely existence of an extremely complex and interacting set of percentages in peoples' heads associated with every variable usage. It will be noticed that in many cases the quantifiable variables, while important to the use of the term, often account for less than one-half of the total variability of the system. It is assumed that the remainder of the variability is handled by numerous non-quantifiable variables, mostly related to the intentionality of the speaker (what he is trying to accomplish in the particular discourse), to a more fine-grained analysis of the relationship of speaker and addressee, and to simple preferences of certain speakers and groups. The EA term of address system, as will be seen, is extremely large and very complex interrelationships exist between similar terms. Statistical analysis can only touch the surface of these complexities. TTie variables recorded and quantified divide speakers and addressees into groups based on sex, social class and age. In actuality, of course, speakers belong to many more groups than this. Families, neighborhoods, factory or work groups, coffee house groups, school groups and many others play important roles in peoples' lives. We will see that terms of address are very commonly used by speakers to mark their membership in a particular group, and it is reasonable to assume that certain terms would be as likely to mark membership in the smaller groups mentioned above as they are to mark membership in the larger groups which the data allow us to quantify. Thus, while the statistical analysis is very helpful and revealing, it can do no more than hint at the direction a finer-grained investigation of a particular term should take. For the purposes of analysis the data on age and social class were divided into large categories (young, middle-aged, old, upper class, middle class, working class). In many cases the worker knew the participants of the speech event he was recording, and thus could accurately judge their actual age and social class, but in the majority of cases he had to guess the age and social class based on his understanding of the situation and his general knowlege of

10 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

EA society. Because of this, there is a certain amount of inevitable inconsistency between data gathered by different workers. It was decided to reduce the ages and social classes recorded to three very large categories both to reduce this inconsistency and to provide enough data in each category to allow a reasonable statistical analysis. It was felt that broad age and social class constraints would appear no matter how the continuum was broken into categories. More consistency in the gathering of the data could not have been had without a marked decrease in the "naturalness" of the data, which is the factor the data-gathering methodology was designed to maximize. Representativeness To what extent do the data gathered represent the entire Cairo speech community? The only accurate way to answer this question would be to do another large scale study to see how closely the data can be replicated. Since this is not a real possibility at the present time, we must rely on the evidence of the data themselves. On the positive side, we do have a large body of data which includes many examples of speakers and addressees of all ages, sexes and social classes, and from several parts of town. Those who gathered the data included both male and female workers from the upper middle and middle classes. Further, two of the upper middle class workers had access to upper class situations, and one of the middle class workers lived in a working class neighborhood and was able to provide much working class and lower middle class data. All workers were instructed not to be selective in what they gathered, but rather to try to record every term used during the time they chose to spend gathering in a particular situation. On the negative side, the data do clearly show some biases. In some public situations (buses, shops) they seem to provide a fairly complete picture of usage, but in private situations they are more limited. The peer group data, for example, is heavily male, and heavily middle class, and a complete picture of inner family usage is available only from middle and upper middle class homes. Only one of the workers was female, so a large majority of the data on the interaction of sisters comes from one family. In short, the data contain a few examples of use from almost all situation types, but give a complete picture in only some of them. The data are clearly not representative in any scientifically randomized kind of way. Again, this would not have been possible without a major sacrifice of the "naturalness" of the data gathered. However, since terms were gathered exhaustively in so many situation types, and for such a long period of time, it is not unreasonable to assume that a second study would fairly closely replicate the results of this one. Thus although all results should be understood to represent the corpus or sample rather than the actually existing proportions in the speech community, it is quite reasonable to assume that a

Introduction 11

strong correlation between the results and the actual proportions does in fact exist. Number of Terms in the Corpus The EA term of address system is a rather large one, with a large number of terms available and a number of variations for many of the terms. One problem with counting the number of terms involves determining what to count as a separate term. Do male and female forms of the same term ( hagg, hagga) count as one or two? Do variations on the same term {bint ilkalb 'daughter of a dog,' bint sittiin kalb 'daughter of sixty dogs,' bint diin ilkalb 'daughter of the religion of a dog') count as one or many? And do the additions of pronouns to terms (only possible with certain terms) which clearly change the force of the term (ya sitt Ό Mrs.,' but ya sitt 'inti 'You, Lady!') count as separate forms from the terms themselves? It was decided to count in two ways to avoid these problems. First, every single possible variation was counted as a separate form, giving the highest possible number of forms. Secondly, all the variations of any particular form were combined and counted as only one, giving the least possible number of forms. Table 1 summarizes the results of these counts of the number of separate forms in the corpus. Table 1. Number of Terms in the Natural Corpus Counting all variations

Combining Variations

male forms female forms

344 186

183 79

total forms

530

262

Whichever way one counts, it must certainly be admitted that EA has a large number of available forms. The Plan of the Book The EA terms of address have been divided into categories for the purpose of understandable presentation in this book. They include names, nicknames, pronouns, terms for family and relatives, terms of respect, playful and

12 Constructing the Social Context of Communication intimate terms, and terms of abuse. These categories represent the various chapters of the book. They reflect, as much as possible, local categories of terms which were discovered in the interview when terms were discussed with native speakers overtly. Instead of looking at the whole system in terms of the social variables, each term will be examined individually and an attempt will be made to capture its meaning and usage. The Transliteration

System

The transliteration system used in this book is a modified version of that used by Abdel-Massih in his An Introduction to Egyptian Arabic. Using the consonant chart from page 2 of his book, Table 2 gives the symbols that will be used for the consonants. Table 2. EA Consonants I I I I I- I I 111 i l-Sl-a

I I I I I 3 I -al ι S-l-a > ι « 131 iS 1 3 3

I I ! I I I I 73 ι < u I I|I Ι op I I 73 ι ι . I > l sal tí I 1 ι « W J M I > δ ι δ ι fil δ

Stop-Voiceless

|ρ|

|

|k|

Stop-Voiced

1 b 1 1d M

I

1g 1 I

1

Fricative-Voiceless

1

1f1 s 1 ? 1 s 1

1

I χ1

1 h 1 hl

Fricative-Voiced

1

I ν 1 ζ 1 ? 1 21

1

lèi

Nasal-Voiced

1 m|

1

I

1 I

1

1 1

Lateral-Voiced

1

1 1 1 III

1

1

1 1

1

1 1

Flap-Voiced

1

1 1

1 1

1

1 1

Semivowel-Voiced

1

1 1

1

1 1

W

I I I I„ ι·!

| t | t |

1 η 1

ι

ι

I

1 r.r I I 1

I

1 1y 1

|q|

| ' | 1 1

1 @l

1

Introduction 13

Table 3 gives the EA vowel system that will be used, from page 21 of Abdel-Massih's book. Readers who are acquainted with EA will realize that the phonetic shape of a word often changes according to the other words around it. Short vowels are dropped, long vowels are shortened, and helping vowels are added whenever the environment calls for i t As much as possible forms have been given as they would appear without surrounding speech. Helping vowels are not indicated between words, and short vowels are only occasionally dropped, so as to make the forms as readable as possible for readers who do not know Arabic. Thus, when the form sitt haanim appears, the correct pronunciation (using I for the helping vowel) is /sitt I haanim/. Likewise, when the form 'umm fulaan is given, if there actually were a first name fulaan, the sequence would be pronounced /'ummu flaan/ as in /'ummu mh ammad/ for 'umm mihammad. In no case do these factors affect the analysis. Table 3. EA Vowels 1

Short

1

Long

1 Front Back

1 Front Back

High

1

i

u

1

ii

uu

Mid

1

e

o

1

ee

oo

Low

1

a

1

aa

There is also the problem of the initial glottal stop, or hamza. All words that begin with a vowel in their "underlying form" are pronounced with a hamza at the beginning when they begin a breath group, but the hamza does not appear when the word is in the middle of a breath group. Further, some words start with a hamza that can never be dropped, while others start with a hamza that is sometimes dropped and sometimes retained, even in the middle of a breath group. Words that begin with a hamza that can never be dropped are given always with a hamza. Words that begin with a vowel are given without the hamza written. For words that are variable, the form that seemed to be the most common was chosen. It is certain that some will disagree with the choices, but the issue, again, has no bearing on the analysis of the data. For example, the form afandim appears to start with a vowel, and 'axi with a glottal stop, but axuuya and uxti are variable, and they are given here without the glottal stop because it seemed to the author that yaxuuya and

14 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

yaxti were more common than ya 'axuuya and ya 'uxti. This can become somewhat confusing when forms of the same word appear differently. For example, uxti without the first person pronoun ending is always pronounced with the glottal stop and is thus written as 'uxt. Finally, there is the problem of a few pharyngealized forms that do not contain normal pharyngealized consonants (Is/, III, Id I, Izl, Irl). There is an argument in EA phonological circles about whether it is not die vowel that carries the pharyngealized features rather than the consonant, and some books have dealt with the problem using different vowel symbols for the allophones of the vowel /a/. In this book, the additional phonemes /x/, Ibi, Imi and lyj have been used to indicate that an adjacent /a/ vowel is to be pronounced as a back vowel, despite the fact that no other pharyngealized consonant occurs in the word (examples are 'axx, baaba, maama, and y ad). This convention is meant to imply nothing about the actual existence of these phonemes. Other

Conventions

In this book, all EA words will be glossed when they first appear, and when they have not appeared for several pages. One word, baladi, will be used throughout without a gloss. This word literally means local,' and is used by EA speakers to mean 'non-modern, non-westernized, uneducated, working class, traditional values and customs, traditional dress, etc.' Since no short gloss really does this word justice, and since it was used constantly by the interview informants and by the workers in describing various terms and participants in speech events, it has been decided simply to use it as an English word, although retaining the italics.

Chapter 2

The Sisters of 'Inta

Minor Official:

Hello, O Felicity of the Bey!

Important Official: Hello, dear. Minor:

Your dominance (siyadtak), sir, was wonderful yesterday.

Important I thank you Minor:

Really, sir, your presence (hadritak) yesterday summarized the subject in utter simplicity, and in a completely convincing way.

Important: I thank you, my dear, you see . . . Minor:

(Breaks in) By God, sir, despite the fact that I had important work yesterday at the office, I still made sure to bring with me my transistor television set so that I could see your dominance (siyadtak).

Important: I thank you. The fact is you are being too nice. How much was that transistor TV? Minor:

By God, sir. I got it very cheaply from the free market while returning from the Socialist Convention in France. I actually got another and if your dominance ( siyadtak) would like I can send it to you. It costs about three pounds and seventy piasters.

Important: Thanks, brother, thanks a lot. Minor:

But really, sir, your words (kalaamak) yesterday, and that's not just my opinion. I asked a lot of people who saw you yesterday, common folk, those who represent our great people, and all of them agreed that your presence's (hadritak) words on TV yesterday were...were more than wonderful.

Important: My d e a r . . . I . . . I didn't speak on TV yesterday.

16 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Minor:

What do you mean, sir? Wasn't there a program with your dominance (siyadtak) at 7:30? It was announced in the newspapers.

Important: Indeed. But I didn't go. I don't have a car and I wasn't able to arrive on time. Minor:

O, well it must have been an old program, sir, that they repeated.

Important: Probably . . . Minor:

But really sir, your words yesterday...

Important I beg you, my dear, I beg you, I plead with you, I have never spoken on television in my whole life. Are you still insisting that you saw me on TV yesterday? Minor:

In fact, sir, it appears that our television . . . our screen . . . Excuse me, sir . . . (He hurries into the meeting, visibly upset). (from the play @amaliyyit nuuh by Ali Salim)

The Second Person Pronoun Forms The form 'inta is used here to refer to any of the second person personal pronouns. These include the subject pronouns 'inta, 'inti and 'intu ('you' masculine singular, feminine singular and plural), the object pronoun endings -ak, -ik and -kum and their phonological variants, which can be the objects of verbs or possesive pronouns, and the second person verb conjugations which are usually used without an expressed pronoun subject. These latter include the perfect forms that end in -t, -ti and -tu, and the imperfect forms that begin with ti- (and not including third person feminine singular forms which are identical in form to second person masculine forms in this tense). These forms of 'inta are ubiquitous in spoken EA. People naturally and constantly refer, when talking, to the person they are talking to, and using the second person forms is one of the easiest ways of making this reference. Although these forms of 'inta fît the definition of "terms of address" used in this book, being forms that refer to the addressee of a speech event, they do not fit into the local category of 'alqaab roughly 'terms of address.' Forms in this category almost always come after the vocative particle ya and are thus somewhat insulated from the primary grammatical relations of the sentences in which they are being used. In other words, "real" terms of address, in this sense, never function as the grammatical subjects, objects or oblique objects

The Sisters of 'Inta 17

of the sentences in which they are used. Rather, they are purely vocative, used to get addressee's attention or to maintain contact with him as the addressee during the course of the conversation. The second person forms, on the other hand, constantly take the part of the primary grammatical relations of the sentences in which they appear. It is thus quite common for a sentence to contain both a "real" term of address, and one or more second person forms, as in: Suft ilfilm imbaarih, ya @alaa'? Did you see the film yesterday, Alaa'? Although typically the masculine singular forms are used with masculine singular addressees, the feminine singular forms with feminine singular addressees, and the plural forms to a group of more than one addressee, on rare occasions the plural form is used to address a singular addressee. This type of usage would usually involve an extremely formal situation and a very high addressee (on the level of president or king). One such instance was recorded in the natural data, in which the president of a university addressed the president of the country with a plural form of 'inta during a speech in which he would present the president of the country with an honorary degree. The Sisters of 'Inta The forms siyadtak, hadritak, fadiltak, 'udsak and niyaftak are referred to in this book as the "sisters of 'inta." They form a swing category between "real" terms of address and the second person pronoun forms. Informants include them under the category 'alqaab, but they never appear with the vocative particle ya and like the second person pronouns they take part in the primary grammatical relations of the sentences in which they appear, functioning as the subject, object, or oblique object in the sentence and in general replacing the 'inta form wherever it appears. There is, however, no special verb conjugation for these forms, so when they are the subject of a verbal sentence they are added as an expressed subject while a form of 'inta would normally be left out in such a situation. These forms, therefore, have some of the qualities of normal terms of address, and some of the qualities of normal second person pronouns, but are fully neither, and must be placed somewhere in between the two categories. The form fadiltak 'your excellency' is used exclusively by speakers to address Muslim sheikhs, and is normally restricted to rather high class sheikhs. For example: 1. In introducing the subject of the discussion the TV announcer on a religious affairs program says to the sheikh who is today's guest:

18 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

(....) winhibb 'innak fadiltak tiwaddah lina ba@d innuqaat h awl haaza lmawduu@. (....) and we were hoping your excellency would clarify for US some points relating to this matter. Likewise, the forms 'udsak 'your holiness' and niyaftak 'your excellency' are used exclusively to Christian leaders, the former to popes and the latter to bishops. Wehr claims that the form sa@aadatukum 'your felicity' (sa@aditkum in colloquial) was used under the monarchy to address nobility, but it has apparently fallen into disuse. The forms siyadtak 'your dominance' and hadritak 'your presence' are still very common, however, and have a rather broad general usage. Discussion of the sisters of 'into will therefore here be limited to siyadtak and hadritak. The forms siyadtak and hadritak vary with the forms of 'inta, either replacing them where they occur in sentences or, in the case of verbs, being added before them. This variation is constrained in a way similar to that of the variation between the high and low forms of second person pronouns in several European languages which was described by Brown and Gillman. Both siyadtak and hadritak are used to addressees who are above speaker in some heirarchy (Brown called this the "power" axis) or to addressees who are equal to speaker but have a formal rather than intimate relationship with him (Brown called this the "solidarity" axis). EA speakers refer to the same phenomena when they use the words ihtiraam 'respect,' and kulfa or takliif 'formality, ceremonial courtesy,' when discussing the sisters of 'inta. The second person pronoun forms, on the other hand, mark the opposite, either the fact that speaker is higher than addressee in some heirarchy, or that the relationship between them is an intimate one in which the rules of formality are not followed.

Statistical Analysis of the Sisters of 'inta Statistical analysis of the natural data subtantiates this general description of siyadtak and hadritak usage. All of the variables related to addressee—sex, social class and age-were highly significant. The results indicate that middle aged and old addressees receive the terms much more than do young, and that the higher the social class of addressee, the more likely he is to receive the terms, upper class addressees receiving them over twice as often as middle class addressees, and middle class addressees receiving them many times more often than working class addressees. These results are expected since young people are not as likely to be in socially dominant positions as middle aged and old people are, and since the higher a person's social class the more likely he is to be in a socially dominant position. The data also indicate that young speakers feel that they should be respectful to an older addressee even

The Sisters of 'Inta 19

when the addressee is not in a socially dominant position, and that working class speakers feel that an upper class addressee deserves a certain amount of deference even if only a stranger. Both would be likely to use a sister of 'inta to such an addressee. The statistical data on addressee sex indicate that male addressees are more likely to receive a sister of 'inta than are female addressees. This result reflects the actual situation in the society in which men are more likely to be in socially dominant positions than are women, but it also indicates that speakers, even when addressing women in socially dominant positions, are much less likely to choose a sister of 'inta then they would be if addressing men in similar situations. Instead they choose another term, like madaam, or possibly avoid using a term at all. The sex, social class and age of speaker were also highly statistically significant for these terms. Males are more likely to use them than are females, a fact that will also be clarified by examining the data on the individual terms below. Further, the higher the social class of speaker, the more frequently these terms are chosen, and middle aged speakers tend to use them more often than either old or young speakers do. As expected, speakers are more likely to use a sister of 'inta to an addressee with whom they are only slightly or not at all acquainted then they are to use one to a well known addressee. The tone of voice used and the relationship between speaker and addressee were also highly significant. Tone was almost entirely normal, with only a few sarcastic or angry usages recorded. Usages up some social scale, to teachers, bosses, customers, etc., were the most common, followed by across usages (to strangers, co-workers, etc). Usages down were rare, and generally associated with an angry or sarcastic tone of voice. The statistical results are summarized in Table 4. Since similar tables will be given for many of the terms discussed in this book, this one will be discussed in detail. The column percentages represent the results of crosstabulating the entire corpus of data with the sisters of 'inta coded as "Outcome 1" and all other terms coded as "Outcome 2" for each variable. The percentages given represent the proportion that Outcome 1 was chosen over Outcome 2 in that particular environment. These are given so the reader may form a general idea of the effect of that variable on the usage of the term. For example, the percentages for "Speaker Sex" indicate that males chose a sister of 'inta over every other term 2.3% of the time, while females chose one only 1% of the time. These percentages are expected to be low, in general, since there are so many terms to choose from that no one term will be used more than 2-5% of the time for any category of interest. The significance level for this difference between male and female speakers indicates, however, that this 1.3% difference is highly statistically significant The level of significance is given for each variable after the column percentages, and was calculated by performing a chi-squared test on the cross-tabulated data.

20 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

The range of percentages labeled "Overall Effect" and "%Effect of Variable" are derived from the standard logistic measure of uncertainty. The overall effect is a percentage that indicates the maximum degree of variability or uncertainty in the system that can be accounted for by the individual variables and their combinations. FOT the sisters of 'inta, all of the variables and their combinations account for about 70% of the total uncertainty in predicting the results obtained in the corpus of data, leaving about 30% to either free variation or other unknown factors. Many of the terms investigated in this book will have much smaller percentages of overall effect. The percentage range of the variables themselves indicate the degree to which each accounts for variability in the system. A range of percentages rather than a single percentage is given in some cases for several reasons. First, since there are so many variables being examined at the same time, an actual statistical model including all of them would have to consider several hundred thousand different environments at once, testing for the independence of each variable. This would have taken so many hours of computer time as to be prohibitively expensive, and the results would have been so complex as to be almost uninterpretable. It was therefore decided to run the statistics three variables at a time to get a general idea of the effect of each variable, and then to run them again for any combinations of variables that appeared in the initial run to be somewhat important for the terms being investigated. The range of percentages come from these various runs, since a particular variable will often have a somewhat higher or lower effect in combination with one set of other variables than it will with another set. It was felt that a precise predictive model with exact percentages would be less useful in actually forming an intuitive idea of the way the terms are used than a suggestively descriptive one. The statistic from which these percentages were derived is multivariate in the sense that it not only tests for each variable alone, but also in combination with other variables, so that combined effects are taken into account. Again, although no one variable is expected to have a very large effect on the system as a whole, clear differences between the variables can be observed and it is not difficult to see which variables are having an important, noticible effect on the use of the term, and which are having only a minor effect. Since all of the variables for the sisters of 'inta are highly statistically significant, this additional information is very useful. The ranking of the variables at the right side of the table is based on the degree of effect percentages just discussed. The relationship data were coded in two ways for ease of analysis. In the first, all data were divided into the three large categories of "Up," "Across," and "Down." Secondly they were divided into twenty-five more detailed categories, such as "Friend to Friend," "Employee to Boss," "Customer to Salesman," "Child to Father," etc. For the sisters of 'inta it can be seen that the three broad categories are highly significant but reduce the uncertainty of the system by only a medium to small amount, while the more detailed categories of relationship are not only extremely significant, but account for

The Sisters of 'Into 21 Table 4. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for Sisters of 'ima Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

2.3 1.0

Significance %Effect of Level Variable

Rank of Variable

.004

1.5—2.1

10

.024

1.6—3.5

8

.000

4.2

6

.008

1.6—2.4

9

.000

9.5—10.5

2

1.0 3.6 3.8

.000

5.4

5

1.2 7. Acquaintance Known Sl.Knownl8.0 Unknown 3.1

.000

6.7—8.5

3

.000

5.1—5.6

4

.000

3.6

7

2. Speaker Social Upper 2.7 Class Middle 2.0 Working 1.5 3. Speaker Age

Young MidAge Old

4. Addressee Sex Male Female 5. Addressee Social Class

2.3 1.0

Upper 3.9 Middle 1.7 Working 0.1

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old

8. Tone

1.4 3.3 2.0

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

3.0 0.5 0.4 0.0

9. a. Relationship Up 3.1 (Broad) Across 2.1 Down 0.6 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000 19.7—20.3 OVERALL EFFECT 69.8% I

1

22 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

almost 20% of the uncertainty in the system, implying that the relationship between speaker and addressee is the most important determinant of whether or not a sister of 'inta will be chosen. The column percentages for the twenty-five categories of relationship are not given due to space limitations. It is clear from the table that the variables having the most effect are the relationship between speaker and addressee, addressee social class, acquaintance, tone, and addressee and speaker age, although all the variables have a perceptible effect If we construct a "typical" or "normal" environment or situation type for the usage of these terms, it would almost certainly involve a middle aged, male, upper class speaker addressing in a normal tone of voice a middle aged or old, male, upper class addressee whom he knows only slightly and who is above him on some social scale. Since the terms are used at least to some degree in almost all situation types, however, the theoretically "normal" combination of variables in this environment must be understood to be at the top of a continuum of variable combinations (or environments or situation types) with a gradually increasing likelihood of use as one moves up the continuum. The nature of this continuum is rather complex, but it is easy to see that changing a variable that has only a minor effect (like changing addressee sex from male to female) would not move one very far down the continuum away from the most "normal" environment, and would not therefore change the likelihood of a sister of 'inta being chosen very much, whereas changing one or more important variables (like changing addressee social class from upper to working) would greatly reduce the chance of a sister of 'inta being chosen and would move one rather far away in the continuum from the most "normal" environment What then is to be understood from the less important variables? It was stated above, for example, that "Speaker Sex" was an important determinant of the use of the sisters of 'inta but it can be seen from the table that it is the least important of all the variables investigated. It should first be reemphasized that in any speech community the factors that are the same across various social groupings would be expected to be much more common, and ultimately much more important than factors that are different. If this were not the case, felicitous communication could not take place. It is probably fair to assume that the "important" variables largely define the normal or expected use of the terms. These variables will very often be those that mark addressee and his relationship to speaker, the "public" content of the terms used, or their content on the "appeal" level. In this case, for example, native speakers assume that the sisters of 'inta will be used to upper class addressees, high on a social scale, in certain types of situations (related to the "Relationship" categories of the data) and with a normal tone of voice. These are somehow obvious. The less important variables, often those that mark speaker himself, may be considered somewhat more "covert." Informants do not immediately point out that men use these terms more than women, in the way that they point out that they are used mainly to upper class addressees, although many are clearly aware of the fact. This is not to say that the

The Sisters of 'Inta 23

functioning of the terms on this level of "manifestation" is not important, rather that these variables will seem unimportant until the more obvious "appeal" level variables are controlled for or assumed It should therefore not be assumed from examining the table that Speaker Sex is a minor variable that can basically be ignored for the sisters of 'inta. It is both highly statistically significant, and has a high degree of importance for the speakers who use it to mark themselves. It is to be expected that its importance in a predictive model would be less than the more obviously important variables, but it must be understood that variation on the "manifestation" level takes place against a backdrop of less variation on the "appeal" level. The correlation of variables on the "appeal" level can often be thought of as directly related to the "dictionary" definition or meaning of the term, which may be the main source of their "obviousness," whereas there is often no obvious reason why variation should exist on the "manifestation" level at all, other than the apparently innate desire of members of all social groups to distinguish themselves as members of that group, and conversely not members of some other group. To summarize the results of the analysis for the sisters of 'inta, we note that use becomes more likely 1) the higher the social class of addressee, 2) if adressee is only slightly known or unknown, 3) if tone is normal, 4) the older the addressee, S) if speaker is middle aged, 6) if speaker is speaking up, or at least across, 7) the higher the social class of speaker, 8) if addressee is male, and 9) if speaker is male. Comparison of siyadtak and hadritak to Each Other Although used very similarly, it may be wondered if some differences exist between the usages of siyadtak and hadritak. This was investigated both by running the statistics on each term separately (against the rest of the corpus), and by statistically comparing the two directly with each other. The most striking difference that becomes apparent is that both speaker sex and addressee sex, which are highly significant for siyadtak, are not significant at all for hadritak. In other words, females both give and receive much less siyadtak than do males, but they are not different from males in either giving or receiving hadritak. This female avoidance of siyadtak and preference for hadritak also appeared in the interview data, where two female informants claimed not to use siyadtak at all. Schmidt's female informants also claimed not to use iL That it is not a categorical avoidance is indicated by the fact that one of the female informants who claimed not to use siyadtak in the interview, chose it as an appropriate term for her boss earlier in the same interview. Thus a relatively high rate of siyadtak use as compared to hadritak is associated with male speakers and addressees, while a relatively

24 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

high rate of hadritak and avoidance of siyadtak is associated with female speakers and addressees. Another striking difference between the two terms involves the power and solidarity axes mentioned above. Although both terms are used both up to an addressee above speaker on some scale, and across to an addressee equal to speaker but who is not an intimate friend, we find that siyadtak is more commonly used up, while hadritak is more common in across usages. This is, of course, in keeping with the lexical meanings of the terms, siyadtak 'your dominance' directly implying speaker's subservient position and hadritak 'your presence' implying only distance and respect. Again it is important to bear in mind that these are tendencies, and not absolutes. The terms do appear to be interchangeable in most situations, and the natural data contain examples of use of both terms by the same speaker to the same addressee in the same conversation. Informants claimed that it is common in the army for officers to begin conversations with each other with siyadtak and to continue with hadritak. But the evidence is strong that a p a t t e r n of more siyadtak compared to hadritak would imply a relationship of inequality on a power scale, whereas a pattern of more hadritak compared to siyadtak would imply a relationship of distant or non-intimate equality. This is illustrated in Figure 3, where the proportions of use of the two forms in terms of power and polite distance is shown.

siyadtak Power—60%

3%

Formality—37%

Sarcastic hadritak Power—25%

Formality-- 7 5 %

Figure 3. Comparison of siyadtak and hadritak for Power and Solidarity Examples of Sister of 'inta Use From the Natural Data Uses of the sisters of 'inta in power marked situations are illustrated by situations in which a club worker addresses a club member, a customer addresses a pharmacist, and an employee addresses his boss.

The Sisters of 'Inta 25

2. An upper class female member of the Gezira Club is combing the snarls out of her daughter's hair which has become somewhat kinky from the water. A working class farraaS 'club servant' who is acquainted with the family walks by and comments in a friendly, half-joking manner: 'eeh ra'y siyadtik fi 3Sa@r issi@iidi da? What is your dominance's opinion of this upper Egyptian hair? (i.e. kinky and dark) 3. A customer comes in to the pharmacy and asks if they have a certain medicine. The pharmacist replies that they are out right now. The customer then asks: siyadtak hatgibha 'emta? When will your dominance get it? 4. At a big pharmaceutical lab, the farraaS 'office boy,' in this case a 60-year-old man, comes into a pharmacist's office to tell her that the office director wants to see hen iddoktoor muhammad @aayiz hadritik. Doctor Muhammad wants (to see) your presence. The situations which were not power marked, but which involved kulfa 'formality' included very formal speech events like television interviews, public speeches, and formal army situations, as well as exchanges between colleagues and acquaintances who were not close friends. Examples include: 5. At the end of a television interview with a professor in a medical department, the upper class interviewer politely thanks the upper class interviewee: ilha'ii'a binit'addim biSSukr lisiyadtak. We really want to thank your dominance. 6. An upper class engineer meets a colleague of his at the beach by chance and says: izzayy siyadtak? miS kwayyis kida? How is your dominance? Isn't it great like this?

26 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

7. There is only one female teacher at a particular boys' school and the relationship between her and the other teachers is formal. As she walks up onto the school veranda one day, one of her colleagues asks: hadritik @arfa 'iza kaan il'ustaaz hamdi hayiigi nnaharda? Does your presence know whether Professor Hamdi is coming today? Finally, there are a few instances of joking ce" sarcastic use of siyadtak (but not hadritak) by close friends. The meaning of these sarcastic usages derives from the "normal" usages as can be seen in the following examples: 8. Two 30 year old middle class friends are arguing about how a certain Dutch word is to be pronounced (one of them knows a little Dutch). Finally, the one who knows Dutch gets out a Dutch book and hands it triumphantly to the one who doesn't know Dutch and says (implying that addressee knows nothing at all): ikkitaab 'aho! itfaddal siyadtak, 'i'ra! Here is the book! Please, your dominance, go ahead and start leading! Here siyadtak appears to imply on the surface that speaker considers addressee a great, respected scholar, implying right below the surface that he is an imbecile since he obviously would not be able to read the book. The next example, again between close friends, plays on the idea that you need to show respect to a stranger you need information from even if he is otherwise not particularly respectable: 9. Everyone at the university has been anxiously awaiting the development of the pictures from last week's class picnic. One student is in charge of getting them, and one day his close friend starts bugging him to tell him which shop is doing the developing with: yaa sa@adt ilbeeh! yaa sa@adt ilbeeh! siyadtak bitgiib issuwar mineen? O Felicity of the Bey! O Felicity of the Bey! Where is your dominance going to bring the pictures from?

The Sisters of 'Into 27

The T/V Model It was mentioned that 'inta appears to vary with its two most common sisters (siyadtak and hadritak) in much the same way that the singular pronoun varies with the plural one for singular addressees in several European languages (T/V variation). It is generally the case in those languages that usages that mark power are non-reciprocal (i.e. a speaker may give siyadtak to a certain addressee but receive 'inta from him) while those that mark either solidarity or the lack of it are reciprocal (i.e. a speaker would both give and receive hadritak or 'inta with a certain addressee). Both of these patterns are extremely common in the EA case. In most European languages there has been a general movement away from non-reciprocal usage toward reciprocal usage; in other words, it is now more common to mark lack of solidarity than power, when the choice arises. This is clearly related to the increasingly egalitarian values of modern western society. Since Egypt has, at least on the official level, adopted these egalitarian values (noble titles and other marks of distinction like the tarboosh have been officially banned since the early 1950's) it should be interesting to see what effect, if any, these values have had on the term of address system. At first glance, the effect seems to have been negligible. No tendency is observed indicating, for example, that upper class speakers are beginning to use hadritak, rather than a form of 'inta, to waiters, as French upper class speakers now would almost universally use vous in such a situation. There is some evidence from the interview about the use of these terms in family settings, however, that such a change is in its beginning stages. The term hadritak, particularly, is common to any relative either much older or a generation or more above speaker. This not only includes uncles and aunts, etc., but also older brothers and sisters as well as mothers and fathers. Interviewees explained that the choice between hadritak and 'inta in such cases depends on the type of relationship that obtains, on the mood of speaker, and on what he is trying to accomplish. For example, a distant uncle might always receive hadritak, while a younger, more intimate or friendly uncle might receive it only when speaker is asking a favor. Children in general are very close to their mothers, and interviewees claimed to use hadritik to them only in serious or angry discussions or in asking favors. The situation with fathers is somewhat different. Traditionally, fathers are very authoritarian and quite distant, and in some families hadritak is expected as part of a general pattern of respect toward the father. Interview data indicate that older informants in general, and younger informants from middle class families or lower (usually more traditional) claimed to use it at least to their fathers, while younger informants from upper class families (usually more westernized) claimed not to use it to their fathers. This is consistent with the idea that traditional families still emphasize the disciplinary, power

28 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

relationship between father and children, therefore requiring it to be marked in address, while younger and less traditional families tend to emphasize the friendly, solidary aspects of the father—child relationship and therefore mark it with reciprocal 'inta usage. It would be a mistake, of course, to assume that the 'info/sisters of 'inta variation is exactly parallel to the well-known T/V model. There are some problems with the comparison. Τ and V are both pronouns and must be marked by the verb conjugation, and therefore only one may be chosen at a time, exactly like the 'inta forms. The sisters of 'inta, on the other hand, are not really pronouns, and do not have a precisely parallel usage. Sometimes they directly replace the 'inta form, but other times they are merely added to it. Roughly speaking, when the 'inta form is the subject of an equational sentence, or when it is a suffix pronoun, the sister of 'inta form will replace the 'inta form directly. With verbs, however, the sister of 'inta is merely added to the verb since verbs only conjugate to agree with the 'inta forms; there are no separate forms that agree with the sisters of 'inta. This means that in any speech event of reasonable length, even if the sister of 'inta forms are used consistently, numerous 'inta forms will also occur. This brings us to a second problem: the forms are often not used consistently. In T/V languages, speakers do switch from one to the other, but it is a long-term phenomenon, and once a switch is made, usage is somewhat consistent from then on. In some very power-marked situations, consistent usage of the sisters of 'inta is observed in EA, but, in general, there is a lot of variation, not only from one speech event to the next (today I call you hadritak, tomorrow 'inta), but in the same speech event. In an extended conversation, speakers who are showing respect to their addressees commonly do not put a sister of 'inta in front of every verb, and don't replace other 'inta forms every time they appear. Further, this is not taken as schizophrenic, as perhaps a similar mixing of V and Τ would be. It appears to be enough to mark a whole discourse as respectful to use a sister of 'inta in some of its possible occurrences. This means that a sentence with an 'inta form is not necessarily heard as either intimate or disrespectful. It depends on whether the speaker in other sentences in the same discourse has marked the discourse as respectful. This variation is observed even in very formal television interview situations, and is beautifully illustrated by the quote at the beginning of this chapter in which a low level government official is desparately trying to butter up a "bigwig," and alternates between siyadtak, hadritak and the various forms of 'inta (in one speech alone he uses kalaamak 'your words,' Safuuk 'they saw you,' and hadiis hadritak 'your presence's words'), and despite the presence of several forms of 'inta, the whole speech still feels very subservient and respectful. It also means that respected addressees who hear sentences with 'inta forms don't, in general, feel the "slap-in-the-face" sensation that respected addressees in European languages feel when addressed with T.

The Sisters of 'Inta 29 These differences might be partially attributable to the fact, explained above, that 'inta and the sisters of 'inta are not precisely parallel forms and thus not completely interchangeable grammatically. The sisters of 'inta are almost, but not quite, pronouns. Thus, while the parallel between T/V and ΪΛία/sisters of 'inta is very useful and clearly "true" in some respects, it needs to be kept in mind that it is not an exact parallel. Comparison Address

Of

'inta and Its Sisters With Real Terms of

As will be seen in later chapters, many aspects of the ïnfa/sisters of 'inta system are paralleled by the "real" vocative terms of address. Most of these latter are marked either for respect and politeness or for intimacy, while a few mark both respect and intimacy. It is interesting to note that one vocative term of address is derived entirely from a sister of 'inta. The term hadrit 'presence' is used after the vocative particle ya to respectful-looking strangers. Further, hadrit, siyaadit and fadiilit are used before "earned" terms of address indicating rank or title: ya hadrit izzaabit Ό presence of the officer,' ya siyadt il@aqiid Ό dominance of the colonel,' ya siyadt irra'iis Ό dominance of the president,' ya fadilt iSSeex Ό excellency of the sheikh,' etc. Even 'inta is often combined with regular terms of address, in this case directly before the ya, and, as could be expected, has the opposite effect: it gives the whole term a feeling that speaker strongly disapproves of addressee for some reason. Compare: 10. 'idfa@i hinaak, yaa sitt. pay there O ma'am Pay over there, ma'am. which is more polite than: 11. 'inti yaa sitt! 'idfa@i hinaak! you O ma'am pay there You, lady! Pay over there! which sounds rather angry and implies that the addressee is doing something wrong. Conclusion It is to be expected that a large, complex city society like Cairo would develop linguistic means to mark deference to power and polite lack of

30 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

solidarity. These means happened to develop using lexical items other than the pronouns themselves, unlike many European systems. In comparison with those systems, it is interesting to note that EA has developed two "high" forms, one specializing in power and the other in polite distance. This makes the system somewhat more versatile than the European systems, and perhaps less subject to the kind of change the European systems have gone through. It is also of the utmost importance to note that usage of these terms cannot be characterized merely as a function of addressee and his relationship to speaker. Account must also be taken of speaker himself. In the case of the sisters of 'inta, both sex of speaker and social class of speaker are minor but important factors in the use of the terms. This dual nature of the social meaning of terms of address will be noted throughout this study. On one level terms serve to mark addressee in relation to speaker, while on another level they serve to mark speaker himself, identifying him as a member of a certain sub-group in society. This idea was beautifully expressed by an upper class interviewee in discussing what he would call taxi drivers and what taxi drivers would call him. He said he would use hadritak to a taxi driver since there would be a chance the driver was really a muwazzaf 'educated employee' just working a taxi on the side. If he turned out to be just a taxi driver the term would make him feel good since it is higher than he really deserves. Further, since the informant would call the driver hadritak, the driver would have to use siyadtak to the informant. The informant continued (quoting in EA): ( . . . . ) li'annu lamma bit'uul kida bithaddid mustawaak 'inta. ya@ni, innaas illi biy'uulu kida, bitraddu @aleehum "siyadtak." faka'anni batlub minnu 'annu huwwa yi'ulli laqab mu@ayyin. ya@ni 'ana ba'ullu h adritak @alaSaan yifham 'anni 'ana siyadtak. (laughs) ya@ni tahdiid mis litaba'a, tahdiid linaw@iyyit aw litabaqat illuga. ( . . . . ) because when you say that (hadritak) you define your own (social, politeness, etc.) level. People who say this are answered with siyadtak. It is as if I am asking him to address me with a certain term. In other words, I call him hadritak so he will understand that I am siyadtak. (laughs) I mean it's not so much a definition of social class as it is a definition of a type or style of language. This informant is clearly aware that using hadritak in this situation not only marks addressee but also marks speaker himself. The data clearly indicate that upper class speakers use the sisters of 'inta more broadly than do other speakers, and this informant felt that his using one to a taxi driver would

The Sisters of 'Inta 31 clearly mark himself as a member of this higher group, a group that expected to be addressed by lower speakers with siyadtak. The interviewer later suggested to the informant that the taxi driver may have been trying to symbolize his subordinate status to the rider, since it is the rider who comes up with the tip. The informant answered: bizzabt, laazim yilaa'i kilma 'ah san. Exactly, he has to find a better term (than that used to him). Finally, it is interesting to point out that Wehr claims that siyadtak was introduced into Egypt as a title of respect after the abolition of the 'alqaab in this case 'aristocratic terms of address.' No evidence has been found which would settle the question of whether siyadtak existed in EA before 19S2. Either way, however, it is difficult to miss the irony of the situation. One can try to abolish the terms that mark distinction, but until the society as a whole chooses to stop making the distinctions, speakers will find linguistic means to express them.

Chapter Three

The Syntax and Pragmatics of EA Terms of Address

Syntax The syntax of EA terms of address is not at all complicated, either in the structure of the forms themselves or in fitting the terms into the rest of the discourse. Except for 'inta and its sisters, terms of address, when used as such, do not play a primary relational role in sentences. Rather they have a vocative force, outside of and peripheral to the primary structure of the sentence. It is for this reason that they don't have a set "slot" even though EA is a language with reasonably strict word order. They do tend to congregate in three main areas, however: 1) at the first of a sentence, particularly when it is the first sentence in an entire discourse and the term is needed to get addressee's attention, 2) after the first word (or phrase) of a sentence, and 3) at the end of a sentence. They are always optional, but they are used often, particularly in certain situation types, such as after greetings. The internal structure of E A terms of address is also fairly straightforward, although there are a few variations. The possibilities are summarized in Table 5, and will be discussed below. The different combinations of the options given in Table 5 produce sixteen different possible forms. The name alone (1) is used almost exclusively to call addressee or get his attention. In the huge majority of cases, both names and terms are accompanied by the vocative particle ya. Any name can occur without a term (2) and any term can occur without a name (3); in other words, these two forms are completely unrestricted. All of the other forms (4-9) are at least somewhat restricted as to which terms can be used where. Some terms are never used with a name (as in 4 and 5, etc.), for example, baSmuhandis 'chief engineer,' gada@ 'strong boy,' habiibi 'my loved one,' 'axi 'my brother,' and many others, including most of the Sataayim 'terms of abuse' like 'ibn ilkalb 'son of a dog,' etc. Those terms that are used with names fit either pattern 4, with the term first (this category includes the majority of the terms) or pattern 5 with the name first (this category includes a very small set of terms like beeh 'Bey,' baaSa 'Pasha,' afandi 'sir,' and haanim 'madam,' all of which are apparently of Turkish origin). Clearly, the behavior of each term-whether or not it can be used with a name, and if it can, with which pattern must be marked in the lexicon of a complete grammar.

Syntax and Pragmatics 33

Table 5. Internal Syntax ofEA Terms of Address FORMS

EXAMPLES

1.

fulaan

@ali!

2.

ya fulaan

ya @ali

3.

ya term

ya 'ustaaz

4.

ya term fulaan

ya 'ustaaz @ali

5.

ya fulaan term

ya @ali beeh

6.

Cinta) ya term ('inta)

'inta ya walad ya bint 'inti 'inta ya gada@ 'inta

7.

Cinta) (ya) waad ya fulaan

waad ya @ali ya waad ya @ali 'inta ya waad ya @ali

8.

Cinta) (ya) waad ya term

waad ya gamiil ya waad ya la@@iib 'inta ya waad ya 'aliil il'adab

9.

ya term ilterm (fulaan)

ya @amm ilhagg ya @amm iSSeex @ali

Key to Words in the Table fulaan 'any name, nickname or teknonym' term 'any EA term of address' ya 'the vocative particle' 'inta 'you' (refers to any of the three independent second person pronouns) waad 'boy' (refers to any of the numerous forms of walad l)oy' or bint 'girl') il 'the definite article, the' 'optional additions' (anything in parentheses may be, but ( ) does not have to be, added)

34 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Adding 'inta onto the beginning or ending of a form (6) gives a negative, disapproving feeling to the whole term. It is, therefore, very unlikely to occur with terms of respect like 'ustaaz 'professor' or doktoor 'doctor.' Rather, it will be used with terms that are already negative, or with relatively neutral items like walad 'boy,' bint 'girl,' sitt 'lady,' raagil 'man,' gada@ 'strong boy,' @amm 'uncle,' etc. Sarcastic uses with terms of respect are possible, of course. Form 7 is usually used only to children or adolescents (again, unless used sarcastically). Form 8, therefore, which has the same pattern, is rather restricted as to which terms it will accept Most common are terms that are originally adjectives (gamiil beautiful,' tifis 'stingy,' la@@iib 'good sports player') that therefore imply something directly about addressee, in which case the form is used mainly in its name-calling function (similar to 'you dummy') rather than its direct vocative function (as in Hi, dummy!'). It is very commonly used by members of the audience to yell epithets at someone on the playing field, and is even more commonly used for mu@aakasa 'bothering strange women on the street, teasing.' Again, the fairly limited set of terms which fît these patterns must be marked in the lexicon. The terms which can be used in both slots of pattern 9 are also restricted. Those that can occur in the first slot are a rather limited set of fairly neutral terms: @amm 'uncle,' sayyid 'Mr.,' sitt Mrs.,' as well as forms of the sisters of 'inta: hadrit 'presence,' siyaadit 'dominance,' fadiilit 'nobility.' Terms that can occur in the second slot usually are work-related terms of respect, ra'iis 'president,' Seex 'sheikh,' doktoora '(f) doctor,' zaabit 'officer.' They may also be more general terms of respect like rayyis 'boss,' hag g 'someone who has been on the pilgrimage,' etc. This pattern is also utilized for some playful usages like @amm iSSabaab 'uncle of the youth' and sitt il@araayis 'lady of the brides,' both of which feel more like "real" idaafa constructions than do most of the other combined forms. Besides the restrictions on the terms that can appear in each of the two slots, there are also restrictions on the combination of terms. In other words, by choosing a term for one of the slots, one limits the possibilities for the other slot. Table 6 contains a list of all the combinations of terms following form 9 that occurred in the data. Notice that the last item on the table (ya sitt haanim) does not quite fit the pattern since it doesn't have the article on the second term. This is the only example of the form yaa term term that appeared in the corpus and is probably due to the fact that the term haanim is of Turkish origin.

Syntax and Pragmatics 35 Table 6. Terms with the Pattern ya term ilterm TERM

TRANSLATION

yaaba lhagg y a baaba lkibiir ya @amm ilhagg (fulaan) ya @amm iSSeex (fulaan) ya @amm irrayyis ya @amm il'usta ya @amm iSSabaab ya @amm innaas bituu@ l'imtiyaaz dool sayyid irra'iis ya siyadt irra'iis ya siyadt ilwaziir ya siyadt innaayib ya siyaadit ra'iis ilwuzara ya siyadt il@amiid ya siyadt ilwakiil ya siyadt illiwa ya siyadt irraa'id ya siyadt il@aqiid ya ma@aali lwaziir ya hadrit issool ya hadrit izzaabit ya hadrit ilmuSrif ya fadilt iSSeex

Father the Pilgrim Father the Great Uncle the Pilgrim Uncle the Sheikh Uncle the Boss Uncle the Master Craftsman Uncle of the Youth Uncle of those people who got high marks on their exams Mr. President Dominance of the President Dominance of the Minister Dominance of the Vice-President Dominance of the Prime Minister Dominance of the Dean Dominance of the Deputy Dominance of the General Dominance of the Major Dominance of the Colonel Highness of the Minister Presence of the Sergeant Presence of the Police Officer Presence of the Supervisor Nobility of the Sheikh

ya maama lkibiira ya sitt iddoktoora ya sitt ilhagga ya sitt ilkull ya sitt il@araayis ya sitt issittaat ya sitt haanim

Mother the Great Mrs. Doctor Mrs. Pilgrim Lady of it All Lady of the Brides Lady of Ladies Mrs. Lady

36 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Pragmatics Speech Act Level Asking about the pragmatics of term of address usage is asking what the terms are used to do. Since they normally are not closely tied grammatically to the rest of the sentence, they could be omitted without greatly affecting the overt content of the utterance. Why, then, are they used at all instead of being left out entirely? As mentioned in the first chapter, however, utterances never function on the overt content level alone. Utterances are set in communicative contexts, involving a speaker, one or more addressees, and one or more "purposes" or "intents" on the part of the speaker. Terms of address play an important role in some speech acts, and also play an important part in the "mechanics" of conversations. One speech act, the Summons, may be performed with a term of address alone. Several examples of this occurred in the data, including: 1. A young man at a sporting club is all ready to play but his friend has been dallying. The first bursts into the locker room to get him, and yells: mihammad! yal la! Muhammad! Come on! 2. A housewife standing on her balcony sees a vegetable cart filled with beans (fuul) go by below and she yells down: ya btaa@ ilfuul, ta@aala! Hey Bean Man, come here! In some other speech acts the terms of address, while not absolutely required, are so common that it is strange when they are not used. These include Greeting, Thanking, and Leave Taking all of which are commonly followed by the vocative particle and a name or other term. In still other speech acts, the terms are not closely tied to the performance of the act itself, but are used to establish the force of the act. For example, in asking addressee to do something for them, speakers use terms of address to establish the appropriate level of mitigation or the lack of it. An imperative form sounds much less strong when a high term of address is included with it, while an imperative with walad 'boy' sounds like a real order. On the level of the "mechanics" of conversations, terms are very useful. First, they allow speaker to overtly state who his addressee is, which can be a very useful function in any situation involving more than two participants.

Syntax and Pragmatics 37

Secondly, when used at the beginning of a conversation, often to summons addressee, they are taken as a bid for the discourse to begin. They thus function as transitional markers and are used for moving from a state of no conversation being present to a state of active conversation. Third, terms of address are very commonly used to mark turn changes in discourse. Speakers, when they end a sentence-whether it be a question, a statement or a command-with a term of address, signal with that term that it is now addressee's turn to take the floor. In many cases, use of the term appears to add to addressee's actual obligation to say something rather than to remain silent. Lastly, terms appear to function much like greetings and other "contentless" speech acts do, being used to "keep open the lines of communication," to keep in touch with addressee, to "stroke" him. All of these "mechanical" functions allow terms of address to function as conversational lubricants, facilitating discourse, getting it going and keeping it "well oiled" and functioning. The Vocative Speech Act Besides being used to perform a speech act like a Summons, or as a part of a speech act like a Question, a case could be made that using a vocative term of address is itself a speech act, since the speaker is clearly doing something by using it: he is calling addressee a name. One way to discover local speech act categories is to ask informants what a speaker just did. For example, if a speaker is heard to say: "I'll be there at 9:00," an informant might answer our query by saying: "He just promised to be there by 9:00." Likewise, if a speaker is heard to say: "You idiot," an informant might answer our query by saying: "He just called him an idiot." In EA, this name calling function is even more evident, since the same syntax used to say the equivalent of 'you idiot,' is also used for any term of address, for example Hello, Mr. Brown." In other words, there is no special name calling syntax apart from the normal vocative particle followed by a term of address. There does seem to be a distinction, however, between terms of address used as adjuncts to other speech acts and terms of address used specifically and only to call a name. In the first case the name calling aspects have a secondary feel to them, they are part of the "background" of what is really going on in the speech event. In die second case, it is the name calling itself that is the point of the speech event. In this case, the term of address is normally used without much other surrounding speech, and the term itself normally implies either praise or censure of addressee. Many examples of the use of terms in this second sense appeared in the natural data. For example: 3. A sister and brother are watching a soccer match on TV. The sister is a fan of one of the teams playing, and the brother is a fan of a different team that is not playing today. When the wrong team gets

38 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

a goal, the brother jumps up and down for joy (since if the sister's team loses the game, it will be more likely that the brother's team will win the playoffs). The sister, very annoyed, yells at him: ya haqquud! You envyer! 4. A group of men and boys are watching an important soccer match at a coffee house and a young boy is running around making noise and bothering people. One of the men yells at him: ya bn ikkalb! You son of a dog! 5. A young man buys a certain amount of fruit from a cart, and the salesman throws in a few extra for good measure. The young man exclaims: ya raagil ya tayyib! What a generous man! 6. A young man has purchased a new shirt. As he enters his living room wearing it for the first time, his sister exclaims: ya walad! ya mi@allim! ya Siik! What a boy! What a macho guy! What a chic dresser you are! When used in conjunction with other speech acts, terms may still have the function of calling addressee a name, but the effect is subsidiary to the main force of the speech act, and thus does not have the same strength as the direct name calling speech act does. This is sometimes played with by speakers, who may use a term that would normally be used only in the name calling speech act, such as a strong term of abuse, and include it as an adjunct to an otherwise polite speech act, such as a greeting. For example: 7. A young man approaches a coffee house, where one of his friends greets him with: 'ahlan ya mihammad, izzayyak, itfaddal ya bn ilwisxa! Hello, Muhammad, how are you, please sit down, you son of a prostitute!

Syntax and Pragmatics 39 The Relationship Level Terms of address also function on the level of the relationship between speaker and addressee, marking "below the line" kinds of meanings. A term may mark who speaker thinks he is (since different groups use the terms in different ways), who he thinks addressee is, and what he thinks their relationship is. If a speaker is trying to get an addressee to do something for him, the form of the utterance he uses will likely be very different if the addressee is his boss than it would be if it were his four year old son. Terms of address form a variable semantic system whose overt content is about the relationship between speaker and addressee. It should not be surprising, therefore, that this aspect of their meaning has been developed even more, using several overt and covert means to mark aspects of the communicative situation of the utterance in which the term is being used. "Normal" or "expected" use plays a very important role here. It is a fact that avoiding the use of terms at all (as suggested by the question at the first of this section) is as fraught with relationship related meaning as using any particular term would be. It is difficult to quantify something like "rate of term of address" usage, but it is clear that EA speakers feel that terms should be used frequently in most situations. Even this rate is variable, however, and has therefore been put to use by speakers to mark themselves in communicative situations. Upper class speakers do not use terms anywhere near as frequently as middle class speakers do, and they in turn use them much less often than do working class speakers. This was mentioned by several informants in the interview, and was bom out by a set of observations made in a downtown pharmacy. Every customer who came in was observed to see if he would use a term of address to the pharmacist. A majority of upper class speakers entered the pharmacy, said "Good Morning" or nothing at all, handed the pharmacist the prescription, took the package, paid and left, using no terms of address. Working class speakers, on the other hand, used at least one, and usually more than one, term in every single encounter. Rate of term of address usage is closely related, therefore, to who speaker thinks he is in terms of social class. Likewise, the relationship related meanings of any particular term will be closely related to expected or normal use. Any term could be used in any situation, but in fact some terms are more common in certain environments or situation types, while others are more common in others. If a speaker is using a term seriously, he is very likely to choose one that fits his definition of the situation, i.e. who he thinks he is, who addressee is, what their relationship is, and what he is trying to accomplish with the utterance. By choosing a particular term, therefore, he is in a sense making a bid at defining for himself and for addressee what he thinks is going on. He is saying, in essence: my identity, your identity, and this situation together make it appropriate for me to use this term with you. If addressee finds the term totally appropriate, then it is likely that he has reconstructed something like

40 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

the same definition of what is going on that speaker had in mind. If he fmds the term inappropriate, he may feel that speaker is joking or trying to manipulate him in some way. Which of these he decides will depend on how addressee is able to fît the term in with his notion of what is going on. One important function of terms of address, therefore, is to fill in the parts of the meaning of the utterance which may be missing from the content level but without which the true meaning of the utterance could not be understood. They set the utterance in its communicative environment, constantly defining, redefining and marking the relationship that obtains between speaker and addressee. Appropriate use of the terms involves both the assumptions that speakers make about the speech situation they are in, and their knowledge of the "normal" use of specific terms. Joking and Manipulative Uses of Terms of Address This does not mean that terms are always used in the "normal" sense, but it does mean that even abnormal uses depend ultimately for their meaning on the meaning of the term in its "normal" use. Speakers often use terms to play or joke, appearing on one level, for example, to promise or to give an abrupt order, but clearly communicating, often through other linguistic and non-linguistic means, that it is all a game and is not to be taken seriously. For example, when a speaker uses a term of abuse in a joking manner to a friend, the meaning is clearly not the "normal" meaning which would be something like "You have just done something worthy of abuse;" rather, the meaning is something like "You are my intimate friend." This latter meaning is dependent on both speaker and addressee's knowledge of the "normal" meaning of the term, since a term of abuse would not be used in this joking manner to a teacher, boss, parent or non-intimate acquaintance. Any of the latter would be likely to interpret any term of abuse as serious. Thus, using it to a friend in this way is saying "You are someone I can abuse in a joking manner and get away with it, i.e. you are a close friend." Speakers often also use terms of address in a covert attempt to manipulate the addressee or the situation to their advantage. In this case they do not communicate to addressee that it is all a game, but rather expect addressee to take their inappropriate use of the terms seriously. Rather than defining the relationship that speaker honestly believes exists, he tries to manipulate that relationship for his own personal ends. In one case, for example, a taxi driver was observed addressing a middle class but educated customer with a very high term. The customer left a much bigger tip than he otherwise would have, a fact which he later complained about, saying: "When he treats me like a doctor, I have to act like one." Terms are used subtly, and not so subtly, to annoy, offend, rebuke, flatter, etc., and in general to change a relationship to make it more advantageous to speaker.

Syntax and Pragmatics 41

Summary Despite their somewhat peripheral nature as a linguistic subsystem, it is clear that terms of address are used to perform much communicative work. They are, in short, very useful forms, capable of beginning and maintaining discourse, marking speaker and addressee and their relationship, manipulating that relationship or playing with it, and in general defining the communicative context of the discourse. All this, and the terms seem so harmless and ubiquitous; in fact, it would be breaking a rule not to use them quite regularly.

Chapter Four

Names and Labels

Bula:

(calling her husband from the other room) Baby (beebi), what day is it today?

Abd alGhaffan First off, I'm not "Baby." My name is Abd alGhaffar. Bula:

(sarcastically, upon entering) Is that really a name you'd want me to call you?

Abd alGhafFan My lady (ya sitti), that's my name. It's true it's not in style (modirn) but it's still my name. What can I do about it? Bula:

Abd alGhaffar?! Should I call you Abd alGhaffar?!

Abd alGhaffan Call me by my father's name then. Bula:

May it be cursed! Muhammadeen?! I should call you Muhammadeen?!

Abd alGhaffar: Forget it! Don't call me a name! Say "You." Say "Sweetie" (dal@aadi). Just say any word that pops into your head and folget it! Bula:

Your grandfather had horrible taste to name his son Muhammadeen, and your father's taste was even worse to name his son Abd alGhaffar.

Abd alGhaffar: Isn't it better than Antar? (Bula has just been reading poetry by the pre-Islamic poet Antar, who said in one of his poems that the gleam of the swords of battle remind him of his lover's teeth. Abd alGhaffar has earlier in the play responded to this section of the poem by saying that it sounded like an advertisement for toothpaste.) Bula:

Of course not. Antar is a poetic name, all mystery and magic-and swords.

Names and Labels 43

Abd alGhaffan And white and toothpaste. By the way, even though I'm not as "cultured" as you are, wasn't the guy's name Antara, not Antar? Bula:

That's even better! Antara~My goodness!! You never told me what day it was. (from the play @antar 77 by Saaduddin Wahba)

Introduction Names are prototypical terms of address. Several aspects of naming behavior are common to modern western languages, EA, and probably most other languages. First, everyone has a name, no exceptions. The name is given to a person by his parents at birth and as a general rule he can't, or doesn't care to do anything about changing it Further, with very few exceptions, names are chosen from a rather limited and culturally preserved reservoir of possible names, words that everyone agrees can be names. Rarely is a name borrowed from another language or culture, and then not randomly (i.e. certain foreign names have been borrowed and assimilated into the EA reservoir, especially by EA speaking Christians, such as Suzanne, Toni, etc.; others are never used: James, Becky, etc.). Even more rarely is a name simply made up out of nonsense syllables. This means that no matter what name a person has, he is likely to encounter many other people throughout the course of his life who have it too. Because of the above-mentioned facts, names are like a limited set of arbitrary labels ("a," "b," "c," etc.) used for identifying, referring to and addressing the people in one's environment. Thus, at least on one level, they have no content. It is assumed to be by chance that person one is "a," person two also happens to be "a," while person three is "b." As labels are used, of course, they tend to pick up content. This is true on both a personal and a cultural level. If a speaker knows two very despicable people named "f," he may acquire a distaste for the name "f." Further, since naming practices vary among social groups and across time (i.e. the reservoir is continually but very gradually changing, losing names on one end and adding them on the other) the fact that a person has a certain name can imply something about his age/generation or social origins.

44 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Giving

Names

Giving Personal First Names In Egypt, a child is given one, and very occasionally two, personal ("first") names. As a matter of course, parents pick "a name they like" from the reservoir of possible names. The name they like, while partially random, is somewhat constrained by who they (think they) are, particularly in regards to religion, generation and social class. Religion. Most Egyptians recognize three major classes of names: 1) those limited to Christians, 2) those limited to Muslims, and 3) those available to both Christians and Muslims. Christian names include names of Coptic origin {girgis 'George'), some names from the New Testament (particularly, if not also found in the Quran: butrus Peter' and h anna lohn 1 are exclusively Christian while maryam "Mary' which also appears in the Quran is not exclusively so), names which refer to Christ (@abd ilmasiih 'Servant of Christ'), names of certain Pharoahs (ramsiis "Ramses' and waniis Unis'), certain European names (antwan, suzaan) and certain rather uncommon names taken from meaningful Arabic words that for some reason are avoided 1 by Muslims ('ilhaami 'my inspiration' and gaali 'dear'). Muslim names include the name muhammad and other names derived from the same stem ('ahmad, mahmuud) as well as many other names from the first century or so of Islam which are wrapped up in the popular mind with the spread of Islam and its golden age (@amr, @omar, mustafa, muxtaar, @ali, @osmaan, hasan, huseen, @abbaas, etc. for males, zeenab, fatma, @eeSa, etc. for females), and names which include references to the ninety-nine Muslim names of God (@abd il@aziiz 'servant of the mighty one,' @abd ilmagiid 'servant of the glorious one'), or to the word diin 'religion' (salaah iddiin, @alaa' iddiin, husaam iddiin, etc.). Neutral names include names found both in the Quran and either the Old or New Testament (muusa Moses,' sulaymaan 'Solomon,' maryam "Mary," etc.: it should be noted that some names which refer to the same historical person are different in the Quran than the Bible, notably John which has the Muslim version yahya and the Christian version (yo)hanna and Jesus, which has the Muslim version @iisa, which is, by the way, used as a given name, and the Christian version yasuu@, which apparently is not used as a given name), and names which are not historically or otherwise related to either religion 1

Several counterexamples to each of the above restrictions have been pointed out to the author, for example, a Muslim young woman named suzaan and a Muslim young man named gaali, but all informants still agree that these names are generally avoided by Muslim parents.

Names and Labels 45

(samiir, saami, hiSaam, midhat, salaama, kariim, nagiib, 'anwar, layla, etc.). Clearly, any Egyptian family would only have two of the above three sets of names available to them in selecting a name for their child. Deciding whether to use the "religious" or the "neutral" set may be determined by how closely the parents identify with their religion. Generation and Social Class. Further, more amorphous restrictions include generation and social class, i.e. the names that are "in style" with one's particular groups. For example, many young Muslim men were given two names, muhammad and a second, less common name (the one they go by). This custom is now apparently less common than it once was, so having such a name definitely dates one. A similar change apparently happened a generation (or more) earlier with the Muslim group of names @abd il with the blank being filled with one of the ninety-nine names of God. The upper classes have apparently begun to avoid them completely, and the working classes kept them for at least one extra generation, so that at the present time such a laige number of middle-aged, baladi men have the names that they are now considered to be baladi names. The quote from the play at the beginning of this chapter involves an upper class husband with one of these names being sarcastically criticized for having such a name by his "refined" wife. There seem to be a number of other names considered to be baladi (farag, @inayaat), or old-fashioned, but the data is not strong enough on this point to be able to provide a list In choosing names, families occasionally follow further, self-selected (but culturally defined) restrictions. For example, it is fairly common to name a son after the grandfather on the father's side (it is very uncommon to name after the father, the reason for which will become clear below). It is also fairly common for a family to choose a first letter and stick with it for all the children's names. In one family, with a mother named mahaasin, the first three children are: mona, maha and mihammad. The most extreme example of this phenomenon of which the author is aware is the case of husband @abd il@aziiz, wife @aziiza, sons @isaam, @alaa\ @aatif and @amr, and daughters @ismat, @azza, @iffat and @ulla. It is reported that former King Faruq followed this naming pattern in his family, using the letter faa'.

Giving

Nicknames

Once a name has been chosen, families may optionally also give the child a nickname. This is sometimes done by choice and sometimes "just happens." Nicknames, like names, are a limited set of (usually) derived forms that everyone accepts as nicknames, although there is somewhat more room for creativity here than there is with names. Many names have a set nickname

46 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

that goes with them, like Bill for William. Some of these are clearly derived from the names (hamaada for muhammad) and others have no apparent relation at all ([@arab for sayyid). A partial list of some common nicknames may be found in Table 7. Like names, some nicknames are associated with a certain social class. When this information is known about a nickname, it is listed as such in Table 7. Besides those listed, it should be noted that two-word names are generally shortened. Those that end in -iddiin like salaah iddiin and @alaa' iddiin usually drop the -iddiin to become salaah, @alaa\ etc., while those that begin with @abd il- usually become @abdu "his servant' It should also be noted that nicknames are sometimes chosen at random with no relationship to the name~for example, a young man named sayyid whom everyone calls bulbul. It is also extremely common to choose another actual name (rather than a nickname) to serve as a person's nickname (for example, layla for @awaatifoi muhsin for @ali ). Nicknames are used in two different ways. In some cases the nickname becomes the person's "intimate" name, in which case it is the only name heard in the family setting and among friends, the given name being used only in school and other formal situations. Nicknames like hamaada and bulbul typically become intimate names, as do actual names that are used as nicknames. In other cases, the given name is kept for general serious interaction both among intimates and non-intimates, and the nickname is limited to playful interaction. In the latter case the nickname becomes less of a name for a person and more an appendage to a name. To put it in another way, speakers nicknamed hamaada and bulbul may think of themselves as hamaada and bulbul, whereas speakers named 'aSraf may not necessarily think of themselves as miSmiS, which is usually just a joke name that people call them sometimes. Certain addressees have been known to go through three or more of these "joke" nicknames in a year. The term for nickname in EA is 'ism dala@ which implies intimacy and playfulness. There is another category, 'ism Suhra 'name by which someone is known,' which may include any of the above mentioned nicknames, but may also include words referring to some salient characteristic of the person referred to. For example, if the person usually wears an afro hairdo, kaniiS, he may come to be both referred to and addressed as kanUS. It is also fairly common among younger friends to address each other using a fake teknonymic system. Instead of using the name of addressee's son in the 'abu fulaan 'father of so and so' construction (in most cases there is no son) the addressee's own first name, or a form derived from it, is used, i.e. 'abu mihammad or 'abu hmeed to an addressee named mihammad. This form functions like an intimate, "playful" nickname. Further, as is clear from the table, certain names have a teknonym that historically "goes with" them, like 'abu hanafi for mahmuud. "Real" teknonymic usage will be dealt with in a later section.

Names and Labels 47

Table 7. Some Common Nicknames Name

Nickname

Marked for Social Class?

@aadil @abd il@aziiz @abd ilhamiid @abd irrahmaan @abd issalaam @ali 'aSraf gamaal h as an hiSaam 'ibrahiim 'isma@iil mahmuud mihammad (and 'ahmad) mursi mustafa nabiil @omar saami samiir sayyid sulaymaan Sariif taari' 'usaama @osmaan xaliil ilxatiib yuusuf zaki

duula ziizu @abaada @obad sulm @ulwa miSmiS, miiSu 2imi 'abu @ali miSmiS, miiSu, SuuSu 'abu xaliil 'abu ssibaa@ huuda, muuda, 'abu hanafi hamaada, hamuuda, muudi, muuma, miidu, hamaam, 'abu h meed 'abu l'amraas dará, 'abu darS, faafi bulbul 'abu@meera simsim samaara, 'abu samra @arab, 'abu ssiid, 'abu @arab sulum Soi tarruu'a simsim 'abu @afaan xill biibu 'abu haggaag

'amiira @aziiza @azza

marmar liiza (uncommon)

'abu 7.TÌÌÌC

•raseri

? ?

? ? ?

baladi ?

uR)er class? baladi

?

baladi baladi

?

no ? baladi 7 7 no baladi baladi

?

upper class

?

no ?

?

7 ? ?

? ?

upper class

48 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

daliya fatma halaa' madiiha mahaasin moona nadya naziim salwa samiira su@aad Sahiira Siriin wafaa' zeenab Zihaan

diidi batta, fattuuma lul'la tuuha suusu manman naanaa naznaz saali suusu, marmar suusu SuuSu SuuSu fiifi zuuba ? 2ii2i

?

? upper class ? upper class baladi ?

?

upper class upper class upper class

? ? ? ?

The Full Official Name When asked to give his full name, an EA speaker will usually give three first "given" names: his own, that of his father, and that of his father's father. Very occasionally a fourth, the name of a great-grandfather, will be added. On less formal occasions (in school classes, etc.) just the first name and the name of the father are used. Some families (a fairly small minority) have what is known as a laqab, very roughly 'family name,' which can be appended, at will, in place of the grandfather's, or the great-grandfather's name, or after them both. This is usually not a first name but rather some distinguishing characteristic of the family, for example, where the original ancestor came from (dagestaani 'from Daghestan'), what trade the original ancestor carried on (il@attaar 'perfume dealer'), or the supposed "original," Islamic source of the family (il'ansaari 'descended from the original Medinian supporters of the prophet Muhammad'). In many families with laqabs, some members enjoy using the laqab and others tend to shun it. Brothers may appear to have different last names for this reason. One informant claimed never to use his father's laqab, except, on one occasion, when visiting a highly placed friend of his father to ask a favor, he introduced himself with the laqab so the friend would know whose son he was, since his father always used the laqab. The basic system described above (name + father's name +grandfather's name) has many implications that are not immediately apparent to someone accustomed to the Western system of "name + family name." First, sons are rarely named after their fathers, since that would result in a double name like

Names and Labels 49

'ahmad 'ahmad which most Egyptians find objectionable. Sons are often, however, named after grandfathers since that results in a rather balanced, harmonious name like @osmaan 'ahmad @osmaan or muhammad @ali muhammad. Secondly, wives do not take one of their husbands names. In general, there is no family name to take, and it seems ridiculous to Egyptians for her to take her husband's father's first name. She has her own father. In some upper class circles, however, women are referred to and addressed with the husband's father's name (as in ¿ihaan issadaat—Sadat's wife). This is particularly true at places like the American University where it has become a clearly entrenched custom. A third implication is that last names don't mean the same thing a family name does to a Westerner. A person just isn't an 'ahmad or an @ali the way a Westerner is a Smith or a Wheelwright. It doesn't occur to anyone to find out if they are related simply because they have the same last name. Since the name changes every generation, it is a much more direct and immediate label of who you are in the present scheme of things than western names are, and at the same time a much less important symbol of the stable family existing throughout the generations that western family names are. A fourth implication is that the first name becomes much more important in actual address. Westerners use the family name, both with and without a title, for many of the important address functions. This almost never happens in Egypt for obvious reasons. It doesn't make much sense to call a person by his father's first name. Thus, it is the first, rather than the last name that is used with all titles and, in general, is the only name used in address except on very rare occasions when the entire name is used. Using Names and Nicknames As terms of address, names can be used either alone or in connection with another term. Most of the other terms can also be used alone without the name. There is thus a broad three-way variation in term of address usage in general: If a speaker wants to address a person he must first choose whether to use 1) the name alone, 2) the name with another term, or 3) a term alone. These three choices reflect very broad categories of social meaning, roughly (in order) 1) intimacy and/or lack of respect/kulfa, 2) acquaintance and respectIkulfa, and 3) no acquaintance and respectI kulfa. There are, naturally, many exceptions to these broad generalizations. They are most applicable when the terms under consideration are terms of respect being used in a "normal" way. Other categories of terms pattern differently. Some pattern with names, in that they mark intimacy or lack of respect. These include both the "playful" and "abusive" categories of terms. Sarcastic uses of terms of respect, which are, by the way, extremely common, also normally mark

50 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

either intimacy or lack of respect, and include both terms used alone and terms used with the name. The social meaning of terms referring to relatives depends on the individual term. Some are terms of respect, like 'abeeh 'older brother,' and 'abla 'older sister,' others are used mainly to mark intimacy, like maama 'mother,' and others tend to mark annoyance and lack or respect, like 'an 'my brother.' Even with all these exceptions, however, statistical analysis of the data based on a division into the three broad categories of name alone, term with a name, and term alone indicated that the generalizations are not only generally true but extremely statistically significant. Well known addressees receive far more names alone than do any others, and totally unknown addressees receive almost entirely terms alone. Names alone are most common in situations in which speaker is speaking "across" and in which he is intimately acquainted with addressee, or when he is speaking down and is at least somewhat acquainted with addressee. Names with terms are common when speaker is speaking "across" or "up" to an addressee with whom he is acquainted but with whom he is not intimate, and are also found varying with the name when speaker is speaking down to a non-intimate addressee or across to an intimate one. (Many of the uses in the latter category are sarcastic.) These relationships are schematized in Table 8. Table 8. Names Alone, Names With Terms, and Terms Alone TERM ALONE

TERM + NAME NAME ALONE

unknown nonintimate intimate

X X X

X X

ACROSS unknown nonintimate intimate

X X X

X (X) (playful)

X

DOWN

X X X

X (X) (playful)

X X

UP

unknown nonintimate intimate

Notice that since there are so many terms that pattern with names, terms used alone are commmon to any addressee, so it is the pattern of the other two categories that determine the meaning of the whole variation. This means that it is the whole pattern of use in a particular relationship that is likely to most closely reflect the nature of the relationship, rather than the

Names and Labels 51

individual use. It can, however, be assumed that terms used across and down to intimate addressees would normally be quite different from terms used up to nonintimate addressees. The statistical analysis of the over 600 instances of name or nickname use (without another term) is summarized in Table 9. As we have seen before, all of the variables are highly statistically significant. The strongest constraints, as expected, are the specific relationship and degree of acquaintance between the participants of the speech event. Over 85% of all names and nicknames used alone involved a degree of intimacy between the participants and "across" or "slightly down" usage: addressees were friends, relatives, neighbors and colleagues of speaker. Another 14% of the names used alone involved "down" usages to known but nonintimate addressees: bosses to workers, teachers to students, customers to waiters and salesmen, etc. Interestingly, the next strongest constraint is a fairly unexpected one: speaker social class. Upper class speakers use names as compared to terms over twice as often as middle class speakers do and almost four times as often as working class speakers do. This result calls to mind the results of the informal comparison, reported in a previous chapter, in which it was found that upper class speakers use terms of address of all types at a much lower rate than do middle or working class speakers. Using not many terms in general, and using a relatively high percentage of names as opposed to terms, both mark a speaker as upper class. At least some speakers are consciously aware of this usage pattern. Two upper class informants mentioned during the interview that they liked using names as opposed to terms, and one older upper class woman stated that when she must address a waitor or service boy whom she doesn't know she invariably asks him his name first so she won't have to use a term like rayyis 'boss,' which she finds objectionable. The natural data include two examples of older upper class speakers asking young working class addressees in service occupations their names, and then proceeding to address them with their names. The data indicate that names are usually used to addressees the same age or younger than speaker and of the same or lower social class, and that either of these constraints may override the other there are examples of young upper class speakers using a name alone to an older working class bawwaab 'doorman,' and there are examples of older working class club workers using a name alone to young upper class members. It appears, on the other hand, that when both constraints work together, i.e. when an older upper class speaker addresses a young working class addressee, the constraint to use a name is so strong that when they do not happen to know the name speakers will go out of their way to find out what it is, thus overcoming the usually strong acquaintance constraint Besides those exceptional uses listed in the section on the use of names to strangers, below, these are the only examples

52 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Table 9. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for Names and Nicknames Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male 7.8 Female 21.4

Significance %Effectof Level Variable

Rank of Variable

.000

3.2—3.3

7

2. Speaker Social Upper 20.3 Class Middle 8.4 Working 5.6

.000

3.9—5.4

3

Young 13.5 MidAge 5.9 Old 12.0

.000

1.3

10

.000

1.5

9

Upper 15.9 Middle 8.8 Working 8.2

.000

1.8—1.9

8

6. Addressee Age Young 15.0 MidAge 5.8 Old 3.0

.000

3.1—4.7

5

7. Acquaintance Known 15.6 Sl.KnownlO.0 Unknown 0.5

.000

5.6—9.4

2

.000

4.3

6

.000

3.8—5.4

4

3. Speaker Age

4. Addressee Sex Male Female 5. Addressee Social Class

8. Tone

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

9.7 16.6

14.3 5.3 5.0 11.0

9. a. Relationship Up 1.2 (Broad) Across 13.7 Down 14.1 b. Relationship (Detailed)

10.1 .000 OVERALL EFFECT 44.1%

1

Names and Labels S3

in the data of the use of a name, with or without a term, to a completely unknown addressee. Addressee age is also fairly important to the use of names and nicknames. It is rare for any speaker to address someone much older than himself with a name alone, but even older speakers tend to avoid using the name alone to old addressees. Young addressees received three times more names than did middle aged addressees, and five times more than old addressees. As one middle aged informant stated, it is a fairly simple matter for young people to get through the "formal" stage of a relationship and to start treating, and addressing, each other as friends. Older people, on the other hand, tend to maintain at least some degree of formality with their neighbors and colleages for a much longer period before intimate relationships can be established. Thus, in addition to the "age direction" constraint, there appears to be a fairly strong absolute age constraint also involved in the use of names alone. Addressee sex and social class as well as speaker sex and age, while all statistically significant, are of much less importance than the variables discussed above. It is clear, however, that females receive names at a much higher rate than males do. The data on speaker social class was analyzed controlling for addressee sex, and it was discovered that there is a significant difference between male and female addressees for all social classes, and that this difference grows larger the higher the social class. The reasons for this variation are not entirely clear. Names are more common with a normal tone of voice than with either sarcastic or angry tone, and informal observation indicates that young men, at least, spend a great deal of time in the "sarcastic" mode. It is also true that there are somewhat more terms available in the entire corpus for men than for women. Neither of these reasons is entirely satisfying, however. Speakers of all classes find names used alone to be appropriate for female addressees more often than they find them to be so for men. It is tempting to compare this result with the less than dominant position of women in Egyptian society, and it is possible that it reflects a difference in the perceived need of Egyptian males and females to preserve a certain "public dignity," partly through receiving appropriate terms either with or without the name attached. Most likely, a combination of factors combine to produce this statistical effect. In summary, the statistical analysis of the data on names and nicknames used alone indicate that they are more likely to be used 1) if the relationship is intimate and speaker is speaking across or down or if speaker is speaking down and he at least knows addressee somewhat, 2) if speaker is upper class, 3) if addressee is young, and 4) if addressee is female. It should be evident that names are similar to the personal pronoun 'inta in that they are used to mark solidarity or a relationship in which speaker is higher than addressee on a power scale. Terms of respect, used alone or with names, are similar to the sisters of 'inta in that they typically mark the presence of kulfa 'formality' in a relationship, or the fact that speaker is addressing someone higher than

54 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

himself on a power scale. Thus Brown's model of power and solidarity fits both the pronoun and the term of address systems in EA rather well. Examples of Name and Nickname Use Two examples of name use will be given. The first involves use between friends, and the second illustrates use between a high speaker and low addressees, involving a professor addressing, in turn, a student and then a farraaS 'janitor.' 1. Two friends approach the bus stop and notice that the bus they want is about to leave. One starts running and yells to the other. yella 'irkab bisur@a ya kariim! Hurry up and get on the bus, Karim! 2. A student goes to see his professor a few weeks after the end of year exams. The results have not been posted yet, but they have come in. Hie professor asks: tihibb tistanna ya mhammad 'agiblak innimar. If you'd like to wait, Muhammad, I'll get the scores. The student replies: 'aywa ya that fandim mafiiS maani@. Yes, sir, would be nice. The professor then calls to the farraaS 'janitor, office boy,' in the outer office and says: ya mhammad haat nimaru min ikkontrool. Muhammad, go get his scores from the office. As stated in a previous section, "official" nicknames, those which have in essence replaced the name in all but formal situations, will be used by relatives, friends and colleagues in all normal day-to-day interaction. For example: 3. An upper middle class teenage girl has just bought a new pair of glasses. While showing them off at her aunt's house, her cousin mihammad who is about her age walks in. She queries:

Names and Labels 55

hilwa nnaddaara di ya hamaada? Are these glasses nice, Hamada? Other nicknames appear to be restricted to playful or joking intimate interactions, and are much more common among young people than among adults. Egyptians enjoy using these playful nicknames, however, and the lower classes, particularly, seem to have an address rule that requires all speakers to be thoroughly familiar with the corpus of nicknames and which names they belong to. Upper class speakers, on the other hand, are not always sure of all the nicknames, not being able to remember, for example, whether 'abu @ali goes with mahmuud or hasan. This is particularly true, of course, for those nicknames which they consider to be baladi. Working class speakers, who are thoroughly familiar with all the nicknames, appear to follow a rule which requires a reciprocal use if possible. In other words, if someone is greeted with a nickname, he feels constrained to respond with one, appropriate to addressee's real name. Three snatches of conversation from a baladi neighborhood illustrate the principle well. Note that other terms, besides nicknames, are also often partially reciprocal. 4. Sayyid, a 49 year old working class grocer, walks into the shop of Hasan, a 52 year old working class shopkeeper, to say good morning, as they are old friends. The day before, Sayyid had asked Hasan to get him some soap, which is always in short supply: sayyid: hasan: sayyid* hasan:

sabaah ilxeer yabu @ali. 'ahlan ya @arab. feen issabuun yaaba? winnabi mafiiS sabuun innaharda, ya Seex sayyid.

Sayyid: Hasan: Sayyid: Hasan:

Good Morning, Father of @Ali (nickname for Hasan). Welcome, @Arab (nickname for Sayyid). Where is the soap, dad (a very baladi term for father)? By the prophet, there's no soap today, Sheikh Sayyid (using a term for religious sheikhs).

5. Muhammad, a 35 year old working class man, is seated at the local coffee house and his friend Samiir walks by: samiir: masaa' ilxeer ya hamaada. mihammad: 'ahlan itfaddal ya samaara. 'itfaddal yabu samra. samiir. 'allaah yikrimak mih ammad ti@iiS !

56 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Samiin

Good evening, Hamaada (nickname for Muhammad). Muhammad: Welcome, please sit down, Samaara (nickname for Samiir which fits the pattern of Hamaada). Please sit down, Father of Samra (another nickname for Samiir). Samiir: God honor you, Muhammad, may you live long! 6. Sayyid, the 49 year old working class grocer, is standing in his shop and his friend Mahmoud, a 56 year old working class man, walks by and yells in: mah muud: s abaah ilxeer ya h agg sayyid. sayyid: 'ahlan yabu hanafi, 'izzayyak ya muuda, @aamil 'eeh? 'itfaddal! mah muud: 'allaah yikrimak ya @arab. Mahmoud: Good morning, Hagg Sayyid (a respectful term for people who have been on the pilgrimage to Mecca and to older people in general). Sayyid: Welcome, Father of Hanafi (nickname for Mahmoud). How are you, Muda (another nickname for Mahmoud)? How's it going? Come in and sit down! Mahmoud: God honor you, @ Arab (nickname for Sayyid) ! There is also, clearly, more room for creativity and variation in nickname usage than there is with real names. Two notable examples from the natural corpus illustrate well: 7. An upper class 16 year old male greets a IS year old female friend named Sonya at the club with: 'ahlan ya siin ya mi@allima! (roughly) Greetings, "S," you old roughneck! (Siin is the name of the first letter of Sonya's name, and has a double entendre here since it is also the usual abbreviation for the word su'aal 'question,' and therefore could imply "You are a question mark with me; I don't know where I stand with you.") 8. Hasan, the butcher (35 years old, working class), is standing by his shop and his old friend Sayyid (45 years old, working class) walks by and says:

Names and Labels 57

sayyid: issalaamu @aleekum yabu @ali. h asan: 'ahlan ya @arab ilward, 'itfaddal ya @ammina. Sayyid: Peace be upon you, Father of @Ali (nickname for Hasan). Hasan: Greetings, @Arab of the Roses (an expansion of @Arab, the usual nickname for Sayyid), sit down, O Uncle of Ours (a baladi term fa- an older gentleman). The full name is also occasionally used as a playful nickname. When calling (or making fun of, etc.) an intimate friend, it is possible to use his and his father's first name (i.e. the first two-thirds of his full "official" name), but with an odd syntax. Normally any term comes after the vocative particle ya, whereas in this usage, addressee's first name comes before the particle and his father's first name comes after it, as in (to a friend named Muhammad Ali): mihammad ya @ali\ Optionally, another ya may be added at the very front: ya mhammad ya @ali\ Names and Nicknames to Strangers A small part of the natural corpus involved the use of first names and nicknames to addressees personally unknown to speaker (an exception to the general rule). These are of two general types. The first involves (usually angry, sarcastic, praising, etc.) use to famous addressees, not necessarily in their hearing. This included both names and nicknames yelled by members of the crowd at a soccer game to famous players on the field (usually expressing praise or annoyance at what the player just did) and a TV watcher making fun of actress Mirvat Amin as she walked up to receive an acting award on the television screen (in a very sarcastic voice): y a mirvat y a 'amiin! The second type involves the use of "any" name to absolute strangers. Speaker doesn't know addressee's name so he chooses a name that brings with it certain associations, to imply something about addressee. The name @antar implies reckless, or stupid, heroism and was used by a taxi driver to a man trying to back a truck down the busiest one-way street in town during rush hour. The name @abdu is associated with working class men or farmers (and therefore implies slow, stupid, etc.) and is used to yell at a baladi stranger for some infraction like darting out in front of a bus. The nickname bulbul has the same connotations as the ward gada@, a young, strong and very macho male, and is used to strangers who appear to fit the type, by bus conductors, for example. This nickname was also yelled as a term of

58 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

mu@aakasa 'bothering, teasing' by a male taxi driver to a female taxi driver while they were both stopped at a stop light Female taxi drivers are almost non-existent in Egypt, and by yelling this nickname the speaker implied "You are acting like a gada@ (rather than like a lady)." Informants stated that the name @umar is also sometimes used to baladi strangers in the above fashion, but no examples of it appeared in the natural corpus. Further, the name gaabir is apparently the traditional name for an itinerant offal-seller, and @ali @awad is an insulting name for an @arbagi 'cart driver' because of a notorious one of that name early in this century. Both may be used to imply something negative about addressee. Using

Teknonyms

Besides a name and a possible nickname, every Egyptian who is a parent may also be referred to and addressed by the terms 'abu fulaan 'father of so and so' or 'umm fulaan 'mother of so and so,' with fulaan being replaced by the name of the oldest son if there are sons, or if there are no sons, by the name of the oldest daughter. Syntactically, these forms act like names, i.e. they can be used with other terms of address. For example, compare the following forms: ya sitt fatma ya sitt 'umm mihammad ya @amm 'ah mad ya @amm 'abu taari'

Ό Mrs. Fatma' Ό Mrs. Mother of Muhammad' Ό Uncle 'Ahmad' Ό Uncle Father of Tariq'

Notice that they are not parallel to other terms of address which cannot be used after each other. For example, the two forms that follow are not accepted: * ya @amm rayyis Ό Uncle boss' * ya sitt doktoora Ό Mrs. Doctor' (but note that ya @amm irrayyis and yaa sitt iddoktoora are acceptable, i.e. once the second term is made definite). This teknonymic custom is very deeply embedded into traditional Egyptian (and Arab) culture in which great value is ascribed to the act of producing sons. Thus, traditionally, the terms are terms of respect, or even terms acknowledging achievement, and any father or mother would have expected to receive them, both from each other, and in general from friends, neighbors, local shopkeepers, etc. Today, however, because (at least partly) of a change in the traditional values starting among the upper classes, usage is becoming more and more restricted to baladi addressees. This means that in baladi areas they are still very commonly used among friends, neighbors, etc. (one informant even stated that once a man has a son it is @eeb 'shameful' to use

Names and Labels 59

his real name), but that speakers of the upper classes use them mainly "down," and use them among themselves only jokingly or playfully as they would a nickname. Not enough data on teknonyms were gathered to allow for statistical analysis, but examination of the data that were gathered indicates no particular speaker-related constraints, and a very strong tendency for the forms to be restricted to middle aged and old working class addressees. Upper class informants, in the interview, claimed to use the terms to maids, doormen, servants, etc. while working class informants claimed to use them to neighbors, friends and sometimes even to their spouses. Female addressees are at least as common as male. Interestingly, unlike the name alone there appears to be no constraint against using the teknonyms to an addressee older than speaker. Although teknonyms are considered to be names, they also imply a certain amount of respect. On the other hand, they are also common between intimate friends, which indicates that they do not necessarily mark kulfa 'formality.' The teknonyms appear, then, to mean different things to the upper classes than they do to the lower. For the lower classes they are terms of respect, not the great respect due to high education or high position but the human respect that is deserved merely by being a parent. Unlike other terms of respect, they are used both to intimate and non-intimate addressees. For the upper classes, the terms also involve respect, but a somewhat mitigated kind of respect The respect, again, is the human respect due to a parent, but it is mitigated this time because from an upper class speaker the terms also mark addressee as being lower than speaker in social class. The message of the term used in this way is thus a logical paradox; it says: I don't have to respect you but I choose to respect you. An example of this type of usage comes from the interview data. Almost all of the informants from the upper classes stated that a younger, unmarried maid would be called by her first name to make her feel like "one of the family," but that an older maid, especially if she had sons, must be given the respect she deserves, and would thus be addressed as 'umm fulaan or siti 'umm fulaan. The respect due a maid from an upper class speaker is not the same as the respect due a boss, a doctor, etc., so a term from the maid's own system is chosen in order to both give respect and mark the fact that speaker is speaking down.

Labels Names, whether used with other terms of address or without them, serve to identify people, and to differentiate between one person and another. As pointed out in the introduction to this chapter, they are in some ways like a limited set of labels. One of the more creative parts of the entire term of address system involves another set of labels. These are direct descriptive terms, which act to identify addressee and differentiate which of the possible

60 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

addressees the speaker is referring to. There are five categories of these labels, all of them fairly open-ended in the sense that they are fill-in-the-blank types, with speaker filling the blank with content appropriate to the particular speech situation. Only a very few examples of each type of label appeared in the data. Instead of statistically summarizing them, therefore, they will be merely listed and illustrated. ya Ili

(O you who are

)

The blank in the first pattern may be filled with information as to where addressee is, as when two young boys dropped a ring into the swimming pool and yelled at a swimmer to ask him to retrieve it for them: 9. lo tismah ! lo tismah ya Ili taht! Please, please, O you who are below! or the man upstairs who needed water pressure and so yelled to the neighbors below: 10. 'intu ya naas ya Ili taht! siibu lmayya S way y a, h a r a a m @aleekum, mis kida! da 'eeh da ya rabbi 'astag fir 'allaah il@aziim! You, you people down below! Turn the water off for awhile! Shame on you, you shouldn't act like that! What is this, Lord, I ask forgiveness of the great God! or the soldier to the student who was supposed to be in military formation for training but who was resting under a tree: 11. yabni ya Ili 'aa@id taht iSSagara! My son, you who are sitting under the tree! or the blank may be filled with information about what addressee is doing, as when the bus driver yelled at the rider who was standing on the stairs tapping on the door 12. 'inta ya siidi ya Ili bitxabbat! 'itla@ guwwa min @ala ssilim walla tinzil! You, mister, you who are tapping! Climb up off the stairs into the bus, or get off the bus!

Names and Labels 61

or the mother who wanted her son to stop bothering his little brother: 13. 'inta ya waad ya hiSaam! 'inta Ili bitdaayi' taari'! You, boy, Hisham! You who are bothering Tariq! Sometimes this structure is used as a Sitiima 'term of abuse' in which case the blank is filled with an obscene sexual reference to addressee's mother; it is also used to be funny, as in: 14. 'inta ya gada@ ya 'ahwagi! ya bani 'aadam ya Ili 'ismak faruu'! You, strong boy, coffee man! Human being, you whose name is Faruq! ya btaa@

(O you who have to do with

)

The most common use of the pattern ya btaa@ is to salesmen of various kinds, usually of the variety that wander the streets or walk around stadiums and movie houses selling their wares. Common examples include: 15. ya btaa@ illibb ta@aala. Hey, watermelon seed person, come here. (yelled at a soccer game), and: 16. Hey, ya btaa@ ilmaluxiyya ilkiilo? maluxiyya person,bikaam how much is a kilo? (yelled out a window at a passing salesman on the street below). The blank can also be filled with other descriptive items, as when an older brother sent his screaming younger brother away with: 17. ruuh ya btaa@ 'ummak! Go away, Maama's boy! Finally there is a seemingly meaningless, but clearly disdainful usage: ya btaa@ 'inta Ό you who have to do with yourself.' The form ya 'inta without the btaa@ functions similarly, both usages usually sarcastically to friends whom speaker is momentarily pretending to look down upon or disapprove of.

62 Constructing the Social Context of Communication yabu

(O father of

)

Like the first two categories of labels, yabu has a direct descriptive function, identifying which addressee speaker intends to address, as when a taxi driver in a crowded street screams at a bike rider who is in his way: 8. 'iw@a yabu @agala! 'iw@a yabu agala! Watch out, father of the bike! Watch out, father of the bike! Like the others, also, it can be used to refer to some presently salient aspect of addressee, as when a teenage boy tells a small neighbor boy in the street to stop crying with: 19. 'inta yabu dam@a, 'iskut! You, father of the tears, quiet down! ya saahib

il

(O master of the

)

This pattern is relatively uncommon, but is used like the others, to single out a specific, usually unknown addressee. The only example from the data involves a bus passenger of a much-delayed bus yelling to the driver: 20. ya @amm ya saahib il'otobiis! O uncle, O master of the bus (meaning: Let's get the move on!) ya of car)

(O

where the blank is filled with a type

In this final pattern of labels, a speaker yells at the driver of another car, using the name of the car to address the person. This is fairly common by taxi drivers yelling at other drivers to get moving, as in: 21. xuSS yamallaaki! Get moving, (driver of a) private car! and: 22. xuSS ya tamanya wi@iSriin! Come on, number 28 (referring to a Fiat model 28)

Names and Labels 63

It should be noted that while all of the above labels, unlike names, are normally used to strangers, none of them imply any respect whatsoever. In other words, they fît with names in that they would be used only to someone whom speaker could address with a name if he knew the name; in fact, usage is usually "down," at least implied if not actual. Summary Names clearly play an important role in the entire term of address system. They are terms of address but also something more: unlike other terms (but like the other labels) they identify addressee clearly, distinguish him from other addressees, recognize his individuality. A name is not something deserved, earned, or even that seems to fit; rather a person simply is his name like an orange is an orange or a rose is a rose. It may be because of a person's close psychological identification with his name that it is not polite to use it "up" or to non-intimates without somehow modifying it, thereby distancing oneself from that inner core of the person. This distancing process, whether by using the name of addressee's child as in the teknonymic system, or by adding another term of address on the front of the name, allows participants in speech events to be comfortable with each other by maintaining—and marking—the appropriate relationship that should obtain. Nicknames, of course, are even closer to the inner cores of people than names. Two reasons for this can be adduced: 1) when a person has an "official" nickname used in most non-formal situations, it is used more often and thus comes to be more closely identified with the inner core of the person than his real name is, and 2) a proliferation of names for a person in EA, as in many other speech communities (see Brown & Ford), marks intimacy, and symbolizes the on-going, changing, flexible relationship that is only possible when kulfa 'formality of relationship' is overcome.

Chapter Five

Family Terms

(Basyuni and Mitwalli have worked for Huseen in the desert for seven years. None of them are related to each other. During an argument, Basyuni interrupts Huseen for the twelth time.) Huseen:

Are you going to let me finish, or shall I let you keep putting your foot in your mouth?

Mitwalli: (annoyed, to Basyuni) My brother, my brother (ya 'cud ya 'caá ) let the man speak! Speak, Uncle Huseen (@amm huseen). I'm with you. (later in the argument) Basyuni: (to Mitwalli) We have to form a front. We have to stand together or we'll get eaten. Huseen:

And who, may I ask, is going to eat you?

Basyuni: You are of course. Huseen:

O my God! (la hawla llaah ya rabbi!)

Basyuni: Then why do you think Mitwalli is sad? You're trying to take advantage of him and he is embarrased to say it but I'll stick with him because he is my colleague. I ate bread and salt with him. Don't worry, Mitwalli, I'll get you all your rights. Mitwalli: (in disgust) Get out of here, uncle (ya @amm). Leave me alone. He's lying, Uncle Huseen (@amm huseen)\ (from the play biir il'amh by Ali Salim)

Family Terms 65 Introduction In this book the category of "Family Terms" will include all those terms whose referential or "dictionary" meanings refer to a relative of speaker, regardless of whether or not in any one instance the term is actually being used to a relative of speaker. One of the difficulties in categorizing the large number of terms of address used in EA is the fact that actual usage does not always correspond to the referential meanings of the terms involved. Besides functioning as terms of address, most of the words involved also function as referential nouns in everyday language, so it is not always some older, "historical" meaning (like the "original" meaning of baaSa Pasha' in an age where there are no more Pashas) that is involved, but rather a meaning that is very much current and alive. Many of the names that refer to relatives are cases in point If an EA speaker is asked to point out his 'axx "brother' or his @amm 'paternal uncle' he will inevitably point out his real brother or his real uncle, despite the fact that the terms 'axx and @amm are used to actually address real brothers or real uncles in only a minority of cases, as is illustrated in the quote from the play at the beginning of this chapter. Therefore, categorizations like the one being made in this chapter should not be taken too literally. This chapter is divided into two main sections. The first will be concerned with how relatives are addressed in EA without regard to extended uses of the terms involved. The second will look at the terms, individually, to see how they are being used in the society as a whole, including extended uses to nonrelatives. Addressing Relatives It must be assumed that all speakers, as a matter of course, constantly address their parents, children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, in-laws, and more distant relatives. In Cairo, one of the most crowded cities in the world, where typically large families live in typically small apartments, the need to address one's relatives becomes even more obvious. In all speech communities the rules for addressing relatives are fairly strict. In the case of EA, interestingly, many of these rules are variable, both for individual speakers and across the speech community. This means that speakers not only mark the relationship existing between themselves and addressee, when they address a relative, but often also mark their own and addressee's social class. Individual categories of relatives will now be discussed individually.

66 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Fathers In most non-intimate conversation with a third party, EA speakers refer to their fathers with the term waldi 'my father.' Within the family, however, and to intimate Mends it is more common to refer to the father as baaba Papa' (or one of its variants), as in ruuh Suuf baaba @aawiz 'eeh! Go see what Dad wants! Apparently because of the formality associated with the term waldi, stemming from its restricted use as a regular noun, it is never used in actual address to one's father, only the intimate terms being considered appropriate. When asked about the term, a number of informants did state that in very conservative families of the previous generation waldi was used to address the father, but that it is now out of fashion as a term of address. The declining use of hadritak to fathers, discussed in Chapter 2, could be related to the loss of waldi as a term of address, since it also involves a degree of formality no longer considered acceptable in many EA families. The term baaba, then, is used by a majority of EA speakers to address their fathers. Besides baaba, there are five other terms used to address fathers that, together with baaba, form an interesting socio-linguistic contiuum. They include baabi, aaba, paapi, daadi and abuuya. The interview informants, in comparing these terms, inevitably ranked them according to social class. Not all informants mentioned every term, but all mentioned more than one, and none of their relative rankings contradicted any of another informant. Their rankings appear in Table 10. Table 10. Terms of Address for Fathers Term daadi paapi baabi baaba aaba abuuya

Social Class Association extremely upper class extremely upper class upper class middle class working class working class

Family Terms 67 A clear picture of the use of each of these terms emerged from the interview. abuuya. No informant claimed that he himself uses the term abuuya to his own father. Several informants did claim, however, that very baladi speakers use it to their fathers, particularly those who have recently moved to Cairo from the countryside. aaba. All of the informants claimed that aaba was a baladi form. No upper class informant claimed to use it, and only one middle class informant, who said he used it sometimes. All four male working class informants claimed to use it, however, and one of the three working class female informants also claimed to use it. One of the male working class informants stated that aaba had a feeling of ruguula 'masculinity, manliness,' which perhaps explains why female working class informants are apparently not as apt to use aaba as their male counterparts are. baaba. Every female informant, and all of the male informants with the exception of two from the working class, claimed to use baaba at least sometimes to their fathers. Several claimed to use only baaba. One of the working class informants who claimed not to use baaba explained that the form was taught to the children of his neighborhood by elementary school teachers when they started school, and that he never started using it since he had never gone to school. One further bit of information also supports the notion that the form baaba is associated with at least a minimal degree of education: the one middle class male who claimed that he sometimes uses aaba stated that if his friends or colleagues from the university happened to be visiting him, he would definitely stick to baaba. baabi. No male informant claimed to use baabi. Three of the four upper class female informants did claim to use it, however (the fourth claimed that she never uses it), and one middle class female said that she used it very rarely. Two of the upper class females who claimed to use baabi stated that it expressed a kind of madaniyya 'refinement,' and that it was understood as a dala@ 'term of endearment.' The third upper class female stated that although she occasionally uses baabi, she has to be careful, because in her neighborhood (which is predominantly middle and working class) innaas hina btaxdu bhassasiyya 'people here react to it with annoyance.'

68 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

paapi and daadi. None of the informants claimed to use either paapi or daadi to his own father. Upper class informants stated, however, that the two terms are commonly heard in very upper class homes, particularly those that send their children to foreign language schools or in which some French or English is spoken. The term daadi would be used in English-oriented homes, and paapi in French-oriented homes. The two terms are also heard in films, apparently to mark the fact that the speaker is extremely upper class. A political cartoon from the newspaper al'axbaar (19 March 1979) supports the existence of the form daadi. It shows an extremely wealthy mansion, with a man dressed like a beggar but smoking a big cigar ordering his smartly dressed chauffeur to put the Chevrolet in the garage and bring him his bicycle. On the other side of the picture is a well-dressed little boy looking confused, being comforted by his mother, who is wearing a lovely gown and is bedecked with jewels. She says to the child: daadi raayih yi'addim il'iqraar wiraagi@ bisur@a. Daddy is going to tum in the tax forms and he'll be back soon. The form daadi is not used here as a term of address, but it seems reasonable to conclude from the cartoon that such a little boy could call his father daadi. Variable Usage of Terms for Father. It became clear from the informants' statements that many, perhaps most, speakers do not stick to only one of the forms listed in Table 10 all of the time. All but two of the working class informants who claimed usually to use aaba stated that they also often use baaba, particularly in the presence of non-family. Further, some middle and working class informants who claim usually to use baaba stated that they also occasionally use aaba, particularly when alone with their fathers, or in anger. The middle class informant who stated that she occasionally used baabi stated also that she usually used baaba, and all of the upper class informants who claimed to use baabi stated that they alternated between it and baaba. Only a few instances of the terms referring to fathers appeared in the natural data, not enough for statistical analysis. Examination of the small amount of data that was gathered does support the claims of the informants listed above, however. The form baaba is by far the most common, with the forms baabi and aaba also appearing. These three terms appear to form a variable continuum, with aaba on the bottom, baaba in the middle, and baabi on the top. Most speakers control a section of the continuum that includes at least some baaba, and many limit themselves to this term. Others, however, also include one of the other two variants in their repertoire. This continuum is represented schematically in Figure 4.

Family Terms 69

I

aaba

|

Ipaa^a

|

^aa^ii

|

WC Males WC Females MC Males MC Females UC Males UC Females Figure 4. Representation of the aaba, baaba, baabi Continuum. Other Terms for Fathers. Besides the terms discussed above, all of which have the referential meaning 'father,' the natural corpus contains many examples of other terms being used to fathers. The use of hadritak to fathers was discussed in Chapter 2. Working class fathers, particularly when they are older, and certainly if they have actually performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, are often respectfully addressed with hagg 'pilgrim,' or aaba lhagg 'father, the pilgrim.' In families in which the father is not very strict, children may occasionally be heard addressing him with his first name or a nickname, often playfully, or when trying to cajole him into doing something for them. Also in families in which the father is not very strict, children are heard addressing him with axuuya 'my brother' and Seex 'sheikh' during arguments or when they are annoyed at something he has done. The baaba terms are relatively much more common than any of these other terms that are used to fathers, however. Mothers The set of terms used to mothers is parallel in many ways to those used to fathers. Just as waldi is used to refer to fathers, but not to address them, likewise walditi 'my mother' is used to refer to mothers, but not to address them, except in a very few "very conservative families" (informant's words). According to interview informants, three forms are used to address mothers: maami, maama and amma. These three forms appear to be parallel to the forms baabi, baaba, and aaba of the father terms, in that

70 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

informants rank them for social class in the same way, the term maami being considered upper class, maama being middle class and by far the most common, and am ma being considered a baladi form. Also like the forms for father, the use of these terms appears to be variable, with some speakers using maama exclusively, but many speakers using both maami and maama and many others using both am ma and maama. A continuum similar to that represented in Figure 4 is also an appropriate discription of the relationship of the three terms for mother. Other Terms for Mother. Like older fathers, older mothers are often addressed with a respectful hagga 'pilgrim,' particularly if they have gone on a pilgrimage or if the family is working class. Children occasionally use Seexa 'sheikh (f.)' or uxti 'my sister' to their mothers when they are annoyed with them, parallel to the use of Seex and axuuya to fathers. Only one example appeared in the natural data of a child addressing his mother by her first name (there were several examples of first name use to fathers); informants stated that to an EA speaker the mother is mi'addasa 'holy,' and is not to be treated without respect. Most EA speakers would be shocked to hear a mother addressed by her first name. It should be noted, in passing, that speakers of all classes will exclaim yamma! Ό Mother!,' using the low term, when something takes them by surprise. Sons and Daughters Parents have a somewhat wider range of choices of terms for their children than their children have for them, including names, nicknames, the words they use to refer to them in the third person (ibni, binti), the term baaba, and several others. The terms ibni 'my son' and binti 'my daughter' are used to refer to one's child in conversation with a third person. Unlike the parallel terms for father and mother, however, these terms are also used to address one's child. The natural data on the use of ibni and binti to actual sons and daughters, while limited, evidence no particular social class or other constraints. Parents of all varieties use the terms while giving advice, orders, and in general conversation. Informants felt strongly that situations of giving advice or ordering were the main uses of the two terms. When asked in the interview what they would normally call their son or daughter, however, no informant spontaneously mentioned ibni or binti. Rather, parents of all classes claimed normally to address their children by a first name or a nickname. Numerous examples of the use of the name or nickname by a parent to a child occurred in the natural data.

Family Terms 71 Bipolarity. Several other possibilities for addressing one's children also exist, many of which are limited to smaller children. One involves what Millicent Ayoub (1962) has referred to as bi-polarity, i.e. the use of the term to the child that it would be appropriate for the child to use in addressing the speaker. The usage current in EA, however, is rather different from that described by her for a village in Lebanon. Apparently in Lebanon it is common for almost any relative of a child to address the child with the term the child would normally use to address him. This includes at least parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. The general pattern in EA, on the other hand, is for all of these classes of relatives (but especially parents) to use the term baaba for both sons and (laughters. Mothers and aunts much more rarely could use maama, but only for daughters, baaba being much more common to both sexes. A few grandparents might use expressions like yaa sitti 'ana Ό Grandmother of mine-O my lady' to granddaughters and yaa siidi 'ana Ό Grandfather of mine-0 my master' to grandsons, but this is also very rare according to informants. The use of terms like xalti 'maternal aunt' and @ammi 'paternal uncle' to one's nephews and nieces is apparently nonexistent. Six examples of the use of baaba to speaker's children appeared in the natural data. They are equally divided by social class and speaker sex, but five of the six involved male rather than female children. All of the addressees were very young, of course. Again unlike the situation in Lebanon, the term baaba is used to one's child most often in two types of situations: 1) in playing with the child, especially when an infant (for example, a grandmother was heard repeating: 'eeh y a baaba y a baaba ya baaba, etc. What, daddy, daddy, daddy, etc. about thirty times in a five-minute period of time to her seven month old granddaughter); and 2) in expressing general annoyance with the child, as when a four year old daughter kept saying: baaba! baaba! baaba! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! while her father was trying to talk to some of his friends and he finally replied in an annoyed voice: @ayza 'eeh yaa baaba!? What do you want, Dad?! clearly implying something like "Cut it out!"

72 Constructing the Social Context of Communication Respectful and Abusive Terms to One's Children. Many other terms are commonly used as dala@ 'terms of endearment' for children. Many terms of respect, for example, like baaSa "Pasha,' 'ustaaz 'professor,' 'aanisa 'miss,' etc., are playfully applied to one's children. Many Sataayim 'abusive terms' are also used, both playfully and angrily, in the same way they are used to any addressee (see Chapter 8 on terms of abuse). walad and bint. Finally, there are the terms walad 'boy' and bint 'girl' and numerous variants thereof. These terms will be discussed in detail in the second part of this chapter. It will merely be pointed out here that besides being the most common terms used to small children in general, they are also the most common terms (after names and nicknames) used to one's own children. They are most often accompanied by an order to do or stop doing something and they are often said with a rather sharp tone of voice. They are understood to directly mark the power relationship obtaining between the parent and the child. Brothers and Sisters As a general rule, brothers and sisters are addressed by their names or nicknames. The abusive terms, the playful terms, and walad and bint are also extremely common, especially (but not exclusively) to younger brothers and sisters. Certain fairly conservative families require younger children to use the Turkish terms 'abeeh 'older brother' and 'abla 'older sister' to brothers and sisters at least five years older than themselves. According to some informants, use of these terms implies a 'good upbringing,' but others disagreed, stating that there shouldn't be 'alqaab here 'terms of respect' between brothers and sisters. One young man stated that they used to use these terms in his family but now they were actively trying to 'ban' their use (@awziin nilgiiha 'we want to get rid of them') apparently because they had become converted to the second attitude mentioned above. Occasionally, EA speakers use the terms 'axi or 'axuuya 'my brother' and uxti 'my sister' to their own brothers and sisters. Most commonly this is accompanied by a sharp tone and implies that speaker is annoyed with addressee. This is exactly how these terms are normally used to non-siblings, as will be seen in the latter part of this chapter. Uncles and Aunts The EA kinship system distinguishes between maternal and paternal relatives, and between "real" relatives and relatives by marriage. The terms used to refer

Family Terms 73 to the various types of uncles and aunts in the third person are summarized in Table 11. Table 11. Terms Used to Refer to Uncles and Aunts in the Third Person Term @ammi @ammiti xaali xalti miraat @ammi goz @ammiti miraat xaali goz xalti

Gloss my paternal uncle (FaBr) my paternal aunt (FaSi) my maternal uncle (MoBr) my maternal aunt (MoSi) my paternal uncle's wife (FaBrWi) my paternal aunt's husband (FaSiHu) my maternal uncle's wife (MoBrWi) my maternal aunt's husband (MoSiHu)

There is little natural data on the use of these terms to actual relatives. A few instances of @ammi to a real @amm were recorded (used by all classes), two instances of xaali to a real xaal (by working class speakers), three instances of 'ankil to a real uncle (upper class speakers), and three cases of @ammiti to a real @amma (middle and upper class speakers). All of the other terms appear in the corpus only in extended usage, not to real uncles and aunts. The natural data for these terms will be statistically summarized in the second half of this chapter. Most of the information about the use of these terms to real uncles and aunts, however, comes from the interviews. Informants claimed that all of the terms in Table 11 can be, and occasionally are, used to address uncles and aunts. This is more common with the four terms that refer to actual relatives than it is with the in-law terms. In actual fact, however, the borrowed term tant aunt' has taken over most of the address functions of the terms for aunts (both relatives and in-laws) for speakers of the middle and upper classes. Upper class speakers, for example, almost never use the in-law terms, and use the terms for real aunts only very occasionally as a kind of dala@ 'term of endearment,' using tant for most general serious and non-serious interaction. Working class specters do occasionally use the in-law terms, but they also use tant for their in-law aunts. They tend to use the "correct" terms for their real aunts, however. Interestingly, the borrowed term 'ankil 'uncle' (may be pronounced 'ökl i.e. with a French pronunciation, if desired) has made much less progress than has tant. Only certain very upper class speakers use it at all, and those who do

74 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

use it also use the regular terms for real uncles rather than sticking exclusively to 'ankil as they do to tant. In some families, the term 'abeeh 'older brother' is used for uncles who are younger than one's parents but older than oneself, especially the in-law uncles. It is also fairly common to use the term @ammi 'my FaBr' (which has a wide general application to non-relatives as will be seen later) to both of the in-law uncles, even to goz xalti 'MoSiHu.' The special variants @ammu and xaalu are also possible, especially by very young speakers. These are considered to be terms of endearment Cousins According to the informants, cousins are addressed exactly like brothers and sisters. The name is usual, but in families that use 'abeeh and 'abla to older siblings, they are also used to older cousins. A cousin who is very much older (as old as one's parents) may optionally be addressed as @ammi 'my paternal uncle.' Grandparents Paternal grandparents are referred to as giddi 'my FaFa' and gidditi 'my FaMo.' Maternal grandparents may also be referred to with these terms, and are alternatively referred to in some families as siidi 'my MoFa' and sitti 'my MoMo.' There is no evidence that these latter terms are used in actual address in Egypt. Some informants claim that siidi and sitti are used in the countryside but not in the city. Most families use giddi and its variant giddu in actual address to both grandfathers. Others, particularly of the upper class, use terms like baaba 'father' + the name, or baaba Ikibiir literally 'grandfather,' a direct, translated borrowing from European languages. For grandmothers, m a a m a ' m o t h e r ' + the name and maama Ikibiira 'grandmother* are heard, but neena, ninna, and teeta are more common. Fathers-in-Law and Mothers-in-Law Fathers-in-law are almost always addressed as @ammi 'my FaBr' by speakers of all classes. The word hamaati 'my mother-in-law' is considered rude when used to address mothers-in-law. The terms tant and xalti 'my MoSi' are used, along with the terms that mean 'grandmother' {neena, etc.) once children have come along. The term maama is also heard addressed to mothers-in-law. The natural data contains two examples of the use of @ammi to a father-in-

Family Terms 75 law, and one example of the otherwise non-existent combination @ammi + first name, likewise to a father-in-law. Summary of Terms Used to Actual Relatives Table 12 gives a schematized picture of what a typical, fairly conservative, male middle class speaker would be likely to call his various classes of relatives (note that he would not necessarily refer to them by the same term with which he would address them). In examining the table, note that the form fulaan stands for the first name. It has the feminine formfulaana. Table 12. Typical Usage of a Middle Class Speaker to Various Classes of Relatives Generation

Blood Relatives

Term

Grandfather's

FaFa, MoFa

giddi,giddu

In-Law Relatives

Term

FaMo, MoMo neena Father's

Ego's

Fa

baaba

WiFa

@ammi

Mo

maama

WiMo

tant

FaBr

@ammi

FaBrWi

tant

MoBr

xaali

MoBrWi

tant

FaSi

tant

FaSiHu

@ammi or 'abeeh fulaan

MoSi

tant

MoSiHu

@ammi or 'abeeh fulaan

older Br

'abeeh fulaan

older SiHu, WiBr, HuBr

'abeeh fulaan

same or younger Br

fulaan

same/younger SiHu, WiBr, HuBr

fulaan

76 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

older Si

'ab la fulaana

older BrWi, WiSi, HuSi

'ab la fulaana

same or younger Si

fulaana

same/younger BrWi, WiSi, HuSi

fulaana

older cousin 'abeeh fulaan (Male)(FaBrSo, FaSiSo, MoBrSo, MoSiSo) older cousin 'abla fulaana (FemaleXFaBrDa, FaSiDa, MoBrDa, MoSiDa)

Ego's Children

any other cousin

fulaan/fulaana

So, Da

fulaan/fulaana

BrSo, SiSo,

fulaan

BrDa, SiDa

fulaana

The picture that emerges is that of use of the first name to any relative of the same age (and generation) or younger, use of a term of respect with the first name to older relatives of the same generation and to the in-law uncles who are younger than ego's parents, maama and baaba to parents, giddi and neena to grandparents, tant to all aunts, @ammi for paternal uncles and xaali for maternal uncles. Raising the social class of ego would change this picture somewhat, by the possible changing of the terms for grandparents to the Europeanized forms (baaba Ikibiir, etc.), by the probable dropping of 'abeeh and 'abla for older siblings and cousins, and by the possible adding of the forms baabi and maami to baaba and maama. Lowering the social class of ego would also change the picture, adding aaba and amma to baaba and maama, exchanging many of the tanti for the actual Arabic relationship terms (xalti, miraat @ammi, etc.), and possibly dropping the 'abeeh and 'abla (depending on how conservative the family is).

Family Terms 77 General Use of the Family Terms As stated in the introduction to this chapter, the terms being discussed are grouped together as "Family Terms" only because their referential meaning refers to a relative of speaker, not because they are used exclusively or even mostly to address relatives of speaker. In this section, "extended" usage of each of the terms involved will be discussed.

baaba et al. The term baaba and its variants, discussed previously, are used in a nonextended sense by a child to his father or by a parent to his child. Two of the four extended uses of baaba are clearly metaphorical extensions of these two usages: 1) use by a young speaker to an older male addressee, usually not related, and 2) use by an older speaker to a young addressee, also usually not related. The other two extended usages involve use by young male speakers to addressees their own age, and use by female speakers to their husbands. Only a small amount of natural data was obtained for any of these uses, so they will not be statistically summarized. Each possibility is discussed individually below. Young Speaker to Old Addressee. It is fairly common for young speakers to address older male addressees who are about the age of their father with baaba or aaba. Two examples of baaba used in this way occurred, both used to working class strangers by working class speakers, one male and one female. Nineteen examples of aaba used by young speakers to older addressees also occurred. They involved both male and female speakers addressing both known and unknown addressees. The tone of voice was normal in most instances, but annoyed in a few. This particular metaphorical extension of aaba and baaba is apparently limited to middle and working class speakers and addressees. It should be noted, however, that one upper class male informant did state in the interview that while he could not possibly use aaba to his own father, he did occasionally use it to older baladi strangers, to express annoyance. This observation, together with the natural data on tone and acquaintance, lead to the conclusion that when these terms are used to known older males they are reasonably polite terms, possibly implying that there is some analogy between this relationship and the relationship of speaker and his father, whereas when the terms are used to strangers, especially aaba, they very often express annoyance and imply all the negative values associated with things baladi. The next two examples illustrate these two possible meanings.

78 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

1. A young, working class salesgirl answers the query of a slightly known, SO year old, baladi customer about how much an item is with: bi'irS ya baaba. A piastre, Dad. 2. On a narrow street, a 25 year old car driver sees a truck backing out of an alley, about to block his way. He yells at the baladi 40 year old driver in an annoyed voice: xalliik @andak 'inta y aaba! Stay where you are, Dad! Older Speaker to Young Addressee. The use of baaba and aaba by older speakers to addressees the age of their children is clearly a metaphorical extension of the use of these terms to one's own children. Six such uses of baaba occurred in the natural data, with all social classes represented, along with one such use of aaba, by a working class speaker. In all cases, use of the terms was accompanied by a tone of annoyance with addressee. For example: 3. A taxi driver was maneuvering through a narrow street and had to stop for a momentary obstruction. A group of kids started clammering all over the taxi making nuisances of themselves. The driver yelled to the closest, a 10 year old working class boy: yalla ya wala! @eeb kida ya baaba! Come on boy! Shame on you, dad! Young Male Speaker and Addressee. Use of baaba and aaba to addressees of approximately the same age as speaker is strictly limited to male speakers and addressees. It is almost certainly an extension of the "annoyed" use of the term by older speakers to young addressees: speaker temporarily takes the role of an older person in order to shame addressee, either seriously or in jest. The term aaba is much more common in this use than is baaba, probably because its baladi associations cause it to be taken as more pejorative. All social classes are represented in the small amount of data available. Two examples of this type of usage follow.

Family Terms 79 4. In a crowded ta@miyya shop (for inexpensive sandwiches), a customer has been waiting an inordinate amount of time for his sandwich. He finally yells at the salesman (both are about 30 years old): feen itta@miyya yaaba!?! Where is the tamiyya, dad!?! 5. At the university, two male, upper class, 20 year old students (friends) walk by an obstacle course that has been set up for military training. One boasts that he could run it in 20 minutes. The other thinks that is much too slow and replies sarcastically: da ñ di'ii'a yaaba! That (could be run) in one minute, dad! Wife to Husband. The one example of a wife calling a husband baaba occurred in a very westernized, upper middle class family. Members of the family informed the author that this couple normally call each other baaba and maama. Information on wife-to-husband usage from other families led to the conclusion that this is a fairly rare practice, possibly consciously imported from English usage (since both the husband and the wife speak English very well). Extended Use of Other Terms for Father. The term abuuya appeared twice in the natural data used by working class speakers to older known working class gentlemen. The term waldi did not appear in the data, but a working class informant stated that he used it to older friends of the family (but not to his father). The forms baabi, paapi and daadi, rare in any case, are apparently limited in use to speaker's actual father. maama et al. Terms used to address mothers are likewise extended to non-mothers. Again, one type of use appears to be a direct metaphorical extension of use to mothers, the use by young speakers to older addressees the age of their mothers. Other extended usages are sarcastic.

80 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Young Speaker to Old Addressee. A few examples of the use of maama to older addressees who were not speaker's mother appeared in the natural data corpus. All social classes are represented and usage in all cases appears to have been polite and respectful. FOT example: 6. An old, middle class woman seated on a bus asks the middle-aged conductor if the next stop is Aguza. He replies: laa, y a maama. No, Mom. Young Male Speaker to Young Female Addressee. Another common use of maama is in mu@aakasa 'teasing.' It is used by fairly young male speakers to usually unknown young female addressees "on the street." One example, which gives the flavor of mu@aakasa, also involved a bus conductor: 7. A group of working class young women board a bus. The middleaged conductor, in a jovial mood, approaches them in order to take their fare, saying to the first: 'aywa ya maama ya @aruusa ya hilwa ya katkuuta! Yes, O mom, O bride, O beautiful, O chick! Young Male Speaker and Addressee. One example of the sarcastic use of maama to a young male friend appeared in the data. The addressee had told speaker to do something, and speaker refused using maama. He was apparently trying to imply something like: "Quit acting like my mother." Extended Uses of Other Terms for Mother. The term 'ummi 'my mother' is not used to real mothers, but a small number of extended usages did appear in the natural data. All of these involved young or middle-aged, middle or working class speakers addressing old working class addressees. For example: 8. An older baladi woman is struggling off the bus with a huge bag of vegetables. She asks a 20 year old male passenger (a stranger) to help her off and he replies: min @ineeya ya 'ummi. With pleasure, Mother.

Family Terms 81 The term walditi 'my mother' did not appear in the natural data, but one male working class informant claimed to use it to older female friends of the family (this was, of course, the same informant who claimed to use waldi to older male friends of the family). The terms maami and am ma did not appear in the natural data extended to non-mothers, but informants stated that they can be extended in ways similar to the ways in which maama is extended. ibni and binti The terms ibni 'my son' and binti 'my daughter' are among the most common in the corpus of natural data, with 267 uses recorded. Of these, only two percent involved use of the term by parents to their actual sons and daughters, the rest involving some kind of extended use. Two main categories of extended usage are involved, both involving the "basic" meaning of the terms metaphorically. The first involves older speakers addressing younger addressees, in essence taking on the role of parent to give advice, criticize, etc. Examples of this type of use in the natural data include adults addressing younger relatives, friends of their children, children of their friends, young strangers, teachers addressing students, bosses addressing young workers and religious sheikhs addressing young people who have come to them for advice. This category includes about half of the data. The other half involves speakers, usually young, addressing friends and acquaintances their own age with the terms, often sarcastically. In many cases speaker appears to momentarily take (»1 the role of parent in order to criticize or give an order to addressee. Middle aged and old speakers of all types use ibni and binti to young addressees, but they use the terms to addressees their own age only rarely, and then usually in jest. The interview informants were basically agreed upon the usages appropriate for ibni and binti. They said that they are used by older speakers to young people to give advice in a kindly manner, while they are used to addressees of speaker's own age to contradict, joke with (hizaar), or in general to convince addressee of one's point. Statistical analysis of the data indicates that addressee social class, tone, acquaintance and broad relationship are not significant for the terms ibni and binti, and that speaker social class and age are only barely significant. As expected, the most significant variable is detailed relationship, where categories of "friend to friend," "teacher to student," "sheikh to any addressee," and "boss to employyee" show high levels of the terms, and most of the other categories show very low levels. Addressee age is also highly significant, as expected, with young addressees being much more likely to receive either term than are middle aged or old. Both speaker and addressee sex are somewhat significant. Males use both terms more than females do,

82 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

and they receive ibni much more often than females receive binti. Examination of the data indicates that this is accounted for almost entirely by the second category of use mentioned above, that between speakers and addressees the same age as each other. In other words, men and women appear equally likely to use the terms to a younger person in an advice giving or other "parent" like situation, but young men are more likely to use the terms to a friend or acquaintance in a sarcastic way than young women are. The natural data fa* ibni and binti are summarized in Tablel3 below. Table 13. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for ibni and binti Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

5.6 2.7

2. Speaker Social Upper 3.8 Class Middle 5.7 Working 5.2 3. Speaker Age

Young MidAge Old

4. Addressee Sex Male Female

4.3 5.3 6.3 5.8 1.7

5. Addressee Social Class 6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old

Significance %Effectof Level Variable .000

1.5

4

.024

1.1

5

.036

1.1

6

.000

2.1

3

Not Significant 6.9 2.1 0.5

.000

5.2

7. Acquaintance

Not Significant

8. Tone

Not Significant

9. a. Relationship (Broad)

Not Significant

b. Relationship (Detailed)

Rank of Variable

.000 6.7 OVERALL EFFECT 46.8%

2

1

Family Terms 83

Examples of ibni and binti: Older Speaker to Young Addressee. Young addressees who receive the terms ibni and binti from older speakers often have the same kind of intimate but respectful relationship with those speakers that they have with their parents. The first example involves an aunt addressing her nephew in this way. 9. A 19 year old, working class youth went to visit his cousin on his father's side. His miraat @amm 'FaBrWi' opened the door and exclaimed: 'ahlan yabni izzayyak @aamil 'eeh? Welcome, my son, how are you, how's it going? A variation of this theme involves use of ibni by a speaker who has some kind of institutional power over addressee: a teacher to a student, an officer to a soldier, a boss to an employee, etc. Again, addressee is the same age as speaker's son, and one aspect of the parent/son relationship, the power aspect, is present. For example: 10. The 35 year old middle class owner of a small shoe factory watches one of his IS year old working class workers stretch a shoe onto a shoe mold. The worker isn't doing it correctly so the boss yells a little angrily: mis kida yabni! Not like that, my son! An even further extension retains merely the age difference from the parent/child relationship: older salesmen to young customers, older customers to young salesmen, and even older strangers to young strangers on the street commonly use ibni and binti. About half of the instances of this category of usage in the natural data involved a negative tone (expressing anger or annoyance, giving an order) and half involved a neutral or positive tone (offering help, requesting information, thanking, giving advice). A good example of the latter occurred when the author was riding his bike down an extremely narrow street on a very busy, hot day. A young boy (as commonly happens) grabbed on to the back of his bike and tried to knock it over. Angered, he turned his bike quickly around and started after him. An older, kindly looking baladi man seated on the edge of the street observed this incident and, using a tone of voice meant to soothe and calm the author down, said: 11. ma@lehS yabni. Don't let it bother you, my son.

84 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Use of ibni in such situations implies both that speaker is older and wiser (wiser than addressee and therefore worthy to give advice) and further that he is beneficient, desiring nothing bad for addressee. Speaker is, in short, metaphorically taking cm the role of a father and giving "fatherly" advice. It seems to be a successful tactic—it certainly worked in the case being discussed. Examples of ibni and bind: Same Age Speakers and Addressees. Use of ibni or binti to an addressee speaker's own age may often be considered to be part of the "playful" banter that goes on between friends in this younger age group. It usually accompanies attempts to convince addressee of one's point of view, jokingly give him a command one really has no right to give, and in general to imply that one is better than addressee. A good example involves two upper class seventeen year olds seated at the Gezira Club restaurant. One starts goofing off and rolling around on his chair and the other, in fake "proper indignation," yells: 12. 'u'@ud kwayyis yabni! Sit there properly, my son! In other words, ibni is used when one friend wants to play the parent and imply that the other is a child. A small portion of the data involves the rude usage of ibni to a same age or older, usually working class addressee, usually a stranger, to give a command or express anger. Fes' example, when a very dirty 45 year old man started pulling his garbage cart the wrong way down a very busy one-way street, a younger 35 year old policeman yelled in a very gruff voice: 13. raayih feen yabni raayih feen?!! Where do you think you're going, my son?!! A related example involves a husband addressing his wife with binti. 14. An upper class wife comes up to her husband at the club and asks for some money. He gets out his wallet and finds it virtually empty. She asks him accusingly what happened to the 10-pound note he had had. He replies in a condescending tone: ya binti mis il@aSara gineeh di gibna biiha l a h m a mbaarih? My daughter, didn't we buy meat with those ten pounds yesterday?

Family Terms 85 By using the term binti, speaker in this case emphasizes the implication of the message itself: "You are forgetful, I remember things," with the further implication that speaker is older and wiser, that his wife is intellectually his daughter, not his equal. It should be noted that ibni (but not binti) is very commmonly used with the 'inta ya term and ya term 'inta patterns. The form 'inta yabni occurred in the context of speaker giving addressee an order and was limited to older speakers and younger addressees. The form yabni 'inta was common both to friends of speaker's age and to younger addressees. It implied in every case at least a disapproval-or worse-of addressee, but in case of use to friends this was normally a joking or feigned disapproval. For example: IS. Two 19 year old male friends are sitting around at the club in a jovial mood. One starts poking the other, who cries indignantly (with a sarcastic edge to his voice): @aayiz 'eeh yabni 'inta!?! What do you want, my son, you!?! Variants of 'axx and 'uxt Several terms derived from the word 'axx 'brother' appeared in the natural data. Besides 'axx itself, these include 'axx fulaan (with the first name added), 'axi and axuuya both meaning 'my brother,' 'emina 'our brother,' and 'ixwanna 'our brothers.' Likewise, besides the term 'uxt 'sister,' the terms uxti 'my sister' (which usually appears as yaxti when combined with the vocative particle) and uxtifulaana, with the first name, also appeared. These variations will be dealt with individually. 'axx and 'uxt. Several informants stated that the terms 'axx "brother' and 'uxt 'sister' are the most appropriate, polite terms for unknown addressees (particularly strangers on the street) of approximately the same age and social class as speaker. A Christian informant further stated that 'uxt was used in the "Christian community" to nuns and to any woman in a specifically religious setting. Muslim informants disagreed on the use of 'uxt in a Muslim setting, one stating the it was limited to Christians, and another claiming that it is common in Muslim "sisterhoods." Although only a few examples of the two terms appeared in the natural data, most fit the description provided by the informants. Four of the cases involved middle aged speakers and addressees who were strangers to each other and similar in social class. Equality of status is clearly implied. For example:

86 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

16. In a crowded bus, a middle-aged, middle class male passenger gets up from his seat in order to get off the bus. The passenger standing closest to the seat is another middle-aged, middle class man. However, this man's back is turned and it looks for a moment that one of several younger men is going to grab the seat. The descending passenger alerts the other passenger to the availability of the seat by saying: 'u'@ud ya 'axx. Sit down, brother. In most of the other cases in the natural data, the terms axx and 'uxt are used to a known addressee with a negative tone to imply annoyance, anger or to give an order. It is probable that this negative tone associated with use to known addressees is related to the fact that speakers consider the "normal" use of the term to be to unknown addressees. The term therefore has a distancing effect that is useful in situations involving anger, annoyance, or commands. For example: 17. A SS year old, middle class father is having a rather violent argument with his 29 year old daughter about money. She works in a ministry and has her own income which she feels she should control, not him. He repeats his line again and again, and she finally screams in anger ya 'axx 'iskut, 'ana 'ultilak miit marra tiskut! Shut up, brother, I've told you a hundred times to shut up! 18. A SO year old middle class mother has asked her 22 year old daughter to watch the seven month old granddaughter for her. The daughter and her neice are in the bedroom and the daughter is letting the niece fuss a lot since she is trying to study for exams. The mother finally bursts into the room to see why the neice is fussing so much and exclaims to her daughter: 'eeh da ya 'uxt?! What's this, sister?! Although in many of these cases of use of 'axx and 'uxt negatively there is not objective equality of age or social class, still a type of equality is implied or claimed by the use of the term. This is clear in the example 17 above, and also is in evidence in the one use of the term by a mother to her son in the polite context of giving advice. Despite the actual inequality built into their

Family Terms 87 relationship, she metaphorically raises him into her generation by use of the term, and makes the son feel that she is treating him like an equal. 'axx fulaan and 'uxt fulaana. Only one example of 'axx fulaan and no examples of 'uxt fulaana appeared in the natural data. Informants claimed, however, that both terms were used in both Muslim and Christian religious brotherhoods, and that both were also used to known addressees of equal social class with whom speaker had a formal relationship (those who are bi@iid Siwayya, in the words of one informant). Another perceptive informant noted that, in fact, the terms are usually used by a higher speaker to a lower addressee to make him feel an equality that does not actually exist. For example, bosses commonly use the terms to their employees to make them feel good, he claimed. This appears to be precisely what is happening in the one case that did appear in the natural data: 19. A television reporter is interviewing a group of university students live about student problems and goals. After talking to one, she turns to another, a 20 year old, middle class male: laakin 'inta ya 'axx mihammad @aawiz tiStagal feen? But you, Brother Muhammad, where do you want to work? He answered: wallaahi yafandim illi yigiibu rabbina kwayyis. Well, Ma'am, whatever God provides is OK with me. The term 'axx mihammad here expresses both politeness and a relative equality between speaker and addressee. Since the participants are not really equal, it is rather flattering to addressee. Notice that such usage was not, and probably could not have been, reciprocal. It appears, therefore, that 'axx fulaan is always a polite term, implying equality between speaker and addressee, and that in some cases it has the additional meaning of *brotherly solidarity,' particularly in religious settings. This latter usage can perhaps be compared to the use of the English word 'brother' in the Black English community in the United States, also used as an expression of solidarity. With the last name added (Brother Jones), the term is also used similarly in many religious communities of the United States, both black and white.

'axi, axuuya and uxti. Both 'axi and axuuya mean 'my brother' and uxti means 'my sister.' All are very common, over 300 instances of use having

88 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

occurred in the natural data. The three terms are used similarly in many ways, but there are also some important differences. The natural data for the three terms combined is statistically summarized in Table 14. Table 14. Statistical Summary for 'axi, axuuya and uxti Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

4.9 8.2

Significance %Effectof Level Variable .000

1.3

2. Speaker Social Class

Not Significant

3. Speaker Age

Not Significant

4. Addressee Sex

Not Significant

5. Addressee Social Class

Upper 4.7 Middle 6.3 Working 6.3

Rank of Variable 4

.050

0.7

7

6.5 5.1 3.5

.003

0.9

5

7. Acquaintance Known 6.3 Sl.Known 1.8 Unknown 4.4

.007

0.8—1.0

6

.000

7.5—8.4

1

.007

1.6

3

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old

8. Tone

Nomai Sarcastic Angry Imperial

3.0 5.0 14.5 5.4

9. a. Relationship Up 3.6 (Broad) Across 7.0 Down 4.0 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000 4.7 OVERALL EFFECT 46.9%

2

Family Terms 89

The data indicate, interestingly, that speaker social class and age, as well as addressee sex are not significant for these terms, indicating that speakers of all ages and social classes use them about the same as each other, and that females receive uxti about as often as males receive either 'axi or axuuya. Further, addressee social class and age are just barely significant. A young addressee is slightly more likely to receive the terms than an old one is, and working and middle class addressees are slightly more likely to receive them than upper class ones are, but both of these are rather minor tendencies with only a small effect on the outcome. The most important variable for all of these terms is the variable that was also mentioned the most commonly by informants in the interview when discussing these terms: tone of voice. Everyone agrees, and the data support the claim, that the terms 'axi, axuuya and uxti are used to express anger or annoyance at addressee, to contradict him, or in general to express something negative about him. The variable of detailed relationship was also quite important, and is related to the tone of voice variable. Use of the terms is common in all relationships in which it is socially possible to express annoyance: friend to friend, parent to child, child to parent, teacher to student, customer to salesman, salesman to customer, boss to employee, etc. but not student to teacher or employee to boss, for example. The statistics on speaker sex indicate that female speakers are about twice as likely to use one of these terms as their male counterparts are. This result will be elucidated by the analysis of the individual terms below, but it is still a noticióle tendency that at least some of the informants are consciously aware of. All speakers use the terms, but females use them about twice as often. Statistical analysis of the three terms individually was also performed. The results will not be given here in Table form, but in general each term follows the pattern of Table 14: for each, tone is the most important variable, with angry tone being the most common, for each the detailed relationship results were about the same, and for each speaker and addressee social class and age were either not at all significant or barely significant. The one variable that shows a marked, and highly statistically significant difference for the three terms is that of speaker sex. The results for this variable are pictured in Figure 5. Figure 5 indicates that males are three times as likely to choose 'axi as females are, while females are almost three times as likely to choose axuuya as males are, and are over three times as likely to choose uxti. The second part of Figure 5 compares just the terms 'axi and axuuya to each other, and these data also indicate that males are likely to choose 'axi over axuuya, while females are much more likely to choose axuuya over 'axi. Thus, the tendency mentioned above for female speakers to choose all of these terms more often that male speakers do is now understood to be limited to the terms axuuya and uxti. The form 'axi is preferred by male speakers. When this same data is controlled for speaker social class, we find that upper class female speakers

90 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

use about 80% axuuya compared to 'axi, that working class female speakers use over 95% axuuya compared to 'axi, but that middle class female speakers actually used more 'axi than axuuya. This pattern is difficult to account for, but it seems likely that it is related to the sense of linguistic insecurity discussed by Labov and others, since, as we will see, 'axi is in some respects a higher class word than is axuuya.

Figure 5. Speaker Sex for 'axi, axuuya and uxti. Informants stated, for example, that axuuya was the more baladi of the two terms, one stating that is was mustawa lugawi 'a'all 'a lower level of language.' It is also known that 'axi is the correct form in classical and standard Arabic, while axuuya would be considered an error in those forms of Arabic. It is possible that at one time axuuya was the only form in use, but that several generations ago the form 'axi was borrowed from standard Arabic and began gradually to replace it, beginning with the upper classes and with male speakers. Why the two forms came to distinguish speakers on the basis of sex is simply not clear, but apparently speakers did not mind the distinction or one of the terms would have begun to die out. Examples of each of these terms follow. The examples were chosen from the natural data to represent the types of tone usually involved. 20. Three friends were sitting in a coffee house. Two were in the middle of a deep discussion about religion, while the other kept interrupting. Finally, annoyed and frustrated, one of the friends yelled at the one who was interrupting: istanna y a 'axi 'ana ba'ullu 'eeh! ! Wait, my brother, I'm talking to him!! (roughly)

Family Terms 91 21. A spectator at a soccer match watches a player, surrounded by members of the opposing team, trying to do some fancy footwork to keep the ball. Several yards away, one of his teammates is in the clear. The spectator yells in an annoyed voice: ma huwwa faadi ya 'axi ma til@ablu!? He's in the clear, my brother, why don't you play it to him? 22. Two 16 year old upper class friends are in the locker room of a sporting club and one hits the other in the stomach. The second replies in fake indignation: bass yaxuuya mis @ayziin ginaan! Enough, my brother, we don't want any craziness! 23. An older working class woman gets on a bus at a major bus depot and asks an older working class man: raayih ilkitkaat da yaxuuya? Is this (bus) going to Kitkaat, my brother? 24. Two upper class sisters are going to watch TV, but the antenna is not hooked up. The 20 year old goes over to do it but can't figure it out. She asks the 17 year old: biyitrakkib izzayy da yaxti? How is this hooked up, my sister? 25. A baladi female walks into a government cooperative store and asks the female salesgirl: fiih @andukum salsa winnabi yaxti? Do you have tomato sauce please, my sister? 26. A crowded bus was about to stop and a female working class rider (age 30) was standing in the doorway. A male working class rider (age 32—a stranger) was standing behind her clearly impatient for her to start getting off the bus (it is common for male passengers to jump off before the bus comes to a full stop). The following conversation occurred:

92 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Male: (annoyed voice) nazla ya sitt 'inti? Female: (also annoyed) h aadir yaxuuya nazla bsur@a 'aho! Male: (not satisfied) tayyib winnabi yajla 'uumi yaxti! Male:

You, lady, are you getting off? (Implies something like: 'Start moving, lady, or 111 knock you down!1) Female: OK, brother, can't you see how fast I'm moving!? Male: Well then hurry, get on with it sister! Clearly, while all of these terms can be used with a "normal" tone of voice, when used with an annoyed or angry tone they can sound rather rude. 'axiina. Only one example of the term 'axiina 'our brother' appeared in the natural data: 27. A taxi driver pulls up in front of a bus and stops. The bus conductor leans his head out the window and yells angrily: itla@ 'uddaam ya 'axiina! Move forward, our brother! One interview informant mentioned the term, explaining that it has derogatory connotations like 'axi, and is used to express anger at people. When asked what specific situations it might be used in, he envisioned a policeman yelling the term to a driver who was making an illegal turn: raayih feen ya 'axiina!? Where are you going, our brother?! It seems safe to conclude that while 'axiina is much rarer than 'axi, its usage is parallel to that of 'axi. ixwanna. The term ixwanna is also represented by only one example in the natural data: 28. Several upper middle class 20 year old friends are dressing for a soccer game in the club locker room. They are a little late for the game so one tells the others to hurry with: yalla yaxwanna! Hurry up, our brothers!

Family Terms 93

No other usage (other than by a young man to a group of his friends) was mentioned by an informant. uxtifulaana. Two examples of uxti followed by the first name appear in the natural data. In both cases, a sibling is requesting help from a sister. In one case, a small boy screams for his sister to save him from the neighborhood girl who is hitting him. In the second case: 29. A 25 year old sister begs her 16 year old sister to fill up a bucket of water from downstairs for hen 'uxti @azza winnabi matimliiS liyya gardali wi'addiiki xamsasaag. My sister Azza, please won't you fill up a bucket of water for me and I'll give you five piastres. The 16 year old answers in sarcastic disgust: laa yaxti mitSakkira 'awi ya sitt haanim! No, my sister, thanks a lot, madam! (implying thanks but no thanks) Apparently, appending uxti to the normal first name between sisters has the effect of using the relationship to help out in the request, by specifically referring to it. It implies something like: 'You are my sister and therefore should do this for me.' The last example above illustrates well the difference in tone between a negative uxti and a begging uxtifulaana. sister. The English term sister is apparently used among Christian nurses (nuns?). One (Muslim) informant had an operation in a Christian hospital, and while lying in bed overheard the following situation: 30. Two female 35 year old nurses meet in the hall, one middle class and one working class. The latter greets the former with: sabaah ilxeer ya madaam. Good morning, madam. and the former replies: sabaah ilxeer ya sister. Good morning, sister.

94 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

The informant was quite surprised to hear this term at all, but Christian speakers claim that it is sometimes used. Lois Giffen, an American Arabist who worked in a hospital in Asyut, informed the author (personal communication) that in the hospital she was addressed with ya sistera. Although not very widely used, the terms do clearly exist. 'abeeh and 'a bla The terms 'abeeh and 'abla mean 'older brother' and 'older sister' respectively, and both are borrowed from Turkish. They may be used with or without the first name added, but if it is added it must come after the term ( 'abeeh fidaan, 'abla fulaana), which is not the case with other Turkish borrowings like be eh, baaSa and haanim. The first person pronoun ending may be added to 'abla ('obliti) but not to 'abeeh. Neither term was common enough for statistical analysis, but about fifty occurrences of the terms did appear in the data, which makes them relatively common terms, 'abla being somewhat more common than 'abeeh. Both terms are used to real older brothers and sisters, and are extended to others also. About half of the occurrences of 'abeeh involved use to an older brother, between eight and fifteen years older than speaker. Several more involved use to the "in-law" uncles, the husbands of the mother's and father's sisters. Informants stated that this usage is most common when the in-law uncles are younger than speaker's parents, since if they were the same age or older they would likely be addressed with @ammi 'my uncle' (FaBro). A few instances of the use of 'abeeh to friends of one's father and to older respected gentlemen (like one's landlord) also occurred. There is only one example of the use of 'abeeh to an addressee younger than speaker. This involved a grandfather addressing his son-in-law with the term in front of his grandchild for whom the son-in-law would be a Mother's Sister's Husband. In other words, he used the term that the child would be expected to use to the addressee. This same speaker addresses his wife as maama in front of the grandchildren. The form 'abla is also used extended to in-law aunts, older neighbors, friend's of speaker's mother, and in a few cases to strangers. One informant stated that 'abla implied that addressee was about 12 years older than speaker, and that it was commonly used to much older women to make them feel good. For some reason, the forms 'abla and 'abla fulaana are spread in the data among all the social classes, while the form 'abliti is limited to middle and working class speakers. The data are very limited, but it is possible that 'abliti is avoided by the upper classes. Besides these metaphorical extensions, the forms 'abla and 'abla fulaana have come to be the most common terms used to address female teachers in

Family Terms 95 elementary and secondary schools. One informant even insisted that use to teachers was the original use of the term and that use to older sisters was derivative, although historically this is clearly not the case. It must be noticed that it is a fitting term for a teacher, however, since one's relationship to a teacher should be marked by something like the mix of intimacy and respect that marks a typical Egyptian's relationship with his older siblings. The following examples of the use of these terms are given to illustrate extended usage to addressees who are not brothers or sisters of speaker. Notice in each case how the terms seem to combine both a feeling of intimacy and respect. 31. Hafiz (upper class, 38) was a dear friend of the father of Isam (upper class, 24). Isam's father's apartment was small and crowded with children while Hafiz had a large apartment with only two small children. Isam therefore would do his studying at Hafiz1 house. One day, he had his papers all spread out on the dining room table but was called into the salon to meet a guest. When he went back into the dining room a half hour later, his papers had been stacked neatly on the buffet He called: ya 'abeeh haafiz, Silt il'awraa' di leeh? Older brother Hafiz, why did you move these papers? 32. Azza (16 year old, middle class) brings a glass of water to her older sister's friend who is visiting and says: itfaddali ya 'abla.

Here you are, older sister. 33. A 65 year old upper class woman has gone to visit her younger brother's wife (upper class, 45). As she leaves, the latter bids her farewell with: ma@a ssalaama, ya 'abla fatma. Goodbye, older sister Fatma. 34. There is no water pressure upstairs, so a 55 year old middle class woman takes a bucket to the downstairs neighbors and says to the 35 year old working class wife: winnabi ya 'uxti 'imli lgardal b i l m a y y a

@alaSaan

ma@andinaa§ mayya xaalis. Please, my sister, fill the bucket with water because we have no water at all.

96 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

The 35 year old woman replies: min @ineeya ya 'abliti 'itfaddali ya salaam bass kida? With pleasure, my older sister, welcome. Goodness, only this (little bucket)? Terms for Aunts @ammiti, xaala, and xalti. The term @ammiti 'my FaSi' is apparently used only to real sisters of the father and perhaps to the wife of the father's brother (one informant claimed to use @ammiti to his miraat @amm 'FaBrWi'). All three examples of @ammiti in the natural data involved addressees who were speaker's father's sisters. The terms derived from xaala "MoSi' and from tant 'aunt,' on the other hand, are commonly extended to non-aunts. The term xaala appears alone, with the first person pronoun suffix {xalti), and with name or teknonym appended (xalti fulaana or xalti 'umm fulaana). The term tant also appears alone and with the name or teknonym added. The term xaala alone is apparently never used to real aunts. Only three examples of this form appear in the natural data, all quite similar. The speakers and addressees are all working class, the addressees are middle-aged or older, in each case speaker and addressee are strangers, all the speakers are male, and the tone is normal. For example: 35. At the zoo, a working class, 25 year old male walks up to the working class, 50 year old lady selling 7-up and asks: kaam ya xaala? How much, aunt? An interview informant claimed that it is common for fallahiin 'farmers' to address older women in this way. It is polite, but is clearly avoided by middle and upper class speakers. Only one example of xalti appeared in the natural data: 36. A 35 year old working class male is seated at a coffee house and a 55 year old female working class neighbor walks by. He says: 'ahlan ya 'ummi, 'itfaddali ya xalti. Hello, my mother, welcome, my aunt. Several informants claimed that this kind of usage is normal. They said that xalti is the most common term in the working class for any known woman

Family Terms 97 the age of speaker's mother, especially neighbors and friends of the family. It is both polite and expresses a degree of intimacy. One working class informant stated that she always called the next door neighbor woman (who was the age of her mother) xalti 'umm mustafa, i.e. with addressee's teknonym appended to the term and the first person pronoun suffix. It should be noted that most informants from the middle and upper classes claimed never to use xalti, and those that said they did use it sometimes to a real maternal aunt claimed they never use it to anybody else. Clearly, the extended usages of xalti to non-aunts are limited to working class speakers.

tant. More common than either of the above mentioned forms is tant. This term is extended to mothers-in-law, older female neighbors, and to friends of one's mother. Clearly, speakers have the same kind of intimate but respectful relationship with all of these categories of addressees that they normally have with their real aunts, and therefore use of the term tant is metaphorically appropriate. There does appear to be a social class split here, however. Most of the upper and middle class informants claimed to use tant in this extended way, while several working class informants claimed never to use it in this way, claiming to use xalti instead. Use of tant in the natural data was also entirely limited to upper and middle class speakers and addressees. In extended usage, therefore, as in usage to real aunts, the terms xalti and tant are in a state of sociolinguistic variation with each other on the basis of the social class of speaker, tant being considered the high form and xalti the low. Three examples of the use of tant are given. 37. A 17 year old boy goes to the house of a friend. The friend's 40 year old mother answers the door. The boy says: hiSaam mawguud ya tant? Is Hisham here, aunt? 38. A 35 year old upper class man comes home from work and wants to know if his wife has come home from her work yet. He asks his mother-in-law (who lives with them): hiyya haala rig@it ya tant fïifï? Did Hala come home yet, Aunt Fifi? 39. An 11 year old boy runs next door to get something from the neighbor lady. To get her attention he yells:

98 Constructing the Social Context of Communication ya tant 'umm sanaa'! Oh Aunt-Mother-of-Sana! Terms for Uncles Interestingly, though it is the term for the maternal aunt (MoSi) that is usually extended to non-relatives, it is the term for the paternal uncle (FaBr), @amm, that is used in parallel situations. The term xaali 'my MoBr' is apparently restricted in use to real mother's brothers, just as @ammiti 'my FaSi' was restricted to real father's sisters. Only two instances of xaali appear in the natural data, and both are addressed to real mother's brothers. The borrowed term 'ankil, with or without the name, is occasionally extended to non-uncles also. The term @amm itself appears in several forms: alone, with the first person singular pronoun suffix (@ammi), with a name or teknonym added (@amm fulaan, @amm 'abu fulaan), with both the first person pronoun and the name (@ammi fulaan), with the first person plural pronoun suffix (@ammina), with the 'endearing' suffix -u (@ammu), with the endearing suffix and the name (@ammu fulaan), with the second person pronoun either before or after (ya @amm 'inta, 'inta ya @amm), and with several other terms in the term il-term pattern (@amm il hag g, @amm ilh agg fulaan, @amm iSSeex, @amm iSSeex fulaan, @amm irrayyis, @amm il'usta, etc.). Since usage of these various forms are quite different from each other, they will be dealt with separately.

@amm. The term @amm used alone or combined with the second person pronoun ('inta ya @amm, ya @amm 'inta) is one of the most frequently occurring terms in the natural data corpus, with more than 300 instances of use recorded. Like the form xaala, @amm without a first person pronoun ending is never used to real uncles. It is used to almost every other category of male addressee, however, including fathers, brothers, friends, and salesmen, customers, strangers etc. Even a few uses to female addressees were recorded. About half of the time tone of use is negative or sarcastic, implying that speaker is annoyed with something addressee has said or done. With young speakers, however, the term is so common among friends that it has lost much of its negative impact and functions as an important part of the constant banter that occurs in young peer groups. Upper class informants did use the words baladi, Sa@bi 'of the masses,' and @adam ilihtiraam 'disrespect' when discussing this term, however, and they claimed that a young upper class speaker would use the term to an older gentleman only if he were working class. Working class informants, on the other hand, claimed to use the form to any older man, stating that he could be baladi or afrangi 'westernized.' Informants of all classes claimed to use the term to addressees

Family Terms 99 their own age with no restrictions at all. In a few instances the form @amm is even used in the context of praising addressee, as will be seen in the examples below. The natural data for the term @amm used alone or with 'inta are statistically summarized in Table IS. Table IS. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for @amm Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

6.6 1.9

2. Speaker Social Upper 4.0 Class Middle 5.8 Working 6.4 3. Speaker Age

Young MidAge Old

6.6 4.7 3.0

4. Addressee Sex 5. Addressee Social Class

Significance %Effect of Level Variable

Rank of Variable

.000

2.4

3

.003

0.6

7

.000

1.2

4

Not Applicable Upper 3.7 6.2 Middle Working 6.6

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Okl

5.6 6.3 3.4

.000

1.2

5

.013

0.9

6

7. Acquaintance

Not Significant

8. Tone

Not Significant

9. a. Relationship Up 1.9 (Broad) Across 7.1 Down 4.3 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000

3.1

.000 9.9 OVERALL EFFECT 41.9%

2 1

100 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

As the table indicates, detailed relationship is by far the most important variable for this term. The lion's share of use involved friends addressing friends with the term. This is almost certainly why both speaker and addressee age are slightly significant, since it is among young peer groups that the term is used the most. The fact that tone of use is not statistically significant indicates that the term @amm is used as frequently with angry, sarcastic, and imperial tones of voice as it is with a normal tone. Tone appears as a highly significant variable in terms of respect that appear mostly with a normal tone of voice. Speaker sex also turns out to be a highly significant variable for this term. Males use it over three times more often than females do. It can be assumed, again, that this result is related to the heavy use of the term by young males in peer group situations that are not normally open to females in Egyptian society. In the few instances in the natural data in which peer group interaction involving both males and females was recorded (at a sporting club and a university), female use of the term appears to be as common as male use. Although speaker and addressee social class by themselves are only somewhat significant variables, examination of the data indicates that the pattern mentioned by the informants can be detected in actual use. Working class speakers used the term much more to addressee's who were not friends in their peer group than upper class speakers did. Upper class speakers used it almost entirely to peer group friends. Further, when we set aside all instances of use to friends and examine only use to non-friends, we find that working class speakers used the term equally to addressees of all classes, while both upper and middle class speakers used it almost entirely down to working class addressees. The term @amm may therefore be characterized as a rather disrespectful term, used to all classes of male addressees in situations where disrespect (either sarcastic or real) is appropriate. Its use is more likely if speaker and addressee are friends, if speaker is male, if both speaker and addressee are young, and if speaker is working class, although all of these latter constraints are quite weak, and the term is used heavily by all categories of speakers. The examples given below illustrate many of the ways in which @amm is used. The first example illustrates perhaps the most uncommon, but still very typical, use, to praise. It is one of the four instances of use of @amm to a female addressee. All of these are similar to this one, involving a young speaker praising a young woman either seriously or in mu@aakasa 'teasing. In each case the term was proceeded by the word 'ayyooh roughly 'wow.' 40. A teenage girl walks into her friend's house wearing a new dress. The friend exclaims: 'ayyooh ya @amm @ala lfasatiin ilgidiida! Wow, uncle, a new dress!

Family Terms 101 The other examples illustrate more common serious and playful use of the term. 41. In the main office of a secondary school, two middle-aged male teachers, who are good friends, see each other for the first time today. One says in a friendly voice: 'izzayyak ya @amm? How are you, uncle? 42. A pharmacist (middle-aged, upper class) fills a prescription for an older, very baladi gentleman. He hands it to him and says in a kind voice: xod, ya @amm. Here, uncle. (The pharmacist then proceeds to explain how it should be used.) 43. A working class boy is playing near the door of a barbershop in a baladi neighborhood. TÎie working class, middle-aged barber tells him to go play somewhere else. The boy angrily replies: 'eehya@amm!? haddkallimak!? What's the problem, uncle!? Did anyone say anything to you!? (implies 'mind your own business') 44. A IS year old boy tells his friend to go up and ask a salesman how much the soccer ball is. Pretending to be annoyed, the friend replies: ya @amm 'is'al 'inta! Uncle, ask yourself! With 'inta on either side, @amm is always negative in tone. At the front, 'inta ya @amm usually acts as a summons, when speaker is trying to get addressee's attention in order to tell him to do something. FOT example: 45. A bus driver pulls his "tourist bus" right into a public bus stop that is reserved only for city busses. A city bus driver was just about to drive his bus into that very spot, so he sticks his head out the window and yells angrily: 'inta ya @amm mis Saayif il@arabiyya daxla!? You, uncle, can't you see the vehicle coming in!?

102 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

With 'inta after the term, general annoyance, anger or impatience is expressed, as in: 46. A middle-aged, middle class customer has been waiting overly long at a ta@miyya shop to be waited on. He finally yells at the middle-aged, baiadi salesman: matyalla, ya @amm 'inta! Why don't you hurry up, uncle, you! @ammfulaan and @amm 'abu fulaan. Although not as common as @amm alone, @amm fulaan is still also one of the most common terms of the entire corpus, with over 150 usages recorded. Unlike @amm alone, @amm fulaan is not a sarcastic or non-serious term. Rather, it is a term of respect. Working class informants claimed to use at to any older gentlemen, while upper and middle class informants said they used it only to working class older gentlemen, such as baiadi salesmen, doormen, club workers, janitors, etc. It is not a term of respect in the sense that a high, upper class term might be, but it is considered to be a polite term for this category of addressee, nicer than just a name alone. It implies a certain amount of endearment or familiarity along with the respect. The natural data for this term are statistically summarized in Table 16. Clearly, @amm fulaan is not a term used jokingly or sarcastically very much. It is restricted to certain categories of addressees, as indicated by the high significance of detailed relationship. Note also that while speaker social class is not significant at all and speaker age is only barely significant, addressee social class and age are both highly significant, indicating that a large majority of uses of this form involve older, working class addressees. It is used mostly down, occasionally across, and almost never up. As with @amm alone, males are more likely to use @amm fulaan than females are. In short, this term is typically used by any type of speaker to an older baiadi man they are at least somewhat acquainted with in a nice or polite tone of voice. One typical example of this type of use is given. 47. An upper class grandmother sends her 20 year old grandson down to get the bawwaab 'doorman, concierge.' When he finds him, he says: ya @amm xamiis, giddití @ayzaak. Uncle Xamiis, my grandmother wants you.

Family Terms 103

Table 16. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for @amm fulaan Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

3.2 1.4

2. Speaker Social Class 3. Speaker Age

Young MidAge Okl

.000

1.4

Rank of Variable 7

Not Significant 3.3 2.6 1.5

4. Addressee Sex 5. Addressee Social Class

Significance %Effectof Level Variable

.019

1.2

8

Not Applicable Upper 0.2 Middle 4.8 Working 7.4

.000

9.1

2

1.0 4.8 7.4

.000

8.9

3

7. Acquaintance Known 3.7 SI.Known 5.4 Unknown 0.3

.000

5.6—6.4

4

.000

3.4—3.8

.000

5.7

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old

8. Tone

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

3.7 1.6 1.0 1.3

9. a. Relationship Up 0.7 (Broad) Across 2.4 Down 5.9 b. Relationship (Detailed)

@ammi

and @ammi fulaan.

.000 17.9 OVERALL EFFECT 59.9%

Unlike @amm

alone and @amm

fulaan,

@ammi is used to real father's brothers. It is also extended to the in-law

104 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

uncles and to father's-in-law. It is not anywhere near as common as either of the other two forms, 38 instances of use having been recorded. Two types of use are apparent, one, usually sarcastic, to a friend (similar to @amm), and the other, usually polite, to an older gentleman the age of one's real uncle (similar to @amm fulaan). Examples of these two types from the natural data include: 48. Sitting around on the grass outside the university with a group of fellow students and friends, 20 year old Bulbul starts bragging about what a beautiful voice he used to have, how they made tapes of it and people bought them for four pounds. Nadia quickly replies in joking sarcasm: wala bi'arba@a saag ! Not even for four piastres! and Hanaa' even more quickly continues: walaeven bi'arba@a malliim, of yaa@ammi! Not for four-tenths piastre, my uncle! 49. A 45 year old baladi male customer is standing in the door of a tamiyya shop eating his sandwich. A salesman who needs to get by him says politely: law samaht ya @ammi 'a@addi. Could I please pass by, my uncle? The only example of @ammi fulaan involved use by an upper class woman to her father-in-law. The tone of use was normal. @ammina. The term @ammina is a very baladi term. It can be used with either a negative or a positive tone of voice to working class neighbors, customers or strangers, and is either polite or rude depending on the tone of voice. Only 12 examples of this term appeared in the data, so it is not particularly common, and all but one of these examples involved use by middle and working class speakers, indicating that upper class speakers avoid using it even a little. A typical example follows: 50. An older working class, baladi man walks over to the bus driver's window and asks the driver:

Family Terms 105 raayih 'alf maskan da, ya @ammina? Is (this bus) going to Alf Maskan, our uncle? @ammu and @ammufulaan . Only four examples of the terms @ammu or @ammu fulaan appeared in the natural data. Both are considered to be terms of endearment, and are positive in tone. The form @ammu was used once to a real @amm and once to the friend of an older brother. The form @ammu fulaan was used to a grandfather and to a close friend. @amm il-term (fulaan). The term @amm is commonly combined with several other terms in the @amm il-term pattern. Two of these combinations, @amm il hag g 'uncle, the pilgrim1 and @amm iSSeex 'uncle, the sheikh,' are quite common and are also found with the first name. Other not-so-common combinations are: @amm irrayyis 'uncle, the boss,' @amm il'usta 'uncle, the master teacher,' and @amm iSSabaab 'uncle of the youth.' Both @amm iSSeex and @amm il hag g are used mainly to older, baladi addressees by speakers of all ages and social classes. Usage is almost always polite. The term @amm iSSeex is also the most common term used to address religious sheikhs in baladi areas, but it is not appropriate to sheikhs of the higher classes, for example to professors at Azhar University. For example: 51. A working class 25 year old soldier on a bus sees a 55 year old working class man who seems to be having trouble standing. He stands up from his seat, motions for the man to come and sit down, and says: itfaddal ya @amm ilhagg ta@aala 'u'@ud! Please, uncle the pilgrim, come and sit down! to which the old man replied: 'inta yabni 'asiil wigada@ mis zayy iSSabaab ittanya l@ayaal. You, my son, are a true man, not like the other childish youths. 52. A 25 year old middle class man walks up to the 45 year old sheikh of the local mosque after the prayers and says:

106 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

winnabi ya @amm iSSeex 'ana @aawiz 'astaSiirak fi mas'ala. Please, uncle, the sheikh, I want to get your opinion on a certain matter. to which the sheikh replies: 'uul yabni 'ana taht 'amrak. Speak, my son, I am at your service. 53. A 34 year old bus driver stops in front of a coffee house because he and the conductor have both decided they need some tea. The 45 year old conductor has agreed to go and get it but is busy taking tickets and doesn't notice that they are stopped. The driver yells back: 'inzil ya @amm iSSeex saalih ! Get off (the bus), uncle, sheikh Salih! The terms @amm irrayyis and @amm il'usta both occurred only once in the natural data. The first was used to a middle class salesman in anger to demand faster service. The second was used to a bus driver to thank him for letting a passenger off between stops. It should be noted that rayyis alone is commonly used to address salesmen who are middle class or lower, and 'usta alone is commonly used to drivers. The addition of @amm in the one case appears to make the term more rude, and in the other to make it more polite. The term @amm iSSabaab appeared twice in the natural data, in both cases used by male friends in their twenties and thirties to each other. All participants were middle class. In both cases, the term is positive in tone, and appears to imply that addressee is full of vitality and youth. For example: 54. Several 20 year old middle class friends meet on the street. The following exchange occurs between two of them: A. salaamu @aleekum ya riggaala! B. itfaddal ya @amm iSSabaab, itfaddal ya 'ustaaz salaah ! A. 'allaah yikrimak ya beeh! A. Greetings, men! B. Welcome, uncle of the youth, welcome, Professor Salah! A. God honor you, Bey!

Family Terms 107 'ankil. Of the four occurrences of 'ankil in the natural data, three involved use to real uncles. The other was used by a young man sarcastically to his friend: 55. A 22 year old middle class male is walking down the street with a group of friends. He starts to show off by using a few English and French words in his EA conversation. Speaker makes fun of him by responding indignantly: 'eeh ya 'ankil!? What's this, uncle!? Unlike tant, as we have seen in the first part of this chapter, 'ankil is still used only by very upper class speakers to real uncles, and is considered by others to be overly "westernized." Thus it can be used in the negative manner of the last example while tant could not be used in this way. 'aribna The term 'aribna is not used for addressing relatives, as far as can be determined. It occurred only once in the natural data, used by a bus conductor asking a young male rider to move so he could pass by. An interview informant explained that it is like 'cai and axiina: i.e. it is normally used to express anger or annoyance. walad and bint and Their Variants The set of terms derived from the forms walad "boy' and bint 'girl,' are among the most frequently occurring terms of the entire corpus, with over 360 examples appearing. All are used to young children and to addressees under thirty in general, by speakers of all ages, including young ones. These terms, as a group, form an interesting sociolinguistic continuum which is in many ways parallel to that of the forms of baaba and maama. Table 17 shows the various forms and their approximate ranking derived from statements by interview informants. The terms in Table 17 are in approximate order, the top being more respectable, upper class, educated, etc. and the bottom more baladi, lower class, uneducated, etc. Illese rankings were derived from statements made by informants when comparing two or more of the terms. Most of the informants agreed that walad and bint were better or higher than the others, using phrases like 'usluub 'ah san Siwayya 'a little better style.' One informant recognized that they are parallel to the forms maama and baaba in the sense that they are the forms used in (and taught in) school settings.

108 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Even waad, which ranked consistently higher than all the other walad forms, always ranked below walad. Since of the five forms for males only walad appears also in Standard Arabic, it may be surmised that part of its prestige derives from that fact. Table 17. Ranking of the Forms of walad and bint Ranking high

Male

Female

ya walad

ya bint

yawaad yala(d)

ya bitt

ya wala low

yaa

ya bih

The differences among the forms below walad inTable 17 were expressed in various ways. An upper class informant stated that he himself would use walad to his own sons or nephews, but waad to uneducated boys on the street. He further claimed that uneducated parents use waad to their sons and that uneducated boys use yaa to each other during street fights. In other words, he has clearly ordered the three forms. A middle class informant claimed he would use waad to his own son, wala to a young boy he was mad at, and yaa to an uneducated boy in the street he was mad at. Again, he has given an order to three of the forms that fits into the order of the first informant mentioned. A second upper class informant stated that while walad was the best form, waad was still much better than yala or yaa. A third upper class informant claimed to use walad both to her own children and other small boys, using waad only as a kind of Sitiima 'term of abuse' to working class boys. She also claimed that the use of yaa was restricted to fights. An informant who is a teacher claimed to use walad to the students in his classes, but said he would not use waad under any circumstances, it being a mark of lack of education. According to him, yaa is a horrible phonetic symbol of the degradation and fallenness of both the Arabic language and Egyptian society in general, and he equates its use with ignorance. From statements like these, the approximate order of the forms in Table 17 can be derived. It is interesting to note, following the lead of the informant

Family Terms 109 Table 18. Summary of Natural Data for walad and bint and Their Variants Speaker TERM Sex

Speaker Social Class

M

F

UC MC WC

Υ

MA

0

walad waad yala wala yaa

0.6 1.6 1.6 2.6 1.8

0.7 6.9 0.4 0.9 0.7

0.9 4.1 0.7 0.8 1.0

0.5 3.1 1.6 2.1 1.7

0.5 2.8 0.9 2.4 1.3

1.3 2.5 0.8 2.1 1.1

bint bitt bih

0.1 0.5 0.9 4.0 0.0 0.1

0.4 2.3 1.2 3.4 2.1

0.4 0.1 0.2 1.4 1.5 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.1

0.2 0.1 0.6 1.5 1.7 2.2 0.0 0.1 0.0

.000

.000

Prob, of Chance .000 TERM

0.6 2.4 2.0 2.1 1.3

Addressee Social Class

Speaker Age

Tone

UC MC WC

Υ MA

0

0.8 3.3 0.6 0.5 0.8

1.0 4.6 1.9 3.3 2.2

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.3 2.5 1.8 1.7 1.2

0.7 2.9 1.5 4.5 2.6

0.2 0.2 0.2 0.9 1.8 2.4 0.0 0.0 0.1 .000

Acquaintance

NOT. S arc. Mad Imp.

Addressee Age

Known Sl.Kn. Unkn.

0.1 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.3

0.3 0.1 0.0 2.6 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 .000

Relationship (Broad) Up

Across Down

walad waad yala wala yaa

0.6 1.1 0.7 1.2 0.6

0.6 7.0 1.1 0.5 3.3

0.6 4.2 1.7 2.3 2.8

1.3 9.5 6.0 15.1 3.5

0.6 3.6 1.6 2.6 1.9

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.8

0.6 1.4 0.5 1.1 0.5

0.1 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.2

0.7 3.0 1.7 2.1 1.8

1.0 5.3 1.1 4.1 2.1

bint bitt bih

0.2 0.8 0.0

0.3 1.4 0.0

0.4 3.1 0.1

0.0 6.0 0.0

0.3 2.1 0.1

0.9 0.0 0.0

0.1 0.6 0.0

0.0 0.3 0.0

0.3 1.3 0.1

0.3 3.9 0.0

Prob, of Chance

.000

.000

.000

mentioned above, that the lower the form on the continuum, the more phonologically reduced ("degraded?") it has become. It is, apparently, a subtle form of phonological symbolism.

110 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

The natural data support the ranking of the terms made by the informants. As can be seen in Table 18, all of the forms are strongly marked for speaker sex and speaker and addressee social class. Addressee age, naturally, is also an important variable, as is tone and relationship. Note that in the table, only the column variables and the overall probability of chance are given, because there are so many outcomes for this system. It is clear from the table that the forms bint, bitt and waad are favored by female speakers, that the form walad is neutral as to sex of speaker, and that yala, wala and yaa are heavily favored by male speakers. Further, bint, walad and waad are all more likely àie higher the social class of speaker, while bitt, wala, and yaa are all more likely the lower the social class of speaker. Only the form yala appears to be favored by middle class speakers over either upper or working class speakers. Likewise, the forms bint, bitt and walad are more likely the older speaker is, while waad, yala, and yaa are more likely the younger speaker is, with only the term wala being more likely with middle aged speakers than it is with either old or young ones. Clearly, the way a speaker uses the walad and bint forms is a sensitive marker of who he believes himself to be in terms of sex, age and social class. Any one use, of course, does not clearly mark any of these factors, since speakers of all types were recorded using all of these terms at one time or another, but a speaker's pattern of use over time very clearly reflects all of the factors involved. The terms appear to form a continuum, and speakers control either part or all of the continuum. In a formal or school setting they may be likely to choose terms from the upper end of the part of the continuum which they control, in a family setting they may be more likely to choose a "medium" term from their range, and in an angry situation they may be likely to choose a term from the lower end of their range. Over the entire speech community, we find that upper class speakers' ranges normally fall higher on the continuum than working class speakers' rangers do, and that females of any one social class control a higher range than males of the same social class. In short, the variation involved is fairly typical sociolinguistic variation, familiar from phonological and other studies. Addressee social class patterns closely with speaker social class, and the data on addressee age indicate that, as expected, a huge majority of the addressees of all of these terms were young. It was the impression of all of the informants that the primary use of these terms was to tell young people to do something, i.e. to give a young person a command. The natural data on tone of use indicate that an "imperial" tone was by far the most common for all but two of the forms (the two least common, by the way), and that a "normal" tone was the least common in all but one of the forms. The forms are thus used in anger, sarcasm, and in general to give commands much more than they are used for normal, calm interaction. The data on broad relationship indicate that none of the terms are used "up" very much, and that most are used more "down" than "across," (yala being the

Family Terms 111 only form used more "across" than "down"). The data on detailed relationship indicate that use of all of the terms is most common among friends, neighbors, relatives and in school situations. It should be noted that the walad forms are all equally common except for the form walad itself, which is about half as common as the others in the natural data. The form bin appeared much more frequently than did bint, while the form bih appeared only once in the natural data. Since speakers vary among the various terms, it should not be surprising to find that some speakers use more than one form to the same addressee in the same speech event Examples of this phenomenon, from the natural data, include, among others: 56. A young upper class boy yells at his friend who is poking him: bass ya walad! xalaas ya waad! Enough, boy! That's it, boy! 57. A working class boy is goofing off near a vegetable stand and he keeps bumping into it. The owner finally yells: bass ya waad! 'inta yaa! Enough, boy! You, boy! 58. A young soccer player yells at one of his team mates during a soccer match: Suutyawala! Suut yaa! Shoot, boy! Shoot, boy! (at a soccer match) Typical examples of each of the terms we have been discussing follow: 59. In a mechanical drawing class at a secondary school, the teacher finishes explaining how to draw a certain figure, tells the students to try it, and then goes toward the back of the classroom to sit and wait. On his way back, he sees a student who hasn't started drawing yet and says: yalla ya walad! Hurry up, boy! 60. A seven year old upper class brother snatches a pen from his fifteen year old sister. After trying to grab it back, she finally demands:

112 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

ya waad, haatu ba'a! Boy, give it to me! 61. Two 25 year old middle class male friends are at the cinema together. One is in a playful mood and yells in an overloud voice: ma tiigi yala niruuh doorit ilmayya. Come on, boy, let's go to the men's room. 62. In the crowded Metro, a young working class boy is riding half in and half out of the open door. The conductor comes along and shoos him in with an annoyed voice: yallaya wala! Hurry up, boy! 63. An important soccer match is on television and several young working class men are gathered at the coffee house to watch it. A very young working class boy keeps running in and out, yelling and getting in people's way. One of the young men finally yells: bassyaa! bassyaa! Enough,boy! Enough, boy! 64. In an Arabic Grammar class at Ain Shams University, the 50 year old professor asks a question and calls on a 20 year old middle class female student to answer it. She gets it all wrong, and the professor replies: laa ya bint! No, girl! 65. At the zoo, a 15 year old working class girl starts ducking under the guard rail to go right up to the lion's cage. The 40 year old guard yells: matudxuliiS guwwa, ya bitt! Don't go inside, girl! 66. A 45 year old working class male buys a pack of cigarettes at a kiosk from a 13 year old working class salesgirl. She takes her time serving him, but he is in a hurry to catch a bus and so says:

Family Terms 113 xudi lfiluus, ya bitt! Take the money, girl! Partly because of the already negative tone associated with the five wdcd forms, all of them are frequently combined with 'inta 'you,' either before or after the term. Every such case involved a negative, usually angry tone. Forms included 'inta ya wala, ya waad 'inta, and many other similar combinations of each of the forms with 'inta either before or after. All of these forms are also commonly combined with the name in the (ya) walad yafulaan or (ya) bint ya fulaana patterns. Except for waad ya fulaan, which is used mainly to relatives and is especially common by female speakers, the walad terms with the name are used mainly to and by young male friends and must be considered as part of the constant banter that occurs among them. Like the term used without the name, all of these terms tend to be accompanied by an order or command, but may also express anger or merely be used to call or praise someone. For example: 67. A middle class father calls up to his 16 year old daughter, Azza, from the street, but she is engrossed in the radio and doesn't hear. Her 30 year old sister is sitting by the window and finally gets her attention with: ya bitt ya @azza 'ilha'i 'abuuki biyindah @aleeki min taht! 'inzili kallimiih bisur@a! Girl, Azza, go to your father, he is calling you from below! Go down and talk to him quickly! The walad and bint forms are also very commonly accompanied by a second term of address, using the (ya) walad ya term pattern. The second terms, often adjectives, usually imply something either positive or negative about addressee, and are therefore used as terms of courtesy ( mugamla), terms of abuse (Sitiima), or terms of 'teasing' (mu@aakasa). A list of the terms occurring with the walad forms in the natural corpus is found in Table 19. It is interesting to note that the truly "heavy" Sataayim 'abusive terms' occur mainly with yaa while the lighter Sataayim occur with waad and yala. Note also that many of the terms used with waad for mu@aakasa 'teasing' are used to female addressees. Very few examples of any one of the above forms occurred in the natural data, in most cases only one. Many of the terms, particularly in part A of Table 19, appear to be improvised on the spur of the moment, and EA informants don't recognize them particularly as terms of address (for example 'asfar, datsun, zariif, etc.), but others are very common even used without waad as terms of address (gada@, gamiit). These will be dealt with in later chapters. The point is that the set of words that can go after a walad form in

114 Constructing the Social Context of Communication Table 19. Second Terms Occurring With walad and bint Forms A. mugamla 'courtesy' or mu@aakasa "bothering' (all used with pattern waadya term) 1. @adlaat muscles 2. 'asfar yellow (to a girl wearing a yellow dress) 3. buuram experienced in the ways of the world 4. datsun Datsun car strong young man 5. gada@ 6. gamiil beautiful, handsome extraordinary 7. haayil 8. hinayyin gende 9. la@@iib a sports playo* Libyan (herc=crazy) 10. liibi almond (here=beautiful) 11. looz 12. si@iidi from upper Egypt (here=hicky) 13. sugayyar small 14. Sahd delicious 15. Sibs potato chips (here=delicious) 16. ti'iil heavy (here=pretending to pay no attention to a member of the opposite sex) 17. zariif nice B. Sitiima 'term of abuse' a. used with pattern wood ya term 1. 'aliil il'adab impolite 2. zift tar, asphalt (here=bad) 3. mithazza'/muhazza' mocked, laughing stock 4. magnuun crazy 5. muftari slanderer 6. g ab i dumb 7. ibn ilkalb son of the dog b. used with pattern yala ya term 1. @abiit stupid c. used with pattern yaa ya term 1. @ala'a leech 2. ibn ilkalb son of the dog 3. ibn ilwisxa son of the filthy woman 4. xawal homosexual playing the female role

Family Terms 115 C. mugamla and Sitiima with the bitt ya term pattern happy 1. farhaana dragged around 2. gargar stupid 3. habla 4. kawboy cowboy (to a giri wearing jeans) crazy 5. magnuuna 6. Saboniiz a certain cut of a dress

the (ya) walad ya term pattern is not a closed set; rather, creativity and improvisation are valued in this usage. The idea is to find an adjective or noun that metaphorically or otherwise fits the situation one is trying to describe. In almost all cases, these forms are used without other associated speech, almost as exclamations. They function in what has been referred to as the "name-calling" mode: their primary purpose is to overtly ascribe to addressee the attributes associated with the term In this they are unlike what might be considered the mere "normal" term of address mode which at least appears to mark social features secondarily, but functions primarily on the discourse level to begin and maintain conversations. The form wilaad 'boys' is the plural of walad. It appeared a few times in the natural data used by speakers of both sexes to groups of young men or young men and women together. In all (nine) cases speaker was middle-aged or older and the tone was neutral rather than negative. It is used to groups of one's own children, to one's younger brothers and sisters, to younger neighbors, friends, friends of one's children and occasionally to groups of young strangers. For example: 68. A 40 year old working class mother is walking down the street near her home and meets her son (19 years old) standing with a group of his friends. She says: 'izzayyuku yawlaad? How axe you boys? One, not her son, replies: 'ahlan, ya 'ab liti, 'izzayy sihhitik? Welcome, my older sister, how is your health?

116 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Summary Statement The family terms, taken as a whole, are by far the most frequently occurring terms of the entire corpus. While a few of the terms are limited in address to the actual relative that the term names (@ammiti, xaali, probably giddi and neena), most of them are extended fairly broadly to a wide set of other addressees. Many of the terms are heard more often in addressing nonrelatives than relatives, and certain forms of some of the terms (@amm, 'axiina) are used only to addressees who are not the relative named by the term. It is tempting to suggest that this widespread extended use of the family terms indicates that EA speakers tend to see their relationships with the people around them in terms of their family relationships. In many of the cases we have discussed, the extended usages of the terms did appear to be metaphorical in this way. Terms for aunts were extended mainly to women who were both the age of one's real aunt and with whom speaker was somewhat intimate. Terms for 'my son' and 'my daughter' were extended by older people to addressees the age of their real sons and daughters, often in the "fatherly" context of giving helpful advice. The term for 'older brother' was extended to friends of one's father who were younger than the father but older than speaker-the age of an older brother. The term for "brother' was extended in solidarity to strangers of one's own age and social class. Many other examples could be given. This metaphorical point of view on the terms, however, fails to explain other types of family term usage. The terms meaning 'my brother' are commonly used to express annoyance, even though this is not necessarily the natural state of affairs between brothers in EA society. The term @amm is an important part of the friendly banter between friends, and it is difficult to see any relationship between this and one's relationship to his father's brother. While some of the negative uses of the terms can be metaphorically related to family relationships (for example, when a young friend uses ibni 'my son' to express fake indignation to a friend, he may be pretending to take the role of an adult in calling the friend down), others cannot (at least not so easily~for example, the terms for brothers, sisters, and uncles, used negatively). For these, the lexical family-oriented meanings of the word are suppressed (except usually the sex of addressee variable, although we have even seen several occasions in which male terms were used to females) in favor of a set of more emotional connotations that often express anger, annoyance, fault-finding, disagreement or simple buffoonery, or a pretense of anger, annoyance, etc. Besides functioning on the relationship level (stating precisely what the actual or metaphorical relationship between speaker and addressee is) and on the personal or emotional level (implying what speaker's attitude toward addressee is), most of the family terms also function on the social level. On this level, terms mark the social position of both speaker and addressee.

Family Terms 117

They are able to do this because of variable usage both within one speaker and across the speech community. Thus, in some cases, middle class and higher speakers will use one term exclusively (tant) while lower class speakers use an entirely different term (xalti). In other cases, speakers of all classes use several variants of a term, but the speakers from the upper classes will use one variant more than others while lower class speakers use another more (walad variants, baaba variants). In still other cases, speakers of all classes use a certain form, but speakers of the upper classes will use it only down while speakers of the lower classes will also use it across and even up (@amm fulaan). And finally, certain terms do not mark the social class of speaker, but do mark that of addressee, all classes of speakers using the term to a certain class of addressees ('abla when used to teachers). The observer is struck, in fact, with the large number of variants available in family terms. These have come into EA by borrowing (from Standard Arabic, Turkish, and European languages), by phonetic reduction of an original EA term, and by extending the scope of certain terms. One can't help but note that there must be a relationship between this tendency in EA to acquire relatively large numbers of variants for the various family terms and the fact that use of the family terms is such a sensitive marker of social class. These two factors are, of course, complementary. If there were no perceived need to mark social class, one might predict that several of the variants would eventually be lost from the system, or at least that they would lose many of their present social implications. On the other hand, if there were not many variants but there was a strong need to mark social class, we can assume that susceptibility to the creation or acceptance of new variants would be high. The same can be said about the other social variables that these terms have been found to occasionally mark: sex, age and acquaintance. Many of the implications of the family terms in regard to these other variables exist because of variable usage both of variants of a single term and of one term by and to different classes of people. In short, the system is rich with social meaning, and because of this very fact, the family terms have become one of the major resources which EA speakers have to communicate what they believe is going on in the relationships in which they participate, and to manipulate those relationships to achieve whatever purposes they may have.

Chapter 6

Terms of Respect

Secretary of the session: Noah:

(interrupts) Please sir (yafandim).

A moment, please, uniti I finish my speech.

Secretary: I beg you. I plead with you! Before you finish your speech. Please! Noah:

Go ahead then.

Secretary: Sir (yafandim), I'm not the secretary of the session. Noah:

Then what are you?

Secretary: I'm his replacement He's on vacation. Noah:

Then you will handle the affairs of the session.

Secretary: I, sir {yafandim), have never worked at anything important or secret like that in my whole life. Noah:

Then this time you will work on something secret and important.

Secretary: I beg you, sir (yafandim). secretary. Noah:

Not me! It should be the original

Please sit down. Don't drown us in formalities.

Secretary: These aren't formalities, sir (yafandim)\ (from the play @amaliyyit nuuh by Ali Salim) Introduction In discussing terms of address with informants in the recorded interview, it became clear that most believed that there is a "proper" term for almost every

Terms of Respect 119

class of possible addressee. For example, in discussing a particular term, informants would make statements like: wi huwwa biyinbisit @ala5aan 'inta bitiddiilu llaqab bitaa@u. and he will feel happy (when he hears you address him with this term) because you are giving him his term (i.e. the term that he properly should receive). The set of "proper" terms, almost invariably terms that mark some kind of respect and/or kulfa 'formality of relationship,' make up the set of terms generally understood by EA speakers to be included under the label laqab (pi. 'alqaab) 'term of address.' Playful or affectionate terms, terms of abuse, and even terms for relatives are often not included in this category. This chapter will be concerned with the set of respectful terms. Many of these terms are work-related, in the sense that a person "earns" the right to receive the term because of a degree he holds or because of the occupation he is engaged in. This applies both to occupations that are traditionally performed by members of the upper classes and to those that are more normally associated with the working classes. Other terms, while not workspecific, apply only to certain age addressees, either quite old or quite young. Still others are simply general terms of respect for almost any type of addressee. Of these latter, a certain number are "holdover" terms from a former era, terms that used to be applied solely to a certain class of nobility, but which are now used as general terms of respect Finally, there are small, specialized sets of terms for foreigners, for the audiences of formal speeches, news broadcasts, etc., and for addressing Muslims as Muslims both in the context of religious sermons and in less formal daily interaction. These categories will be dealt with individually below. First, however, it should be pointed out that many of these terms have a usage broader than merely marking respect or kulfa. Most can be used sarcastically to friends, some can be used as dala@ 'terms of endearment' to young children and others, and some can be used almost as terms of abuse when used to the "wrong" addressee. These possibilities will be brought out as each term is discussed. Work-Related Terms: Upper and Middle Class Occupations The term ilterm Pattern Many occupations of high prestige have a double term that goes with them based CHI the term ilterm pattern, where the first term is usually a form of one of the sisters of 'inta and the second term is the name of the position that addressee fills. This is particularly true with positions in the army, the

120 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

police force, and the government. A list of those that appeared in the data is given in Table 20. Items starred occurred only in the interview data, while items not starred appeared also in the natural data. Table 20. Double Terms Based on the term ilterm Pattern Army, Police Force Positions siyadt irraa'id siyadt illiwa siyadt il@aqiid hadrit issool h adrit izzaabit

Gloss to a major to a general to a colonel to a sergeant (major?) to an officer

Government Positions siyadt irra'iis '"siyaadit ra'iis ilwuzara •"siyadt innaayib siyadt ilwaziir ma@aali ilwaziir '"siyadt ilwakiil *siyadt issafiir

to a president to a prime minister to a vice-president, deputy to a minister to a minister to a public prosecutor to an ambassador

Other Positions •"siyadt il@amiid hadrit ilmuSrif fad ilt iSSeex

to a dean to a superintendent, supervisor to a sheikh

Examination of Table 20 reveals that the forms that begin with siyadt or siyaadit are generally higher than those that begin with hadrit. This is in accord with the distribution of these two forms as sisters of 'inta. Addressees who occupy the positions listed receive these terms from all types of speakers, but are most likely to receive them from speakers who are in the same organization with them; for example, army officers are most likely to receive their terms from other officers and privates, and ministers are most likely to receive their terms from employees of their ministry. Use of the terms up, socially, is most common, but equal and down usages are also in evidence (for example, an army general using the correct term to another

Terms of Respect 121

general or down to a colonel). All speakers who use these terms are likely to alternate between them and the term afandim, a very general term of respect, or with other high terms. Doctor The term doktoor 'doctor' is clearly a borrowed word, although it has been assimilated rather well into the EA system, as is evidenced by the normal EA feminine form doktoora and the broken plural dakatra. Arabic has two native words that are used to refer to doctors, tabiib and hakiim, and the root of at least the first is commonly used in EA to refer to things related to medicine (for example, tibb 'medicine'). Neither of these words is used in address, however. The term doktoor, therefore, has no competition; it is the only term available for use to doctors. It is used both with and without the first name added. Forty-three examples of doktoor usage appeared in the natural data. This is not enough for a convincing statistical analysis, so the data will not be sumarized statistically, but an examination of the data does reveal some interesting facts. Speaker and addressee sex are not at all significant, and speaker social class and age are only barely significant factors in the use of doktoor. Expectedly, addressee age is rather significant (it takes a long time to get an M.D. or Ph.D. degree), as is addressee social class (100% of the addressees were upper class). The tone of use was entirely normal, but known, slightly known and unknown addressees were equally likely to receive the term. Of course, only known addressees received doktoor fulaan (with the first name added). The terms doktoor and doktoora are used to address any type of doctor. This includes medical doctors of all specialties, veterinarians, pharmacists, and anyone who has obtained a doktoraah 'doctorate' in any field whatsoever. By a very slight extension, it is also used to anyone who is expected to become a doctor, such as medical students, graduate students especially if they are also teaching assistants, and professors who have not yet obtained doctorates. For all of these categories of addressees, but especially for "real" doctors, the term is considered to have been earned, and it is understood by all that these people deserve to receive it. The term doktoor along with baSmuhandis, the term for engineers, make up the local category il'alqaab il@ilmiyya 'the scientific terms of address.' More than any other terms, these terms are required of almost every type of speaker to addressees in the appropriate categories. The only exceptions are very close relatives (parents, spouses, children, siblings, and perhaps uncles and aunts), and very close friends in informal settings. Even in these cases, however, use of the term is fairly common. Failure to use the term when it is expected is considered to be extremely rude; one interview informant, a

122 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

college student, stated that if she addressed even a graduate teaching assistant by his name alone, a stunned silence would settle over all who heard it, and the addressee himself would feel as if he had been slipped. Another informant brought up the example of his uncle who had received his doctorate in the United States and had lived there eight years. When he returned to work in Egypt, it annoyed him that everyone addressed him as doktoor since he had become accustomed to the more informal American English rules. He therefore demanded that all family members, including in-laws who are by EA rules required to use the term, call him by his name alone. He became particularly annoyed with his wife's niece who insisted on using doktoor at the end of almost every sentence addressed to him. He gave her a big lecture, after which she promised not to address him with doktoor again. Within a short time, however, she had inadvertantly used it over ten times. As she put it, she wanted to stop using it, but she simply couldn't Ten percent of the natural data involved addressees who were not doctors and were not likely to become such. One case was a playful usage to a five year old upper class boy from his friend, also five. The other cases involved speakers of the lower classes using it as a general term of respect to an upper class addressee, for example a barber to a customer or a club worker to a club member. Most of the interview informants recognize this usage, replying to the question of how doktoor is used with statements like: waahid baladi li waahid musaqqaf laabis naddaara Saklu kida muhtaram. a baladi person to a cultured person wearing glasses with a respectable air about him. Some of the upper class informants, particularly those who themselves have claim to the term doktoor, find this particular extended usage by baladi people to be unacceptable. In their view, doktoor is a term that must be earned, and usage to just any respectable-looking person can only cheapen the term. An interesting aspect of use of doktoor to non-doctors involves what is known as fann ilbee@ 'the art of selling.' (This comment will apply equally to most of the other high terms of respect.) Salesmen, in general, choose the highest term possible for their customers to facilitate die sale of items, and to aid them in keeping the price high during bargaining. Although clearly selfserving flattery, this tactic tends to work with high addressees, who are expected to maintain a certain public image. A humorous example of this comes from an informant who is a graduate teaching assistant and whose family is middle class. As he himself stated, people of his status in general do not leave large tips to taxi drivers. He related that he took a taxi and the meter fare was 75 piasters. Not having the change, he got out a one-pound note, expecting to receive 25 piasters change (he may then have left a five or

Terms of Respect 123 ten piaster tip). However, the driver, in his most "humble" and "thankful" voice, took the note saying: mutSakkiriin 'awi ya doktoor, hadritak Saraftina wi 'anistina giddan! Thank you so much, doctor, your presence has honored us and pleased us greatly! which caused the informant to get out without demanding his change as he otherwise would have done. This story, interesting in itself, becomes even more revealing when viewed in light of a statement the informant made about the story (in English): "I know it's a trick, but I eat it up. I have to." It appears that what he is implying here is to be understood as something like: "I am someone who really does have some small claim to the term doktoor, so it is not as if I can treat it as if it were a joke. That would demean the term, and demeaning the term is not in my self-interest If he treats me like a doctor, I have to act like one." Clearly, die term has a great deal of prestige associated with it In the context of EA society, the high prestige associated with the term is easily understood. Real doctors and Ph.D.'s are on the top rung of the social ladder and are greatly respected. The prestige of medicine is also embedded into the educational system: the cut-off score on the general high school exams is always higher for entrance to medical school than to any other school. People who "have what it takes" to earn the term are truly a class apart, and must be shown respect. An interesting sidelight of the great prestige attached to the term doktoor is that it therefore supercedes other (on the surface equally respectful) terms that might otherwise apply. The author, for example, in his American English system, alternates between 'Professor' with the last name and Or.' with the last name when addressing older professors, and neither term feels more respectful than the other. In EA, on the other hand, the word used to refer to professors in the third person, 'ustaaz, is rarely used to address them; it is clearly felt to be "cheaper" than doktoor. The term 'ustaaz, to be discussed below, is now commonly used to white collar colleagues, secondary and even primary school teachers, and in general to anyone who looks like he might have a little education. All informants were asked in the interview what they would call a university professor, and all but two replied with doktoor. The two who said 'ustaaz were both working class, with little or no education. One other informant stated that he very occasionally would use 'ustaaz to a professor, but added that doktoor is much more common. Only doktoor was used to professors in the natural data. A word should be added here about the use of the term to medical students by their parents, siblings, and friends of the family. This is a very common occurrence, with several instances appearing in the natural data. In the

124 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

interview, informants were asked about this usage, and all agreed that it was a type of "well-wishing, encouragement to study" that definitely would make addressee feel good. One upper class mother added a particularly insightful comment. Such usage, she claims, bitiddiilu 'ihsaas biSaxsiyyitu gives him a feeling for his personality which perhaps can be taken to mean "helps him grow accustomed to the rather formal, self-respecting and very respected personality that he will be expected to project (»ice he does become a real docto1." Three fairly typical examples of the use of doktoor from the natural data follow. 1. A professor walks into the deans office at the American University in Cairo. The secretary greets him with: 'ahi an ya doktoor! Hello, doctor! 2. A first-year student in veterinary medicine is visiting his father's sweater factory. His father's business partner comes in and greets the student with: izzayyak ya doktoor? How are you, doctor? 3. A female pharmacist is in charge of a pharmaceutical lab. A male secretary answers the phone and then calls to the pharmacist talafoon @alaSaanik ya doktoora. There's a call for you, doctor. The following two examples illustrate the related use of doktoor fulaan and the plural dakatra. 4. A female pharmacist goes to visit her sister. Her sister's husband, a doctor, answers the door. She asks him if her sister is home from abroad yet with: samiira rig@it ya doktoor huseen? Did Samiira return yet, Doctor Hussein?

Terms of Respect 125

5. A father comes home from work, and upon entering the house sees his son and his son's friend, both students in medical school. He greets them with: 'ahlan ya dakatra. Hello, doctors. Engineer Like doktoor, baSmuhandis is one of the "scientific terms of address," the right to receive which is earned by obtaining a degree. The word itself is a combination of the Turkish word baS 'chief and the word muhandis 'engineer.' Despite this literal meaning, no informant made a distinction between some higher kind of engineer who deserves the term and a lower kind who doesn't. Any engineer, as long as he has a degree, deserves to receive this term according to all of the informants. Forty-two instances of baSmuhandis use appeared in the natural data, indicating that the term is used at approximately the same rate as doktoor. There are several differences between the two terms, however. While addressee social class was the most important variable in the use of doktoor, it is not even significant in the use of baSmuhandis. Further, while all but 10% of the doktoor data involved use to real doctors, only 12% of the baSmuhandis data involved use to real engineers. It was more common as a general term of respect, extended by salesmen and sevice personnel to any respectable looking addressee, and sometimes even to addressees who were not respectable looking. For some reason, only male speakers and addressees were involved in use of baSmuhandis in the natural data. It is not clear why female speakers should avoid the term, and no female informant claimed to avoid it, so it is possible that the data is skewed for this term. One informant, whose daughter is an engineer, told a story during the interview in which someone addressed her daughter as baSmuhandisa, the feminine form, so female addressees are not impossible, just unlikely. Speakers apparently stick to the more general terms of respect for female addressees. Middle aged addressees are the most common for this term. One informant stated that a kumsari "bus conductor' might use it to any middle or upper class person who is around thirty years of age, apparently implying that it would not be used to an older man. Unlike doktoor and most of the other terms of respect, baSmuhandis may not be used with the first name added. It is thus equally likely to known as to unknown addressees. Although representing only 12% percent of the data, use to engineers is clearly considered to be the "primary" or "proper" use of baSmuhandis. All of the interview informants made statements to that effect. The term has a high

126 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

degree of prestige associated with it, almost as high as doktoor, and therefore, like doktoor, it supercedes other high terms that might otherwise apply. Again like doktoor, it is expected that almost every class of speaker, as long as they are aware that addressee is an engineer, will address him with baSmuhandis. The only exceptions are very close relatives and friends in informal situations, and even in these cases the term may occasionally be used. Besides this "proper" use to real engineers, the term has a rather wide set of extended uses, falling into two main categories. The first is based directly on the idea of engineering. Any so-called muhandis sugayyar 'small engineer' may be addressed with this term. A small engineer is a person without an engineering degree who does technical work, such as a TV repairman, a refrigerator repairman or a plumber. Although certain speakers of the educated classes object to this usage as a cheapening of the term, most do use it in certain types of situations. For example, plumbing is not a particularly respected profession and many informants felt no particular need to show respect to plumbers when questioned in the abstract However, since there is such a shortage of plumbers in Cairo, when one's own plumbing is in need of repair, it is usually the plumber rather than the customer who suddenly becomes very important. Several informants agreed that when repairmen were needed, they were very likely to receive baSmuhandis. The term is further (although less often) extended to any worker who does anything mechanical, for example car mechanics, bus drivers, taxi drivers, etc. Some educated speakers claim never to use the term in this way, but such usage is by no means restricted to lower class speakers. It appears, again, to be related to whether or not speaker needs addressee. It is rather common for speakers to use baSmuhandis to a bus driver, for example, when they want him to do a special favor, such as letting them out while the bus is stopped for a light. The second category of the extended use of baSmuhandis involves using the term to address "any" male addressee, without regard to whether he is an engineer or not The natural data indicate that this is twice as common with speakers of the middle class or lower than it is with upper class speakers, and although any male may be the addressee, unknown over known addressees are favored over two to one, middle class addressees and up over working class are favored three to one, and young and middle-aged addressees over old ones are favored over three to one. This type of usage is most common to customers (by salesmen, waiters, workers at clubs, bus conductors, etc.) and clearly conveys respect. It is also heard from fairly baladi speakers to strangers on the street (asking for directions, etc.) as well as to salesmen and friends. Of the 42 instances of use of baSmuhandis in the natural data, only 12 percent involved use to real engineers and only 17 percent more involved use to "small" engineers (repairmen, etc.) and "very small" engineers (bus drivers, etc.). Fully 71 percent of the data, then, involved this most extended usage

Terms of Respect 127

of all—use to any male addressee, with the constraints mentioned in the above paragraph. This is much more than the 10 percent of the doktoor data which was used in a parallel way. Comparatively, doktoor is much more restricted to its "proper" usage than is baSmuhandis, which apparently is now used more to convey a general sense of respect than it is to show respect to a person who has earned it by means of earning a degree. The latter usage, however, (to real engineers) is still considered by all informants to be the proper one. Upper class informants, particularly, expressed their negative valuation of the use of baSmuhandis to "any" male with statements like: mumkin waahid ta@baan 'awi yi'ulha li'ayy waahid'ahsan minnu fi libs wi mazhar A very tired (poor) person might say it to anyone better than him in clothes or appearance thus disassociating themselves from anything except the proper usage. It is clear both from the natural data and from such informant statements that there is a tendency (not absolute) for speakers of the upper classes to restrict their usage of baSmuhandis to real and small engineers, whereas no such tendency exists among middle class and lower speakers. A likely reason for this is that, as in the case of the term doktoor, it is the upper classes who have a stake in the term not being cheapened by improper use, since it is they (or their friends, brothers, sons, etc.) who are most likely to be real engineers. Typical examples of baSmuhandis use follow. 6. A working class worker in a small factory is at home. He needs some information from the factory owner, who is an engineer, so he calls. The engineer answers and the worker says: sabaah ilxeer ya baSmuhandis. Good morning, chief engineer. 7. An upper class male goes to pick up his television which has been repaired. As he walks out of the shop carrying it, he says to the repairman: Sukran, ya baSmuhandis. Thank you, chief engineer. 8. An 18 year old upper class youth walks into a shop. The 35 year old middle class salesman says:

128 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

'aywa, ya baSmuhandis? Yes, chief engineer? (i.e. What would you like?) 9. A 35 year old working class man is waiting for the bus at the central station. A bus is coming in and a 40 year old middle class man is running after it. The 35 year old asks: raayih feen da ya baSmuhandis? Where is this going, chief engineer? Professor The term 'ustaaz, which is about three times more common than either doktoor or baSmuhandis, completes the set of high "earned" terms of address. As a third person noun, it literally means 'professor' or 'master.' It is interesting to note, however, that 100% of the 144 instances of 'ustaaz usage in the natural data were to addressees other than professors. This means that when we take the three high "earned" terms as a class and compare them, we find that the highest term, doktoor, has the lowest percentage (10 percent) of usage to non-doctors, the next highest term, baSmuhandis, has a medium level of usage to non-engineers (71 percent), but the lowest of the three, 'ustaaz, has a 100 percent rate of use to non-professors. Despite its use as a third person noun, therefore, we are forced to conclude that, when used as a term of address, 'ustaaz no longer means 'professor.' Rather, it appears to mean something closer to 'educated.' It is the only term left for an educated addressee who isn't a doctor or an engineer. The term 'ustaaz is used both with and without the first name added. The feminine form, 'ustaaza, did not appear in the natural data alone, but it did appear with the first name added. The natural data involving 'ustaaz are statistically summarized in Table 21. Examination of the table reveals that the speaker related variables are not significant for 'ustaaz, indicating that all types of speakers use the term in about the same way. The addressee related variables, which are highly significant, indicate that males are much more likely to receive 'ustaaz than females are to receive 'ustaaza, that upper class and especially middle class addressees are likely to receive it while working class addressees are less likely to receive it, and that old and particularly middle aged addressees are the most likely to receive the term. Tone is most commonly normal, although angry and sarcastic uses do occur, and usage is up quite a bit more often than it is either across or down, indicating, for example, that salesmen are more likely to use it to a customer than a customer is to use it to a salesman.

Terms of Respect 129 Table 21. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for 'ustaaz Variable

Column% (Outcome 1)

Significance %Effectof Level Variable

1. Speaker Sex

Not Significant

2. Speaker Social Class

Not Significant

3. Speaker Age

Not Significant

4. Addressee Sex Male Female

3.3 0.2

Rank of Variable

.000

4.6

3

.000

4.2

4

2.0 4.3 3.2

.000

2.0

6

7. Acquaintance Known 2.1 SLKnown 5.4 Unknown 3.8

.000

1.3

7

.000

5.1—5.5

2

.000

2.3

5

5. Addressee Social Class

Upper 3.3 Middle 3.9 Working 0.8

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old

8. Tone

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

3.8 0.6 0.9 0.0

9. a. Relationship Up 5.2 (Broad) Across 2.0 Down 1.9 b. Relationship (Detailed)

6.6 .000 OVERALL E F F E C T 57.5%

1

The information from the table is in harmony with the informants' claim that 'ustaaz is lower than doktoor and baSmuhandis even though it is still a fairly high work-related term. Speakers of all classes appear to be aiming somewhere between middle and upper class in their use of 'ustaaz, in other

130 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

words not too high but not low. All informants agreed that addressee must look educated, using words like afandi 'gentleman,' nadiif 'clean,' mit@allim 'educated,' and laabis kiwayyis 'well-dressed.' One middle class informant even stated that to receive 'ustaaz an addressee must have some kind of degree. Speakers of the lower classes clearly considered it to be a term of respect. One lower middle class woman, for example, claimed to use it to her colleagues at work, with the explanation: bahtirimhum @alaSaan yihtirimuuni. I show respect to them so they will show respect to me. This makes sense, since for people of her class in which illiteracy is widespread, it is a mark of distinction to have any kind of education. Speakers of the upper classes felt differently, however. An upper class young man stated that the term did not actually show "respect," it was just the rostri 'formal' way of talking to people when kulfa 'a formal relationship' was present. An upper class young woman found 'ustaaz to be a kilma bayxa Swayya 'a sort of insipid word,' but claimed that in many cases she had no choice but to use it since she could not think of anything better. Another upper class woman stated that since everyone uses 'ustaaz to their colleagues nowadays, smart speakers (those who use a little psikologiyya 'psychology' to influence addressees) will avoid using 'ustaaz to bosses, high government functionaries, and other high addressees from whom they need something, and will use instead beeh "bey" or afandim, a general high term of address. These attitudes also make sense, of course, since for speakers of the middle class or above, everyone is expected to be educated and only those who really excell by becoming doctors or engineers are looked upon as special. For them, the term 'ustaaz is a term that almost everyone is entitled to, and thus while it marks the respect that any formal relationship would require, it does not mark the kind of deferential respect that truly high addressees expect to receive. Thus, it is a high term, but not too high. The term 'ustaaz is most common from speakers like bus conductors, waiters, club workers, and salesmen to customers, as an expression of respect. It is also fairly common to educated salesmen by customers and to educated-looking strangers. When used to friends and relatives it comes closer to a dala@ 'term of endearment' than to a term of respect Examples of these most typical uses follow. 10. At the club, a 17 year old working class waiter walks up to where a 19 year old upper class customer is sitting with his friends, carrying a tray full of the various drinks they had ordered. The waiter asks:

Terms of Respect 131 'inta talabt Saay ya 'ustaaz mi§ kida? You ordered tea, sir, didn't you? 11. At the bus stop, a bus pulls up. A 40 year old upper class male didn't see its number so he asks a 45 year old middle class male stranger standing nearby: kaam da ya 'ustaaz? What number is this, sir? 12. A 19 year old upper class young man goes to visit a friend of the same age and social class. The friend's 42 year old father lets him into the salon to wait and sees a case of coke on the floor. When his son arrives, he tells him to move it in a friendly, smiling way with: Siil ya 'ustaaz! Carry, professor! Besides those mentioned above, three other typical uses exist for 'ustaaz. The first involves the use of any high term to attack an addressee who does not deserve to receive it (tarya'a 'attack'). This is a broad phenomenon and includes many other terms, but the corpus contains a beautiful example of it involving the term 'ustaaz: 13. An extremely dirty working class garbage boy was illegally carrying his basket of garbage right out into the middle of Mustafa Kamil Square. To get his attention, a nearby policeman yelled angrily at him: ya'ustaaz! (louder) ya'ustaaz! Professor! (louder) Professor! The cutting sarcasm of such an aberrant usage should be apparent The second involves what has been called the name-calling, as opposed to the strict vocative, mode. In the vocative mode, terms have some pragmatic discourse function (getting attention, marking tum changes, indicating who addressee is, etc.) and the term chosen marks social and other features secondarily. In the name-calling mode, no such pragmatic functions exist. Normally, in fact, it is used entirely without other surrounding speech. The term is used only to imply that addressee has the qualities associated with the word. Thus, although grammatically identical to vocative usage (the term follows ya), the meaning is better rendered as 'you ' or 'you are a .' As mentioned above, besides meaning 'professor,' 'ustaaz also

132 Constructing the Social Context of Communication means 'master.' It is used in the name-calling mode whenever speaker considers addressee to have done something masterfully. There are several examples in the data of a soccer player yelling ya 'ustaaz! to a teammate who has just made a good play, and two examples of a member of the audience exclaiming ya 'ustaaz! to a sheikh reciting the Quran (meaning 'you recite masterfully'). Finally, ¿here is the use of 'ustaaz (and 'ustaaz fulaan) to secondary and elementary school teachers. There are some interesting variations both between these two terms and among a couple of others also commonly used. The whole system of address to school teachers will be described here. First, among themselves, teachers use both 'ustaaz fulaan and 'ustaaza fulaana almost exclusively, first name alone being limited to close friends in nonpublic situations. All students generally address all female teachers with the Turkish term 'abla, which is also used to older sisters. In class, it is used by itself, and outside of class, particularly if other teachers are around, the name is added. Female students call all male teachers 'ustaaz in class and 'ustaaz fulaan out of class or when other teachers are around. Male students up through about grade nine also use 'ustaaz in the above manner, but by the time they enter high school, they start using beeh itey' for most in-class and much out-of-class interaction. Very rarely, in class, a male student will use 'ustaaz, and outside of class, 'ustaaz fulaan is fairly common to get a teacher's attention. The reasons behind these variations are not all clear. Perhaps 'abla is used to female teachers to emphasize the non-threatening aspects of the teacher-student relationship. Several of the informants had opinions on why high school males use beeh instead of 'ustaaz while females stick to 'ustaaz. The consensus seemed to be that by using beeh the males were expressing their "roughness" or "coarseness" (xiSna), and thus their ruguula 'manliness.' This apparently affects only the image of the speaker and does not imply any aggressiveness or roughness toward addressee. Two male informants found this usage of beeh objectionable, however, and claimed never to use it (apparently because of the coarseness associated with it) while admitting that all their colleagues used it. The reasons for leaving off the name in class and adding it outside of class are clearer. In class, there is only one high addressee around, the teacher, and there is no pragmatic purpose in adding the name. All the terms— 'abla, 'ustaaz, and ¿>e¿A--function like quick "sir's" at the end of sentences, marking the sentences as respectful in a rather perfunctory way. Outside of class, there are usually several teachers sitting on the veranda or in the various offices, and when students come in to speak to one of them, using the name with the term distinguishes the addressee from other possible addressees. Examples of use of 'ustaaz and 'ustaaz fulaan to teachers follow. 14. At a secondary school, a student comes into class with a message from the office. He whispers the message into the teacher's ear

Terms of Respect 133 and the teacher whispers his response. As he leaves, the student says: Sukran, ya 'ustaaz. Thank you, professor. 15. In a secondary school, a student comes into an office where several teachers are sitting to see one of them. He says to the one: sabaah ilxeer, ya 'ustaaz mahmuud. Good morning, Professor Mahmuud. Use of 'ustaaz fulaan, i.e. with the name added, is by far the most common to an addressee who is or looks like he could be a muwazzaf 'white collar employee, functionary.' This includes use to office and school directors, government functionaries, school teachers, and others. It is common from underlings, customers and students, but is equally common from colleagues, friends and relatives to these types of addressees. A number of interview informants claimed that 'ustaaz fulaan was the most appropriate term for an educated colleague unless he was a good friend, in which case the first name alone would be used. Two of the male informants added that for colleagues of the same age and rank, especially if not old, the process of becoming friends was very short, and that 'ustaaz fulaan would not be used much beyond the first introduction. However, if the colleague were older or of a somewhat higher rank, and especially if he were of the opposite sex of speaker, the 'ustaaz fulaan form could be retained throughout the relationship. This is also true with relatives and friends who are much younger and possibly of the opposite sex of addressee. When 'ustaaz fulaan is used between friends of the same age and sex, it can either be an endearing marker of respect coupled with friendship, or a sarcastic and somewhat distancing form. In both cases, the form would alternate with the first name alone, the latter being much more common as a whole. Examples of these various types of usage follow. 16. At the cashier's office in a university, a student comes up to the window with a receipt for money owed to him. He hands it to the cashier, with whom he is slightly acquainted, and says: ilfiluus ya 'ustaaz @aadil. The money, Professor Adii. 17. There are three employees at a small branch bank, a teller and two co-managers. One of the managers, a 50 year old female, is

134 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

making change for a customer and needs a 10 pound note. She addresses the other co-manager, a SO year old male: @andak @aSara, ya 'ustaaz @abbaas? Do you have a ten, Professor Abbaas? 18. Muhammad, a 30 year old teacher, is marrying Layla, likewise a 30 year old teacher. Layla's 16 year old sister is serving at the wedding, carrying in drinks for guests, etc. She offers one to Muhammad, her new brother-in-law, with: itfaddal ya 'ustaaz mihammad. Please have one, Professor Muhammad. 19. Two 19 year old upper class friends meet at the club. They haven't seen each other for some time, so one exclaims with a touch of sarcastic coolness: feenak ya 'ustaaz 'ahmad? Where have you been, Professor Ahmad? The broken plural of 'ustaaz is 'asadza. This term appeared twice in the natural data to groups of middle class young men. One was used by a coffee house waiter to a group of customers, and the other by a university janitor to a group of students. These usages are parallel to the use of 'ustaaz alone to any educated-looking addressee. In summary, the term 'ustaaz is most likely to a middle class, middle aged, male muwazzaf with a normal tone of voice. If addressee is known the name will likely be added. It is a general term of respect for any educated addressee who is not a doctor or engineer, and while considered a high term, it is not quite high enough to be used to very high addressees who are more likely to receive beeh *bey' or afandim 'sir.' Sheikh The word Seex literally means 'elder.' When used as a third person noun, it normally refers to a man associated in one of various ways with a Muslim mosque: a "sheikh" might do the calls to prayer, lead prayers, give religious counsel, teach religious subjects, or recite the Quran at funerals, weddings and festivals. As will be seen below, however, Seex is another work-related term whose main usage is no longer limited to addressees who could be described

Terms of Respect 135

Table 22. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for Seex Variable 1. Speako* Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

0.9 2.7

Significance %Effectof Level Variable .000

3.4

2. Speaker Social Class

Not Significant

3. Speaker Age

Not Significant

4. Addressee Sex Male Female 5. Addressee Social Class

Upper Middle Woiking

1.1 2.3 0.8 1.9 1.6

6. Addressee Age

Rank of Variable 4

.008

2.1

5

.031

2.1

6

Not Significant

7. Acquaintance

Known 1.8 SLKnown 1.8 Unknown 0.2

8. Tone

Normal 0.5 Sarcastic 1.6 Angry 4.3 Imperial 0.0

9. a. Relationship (Broad) b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000

3.9—4.6

3

.000

10.2—10.8

1

Not Significant .000 6.8 OVERALL EFFECT 55.7%

2

by the term as a third person noun. In fact, only a small percentage of the data, either with or without the first name, involved use of the term to real sheikhs. The term appears alone in both the male and female forms. With the name added, it appears only in the male form. It also appears, in the male form only, combined with other terms. These variations will be dealt with individually below. A final section will discuss other terms that are used to

136 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

address real sheikhs, and also terms that are used to men in the Christian religious hierarchies. Seventy-five occurrences of Seex and its variants appeared in the natural data. These are statistically sumarized in Table 22. Examination of the table indicates that speaker social class, speaker age and addressee age are not significant for this term. This lack of significance of the age variables is somewhat remarkable for a term that means 'elder,' and is probably related to the large preponderance of angry and sarcastic usages over normal use. Interestingly, females are more likely to both give and receive Seex and Seexa than males are. This is almost certainly also related to the fact that usage is normally angry. Male speakers are more likely than female speakers to choose a real term of abuse in angry encounters (see the chapter on terms of abuse) and female speakers are apparently replacing at least some of these with the much less abusive Seex. Addressee social class is slightly significant. Middle class addressees are the most likely to receive the terms, and upper class addressees are the least likely. Over 95% of these terms were used to an addressee the same social class as speaker. Speakers used a form of Seex almost entirely to addressees whom they knew at least somewhat. Tone of use, which was by far the most important variable, was mainly angry and sarcastic, with only a few normal uses appearing, most to real religious sheikhs. The results of the detailed relationship analysis indicate that the term is most common among friends and in inner family interaction to children, parents, siblings and other relatives and to husbands and wives. Almost all of the interview informants mentioned the negative or sarcastic aspect of Seex and Seexa using words like dii' 'annoyance,' tarya'a 'attack,' and tahriig 'joking.' Most of them, without prompting, came up with typical sentences in which Seex might be used, such as 'uskut ya Seex ba'a 'shut up, sheikh,' ya Seex ruuh 'get out of here, sheikh,' and balaaS kalaamfaadi ya Seex 'cut out the empty words, sheikh.' Why Seex should have such strong negative connotations is not clear. Various metaphorical possibilities spring to mind (perhaps it is meant to imply that addressee has some of the negative qualities associated with very old men), but none of the informants mentioned any of these possibilities or associations. Most other terms related to "oldness," in fact, are terms of respect and have no negative connotations. Further, when used to religious men, even the tone of Seex is positive. With the first name added Seex fulaan is also almost entirely positive in tone. It is possible that these negative associations which only appear when Seex is used without the name are, like so much else in language, arbitrary. Examples of Seex and Seexa usage follow. 20. An 18 year old upper class son boils some water for tea on the gas range and then leaves the stove burning while drinking his tea.

Terms of Respect 137 His father comes into the kitchen, sees the stove on with nothing cooking, and exclaims: ya Seex haraam @aleek! Sheikh, shame on you! 21. A 20 year old middle class young man is visiting a friend whom he has not seen for a long time. After a while, he gets up to leave and the friend exclaims: ya @amm 'inta lissa ma'a@adtiS ma@aaya mis kida ba'a tig iib ilgeeba di wi dilwa'ti @aayiz timSi?! ya Seex, 'u'@ud, lissa badri! Uncle, you haven't sat with me yet It's not right for you to be absent this whole long time and now you want to go already?! Sit down, sheikh, it's still early! 22. A middle class mother, SO years old, has been cleaning the house. Her husband starts to come in with mud all over his shoes. She yells: 'i'la@ iggazma ya 'axi haraam @aleek. dana ti@ibt min iSSugl ya Seex! Take off your shoes, my brother, shame on you. I've tired myself out working (to clean the house), sheikh! 23. A 16 year old girl is angrily yelling at her 30 year old sister. Her brother-in-law has a headache and so asks: ya @azza 'arguuki, waga@ti dimaagi ya Seexa! 'itkallimi bisoot waati'! Azza, I beg you, you've made my head ache, sheikh (f.)! Talk in a soft voice! 24. A 25 year old middle class female is visiting her friend. The following conversation occurs: A. Sufti ya su@aad ilfilm bitaa@ 'imbaarih ? B. ya Seexa 'uskuti da film winnabi yigiibuuh kathum niila! A. winnabi yaxti kaan kiwayyis wima@'uul! A. Did you see yesterday's film (on TV)?

138 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

B. Sheikh (f.), shut up, that was a film, by the prophet, may a catastrophe fall upon those who brought it! A. By the prophet, my sister, it was good and reasonable! Unlike Seex used alone, Seex fulaan occurred in the natural data addressed to "real" sheikhs. Most of the interview informants agreed that this would be the proper way to address the 'imaam 'prayer leader' of the local mosque. It conveys politeness and respect for his position. Derivative from its use to "real" sheikhs, it is used with a touch of sarcasm to anyone who is considered "too religious" (mutadayyin 'aktar min illuzuum) meaning someone who zealously obeys all the rules of Islam (for example, never misses prayers, never drinks, etc.). Both an informant who dislikes such people and one who is himself zealously religious informed me of this usage. The term is used politely, besides to "real" sheikhs, to older friends, neighbors, customers, salesmen, bosses, etc. (all from the lower classes). It appears to imply that addressee is possessed of some of the tiiba 'goodness' that is associated with "real" sheikhs. It is thus a term of respect, but it does not necessarily imply the presence of kulfa 'formality' in the relationship. As stated above, the tone of use of Seex fulaan is positive or neutral. Examples of Seex fulaan usage follow. 25. A 35 year old working class man is seated at the local coffee house with some friends. The local sheikh—Sheikh Hassan, 45 years old-walks by and greets them. The man replies: itfaddal ya Seex h asan, itfaddal yaaba! Join us, Sheikh Hassan; sit down, father! 26. Two working class girls aie fighting over who will fill her bucket first from the outdoor faucet A kindly, 60 year old working class man tries to separate them, but a 20 year old working class youth says to him: sibhum ya Seex rabii@ litneen wilaad kalb! Leave them, Sheikh Rabi@, they're children of dogs! Other Terms for Sheikhs In Chapter 5, the term @amm iSSeex, which is occasionally used to "real" sheikhs, was discussed. It appears to be limited to fairly "humble" sheikhs. The combination fadilt iSSeex, which is used for highly educated sheikhs, was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. One other possibility, sàna

Terms of Respect 139

SSeex Our lord, the Sheikh' was mentioned by interview informants as a possible term of address for sheikhs. The terms mawla lord' and mawlaana 'our lord,' were also mentioned, particularly in connection with Suyuux ilgiib 'sheikhs of the netherworld, spiritualist sheikhs,' i.e. those associated with exorcisms or various Sufi rituals.

Terms for Men in the Christian Religious Hierarchies No natural data are available for terms used to Christian religious leaders. Christian infamants stated that priests are addressed with 'abuuna 'our father' and that bishops are addressed with 'anba, the Coptic word for father. Two sisters of 'inta, mentioned in Chapter 2, are also available, niyaftak 'your Excellency,' used for higher clergy, and 'udsak 'your Holiness,' used to all members of the hierarchy, from priest to pope. Professor Ernest AbdelMassih (personal communication) also mentioned the form qadaasit ilbaaba Holiness of the Pope,' which looks like a high, work-related term of address based on the term ilterm pattern similar to those listed at the beginning of this chapter. He stated, however, that this form is not actually used to address the pope, but rather only to refer to him. Work-Related Terms: Working Class Occupations Numerous work-related terms of address for working class occupations exist in ΕΛ. Some are quite general and others are very specific as to occupation. Most imply respect, but some are used only negatively as a kind of insult. The various types are treated individually below. Baladi Businessmen There is no adequate English gloss for the term mi@allim. Historically, the word seems to have come from a form that meant 'teacher, master (in the sense of boss, woikmaster).' It now clearly refers to a very baladi, probably uneducated man who is the owner of some enterprise: a coffee house owner, a butcher, a vegetable ex* fruit stand operator, a construction foreman, a milk man, a donkey cart owner/driver, a laundry owner, a baladi restaurant owner, and in general any baladi businessman. Certain other features are also associated with the term: fìtiwwa 'macho masculine tendencies, a bully,' wearing galabiyyas instead of western clothes, lack of education, large stature (tall, fat and strong) and aggressiveness. Speakers of all classes have a very clear picture in their minds of what a mi@allim looks and acts like, so addressees who fit the type will be addressed with the term even if they are

140 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

not businessmen. Real mi@allims, it should be pointed out, are not necessarily poor, and are placed in the lower social strata because of their lack of education and the type of work they do rather than because of their economic status. The female form, mi@allima, is reportedly used to baladi businesswomen who fît the type (aggressive, large, uneducated, etc.). Only 27 instances of mi@allim use appeared in the data, not enough for statistical analysis. A look at the data indicates, however, that almost all of the instances involved use to middle aged or older working class addressees, all but a few of which could be described as real mi@allims. The rest involved sarcastic use to friends and siblings, to express annoyance or praise (i.e. metaphorically drawing on either the positive or the negative qualities associated with the term). In general, when used to real mi@allims and addressees who look like they could be mi@allim, the term implies respect, but when used to addressees who are clearly not mi@allims, it implies something else. Men who are mi@allims are associated with baladi masculine values, and speakers of the upper classes may find some of these values admirable (virility, masculinity) and others objectionable (lack of education, etc.). Use to non-mi@allims can thus be positive or negative depending upon the situation. 27. Two 18 year old upper class male friends are playing in the swimming pool and one starts getting rough. The other yells: ya walad ya mi@allim 'inta, bass! Boy, Master, you, enough! 28. An 18 year old upper middle class brother walks in wearing a new shirt. His sister exclaims, somewhat sarcastically; ya walad ya mi@allim ya Siik! Boy, Master, chic! 29. A 25 year old customer walks into a butcher shop and greets the 40 year old butcher with: sabaah ilxeer ya mi@allim. Good morning, master. 30. A 25 year old ta@miyya salesman hands a 40 year old baladi man his sandwich with: xod ya mi@allim. Here, master.

Terms of Respect 141 With the first name added, mi@allim is apparently restricted to known, real mi@allims. For example: 31. A group of young men are sitting in a coffee house when the SO year old baladi owner of the coffee house comes in. They are friendly with him, so after he greets them, one says: itfaddal ya mi@allim mihammad. Join us please, Master Muhammad. Mastercraftsman The term 'usta apparently derives historically from the term 'ustaaz 'professor' discussed above. It means 'master' (in the master/apprentice relationship) and refers specifically to those professions related to some craft or mechanical (usually hand) skill. Every informant questioned about this term agreed with this categorization, using words like sinaa@i 'one who works in industry, craftsman,' hirafi 'craftsman,' and il@amal ilyadawi 'hand craftsmanship.' The specific types of workers mentioned include electricians, tinsmiths, plumbers, mechanics, carpenters, shoemakers, steelworkers, repairmen of all types, and all kinds of drivers: bus, taxi, horse and donkey cart. Several informants made special efforts to point out that while 'usta is a term of respect implying high quality workmanship and skill, it is very strictly limited to uneducated addressees (miS mit@allimiin 'uneducated,' mi S musaqqafiin 'uncultured,' having no Sahaada 'certificate,' etc.). Workers and drivers who appear educated or who have a Sahaada are likely to feel offended at the term and therefore baSmuhandis or another high term is chosen instead. This should not be much of a problem since educated people have tended to shun such work, but it has become more of a problem in recent years since driving taxis has become a much better paying job than almost anything else a college graduate could do. Several informants of the educated classes claimed to be very careful to make sure that their addressee was not one of these college educated taxi drivers before using 'usta, so as not to give offense. Speakers of the working class did not seem to be worried by the problem, however, and several taxi drivers questioned (most of whom had had some high school, but none of whom had gone to college) claimed that they appreciated people using 'usta to them since it implied they were skillful. The prestige associated with the term is, therefore, ambiguous, and derives entirely from the traditional, local culture which has not particularly valued education, as opposed to imported western culture which clearly does. As the latter becomes more and more assimilated by all parts of EA society, it is likely that the prestige of the term 'usta will drop even further. This idea is

142 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

supported by an interesting development in the field of technical education. Egypt, like the USA and other countries, is now trying to emphasize this type of education since highly skilled workers are badly needed by the Egyptian economy, but they are having to fight a lot of resistance from parents and students who have tended to despise the very idea: all work with the hands, in the popular mind, is and should be the province of the uneducated. To counteract these "irrational" tendencies, the government is establishing a new type of technical high school, with reasonably tough entrance requirements, that will last five years instead of the traditional three. Graduates will be awarded the title musaa@id muhandis 'assistant engineer' and will therefore have earned the high term baSmuhandis. In other words, by making this high-prestige term available to such graduates, the government is able to make these necessary jobs more appealing to students. No one has suggested, of course, that such highly skilled workers be awarded the term 'usta, even though the term is still associated with the ideas of skill and fine craftsmanship. This is because 'usta comes from the traditional system of training uneducated workers "on the job" and therefore still implies a lack of education which is becoming more and more a social stigma with each new generation. We see, then, that terms not only react to social change themselves, but that they are used by social planners to effect social change. The form 'usta appears both with and without the first name added and with the pronoun 'inta directly after it. The 72 instances of use of these forms are statistically summarized in Table 23. As the table indicates, speaker age is not significant for 'usta, but males are more likely to use the term than females are, and the lower the social class of speaker the more likely he is to use the term. This is consistent with informant statements in which upper class speakers claimed to avoid the term while woiking class speakers claimed to use it commonly. As expected, almost all instances of use of 'usta involved working class addressees. Interestingly, most also involved middle aged addressees. Like mi@allim, speakers are apparently restricting their usage of this term to addressees who "look like" an 'usta. Unknown addressees are more common than known ones. This is probably to be attributed to the large number of bus and taxi drivers represented in the corpus who are usually unknown to the passengers who might address them. The fact that tone of use is not significant indicates that 'usta is as common in angry, sarcastic or imperial tone as it is in a normal tone. This is in contrast with the higher terms of respect which favor a normal tone of voice rather strongly. In other words, while it is a term of respect when used politely, 'usta can also have a rather negative flavor when used to give an order or express anger in general. Down usage is much more common than either across or up. This is natural since the occupations involved are normally considered lower middle class, while the customers of those occupations would often be middle class or above. The data on detailed relationship, which is by far the most

Terms of Respect 143 Table 23. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for 'usta Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

1.6 0.4

Significance %Effectof Level Variable .001

2.1

2. Speaker Social Upper 0.3 Class Middle 1.3 Working 2.2

.000

4.1

3. Speaker Age

Not Significant

4. Addressee Sex

Does Not Apply

S. Addressee Social Class

0.2 Upper 0.8 Middle Working 3.0

.000

6.6

0.7 3.6 0.7

.000

5.3

7. Acquaintance Known 0.9 SLKnown 0.0 Unknown 2.S

.000

2.6—5.6

8. Tone

Not Significant

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old

9. a. Relationship Up 0.9 (Broad) Across 0.9 Down 3.0 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000

6.8

.000 18.4 OVERALL EFFECT 58.6%

Rank of Variable

2 1

important variable for this term, indicate that all but two of the uses involved use to drivers and other craftsmen (shoemakers, woodworkers, metal workers, etc.). The others involved sarcastic use to a friend and use to a coffee house waiter. Thus, like doktoor, 'usta has remained almost entirely a work-related term. Examples of the use of 'usta follow.

144 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

32. At a crowded bus stop, a young man is trying to get a taxi. One drives by with the window open and the young man yells: yasta! yasta! tahriir yasta? Driver! Driver! (Are you going to) Tahriir Square, Driver? 33. At a small shoe factory (6 workers), everyone including the owner is sitting around one morning drinking tea and trying to wake up before they start working. A 16 year old worker finally asks the owner. mis haniStagal yasta? Aren't we going to work, Master? to which the owner replies: ma tistagal yasta! Well, get to work, Master! The example of negative use also involves the addition of the second person pronoun after the term. 34. In a narrow lane a taxi runs into a vegetable cart and the two angry drivers start a physical fight. A bystander separates them and the cart driver backs off, but the taxi driver keeps swinging. The bystander yells at him sharply: xallaas, ma@lehS yasta 'inta! xalliiha @aleek Siwayya! You, driver, don't get so worked up! Don't get so upset! With the first name added, 'usta fulaan is common in workshops and factories between the workers. A large amount of data was gathered on the interaction of the workers in one small shoe factory. It was discovered that all the workers, young men, addressed each other with the first name alone, 'usta, or 'usta fulaan, while all of the workers addressed the boss, who worked along with them, with 'usta or 'usta fulaan. Boss Like 'usta, rayyis derives historically from a high term still in use, in this case ra'iis 'president' Also like 'usta, it is limited in use almost entirely to uneducated addressees. In the case of rayyis, however, unlike 'usta, no

Terms of Respect 145

particular skill is involved. Informants agreed that waiters, baladi salesmen in stores and shops, kumsaris t>us conductors,' janitors, street sweepers and very low level government functionaries would receive the term. Some felt that laborers in the skilled trades that usually receive 'usta could also receive rayyis, particularly if they were only "a little" skilled. Bus drivers, particularly, were singled out as "really" deserving rayyis more than 'usta. From the above and from the direct statements of informants, it appears that rayyis is the lowest term of respect, the term left when nothing else applies. This is true in a sense although, as usual, some ambiguity is involved. Informants stated that the engineer of a construction project might use rayyis to the foreman of the workers (other workers may be addressed with the name alone or simply as walad 'boy') in order to make him feel important. Others stated that in the professions of building construction and fishing rayyis implies skilled labor, just as 'usta does for the professions it is limited to. Further, a few informants claimed that President Sadat (but not the prime minister or any other government official) liked to be referred to and addressed as rayyis, since it implied that he was ibn ilbalad 'a local boy' and Sa@bi 'of the people, baladi.' It thus appears that in certain cases the term does imply a kind of higher respect, in which case it comes closer to its literal meaning, 'boss;' still, in the great majority of cases, no such respect is implied. It is the lowest term of the group. The 102 instances of use of rayyis are statistically summarized in Table 24. Examination of the table indicates that males use the term more than females do, that middle class speakers use it more than either upper or working class speakers do, and that middle aged speakers use it more than either young or old speakers do. Middle aged addressees are also the most common, but addressee is by far the most likely to be working class. Like 'usta, addressees are more likely to be unknown than known, but the tone of use is more likely to be normal with rayyis than it is with 'usta. Usage is usually down to drivers of all types, waiters, janitors, street sweepers, club workers, laundry boys and working class salesmen of all types. Several instances of use to total strangers were also recorded, as well as a few sarcastic uses to friends. It should not be assumed from the fact that rayyis is the lowest term of respect that it is used to insult the addressees it is used to. This is clearly not the case. It marks their social status, but it also conveys a degree of respect or at least kulfa 'formality of relationship.' When used to addressees whose term it is (i.e. those who most EA speakers would categorize as belonging to the rayyis class), the tone was in all cases very normal and businesslike. The following examples are typical: 35. A vegetable shop owner was busy with more than one customer, and another came in asking for mangos quickly. He yelled to his 45 year old working class helper:

146 Constructing the Social Context of Communication Table 24. Statistical Summary of Natural Data fen* rayyis Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

2.3 0.7

2. Speaker Social Upper 1.2 Class Middle 3.0 Working 1.6 3. Speaker Age

Young MidAge Okl

1.3 3.2 1.4

4. Addressee Sex S. Addressee Social Class

Significance %Effect of Level Variable

Rank of Variable

.000

1.7

9

.000

1.7

8

.000

2.0

7

Does Not Apply Upper 0.2 1.5 Middle Working 4.1

.000

7.8

4

0.9 5.0 1.6

.000

5.6

5

7. Acquaintance Known O.S SLKnown 1.8 Unknown S.4

.000

9.0—12.4

2

.000

3.5—3.6

6

.000

10.4

3

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Okl

8. Tone

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

2.5 0.5 1.2 0.3

0.2 9. a. Relationship Up 0.8 (Broad) Across 5.9 Down b. Relationship (Detailed)

19.4 .000 OVERALL EFFECT 68.4%

1

Terms of Respect 147 xod ya rayyis, haat manga! Come here, boss, get mangos! 36. In a shop, after making a purchase, the middle class customer hands the salesman a tip with: itfaddal ya rayyis. Here, boss. 37. An upper class man is seated with a friend in a small cafeteria. The working class waiter comes up and the man says: itneen bebsi ya rayyis. Two Pepsis, boss. Like 'usta, rayyis may be used with the first name added, but this is much rarer than it is with 'usta. The only example of such usage appearing in the natural data involved joking use to a friend. Nanny The historical origins of the term daada are unclear. It is used by the children in a home (not usually by their parents) to the female servant who is responsible for raising them. This would effectively limit its use to speakers whose families can afford a maid. Three upper class informants stated that children in their families called the family maid (who was not responsible for raising them) daada as a term of endearment, sometimes adding the name. Finally, all informants agreed that students in elementary and secondary school use daada to faraSt ilmadrasa 'the female janitress for the school.' It seems clear that at least originially this, too, must have implied endearment, although it is so widespread now that it apparently has become the workrelated term for school janitresses, implying nothing but the fact that addressee is a daada. No examples of daada appeared in the natural data (probably because the author did not have access to any girls' schools). Maitre The term mitr was borrowed from French and has two uses. First, it is used to the head waiter of a restaurant, the "maitre d'hotel." This has come to mean the waiter in any higher class restaurant All informants felt that rayyis was appropriate for a baladi waiter, but that a waiter in a higher class restaurant would be offended by it. They, therefore, use mitr instead. Two

148 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

examples of use of mitr appeared in the natural data, both used to waiters at the restaurant associated with an upper class sporting club. The second use of mitr was indicated by the interview informants but did not appear in the natural data. It involves use of mitr to lawyers, particularly by lower class speakers who may work for the lawyer. This second use has apparently been going out of fashion in this generation. Sergeant The term SawiiS names a rank in both the army and the police force and is reportedly used to address anyone of that rank. It is further used to address any low-level police officer. Two examples of such use appeared, both by drivers asking directions of a policeman, as in: 38. An upper class doctor has been invited to a meeting at the officers' club, but can't find iL He stops in front of a policeman and asks: sabaah ilxeer ya SawiiS, huwwa feen min hina naadi ddubbaat? Good morning, sergeant, where is the officers' club from here? One other example of use of SawiiS involved an upper middle class sister making fun of her brother who has just entered the army. One example of SawiiS fulaan also appeared in the data, from a television interviewer addressing a policeman she happened to be interviewing that day. Infantryman The term duf@a 'a low level military rank' appeared only four times in the natural data. All addressees were young men dressed in army clothes. Speakers were bus conductors, taxi drivers and friends. One interview informant explained that the term is playful or sarcastic when used between friends in the army, but that it is a somewhat respectful term when used by drivers and bus conductors since the young men they use it to normally have no rank whatsoever and it therefore makes them feel good to get a term higher than they deserve. An example is: 39. A taxi driver has several riders, including a young soldier. He asks the soldier

Terms of Respect 149 naazil feen ya duf@a? Where are you getting out, soldier? Other Low Work-Related Terms There are several work-related terms that it is considered impolite to use in direct address. These include 'ahwagi 'coffee house boy,' kumsari 'bus conductor,' @askari 'soldier,' sawwaa' 'driver,' @arbagi 'donkey cart driver,' and taalib 'student.' Except for students, men who engage in these professions may be politely addressed with either 'usta or rayyis. The natural data, however, include examples of each of these terms being used in address, either rudely or jokingly, both to men in the appropriate profession and to others. Examples include: 40. A rather obnoxious young man at a coffee house yells to the waiter: ya @amm 'inta, ya 'ahwagi! matgibli kursi widifaaya! You! Uncle! Coffee boy! Bring me a chair and a heater! 41. A bus conductor challenged a rider to show her ticket and she started searching through her purse but couldn't find it for a while. The conduct«1 threatened her to find it and then went on toward the front of the bus. When she found it, she angrily and triumphantly ran toward him waving the ticket and shouting: ittazkara 'ahe ya kumsari! (He doesn't notice her.) 'inta ya kumsari! Here is the ticket, Conduct«1! (He doesn't notice her.) You! Conductor! 42. A 23 year old middle class young man is angry at his 8 year old brother for something he did, and so yells at him: ya @arbagi yabni lkalb! You cart driver! You son of a dog! Age-Related Terms EA has two terms whose use is mainly determined by the age of addressee, one for younger addressees, kabtan, and one for older ones, hagg. A Christian parallel to hagg, mi'addis, will also be discussed.

ISO Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Pilgrim Performance of the hagg 'pilgrimage' is one of the duties of all Muslims, and people who have been on the hagg are considered to be deserving of respect. Since as a general rule people are not financially or otherwise able to make the pilgrimage until they are relatively old, the terms hagg and hagga have come to be associated with older addressees. All of the informants agreed that the term has two usages. It is used to anyone who has actually performed the hagg, and by extension to any older respected person in the community. Some added that as a further requirement, the addressee must have an air of goodness about him (karam, tiiba) to really deserve the term. Interestingly, in some families children begin to replace the terms baaba and maama with hagg and hagga when the parents get older, whether or not they have been on the pilgrimage. The combined term yaaba lhagg also appears, although it is considered to be very baladi. Both hagg and hagga appear alone and with the first name attached. All of these forms (117 of which appeared in the data) are statistically summarized in Table 25. The most obviously significant variable for the terms hagg and hagga is addressee age, which accounts for over one-fourth of the variablity in the use of these terms. Most of the addressees addressed with these terms were old, and taken together they represent over 10% of all the terms used to old addressees, a rather high percentage when the large number of possible terms is taken into consideration. Addressee social class is also rather important. All classes receive the term but working class addressees receive it much more commonly than do the others. A more detailed look at the data reveals that most of the upper class addressees addressed with these terms had actually performed the pilgrimage, while the majority of working class addressees addressed with the terms had not actually performed the pilgrimage. It seems likely, therefore, that when used to real pilgrims the term does not mark social class, whereas when used as a mark of respect to an older person in general it is associated only with lower class addressees. All of the informants, without exception, said they would use hagg to a man who had actually made the pilgrimage, no matter what his social class, and most added that they would also use it to any respected older man. Some added restrictions, however. One upper class male stated that he would use hagg to an older man only if he were wearing a traditional galabiya or a suit that was mutawassit 'medium' (i.e. not in style, not chic). Two others specifically stated that the addressee would have to be of the lower classes. An upper class girl, on the other hand, mentioned both high and low old addressees as possible recipients of the term—landlords, salesmen, colleagues, etc. Although the informants seem to disagree on this subject, and the natural data do indicate that upper class addressees are fairly common, there does appear to

Terms of Respect 151 Table 25. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for hagg Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

2.7 0.6

2. Speaker Social Upper 1.1 Class Middle 2.3 Working 2.9 3. Speaker Age

Young MidAge Old

1.1 3.5 3.4

4. Addressee Sex 5. Addressee Social Class

Significance %Effectof Level Variable

Rank of Variable

.000

2.3

6

.001

1.0

9

.000

3.1

5

Not Significant Upper 1.3 Middle 1.9 Working 3.4

.000

1.9

7

6. Addressee Age Young 0.1 MidAge 1.7 11.5 Old

.000

26.5

1

1.4 7. Acquaintance Known SLKnown 0.9 Unknown 4.2

.000

2 . 2 - -3.4

4

.000

4 . 7 - -5.3

3

.000

1.8

8

8. Tone

Normal 3.0 Sarcastic 0.2 Angry 0.6 Imperial 1.6

9. a. Relationship Up 3.8 (Broad) Across 1.7 Down 1.7 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000 8.6 OVERALL E F F E C T 72.2%

2

152 Constructing the Social Context of Communication be a tendency among upper class speakers to consider hagg appropriate only for lower class addressees. Male and female addressees are equally likely to be addressed with these terms, as is indicated by the lack of significance of addressee sex. The table indicates, however, that male speakers are more likely to use the terms than are female, that middle and working class speakers are more likely to use it than upper, and that middle aged and old speakers are more likely to use it than young. Unknown addressees are the most common, and tone is usually normal. Uses of the terms are most common to customers and bus riders by salesmen and conductors, but they are also common to salesmen, relatives, friends and strangers. A few examples of the use of these terms follow. 43. A working class man, SS years old, asks a working class 17 year old young man, a stranger, if the bus that just pulled in is going to Tahrir Square. The young man answers: laa ya hagg mis biyruuh ittahriir. No, Pilgrim, it doesn't go to Tahrir. 44. A SS year old, working class wife is waiting with her rather feeble 60 year old husband for the bus. He is standing in the street and she sees a bus coming towards him and so yells: ta@aala hina ya hagg! Come over here, Pilgrim! It may be deduced, from examples like (44), that although hagg is a term of respect, it does not necessarily imply the presence of kulfa 'formality of relationship.' 45. A 65 year old working class customer has asked the 4S year old vegetable salesman for a long list of items. After he gathers them all together, he says with a smile: 'inti ti@ibtiini ya hagga! You've worn me out, Pilgrim! The next few examples illustrate use of the terms with the first name added. Examples of this type of usage in the data include use to friends, neighbors, in-laws and to a local tailor.

Terms of Respect 153 46. A group of young working class men are sitting around a coffee house and a SO year old working class acquaintance walks up and greets them. One replies: 'ahlan 'izzayyak ya @amm fathi? Hello, how are you, Uncle Fathi? and another says at almost the same time: 'ahlan yaaba, itfadddal ya hagg fathi. Hello, dad, sit down, Pilgrim Fathi. 47. Two older upper class female neighbors meet by chance at the door of their building. One says: 'izzayyik ya hagga layla? How are you, Pilgrim Layla? Example (46) above demonstrates the essential identity of use of @amm fulaan and hagg fulaan, at least for working class speakers. The last example above involves an addressee who had actually made the pilgrimage. Pilgrim to Jerusalem The terms mi'addis and mi'addisa which are derived from the word quds 'Jerusalem' are the Christian equivalents of hagg and hagga, meaning 'pilgrim to Jerusalem.' Although these forms did not appear in the natural data, Christian informants stated that they are used in the Christian community in exactly the same way hagg and hagga are used in the Muslim community, i.e. to addressees who actually have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and in general to any older respected addressee with a sense of "goodness" about him or her. It is not clear whether the terms are associated particularly with lower class addressees as hagg and hagga are. Captain The term kabtin, borrowed from English, is used with or without the name added to address coaches, in which use it is a fairly typical, if restricted, woikrelated term of address. The most common use, however, is to unknown young men, age being the determining factor. Many informants stated in the interview that kabtin was the most appropriate term for addressing unknown

154 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

male strangers who are under about 30 years of age in . a polite way. The broken plural, kabaatin, is similarly used to groups of young men. The 81 occurrences of kabtin in the natural data will not be statistically summarized, but it will be pointed out that except for a few uses to older coaches in sport situations, all instances fit the above description. Usage is to young men, usually unknown, with upper and middle class addressees being somewhat more common than working class addressees. The form kabtin is, therefore, a fairly high term of respect for a young addressee. One example is given. 48. A middle class 18 year old young man is entering a sporting club. The club worker at the gate asks: ma@aak kameeh ya kabtin? Do you have a card, Captain? General Terms of Respect The terms to be presented in this section are die equivalent in many ways of English "Mr." and "Mrs.". They do not imply any specific profession, and while correlated to social class, they are not strictly limited to one group. One neutral term, two male terms, and five female terms are included. Sir, Ma'am The term afandim is probably the most formal and the most general of the whole system. It is the only term that is applied (without a change in form) to both male and female addressees. All the informants used words like takliif 'formality of relationship,' rasmi 'the formal way of speaking,' 'ihtiraam 'respect' and zoo' 'politeness' in describing use of afandim. It is so formal that it is considered to be rather dry (gaff). As (Mie informant put it, it is used to addressees that you not only don't know, but that you have no desire or reason to know: a government functionary, a disliked boss, a very high government official, etc. When dealing with very high addressees, speakers will use afandim exclusively or alternate between afandim and the work-specific term that is appropriate for addressee. Thus afandim freely alternates with doktoor, baSmuhandis and all of the other high woik-related terms, and carries with it a similar degree of prestige. In the interview, informants were asked how they would address several categories of addressees. It became clear that whenever a high addressee was mentioned for which the informant could not quickly think of a specific term, afandim would be the reply (for example, to addressees like Mrs. Sadat).

Terms of Respect 155 The term afandim is used only by itself. The name may not be added to it. The 72 occurrences of this term are statistically summarized in Table 26. Table 26. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for afandim Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

1.7 0.3

Significance %Effectof Level Variable .000

3.1

2. Speaker Social Class

Not Significant

3. Speaker Age

Not Significant

4. Addressee Sex

Not Significant

5. Addressee Social Class

Upper 2.7 Middle 0.9 Working 0.2

Rank of Variable 7

.000

8.8

2

0.6 3.0 2.0

.000

6.2

3

1.0 7. Acquaintance Known SLKnown 9.9 Unknown 1.6

.000

4.0—4.7

6

.000

4.8—4.9

5

.000

4.9

4

6. AddiesseeAge Young MidAge Old

8. Tone

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

2.0 0.3 0.2 0.0

9. a. Relationship Up 3.3 (Broad) Across 0.8 Down 0.7 b. Relationship (Detailed)

12.8 .000 OVERALL EFFECT 68.3%

1

156 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

The table indicates that males are more likely to use the term than are females, but that there are no other speaker related constraints: all ages and social classes are equally likely to use the term. There is likewise no constraint on the sex of addressee, indicating that males and females are equally likely to receive the term. As expected addressee social class is extremely significant with upper class addressees getting the lion's share of the forms. Addressee age is also expectedly significant, indicating that middle aged and old addressees are more common than young addressees who are not as likely to be in a socially dominant position requiring speaker to show deference to them. The term is common to bosses, teachers, professors, club members from club workers, customers from salesmen, and is particularly common in formal television interview situations, where afandim can account for as much as one fourth of all the terms used in that situation. It is also common among and to army officers and policemen. The quote from the play at the beginning of this chapter is a good example of the use of afandim by a lower official to a higher official in the government. A few other examples of the use of afandim from the natural data follow. 49. An upper class man enters a nice "supermarket" and the working class man who gets things off the shelves for customers approaches him and says: 'aywa yafandim? Yes, sir? 50. A soldier approaches an officer who is training students in a summer army program and says: yafandim @ayziin talat tullaab yisiilu lbanaadi'. Sir, we need three students to carry the rifles. 51. An upper class young man calls his friend on the telephone and his friend's father answers. After the "helios," the young man says: law samaht yafandim, midhat mawguud? Please, Sir, is Midhat there? It should be mentioned here that the word afandim is also used without the vocative particle ya, in which case it has several other uses. Speakers use it, completely without regard to their own or addressee's sex, age or social status, 1) to answer the telephone, particularly in a business office, 2) to answer roll calls and other summons, and 3) to indicate to addressee that they have not heard or understood what he just said.

Terms of Respect 157 Mr. The word sayyid originally meant 'lord,' but it has come to mean "Mr.' It is used in expressions like ya sayyid irra'iis "Mr. President,' and is used to refer to men in the third person either with the name added: issayyid fulaan 'aal 'innu... Mr. so and so said that ... or without it: issayyid hinaak. The man illi over there. Interestingly, unlike "Mr." it is relatively uncommon as a term of address, and it certainly is not the all-purpose term that "Mr." is. Female interview informants claimed not to use it much, stating that it could be used to address an old male addressee politely, but several informants added that it is most commonly used to an unknown, middle-aged male who is on the lower side of middle class. They used terms like kaatib 'clerk' and muwazzaf sugayyar 'small functionary' to describe this addressee, and stated further that using sayyid to him would often express annoyance, as in: 'u'af fi ttabuur ya sayyid! Get back in line, mister. The term sayyid occurs with the first name added in third person reference, but it apparently is used only rarely with the name in address. The female form, sayyida, also used in third person reference, is apparently never used in address at all. Only 21 examples of this term occurred in the natural data, so they will not be statistically summarized. It will be noted, however, that only two instances of use to an upper class addressee occurred, an outcome consistent with the informant statements referred to above. It is also interesting to note that over half of the occurrences of sayyid involved a negative or angry tone of voice. It appears that a translator would often be ill-advised to translate English "Mr." into sayyid in Egypt, unless the goal is to offend the addressee. One example of use of sayyid with a negative tone of voice, and one with a neutral tone are given. 52. A young man is boarding the bus too slowly for the middle-aged man behind him, who says in an annoyed voice: 'udxul ya sayyid! Get on, mister!

158 Constructing the Social Context of Communication S3. A bus conductor walks up to a young man to take his money and says: 'aywa ya sayyid? Yes, mister? Strangers, bus riders, bus drivers and salesmen were the most common classes of addressees in the natural data. It is interesting to point out that several informants indicated that sayyid is the term that by law was supposed to replace the old aristocratic terms of address: baaSa Pasha,' beeh 'Bey,' etc. The social class constraints on the use of this term mentioned above, together with the fact that sayyid is many times less common than baaSa or beeh as terms of address even today, would indicate that the term did not catch on as intended. In one humorous incident, a baladi fruit stand owner whom the author was interviewing emphatically stated that baaSa and beeh had been totally banned and replaced by sayyid, and one minute later excused himself to serve a customer, whom he addressed with beeh. Over 300 examples of beeh, and over 100 of baaSa, appeared in the natural data, compared to only 21 instances of sayyid. My Lord The term siidi, which is nothing more than a phonological reduction of sayyid with the first person singular pronoun on the end, has fared somewhat better than has sayyid itself. It has two serious usages, both rather rare, and an extremely common sarcastic use. Seriously, it is used to address grandfathers, but formerly and in the countryside rather than now or in the city. Five of the informants mentioned this use, but none use it themselves in this way, and no examples of siidi to a grandfather appeared in the natural data. It is also used by servants, maids, etc. to address their boss. An upper class informant, referring to this usage, emphatically said 'itlagat xalaas fi masr 'it's been effectively banned from Egypt;' apparently, when the titles of the nobility were banned after the revolution of 1952, it was no longer considered appropriate for servants to use such a fawning term (likewise with sitti 'my mistress,' to be discussed below). Usage has apparently declined greatly (assuming that, as reported, it was the most common term in such situations before the revolution), but the natural data do contain one example of use of siidi in this manner, and six of the interview informants (representing all social classes) claimed that this usage was normal. By far the most common use of siidi, as noted, is in hizaar 'joking,' tahriig 'jest,' tarya'a 'attacking,' and/or loom 'fault finding.' All of the interview informants claimed some such kind of sarcastic use. It can express (fake or real) annoyance, as in:

Terms of Respect 159 ya siidi, 'iskut ba'a! My good sir, shut up! It is also used to express admiration or surprise (again, fake or real) and is particularly common to females in mu@aakasa 'teasing, bothering' in such phrases as: 'eeh ya siidi lgamaal da!? What's all this beauty, my good sir? The natural data contains 132 examples of siidi and these are summarized in Table 27. The table indicates that neither speaker nor addressee age is significant but that male speakers are somewhat more likely to use the term than female speakers are, and that working and middle class speakers and addressees are more likely to use and receive the term than upper class speakers and addressees are. The non-significance of the tone variable is important, since it indicates that siidi is as common in angry, sarcastic and imperial tones of voice as it is in a normal tone of voice. Since usage is almost entirely sarcastic, it is reasonable that the relationship variables would not be very significant Speakers use siidi to virtually any male addressee when they are being sarcastic. Several of the various ways siidi was used in the natural data are illustrated below. 54. A college student informs a friend that he got a "very good" mark (χι his exams. To express admiration, the friend exclaims: ya siidi! 55. A bus conductor comes up to a young male rider and asks for his money with: 'aywa ya siidi? Yes, mister? 56. A bike rider comes barrelling down a narrow street and yells at a stranger in his way: 'iw@a ya siidi! Watch out, mister! 57. A customer gets very angry with an 'akwagi 'coffee boy' for not

bringing the coffee he ordered. Annoyed, the coffee boy replies:

160 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Table 27. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for siidi Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

2.9 0.9

Significance %Effectof Level Variable

Rank of Variable

.000

1.5

2

2. Speaker Social Upper 1.5 Class Middle 3.0 Working 2.7

.010

0.8

5

3. Speaker Age

Not Significant

4. Addressee Sex

Does Not Apply

5. Addressee Social Class

Upper 1.5 Middle 2.8 Woiking 3.2

6. Addressee Age 7. Acquaintance

.005

1.1

3

Not Significant Known 2.1 Sl.Known 1.8 Unknown 3.4

.015

1.1

8. Tone

Not Significant

9. a. Relationship (Broad) b. Relationship (Detailed)

Not Significant .025 5.5 OVERALL EFFECT 47.6%

4

1

ma'ultilak haadir ya siidi! haadir! 'inta mabtisma@S?! I told you ÓK, mister! OK! Can't you hear!? 58. Nadya, an 18 year old female student, is supposed to meet her colleague Bulbul at a certain time in the library, but he comes a half hour late. Annoyed, she exclaims: kunt feen ya siidi? da kalaam ya 'axi?! it'axxart leeh?

Terms of Respect 161

Where were you, mister? Is that any way to act?! Why were you late, brother?! 59. Two 18 year old male friends are having a jestful conversation. One asks the other if he saw the latest series on TV; the other responds by implying that the TV of the first is not worth watching. The first replies, pretending to take offense: maalu ya siidi mis @agabak?! What's wrong with it, mister, doesn't it please you?! 60. After explaining a point of grammar, the Arabic professor asks if ' there are any questions. A student raises his hand and the professor calls on him with: 'aywa ya siidi? Yes, mister? Despite the gloss 'mister* above, which in English would not be considered polite, the term siidi is not particularly impolite or offensive, despite its common sarcastic use. It does not imply anything bad about the addressee, although it is commonly used in expressing annoyance with him or in contradicting him. There seems to be a playful undercurrent of tone in almost every case which softens the negative aspects of its use. One example of siidi fulaan (i.e. with the first name) occurred, by a mother, playfully ordering her 18 year old son to do something: 61. 'inta ya siidi bulbul, 'inta @aleek kull yoom timla tamanya garaad mayya! You, mister Bulbul, your job is to fill the bucket with water eight times a day! It should be noted in passing here that siidi is parallel to the form sidna 'our master' (sayyid + the first person plural pronoun). This form is used in combination with other terms, as in sidna SSeex 'our master, the sheikh,' and sidna lafandi 'our master, the gentleman,' the former being a normal way of addressing sheikhs and the latter being a rather humorous way of addressing "gentlemen." The term siidi itself is used to refer to, and probably address, some saints, for example, siidi 'abu sa@uud, etc.

162 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Mrs. and Madam The native Arabic word sitt and the borrowed word madaam, both used as third person nouns to refer to adult women, have apparently become sociolinguistic variants of each other when used in address. The general pattern of their use became apparent from the interviews. Upper class informants claimed to use sitt only to baladi or working class addressees. Most of the middle class informants also claimed to use sitt in this way, but a few added that a middle class trmwazzafa 'government functionary' would also receive the term from them. The working class informants stated that they would use sitt to any woman, regardless of social class. Upper class informants agreed that while they would never use sitt to an upper class addressee, maids and other baladi speakers often use sitt to them. The term madaam, on the other hand, was claimed by all classes of speakers, but most indicated that addressee must be wearing western clothes and look educated. Working class informants claimed to use it mainly to respectable-looking women who were strangers, whereas middle and upper class informants claimed to use it to any woman who was not baladi, including colleagues. All of the informants were asked to directly compare the terms sitt and madaam. Two working class informants found no difference between the two, but all of the others agreed that madaam was for educated women, and sitt for baladi women. ¡Describing a typical sitt addressee, they used phrases like labsa galabiyya 'wearing a galabiyya,' labsa milaaya 'wearing a milaaya,' labsa baladi 'wearing baladi clothes,' min bii'a Sa@biyhya, min manti'a Sa@biyya, min il'ahyaa' aSSa@biyya 'from working class neighborhoods,' mustawa 'igtimaa@i wihiS'of low social class,' wahda 'a'all minnak 'someone below you,' rabbaat ilbuyuut illi humma mis mit@allimiin 'a@diin fi Ibeet 'uneducated housewives who stay at home.' Describing madaam addressees, on the other hand, they used phrases like: wahda muhtarama Swayya 'someone a little respectable,' labsa garbi, labsa 'afrangi 'wearing western clothes,' min il'ahyaa' irraaqiya 'from upper class neighborhoods,' mustawa 'igtimaa@i kwayyis 'of good social class,' labsa mooda 'wearing clothes that are in style,' and musaqqafa 'cultured.' All agreed that madaam expressed 'ihtiraam 'aktar 'a higher degree of respect' The conception of upper class informants of working class usage was also interesting. One said that a vegetable lady was free to call everyone sitt, but that he himself had no choice but to make the distinction between garbi 'western' and baladi. Another observed that while speakers of her class strictly obeyed the rule that madaam was for the upper classes and sitt for the lower classes, lower class speakers were mis munazzamiin 'not orderly' in their use of the two terms. For example, she continued, a taxi driver might start out calling her madaam, but if he became mitnerviz 'annoyed, nervous' he might switch to sitt, and if he got really mad he would even use ya sitt

Terms of Respect 163 'inti. Clearly, the 'unorderly' usage she is describing is very orderly. The taxi driver was apparently aware on some level that sitt is not as high a term as madaam. He naturally used a lower term as he became angry. This same pattern is evident with terms of abuse as will be seen in a coming chapter. The more angry a speaker becomes, the lower he is likely to descend on the continuum of abusive terms. Neither madaam nor sitt occurred enough for a convincing statistical analysis so the results of the analysis comparing the two will not be presented in Table form. Some observations drawn from the analysis will be presented, however. First, the term sitt is more common than madaam for all categories of speakers and for all but upper class addressees. It appeared about twice as often as madaam in the natural data as a whole. Female speakers are more likely than males, however, to choose sitt, while males are more likely than females to choose madaam. All social classes use madaam at about the same rate, while working class speakers use sitt twice as frequently as upper class speakers do. As with the term axuuya, females are associated with the original, baladi, working class form, while males are associated with the more educated, "higher," borrowed form. As expected, addressee social class is the most striking difference between the two forms. It is not significant for sitt indicating that all classes are receiving it approximately equally. The term madaam, on the other hand, is clearly an upper class form, with upper class addressees receiving it twice as often as middle class addressees, and ten times as often as working class addressees. Looking at the social class data even more closely, we find that upper class speakers used sitt entirely down to an addressee of lower social class than themselves (the one exception involving an upper class daughter angrily addressing her mother), while working class speakers used madaam almost entirely up to an addressee of higher social class than themselves. This substantiates the informants claim that upper class speakers are more "careful" about using sitt than lower class speakers are. Upper class addressees received as many sitts as working class speakers did, but all came from speakers lower than themselves in social class. Thus, the pattern of usage of these two terms varies with the social class of both speaker and addressee. This is presented in graphic form in Figure 6, which indicates the areas where the two terms are used almost exclusively, and the areas where variable use is common. This looks very much like the classical "wave" model proposed by Bailey and others, and indicates, at the least, the presence of a variable continuum with different categories of speakers controlling different segments of the continuum. One further comparison of interest between the two terms involves tone of use. Madaam is almost entirely normal in tone, and appears to always mark respect and kulfa. Sitt, on the other hand, is as commonly used with an angry, sarcastic, or imperial tone of voice as it is with a normal one. Although it is still normally a term of respect, because it is lower than madaam it has apparently begun to take on certain negative connotations, and

164 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

if said with the proper tone of voice, or with the pronoun 'inti either before or after it, it can sound almost like an abusive term.

Speakers

|| II

WC

Addressees MC

UC

WC

II II

sitt

sitt madaam

sitt madaam

MC

H II

sitt

sitt madaam

madaam

II

sitt

sitt

madaam

II

UC

Figure 6. Social Class Distribution of sitt and madaam. Two examples of each term follow, each representing a typical use. 62. In a crowded government store, a middle class woman keeps impatiently shouting her order to the harried salesman, who is waiting on several others. He finally responds: 'usburi ya sitt! Have patience, ma'am! 63. A working class woman walks up to an empty bus and starts to get on, but the conductor closes the door, saying: mi§ taali@ ya sitt! This one is not leaving, ma'am! 64. At an upper class food market, the cashier adds up an upper class woman's purchases and says: miyya wisab@iin ya madaam. One pound seventy, madam. 65. In the main office of the Gezira Sporting Club, an upper class male official sees a female colleague walk in for the morning. He looks up from his desk and says:

Terms of Respect 165

sabaah ilxeer ya madaam. Good morning, madam. Both sitt and madaam may also be used with the first name added and sitt may also be used with the teknonym: ya sitt 'ummfulaan "Mrs. Mother of So-and-So.' A few examples of each of these forms appeared in the natural data, and they appear to fit the same pattern we have seen for sitt and madaam alone, with the notable exception that sitt fulaana was used several times by upper class women as a dala@ 'term of endearment' to addressees who were speaker's daughters, sisters, cousins and close friends (all of whom would normally receive the first name alone). None of these types of addressees could receive sitt alone from the same speaker. Typical examples include the following. 66. An upper class male bank employee walks over to a female colleague and asks: sallimti SSikaat ya madaam mahaasin? Did you turn in the checks yet, Madam Mahasin? 67. A 13 year old middle class customer is carefully choosing bananas one by one from the fruit stand where her family always shops. The owner, a working class man, says in an annoyed voice: 'ulna mafiiS na'aawa, ya sitt randa! We said, there is no choosing (one by one) Mrs. (here Miss) Randa. Example (67) shows that sitt does not necessarily refer to a married woman. It appears simply to mean 'adult woman.' Several informants stated that a madaam had to be married, however, and a small scene from a play by Ali Salim supports this idea. Several students were discussing a female teacher whom they had been addressing (somewhat rudely) by her first name. One claimed that she is probably married, but another scoffed at the idea, claiming that in that case she would have been madaam @afaaf rather than just @afaaf (from madrosi ilmuSaagabiin by Ali Salim). My Lady The term sitt, but not madaam, also appears with the first person pronoun attached meaning 'my lady'. It is the female equivalent of siidi: it used to be used to grandmothers (and apparently still is in the countryside), it used to be used by servants to female bosses, but is not considered appropriate for this

166 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

use by most speakers today, and it has a wide sarcastic or playful use to any female addressee. Several examples of this latter type of usage appeared in the natural data, by all sexes, ages and social classes to addressees who were friends, relatives, colleagues, strangers and customers. Two examples of the use of sitti by a maid to her female boss also occurred. FOT example: 68. A thirty year old middle class daughter walks in the door after coming home from work and calls out to her father in a playful tone: ya @amm huseen, ya si huseen, ya sihs! 0 Uncle Hussein, O Mr. Hussein, O Mr. H.! The father replies, also jovially: @ayza 'eeh ya sitti? What do you want, my lady? She replies: ya tara l'akl 'eeh innaharda? 1 wonder what we are having for lunch? 69. A maid is going out shopping and needs to know whether or not to get bread. She goes up to her mistress and asks: 'agiib @eeS ya sitti? Should I bring bread, my lady? In many of the examples, the playful undercurrent (noticeable in 68) while probably there, is reduced. For example: 70. A working class 20 year old female customer is waiting at a pharmacy counter. A pharmacist comes out of the back room, sees her and says: 'aywa ya sitti na@am? Yes, ma'am, yes?

Terms of Respect 167

sitt Combined With Other Terms The term sitt also plays a part in several combined terms of the term ilterm pattern, some of which are respectful or normal terms of address, and others are more playful. The term sitt iddoktoora "Madam Doctor' was used in the natural data by a servant to her mistress who happened to be a doctor. The term sitt ilhagga 'Madam Pilgrim' was used by a doorman to a 50 year old upper class woman who lived in his building. The term sitt maama "Mrs. Mother' was used playfully by the children of an upper class family to address their mother, to whom they also used sitt ilkull "Mistress of All.' Newly engaged girls are occasionally addressed with sitt il@araayis 'Mistress of the Brides,' and any pretty girl may be addressed with sitt issitaat 'Mistress of the Ladies,' in mu@aakasa 'teasing.' The term sitt haanim will be discussed in the next section. Gentlewoman The term haanim is a Turkish term that seems to have had a few generations ago approximately the same role that madaam has now. It is now, however, on its way out. Informants claim that it used to be used by a respectable man to his wife, by the family driver to the mistress of the house, and in general to "wives of Beys." It is now used mainly by salesmen and waiters to flatter customers, by a few maids to their mistresses, and in a joking tone to friends, sisters, cousins, etc. The term haanim may be used with the first name, in which case it acts like other borrowed Tuikish terms and comes after instead of before the name (fulaana haanim). It may also be combined with the term sitt (sitt haanim). Both of these variants are used in the same way haanim alone is used. Only 30 examples of the use of haanim appeared in the natural data so they will not be statistically summarized. Examination of the data does reveal, however, that it is a term considered appropriate only for upper class addressees, with 27 of the 30 uses involving upper class addressees. Uses to customers, mistresses and the like were always polite and with a normal tone of voice, while use to friends and siblings were usually sarcastic or joking. Examples include: 71. In the market, an upper class woman walks up to a pickle salesman who says: 'aywa ya sitt haanim @ayza bikaam? Yes, Madam, how much worth (of pickles) do you want?

168 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

72. A 24 year old upper class sister is leaving and her 20 year old sister notices that she has not yet done her assigned task for the day. She calls after her sarcastically: 'istanni ya sitt haanim lissa magasaltiiS ilmawa@iin! Wait a minute, Madam, you haven't washed the dishes yet! Miss and Madmoiselle The Arabic term 'aanisa "Miss' and its borrowed counteipart madmwazell (with several variant pronunciations) appear on the surface to be parallel to the sitt/madaam pair discussed in the last section. Interestingly, however, the situation with 'aanisa and madmwazell is quite different from that of sitt and madaam. This is probably to be accounted for by the status of 'aanisa itself. Unlike sitt, which is a native colloquial word, 'aanisa is borrowed from Standard Arabic. Like baaba, maama, walad and bint (as opposed to their variants), 'aanisa is a form that is taught in school as appropriate for young women. It is thus associated with polite, educated speech, and has none of the baladi associations that sitt has. Only seven examples of 'aanisa appeared in the natural data, but all classes of speakers are represented, while all seven examples involve upper class addressees. This is in accord with informants' valuations of the term. Young baladi women, even if unmarried, are likely to be addressed with sitt. The term 'aanisa, therefore, far from being parallel with sitt, appears to be the most common counterpart of madaam. Middleaged and older, educated, married women receive madaam, while young, educated, unmarried women receive 'aanisa. If the name is known, it may be added. Two examples of 'aanisa fulaana appeared in the data, one by a boss to his secretary, and one by a teacher to a female student. One example of 'aanisa usage follows: 73. In a nice boutique, a 22 year old upper class woman chooses a sweater. As the salesgirl wraps it up for her, she directs her to the cashier and says: 'idfa@i hinaak ya 'aanisa. Pay over there, Miss. The term madmwazell appears in several phonetic shapes. Educated speakers approximate French pronunciation rather closely, while baladi speakers change it to mazmazell and the like. Several of the upper class informants claimed never to use the term madmwazell at all. Others said they may use it sometimes, but only to "addressees who look like they understand French," i.e. salesgirls in fancy boutiques, highly educated colleagues, etc.

Terms of Respect 169 Thus, it is middle and especially working class speakers who use madmwazell the most. Only nine examples of madmwazell use appeared in the natural data, but of these, only one upper class and two middle class speakers appeared. All addressees were middle class and upper class, however. Most of the data involved speakers in some service relationship with addressee: salesmen, club workers, building doormen, etc., who might expect a tip or other reward from addressee. Use of the term appears to be a kind of flattery from a lower speaker to a higher one. It is clearly, then, not parallel to madaam, and not to sitt either. It is much more peripheral to the system than either, is much less common, and much more limited as to possible uses. One example of madmwazell use follows. 74. An upper class 20 year old young woman starts to walk into a sporting club. The working class guard asks as she walks by: fiih karneeh ya mazmazell? Do you have a card, Miss? In summary, 'aanisa is used by speakers of all classes to upper class young women, while madmwazell is used by middle and especially working class speakers to middle and upper class young women whom they are trying to flatter. Any young girl in school could be addressed as 'aanisa by the teacher, and speakers of all classes might use madmwazell to an addressee who knows French. The term sitt (or sittfulaana) is the more common "low" counterpart of 'aanisa, however. The most common paradigm is thus madaam for high and sitt for low married women, and 'aanisa for high and sitt for low unmarried women. Terms for Groups of Addressees Besides the plurals of several of the terms being discussed, a group of people may be addressed with the terms gamaa@a 'group' or gamii@ 'all.' The former occurred several times in the natural data addressed to groups of friends, brothers and sisters, and children. The latter occurred once, addressed to a group of friends. These two terms are neutral in tone, implying neither respect nor disrespect One other term, gruub, borrowed from the English word 'group,' is reportedly used by some upper class young people as a playful variant of gamaa@a. It did not, however, occur in the natural data.

170 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Pre-Revolutionary

Terms

There are four terms in the EA system which some informants claim have died out or been banned since the revolution of 19S2. Although all of these terms are still in use, as is evidenced by the natural data, their usage has apparently changed from the way they were used before 1952. The terms are baaSa 'pasha,' beeh 'bey,' afandi 'gentleman,' and si "Mr.' The first three are of Turkish origin, and the latter is a phonological reduction of the term sayyid 'Mr.' discussed in a previous section. The term si is used only with the name attached (ya sifulaan). The other three are used with or without the name, but if the name is added, it must come first: fulaan baaSa, fulaan beeh , and fulaan afandi. These terms will be discussed individually.

Mr. So and So Before the revolution, according to informants' reports, the phrase ya sifulaan (with the first two words being treated for accent purposes as one: /yá si fuláan/) was the normal way to address any known, educated gentleman who did not hold a noble title. In the generation or two just before the revolution, it came to be restricted to educated gentlemen on the lower end of the educated classes: low government functionaries, clerks, etc. It also came to be restricted to baladi speakers. Since the revolution, again according to informants, even these latter usages are dying out, and people use the term mainly in jest or sarcastically to friends and relatives. An upper class informant stated that uneducated baladi women still call their educated husbands si fulaan (wahda sitt baladi ligozha lafandi), but working class informants stated that this applies only to ilgiil il'adiim 'the old generation' or zamaan 'a long time ago.' Only one informant, an older, middle class woman from a baladi neighborhood, claimed that she would herself use the term seriously rather than in jest: she finds it appropriate to male guests of some respectability who are not highly educated; for example, if the local tailor were in her home as a guest, she might address him with sifulaan. Forty-eight instances of si fulaan use appeared in the natural data. Statistical analysis reveals that only broad relationship and tone are significant variables. This indicates that usage is almost entirely sarcastic and that this sarcastic usage is common among all categories of speakers. Typical addressees were friends, colleagues, and relatives, always with a playful tone of voice. However, eight examples of what might be considered the more traditional usage also appeared, involving maids, doormen and other service personnel addressing the people they serve. This "serious" use of the term as a term of respect is limited to working class speakers. One example of serious use of si follows.

Terms of Respect 171 75. A 25 year old upper class man is walking out of the elevator of his building to leave for the day. The 50 year old working class doorman says: izzayyak ya si 'usaama? How are you, Mr. Usaama? The more common sarcastic uses are illustrated by the next three examples. 76. A 30 year old working class father is walking with his 10 year old son, who trips and falls. The father yells, jokingly: 'uum ya si @aatif! Get up, Mr. Atif! 77. A 19 year old working class young man goes to visit his 21 year old cousin after a long absence. The cousin greets him with: issalaamu @aleekum. 'ahlan yaad ya @aadil, izzayyak ya walad? Greetings! Welcome, boy Adii. How are you, boy? to which the 19 year old replies: 'ahlan ya magdi, hey, 'eeh kunt Hello, Mr.siMagdi, wherefeen? have you been? 78. A 28 year old working class man is staring at a 16 year old working class young woman as she fills up a water bucket from an outdoor faucet She demands that he stop staring, and he says it is not hurting her, and they get into a very loud argument. Hearing the noise, the girl's uncle, a 40 year old man who owns a nearby shop, comes running and yells to the young man angrily: gara 'eeh ya si ra'fat, 'inta maalak wimalha? What's the matter, Mr. Rafat, can't you mind your own business? (roughly) Speakers also like to play with the si fulaan pattern, replacing the name with other words, always playfully. In one family, si zift "Mr. Asphalt' is commonly heard to younger brothers, as is si I'ustaaz 'Mr. Professor' and si btaa@ 'Mr. Whatever,' all sarcastically expressing annoyance at addressee. For example:

172 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

79. An 11 year old upper class boy is hitting his 9 year old brother, so his 21 year old sister yells: ta@aala ya si btaa@! Get over here, Mr. Whatever! The phrase si baaba is also used in some families as a dala@ 'term of endearment' to the father (compare also silt maama for the mother). Gentleman Most informants equate the term afaruii with si fulaan. It apparently used to be an acceptable term of respect for educated gentlemen who did not have a noble title. It then apparently went out of fashion with upper and middle class speakers, who now use it only sarcastically, and even then only rarely. It is still used by some baladi speakers, however, to address "gentlemen." Only nineteen examples of the term afandi appeared in the natural data. The majority of them involved use by male, working class speakers to middle and upper class addressees who were either customers or strangers. Tone of use was normal. Only a couple of sarcastic uses appeared involving friends and brothers. It appears, therefore, that afandi has retained something closer to its "traditional" meaning than has si fulaan, which has a common sarcastic use now. This is one possible reason why si fulaan is about twice as common as afandi which appears to be in the process of dying out. In other words, since many speakers find the traditional use no longer appropriate, and since no new uses have been developed, the term itself is losing currency. This is not the case with terms like baaSa and beeh which have maintained their popularity by developing new contexts in which they are appropriate. Informants are aware of this declining popularity for the term afandi. One stated that it no longer has the ta@m 'taste' it used to have for a former generation, stating that it is therefore usually avoided by young people except for sarcastic use. Three typical examples of the use of afandi are given. 80. A taxi driver pulls up to the curb and asks a 30 year old middle class man directions. After he understands them, he drives off saying: Sukran yafandi. Thank you, gentleman.

Terms of Respect 173

81. An illiterate 50 year old working class man walks up to a 20 year old upper class stranger on the street and asks politely, handing him a piece of paper: 'i'raali di winnabi yafandi. Could you read this for me please, gentleman? 82. A policeman sees a car parking in a forbidden place, so he yells at the driven il@arabiyya matu'afS hina, yafandi! Cars can't stop here, gentleman! Pasha Under the king, the tide baaSa was the highest tide available to someone not of the royal family. One informant (who had himself been a pasha) told the author that it was equivalent to the English 'duke.' After the 1952 revolution, this term and the office it represented were indeed banned, so legally there are no more pashas. During his stay in Egypt, the author made the acquaintance of two gentlemen who were former pashas, however, and he discovered that most of their friends and relatives still call them fulaan baaSa. He was told that it was common for former beys and pashas to be addressed by their old titles, and was also informed that those addressees who likely would have become beys and pashas had the revolution not happened are also addressed with these terms by friends. The huge majority of speakers, of course, are not acquainted with any former beys or pashas or with any who would likely have become such. For them, baaSa has become simply an undifferentiated high term of respect, used both politely and sarcastically to all types of addressees. One hundred and five examples of the use of baaSa appeared in the natural data. These are summarized statistically in Table 28. The original baaSa had to be a male, and the term has a male meaning. It is used to females occasionally, however, in mu@aakasa 'teasing,' in which case it implies beauty. (Note that several other masculine forms are used to females in mu@aakasa, notably walad and gamiil.) The data include six such uses to female addressees. It is not clear why male speakers should be more likely to use the term than females, however. In the interview, males mentioned many more types of use for baaSa than females did, and one female informant claimed that the term was not used much; but no informant, male or female, claimed not to use it at all. This pattern is probably related to an almost identical one for the term beeh which will be discussed in the next

174 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Table 28. Statistical Summary of Natural Data for baaSa Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

2.6 0.2

2. Speaker Social Class 3. Speaker Age

Significance %Effectof Level Variable .000

4.0

Rank of Variable 4

Not Significant

Young MidAge Old

1.5 2.8 2.3

4. Addressee Sex Male Female

2.4 0.5

.008

1.0

9

.000

2.5

6

.047

1.4

8

1.8 3.3 1.0

.002

1.7

7

7. Acquaintance Known 1.0 SLKnown 2.7 Unknown 4.5

.000

3.4—5.5

2

.003

2.4—2.8

5

.000

4.5

3

5. Addressee Social Class

Upper 2.0 Middle 2.7 Woiking 1.4

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old

8. Tone

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

2.5 1.9 0.7 1.3

9. a. Relationship Up 5.0 1.2 (Broad) Across Down 1.1 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000 11.6 OVERALL EFFECT 56.6 %

1

Terms of Respect 175

section. In regards to that term, female informants definitely claimed not to use it in some situations in which males did claim to use it The data indicate that speaker social class is not significant, implying that all classes of speakers use the term about the same. Speaker age is slightly significant, and indicates that middle aged and older speakers are somewhat more likely to use the term than young speakers are. Addressee social class and age, on the other hand are very significant, indicating that middle aged addressees who are middle class or higher are the most likely to receive the term. Interestingly, middle class addressees are even more likely to receive it than upper class addressees are. The table also indicates that addressee is most likely to be unknown to speaker and will be addressed with a normal tone of voice. The data on relationship is the most revealing. They indicate that up usage is five times more common than either across or down usage. This is despite the fact that the social class data do not indicate that the term is necessarily used up in social class. A closer look at the relationship data reveals the reason for this anomoly. Over half of the baaSa data involves use by salesmen to customers. The term baaSa, in fact, represents almost ten percent of all terms used to customers in the entire corpus. Salesmen are considered to be speaking "up" to a customer, no matter what the social classes of the salesman and the customer are. Bus conductors, particularly, appear to use baaSa to almost any category of addressee, including working class ones. When the author mentioned this to an upper class informant, however, he was told that conductors may address any male in western clothes with baaSa, but certainly not 'a'all min kida 'less than that' (in other words, not to anyone wearing a galabiyya). Although the author did see a few men in dirty galabiyyas addressed with baaSa, it is clear that at least some EA speakers feel that baaSa is a term associated with middle and upper class addressees only. The term baaSa is also used in a joking or sarcastic way between friends and relatives. There are also a few instances of the use of the term to greet a friend warmly, and in general to treat a friend politely. It is also used as a dala@ 'term of endearment' to young boys, especially children, grandchildren and brothers. The term clearly has a wide usage. In many cases it expresses respect for addressee and kulfa 'formality of relationship' (particularly when used by salesmen to customers), but in many other cases it expresses a warm, intimate kind of respect devoid of kulfa (especially when used to friends and relatives in a polite, non-joking context). Examples of the use of baaSa from service personnel to those they serve include: 82. A working class man comes into a ta@miyya restaurant and sits down. A working class waiter comes over and says politely:

176 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

'aywa ya baaSa? Yes, Pasha? 83. A bus conductor comes up to a 23 year old, middle class man to get his money for the ticket and says: haat ya baaSa Give it to me, Pasha. The next example involves the "intimate" use of the term to a grandchild. 84. The elevator is broken, and an upper class 65 year old grandmother and her 20 year old grandson have to climb the four flights of stairs to their apartment The grandson waits for his grandmother on the first landing as she slowly climbs, but she tells him to run on ahead with: ruuh 'inta ya baaSa! You go on, Pasha! One example of use to a female addressee follows. 85. An upper class young woman comes home with the news that she succeeded in her general secondary school examinations, and her 23 year old brother exclaims excitedly: 'eeh da ya baaSa!? What's this, Pasha!? Finally, three other examples, each illustrating a particular tone of voice and situation, are given. 86. Two young men, upper class neighbors, meet upon entering their apartments in the evening. One greets die other with: misaa' ilxeer ya baaSa. Good evening, Pasha. 87. A young, upper class man is trying to squeeze by an older working class man on a crowded train. He says: @an 'iznak ya baaSa Excuse me, Pasha.

Terms of Respect 177

88. An upper class, 16 year old sister has asked her 18 year old brother to accompany her and their cousin to the movies. He wouldn't tell her one way or the other, so she arranged for someone else to take her. Later in the day, he asked if she still wanted him to go, and she rather indignantly replied: laa ya baaSa mis @ayziinak! No, Pasha, we don't need you! The plural of baaSa, baSawaat, occurred twice in the natural data, both times addressed to groups of young men, once from a friend and once from a waiter. The singular form also occurred with the first name added (fulaan baaSa) four times, once to a friend, once from a servant at a sporting club to a club member (who was, it is assumed, rich enough to have been a pasha) and twice to real former Pashas. In all of these cases the term appeared as part of a greeting from speaker to addressee. According to informants' reports, the form sa@adt ilbaaSa was very common before the revolution addressed to real pashas. It has become quite uncommon these days, however. The form appeared only once in the natural data by a guard sitting at the gate of a university addressing a student as he walked in. Informants stated that sa@adt ilbaaSa is occasionally used to flatter customers, just as baaSa itself is used, but it is not taken seriously by most informants, who consider it a type of mugamla 'etiquette' but here 'flattery.' Bey An informant who was himself a former Pasha stated that the term beeh means 'count.' While the former EA royalty system is not strictly comparable to the various European systems, the parallel between beeh and 'count' is fairly close. Before the revolution, it referred to a noble one rank below a baaSa. Like baaSa, it was banned after the revolution, and has come to be a very general term of respect for a wide variety of addressees. While similar to baaSa in most respects, it differs from it in two ways. First, it is much more common, with over 300 recorded instances appearing in the natural data (about three times more). Second, it is apparently felt by at least some speakers to be a more "normal" term of respect than is baaSa. As one informant put it, beeh is commonly used in mu@amla 'day-to-day interaction, dealing with people on a serious level,' while baaSa is limited to mugamla 'flattery,' mu@aakasa 'teasing,' and tahriig 'joking.' To put it another way, most speakers don't feel that baaSa "belongs" to any particular class of addressee as his term of respect (in the way doktoor belongs to a

178 Constructing the Social Context of Communication Table 29. Statistical Summary of Natural Data far beeh Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

8.5 1.0

Significance %Effectof Level Variable

Rank of Variable

.000

4.4

5

2. Speaker Social Upper 3.4 Middle Class 6.4 Working 9.6

.000

2.4

7

Young 4.7 MidAge 9.2 Old 8.9

.000

2.2

8

3. Speaker Age

4. Addressee Sex S. Addressee Social Class

Does Not Apply Upper 9.6 Middle 8.8 Woiking 1.4

.000

7.2

3

6. Addressee Age Young 4.7 MidAge 11.7 Old 7.4

.000

3.2

6

7. Acquaintance Known 5.3 Sl.Knownl6.2 Unknown 9.3

.000

4.6—5.1

4

.000

1.3—1.8

9

.000

9.8

2

8. Tone

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

9.4 3.3 1.7 0.3

9. a. Relationship Up 19.2 (Broad) Across 3.7 Down 2.2 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000 16.3 OVERALL EFFECT 58.4%

1

Terms of Respect 179

doctor, or baSmukandis to an engineer), but several feel that beeh does, for example, to male teachers, bosses, high government functionaries and possibly others for some speakers. It is, in fact, the most often used general term of respect for high male addressees in most situation types. The data for beeh are statistically summarized in Table 29. The data indicate that male speakers are eight times more likely than female to choose beeh. There is evidence from the interview data that this is in fact the case. All female informants claimed never to use beeh to male teachers, claiming it to be too "rough, coarse," while male informants claimed to use it in such a case. Further, two female informants claimed never to use beeh at all, and another said she used it only very rarely, while all but one male informant claimed to use it freely. This is clearly a male speaker oriented term, particularly for some categories of addressees. In terms of speaker social class we find that beeh is a common term for all classes. When compared to other terms of respect all speakers use beeh rather frequently. However, the lower the social class of speaker, the more likely he is to use the term, with beeh accounting for almost ten percent of all the terms used by working class speakers in the course of their daily lives. Like baaSa, beeh is somewhat mere common by old and middle aged speakers than it is by young. Addressee social class is the most important variable for beeh after relationship. Upper class and middle class addressees are rather likely to be addressed with the term in the course of a normal day, with beeh accounting for almost ten percent of all the terms addressed to addressees of those two classes. Working class addressees do receive beeh, but five or more times less frequently than addressees of the other two classes do. It is clearly a prestigeous term. Addressees of this term are likely to be middle aged or old, and are more likely to be slightly known or unknown to speaker then well-known. Tone is most typically normal, although all other possible tones also appeared in the data. As with baaSa, usage is very likely to be up in terms of relationship. Use of beeh is quite a bit broader than that of baaSa, however. The latter can be extended to almost anyone, but a huge majority of uses involved either salesmen addressing customers or bus conductors addressing riders. The term beeh is extended to both of those categories of addressees, as well as to teachers, bosses, judges, government functionaries, and in general to anyone speaker feels he must show respect to. Two informants even claimed that ministers in the government receive beeh from the employees in their ministry (even from high officials) in the day-to-day functioning of the ministry, particularly when outsiders are not present. The term is also used to friends, relatives and colleagues. Depending on the tone of voice, it can be negative and sarcastic, or quite polite and respectful, although with a playful undertone. It is used in a negative manner

180 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

occasionally by policemen and other enforcers to call people into line. Typical examples include: 89. A 20 year old middle class student just found out he passed his exams. As he "floated" down the hall of the building, a working class janitor called out: mabruukya beeh! Congratulations, Bey! 90. As a middle-aged, middle class, male customer gets up to leave a baladi restaurant, he hands the waiter a few coins as a tip. The waiter says: Sukran ya beeh! Thanks, Bey! 91. A SS year old upper class male sees his 18 year old nephew walk by at the club and calls out: raayih feen ya beeh? Where are you going, Bey? 92. A 19 year old middle class male walks up to a 40 year old upper class male stranger and asks: law s amah t ya beeh, @aawiz 'aruuh Subra. 'aikib mineen? Please, Bey, I want to go to Shubra. Where will I find the right bus? 93. Two 37 year old middle class friends are chatting after seeing a movie. One says: laakin 'eeh ra'yak ya 'ustaaz @ali fi lñlm? But what is your opinion, Professor Ali, about the film? The second replies: wallaahi ya beeh ni'dar ya@ni. By God, Bey, I guess weni'uul couldkiwayyis say it was sort of OK. The plural of beeh is bahawaat, and like baSawaat its use appears to be limited to groups of young men. Twelve examples appeared in the natural

Terms of Respect 181

data, used to groups of young men by bus conductors, janitors, salesmen, club workers, and friends. Like baaSa, beeh is also combined with the first name. Thirty-five examples of fulaan beeh appeared in the natural data, almost two-thirds of which involved joking, playful or sarcastic use to friends and relatives. The remainder involved use to known and respected customers, government functionaries, and relatives of speaker's boss. For example: 94. An upper class husband comes home from work and knocks since he does not have a key with him. His wife opens the door and exclaims in playful sarcasm: ya 'ahlan wisahlan ya mahmuud beeh! Welcome, Welcome, Mahmoud Bey! 95. An upper class customer buys a few items from a store where he is well known. As he leaves, the middle class cashier says: ma@a ssalaama ya 'ah mad beeh. Goodbye, Ahmad Bey! Eleven instances of the form sa@adt ilbeeh 'felicity of the bey' appeared in the natural data, all but one involving use by middle class or lower speakers to middle class or higher addressees (the one involved an upper class speaker addressing his upper class friend). Use by salesmen to customers, bus conductors to riders, and various service personnel to the people they serve were recorded. FOT example: 96. A 45 year old working class farraaS 'janitor,' but here 'office boy,' comes into the office of the 55 year old upper class director of a big government office and says: ya sa@adt ilbeeh, fiih waahid @aayiz yi'aabil siyadtak. O Felicity of the Bey, there is someone who wants to meet your dominance. Terms for Foreigners Foreigners in Egypt, particularly "Westerners," are usually addressed with the high terms of respect during EA conversation, áoktoor, baSmuhandis, 'ustaaz, beeh and baaSa being the most common. However, there are also a few terms

182 Constructing the Social Context of Communication that seem to be reserved specifically for foreigners: xawaaga, mistir, misyu and miis (or miss). Foreigner The term xawaaga (related to xooga 'teacher, schoolmaster') was originally used to address members of the rather large Greek and Italian communities in Egypt, who have traditionally been grocers, shopkeepers and various other types of businessmen. The data contain two examples of use of xawaaga by working class employees of a grocery store to the Greek owner, in which cases it appeared to be a term of respect. Most informants claim that such usage is dying out, however. A Coptic informant claimed that although it is supposed to be a term of respect, it was associated with Christians generally and could have some rather negative, almost ugly, uses. Several informants claimed never to have heard the form used "in person," rather only in movies and on television to Greek bartenders and the like. The author personally was addressed with xawaaga a number of times, in all cases by young working class salesmen, always with a rather rude, taunting tone of voice. It should be noted that the term xawaaga is used constantly to refer to foreigners in the third person. Mr., Monsieur The terms mistir, borrowed from English, and misyu, borrowed from French, are often extended to foreign men, both with and without the first name. In one of the shops where data was gathered, the salespeople addressed the author consistently with mistir @aadil 'Mr. Dil.' Informants stated that these two forms are taught in English and French classes in high school, and that male English and French teachers often require students to address them with these forms so the students will get used to them. There is also one example of misyu in the data used by a baladi working class doorman to an Egyptian simsaar 'apartment shark.' The term was used in anger and by using the term, the speaker appeared to be accusing addressee of having negative "Western" traits. Miss The term miis (miss) did not appear in the natural data, but one upper class female informant stated that she would use it to any foreign young woman she happened to meet It is not clear how widespread use of this term might be.

Terms of Respect 183 Terms for the Audiences of Formal Speeches Public speakers in Egypt are apparently constrained to address their audience directly. Most speeches are given in Standard Arabic, as are news broadcasts and the introductory sections of television and radio interviews and even some sports broadcasts. The most common phrase used to begin any of these events is sayyidaati wa saadati 'Ladies and Gentlemen.' In the few occasions where the speaker or broadcaster uses EA, he will stick to the same term, changing only the wa to wi or leaving it out altogether. President Sadat, on the other hand, started his speeches with 'ayyuhaa I'ixwa wa I'axawaat "brothers and sisters.' Occasionally, when a very important person is present, the speech will be addressed to that person, in which case his formal title is used. The president of a local university, for example, started a speech at a ceremony where Sadat was to receive an honorary degree with sayyidu rra'iis "Mr. President.' Terms for Muslims There are a few terms which are used specifically to address Muslims. Three of these, mu'miniin 'believers,' @ibaad ullaah 'worshippers of God' and ma@Sar ilmuslimiin 'community of the Muslims,' are used commonly in Friday sermons to address the audience of the sermon. The first is also heard in the singular mu'min "believer' and mu'mina (f.). For example: 97. A blind sheikh walked down the aisle of a commuter train, carrying a collection can and singing in a tone close to that used for chanting the Quran: saahim ya mu'min wa saahimi ya mu'mina fi binaa'i baytin min buyuut illaah! (repeated again and again) Participate O Believer (m.) and participate O Believer (f.) in the building of one of the houses of God! (said in Standard Arabic rather than EA) During the month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast, several other terms are heard, especially by young children. For example, one young boy yelled ya faatir ramadaan ya xaasir rabbak Ό breaker of the fast, O corrupter of the ways of the Lord,' and later ya saayim ramadaan ya haqfiz rabbak Ό faster of Ramadan, O upholder of your Lord,' both used to accuse his sister of breaking the fast. Traditionally, everyone either stays up until dawn or awakens before dawn so as to eat before the fast begins for that day. One daughter woke her

184 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

sleeping family with issuhuur ya naymiin 'it is time for the meal before the fast, O sleepers!'. Egyptians also very commonly cry out to God spontaneously. Various terms are used: ya rabb Ό Lord,' ya rabbi Ό my Lord,' ya saatir Ό Protector,' ya fattaah ya @aliim ya razzaa' ya kariim Ό Opener, O All-Knower, O Provider, O Generous One.' The first, ya rabb, is often followed by a wish, as in: 98. ya rabb yitammim farhina! O Lord, may our wedding take place! or by a question, as when a young man suddenly forgot what he was going to say and exclaimed: 99. kunt @aayiz 'a'uul 'eeh ya rabb?! What was I going to say, Lord?! Without other surrounding speech, ya rabb is often breathed out as an expression of weariness or resignation. The formya saatir, can be exclaimed in surprise or when some apparent evil is barely avoided, like an auto accident. The last long poetic phrase was used by a young woman to express immense surprise. Two other, more abstract, entities are likewise occasionally addressed as part of an exclamation: time, zaman, and one's heart, 'albi. The former is used when one is fed up with, or happy with, his life. The use of the latter expresses shock or happiness. The form yaani, which could be interpreted as Ό me, poor me,' is used to indicate that one does not feel well. Summary Statement The terms used in respectful address are the core of the EA term of address system. Despite the sarcastic, playful and angry uses of several of the terms, which are certainly possible, these are the terms used in serious day-to-day interaction (mu@amla) to establish appropriate social relationships and to smooth them. The general pattern we have observed is that very high addressees receive high terms from almost everyone, including fairly close relatives and friends. This includes particularly doctors and engineers who have "earned" the right to bear their terms. Other addressees receive high terms of respect (seriously) particularly in certain situations, for example, when they are customers, riders, bosses, or some other role to which speaker is considered a helper or servant, when they are simply a stranger that speaker needs some service from, or when they are otherwise someone speaker is supposed to maintain a formal relationship with (a distant colleague, etc.).

Terms of Respect 185

These same addressees may also receive these high terms from close friends and relatives in a playful, or sometimes angry, tone, but when used in this way they tend not to have the same high connotations. The difference is similar to that between a "real" wink and a "mimicked" wink (see Geertz, who develops this metaphor in a splendid way): both speaker and addressee (normally) know that this instance of this term is not to be taken as a "real" instance of use of the term. It is to the "real" instances that usage rules most closely apply. Besides the general pattern of use of high terms to very high addressees by virtually everyone and use of high terms to other addressees when they are in roles that require respect or formality, we have seen that many of the terms have acquired specific functions. Some terms are partially a* fully restricted to addressees of a certain profession (doktoor, baSmuhandis, 'usta, rayyis), others to addressees of a certain age (kabtin, hagg, 'aanisa), and others to addressees of a certain social class (afandim, madaam, sitt, haanim, 'aanisa, madmwazell, si fulaan, afandi, baaSa, beeh, etc.). Further, speakers of various social groups have different patterns of use for many of the terms. Male speakers chose some terms much more often than females did {beeh, kabtin), upper class speakers used some terms only down that working class speakers used in all directions (sitt), upper class speakers may use one term exclusively to upper class addressees while working class speakers use both it and another (madaam, sitt, 'aanisa, madmwazell), and upper class speakers may limit use of some terms to those who have earned the right to receive them, while working class speakers may extend them to a wide variety of other addressees (doktoor, ba.Smuha.ndis). As with the Family Terms, then, we have seen that because of the large number of available terms and the willingness of EA speakers to adopt variant forms of very similar meaning to terms they already have (in this case, usually by borrowing), the terms themselves and a speaker's pattern in using them have become rather sensitive social markers both for addressee and speaker. There is no a priori reason why sitt should have developed working class connotations; the social distinction was "there," and since another term, madaam, was available, the distinction began to be made. In some cases, a particular social distinction involved in the use of a term becomes so strong that the term cannot adequately be defined without referring to it (as is the case, or almost the case, with 'usta, si fulaan, daada, 'abla, and possibly others); in other cases, the distinction is merely a tendency. For both, it is very tempting to claim that this is an example of semantic change through variation, not dissimilar to the phonological changes which Labov and others have claimed take place by means of the mechanism of variation. A new form is picked up by one segment of society and moves gradually through the rest of that society in a variable manner and in such a way that a continuum of usage can be discovered. There is also a great deal of unconditioned variation. High addressees may be addressed with

186 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

"their" term or with afandim, salesmen may use a whole set of high terms for their customers without restraint, etc. The terms of respect thus form a very large and rather fine-tuned system for dealing with people politely. They allow speakers to show respect for addressees and at the same time to mark aspects of their relationship to addressee or to state what relationship they believe obtains between speaker and addressee. Speakers use them, in short, to construct a social context for the rest of their communication, to give what they are saying a setting that (hopefully) makes sense to both speaker and addressee, and that informs the rest of the communication. EA speakers consider these terms to be of the utmost importance, and are very careful to choose appropriate ones. Many examples of this great concern appeared in the interview data, and it is also evidenced by many of the excerpts from the plays at the beginning of many of the chapters of this book. Personal dignity is a key issue for EA speakers, and receiving the proper term is considered to be one of the most important ways of maintaining that dignity. Speakers know what terms they deserve and what terms others feel they deserve, and most interaction takes place withing those limits. It is this concern for proper term usage that allows for manipulative usage, using terms to define situations in ways beneficial to speaker. It is a fact, noted by informants, that many EA speakers would allow themselves to be taken advantage of when addressed with a high term rather than create a scene which would show a lack of dignity and imply a rejection of the term as applied to them. The terms are, in short, very powerful tools.

Chapter 7

Friendly and Joking Terms

Abd alGhafan Why don't you tell me what you want, he-man (ya gada@ 'into)?! Procurer:

I want you either to sit quietly or get out of here!

Abd alGhafan I'm not leaving. Procurer:

Then keep quiet. It's shameful for someone looking as respectable as you do to tease (yi@aakis) girls (banaat innaas). Don't you have sisters, my brother (ya 'axi)?! Would you allow your sister to go sit and smell the air in a garden and have someone as pale as you come up and tease her (yi@aaHshayi\ (from the play @anLar 77 by Saadudin Wahba)

Introduction In discussing the various terms of address in the recorded interviews, informants often made a distinction between the concept of mu@amla 'treating or dealing with a person normally, seriously' and various other concepts like mugamla 'etiquette, treating someone in a way that will make him feel good, flattery,' mu@aakasa 'teasing, harassing,' hizaar 'joking,' loom or @itaab 'fault finding,' and Sitiima 'abuse.' Some terms were labelled miS lilmu@amla 'not for serious interaction,' while others were considered appropriate for either mu@amla alone, or for it and one or more of the other functions. These categories define what work speaker intends the term he is using to do; in other words, they are the local categories for the pragmatic aspects of EA terms of address usage. If a term is used for mu@amla, it means that it is the normal, expected term for a particular type of addressee from a particular type of speaker, that it is used fairly consistently, and in most cases that it marks some degree of kulfa 'formality' and/or ihtiraam 'respect' Terms used in hizaar, mu@aakasa, mugamla or loom normally do not mark either formality or respect. Many of the terms that are normally respectful can be used in hizaar, etc., but EA also has a large number of terms that are limited entirely to these functions. Most

188 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

of these terms function in more than one of these categories depending on the situation. They can be divided, however, on the basis of their lexical meanings, into three groups: those that imply something positive about addressee, those that imply something (reasonably) neutral about addressee, and those that imply something negative about addressee. This chapter will deal with the first two categories of terms listed abovein other words, those terms which normally function in mug ami a, mu@akasa, loom, and hizaar. The next chapter will deal with the last category, Sitiima, which includes the abusive terms. Some of the terms to be discussed in this chapter are well-established, common, recognized terms of address (habiibi 'my loved one,' @aruusa 'bride') while others have a more tenuous existence as terms, being both much less common and much more idiosyncratic, creative and metaphorical. The former types are represented by numerous examples in the natural data while the latter may have only one or two. Further, not all EA informants have heard of all of the more creative, less common terms. They do tend to fall into certain types, however, which indicates that certain rules constrain the creative activity; for example, new terms of affection are often drawn from the classes of terms for small animals or terms for sweet foods. The Pragmatic Functions Before discussing the terms individually, a short review of the four pragmatic functions mugamla, mu@aakasa, hizaar, and loom or @itaab will be made, since the terms to be discussed are generally associated with one of these categories, and since many can be used in more than one. Flattery The gloss 'flattery' is not wide enough for the word mugamla. It includes flattery (for example, using a term like baSmuhandis 'engineer' to someone who "really" does not deserve it) but also includes any use of terms to make people feel good about themselves or their relationship to speaker. Thus terms of affection, terms that imply that a girl is beautiful, terms that imply that a boy is strong and macho, and terms that imply that an older person has a "good heart" may all be used for mugamla. (These terms are not necessarily mugamla, however. Using a term implying that a girl is beautiful to a strange girl on the street would be considered mu@aakasa, a very different thing.) Young children, especially one's own, are probably the most likely to be addressed in this mode, but spouses, and boy and girl friends are also likely

Friendly and Joking Terms 189 recipients, as well as any addressee it is appropriate to flatter (customers, etc.). Teasing The category mu@aakasa is usually glossed as 'teasing' or 'harassing,' but these are somewhat inadequate. The term refers to a very highly developed, and much enjoyed, speech act in which speakers are more or less proficient. It is normally engaged in by young men, although young women also participate occasionally. The most common form is merely to breathe out an expression of admiration for the victim's beauty, often in the form of a term of address that implies beauty, as in ya gamiil\ roughly 'hey, beautiful!' More elaborate forms include implying that a lone female on the street is either speaker's lover who is late for a rendezvous, someone else's lover and that someone else just stood her up, or similar "insulting" ploys. For example, a young man might put on a look of empathetic disgust and say xawal meaning 'the guy who just stood you up is a creep,' but also obviously implying that she was waiting for him in the first place, which is not considered a respectable thing to do. Terms of affection are often used in mu@aakasa, terms one would normally use only to one's own lover, spouse or child. Young men in general brag about their abilities in performing mu@aakasa and all but the most polite occasionally indulge. One of the more humorous examples from the natural data involved a young man on the bus who stuck his head out of the window while it was picking up people at a stop, saw a pretty girl, and started yelling: 'allahumma ma salla @annabi 'eeh ilgamaal da kullu ya hilwa 'inti ya 'amar!? O God! Prayers for the prophet! What is all this beauty, O Sweet One, O Moon!? (The girl properly ignored him, though there is also one example of a girl thanking her harasser sarcastically.) A young man sitting a couple of seats in front of the original young man observed what was happening, turned around and gave the first young man a very indignant sounding lecture: ya 'axi @eeb ya 'axi! 'i@tabirha 'uxtak! 'inta ma @andakS 'axawaat banaat!? Brother, shame on you, brother! Consider her your sister! Don't you have any sisters!?

190 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Angered, the first young man responded: winta maalak ya gada@!? xalliik fi haalak! What's your problem, bull-head!? Mind your own business! The second young man, who had acted so indignantly, ignored this response, stuck his own head out of the bus window, saw a pretty girl, and shouted almost the identical [email protected] at her that the first young man had used. Clearly, speakers enjoy the form and have fun using it. Members of the family of one of the informants sit on the balcony for several hours every day chatting with friends, drinking tea, and shouting mu@aakasa at passing strangers, each person trying to produce more imaginative, appropriate, etc. mu@aakasa than the other. For them, no one is exempt, male or female, old or young. Much of the [email protected] activity that the author personally observed seemed rather playful, very harmless, and not particularly offensive to the victims, who sometimes, although trying to ignore it, seemed rather flattered by all the attention. It is clear, however that a majority of the victims find it extremely painful and annoying. It is also against the law, at least on paper, and once a year or so (usually in January) there is a big crack down on mu@aakasa in the streets of Cairo and several young men are arrested in the first few days. Soon, however, the crackdown passes and everything returns to normal. It should be clear from the above discussion that the same term that would be heard as mugamla addressed to one's child, girl friend or spouse, would certainly be heard as mu@aakasa to a strange girl or even to a neighbor girl, a female teacher or any female with whom speaker is expected to have a relationship marked by formality or respect. Joking The term hizaar means 'joking' or 'sarcastic' and is used to refer to the way terms of address are used among friends as part of a playful banter that almost never ceases. The only rule is that the term used not be taken at face value. All of the family terms, all of the terms of respect, all of the affectionate terms, and all of the abusive terms are used in this way. In fact, it is not at all uncommon to hear two young men greet each other with bee h *bey' and baaSa 'pasha' (terms of respect) and the next minute ask each other how things are going with ibn ilwisxa 'son of a prostitute' and xawal 'homosexual' (terms of abuse). This, in effect, is a great leveler. The high terms become not high, the low terms become not low, and they all come to mean everything and nothing. When asked why he used a high term to a close friend, one informant replied that it was half respect (it is a nice way of addressing someone, it makes him feel good), but also half disrespect (since it isn't really appropriate, it can be taken to mean its opposite); the informant

Friendly and Joking Terms 191

then decided that it didn't really mean anything at all, it was just part of the "give and take" of the constant banter that went on between them. Fault-finding Certain terms are associated almost exclusively with the "fault-finding" function (loom, @itaab), most not necessarily negative in their basic meanings. We have seen that 'axi and axuuya both 'my brother,' Seex 'sheikh,' walad 'boy,' and bint 'girl' are commonly used for this function. Terms that imply that a young man is macho are used both for mugamla and for loom. Almost all of the entirely neutral terms (neutral at face value, at least) are commonly used in this way: raagil 'man,' mara 'woman,' waliyya 'woman,' naas 'people,' bani aadam 'human being.' The reasons for the "accusatory" feeling in all of these words are various (calling a man 'man' can imply he is not one if he has just done something unmanly, calling a person macho is only flattering in certain limited circumstances, calling a woman 'woman' depersonalizes her and implies that she is someone's property, etc.) and often not at all clear. The terms also vary greatly in the degree of loom expressed. While Seex, for example, is very mild, mara is almost, but not quite, a Sitiima 'term of abuse.' The Friendly and Joking Terms Because of the great number of terms involved in this chapter, they have been divided into categories: terms for macho males, terms of affection, terms that imply beauty, etc., and will be discussed in groups rather than alone. The terms discussed in each group are those that appeared in the natural data; considering the creative nature of this part of the system it would be foolish to claim the lists are exhaustive. Most likely, they do include all of the common terms and a representative sample of the uncommon ones for each category.

Terms for Macho Males A surprisingly large number of terms for macho males appeared in the natural data. Of these, only one is considered to be a very common term, gada@ "heman' (pi. gid@aan). Being a gada@ has both positive and negative implications. It implies strength, vitality, ability to control (rather than be controlled by) women, karam 'generosity,' Sagaa@a 'courage,' and a host of other virtues associated with wilaad ilbalad 'the local boys,' i.e. those who adhere to the local, traditional customs and values. On the other hand, it also

192 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

implies a certain coarseness, lack of refinement, bull-headedness, and other traits that educated people associate with the term baladi 'local, nonwestemized, uneducated.' The term gada@ is used in the positive sense to very young boys and by young men to their friends. For example, when the author's two-year-old boy brought some utensils in from the table and plopped them into the dishwater, the maid praised him with: yagada@! yaSaatir! (approximately:) What a big boy you are! How smart you are! The natural data contain numerous examples of young men using the term to each other in normal conversation (no loom intended) as when two friends drove under a new bridge and one asked the other huwwa lkubri da @amliinu leeh, ya gada@? Why did they build this bridge, he-man? Somewhat more commonly, it is used in a negative tone of voice for loom of various degrees. When scrambling onto crowded buses, one commonly hears sentences like: yalla ya gada@! Hurry up, he-man! said in a rather sharp tone to a young man who may not be scrambling fast enough. In another example, a salesman said something that annoyed the shop owner, so he replied angrily: miin'aalkidayagada@'inta!? 'ajjaah! Who says so, bull-head!? Good God! The forms ya gada@ 'inta, 'inta ya gada@, and even 'inta ya gada@ 'inta are all attested in the natural data, and the plural gid@aan is rather common to groups of male friends. Other terms for macho males function exactly like gada@, and though much less common apparently mean the same thing: @ibs,fituwwa, midardah, hirik,fahlaawi, sabwa, and fitik. Another term, yabn il'eeh literally Ό son of what' but loosely 'Boy, aren't you something' functions only in the positive mode to young boys who have done something noteworthy. The term Sibs also refers to a strong young man but apparently without any of the baladi associations of gada@. Other terms deal with specific aspects of the macho personality. Two terms are very commonly yelled to soccer and other sports players who have

Friendly and Joking Terms 193

just made a good play: la@@Ub 'player' and ginn 'devil.' The term @adlaat 'muscles' was used in mu@aakasa to tease a weak looking, very fat young man. The nickname @antar (the name of an ancient hero) was used to a person doing something reckless, and the term batal "hero' was used to get young men and women to help with some physical task (carrying, etc.). Finally, the term magari Hungarian' was used twice in the data to someone who was running very fast: informants explained that the fastest train in Egypt is the Hungarian train that runs between Cairo and Alexandria. Terms Implying Intelligence and Capability Five terms implying intelligence or capability occurred in the natural data. One, Saatir (f. Satra) 'smart' is a rather common dala@ 'term of endearment' for young children, and is also used by older speakers to young men who provide some service for them: gas station attendants, salesmen, waiters, etc. The other four terms each occurred only once in the data and all were used sarcastically to imply the opposite of what they mean. A sister exclaimed: ya @aa'il ya kibiir! O great mind! to her brother who had just said something dumb that was meant to sound smart A friend exclaimed: kasartaha ya faalih ?! Did you break it, successful?! to a friend who had been fiddling around with the radio on his car. A neighbor woman exclaimed: ya 'aruuba! O precocious one! to a six-year-old girl who was acting smart, and another neighbor girl exclaimed: ya wliyya ya 'adra! O woman, O (you who are) capable of doing anything! to an older woman who had just done something wrong. The creative possibilities for this kind of hizaar are clearly great. It should be pointed out that the term faalih, besides its obvious sarcastic meaning, also is a

194 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

"literary" allusion to a recent comical film in which the star exclaimed to his murderer 'ataltini ya faalih ! Did you just kill me, successful?! Making and "catching" such allusions is an important aspect of the speech of middle class young people in EA generally, and at least one other term (handasa 'engineering') has come into use entirely because of such comic use in plays and movies, according to informants. Terms Implying Beauty The terms in this category are used for mu@aakasa and to some extent for mugamla. The term gamiil 'beautiful' is particularly common in the former function, especially in combination with waad "boy' as in ya waad ya gamiil. Note that these and certain other terms are used to females in the masculine form. Besides the fact that masculine is the unmarked form, this seems to be due to the fact that in former times (before the advent of "Western Culture") it was considered rude in public to refer to a female lover. Thus, calling a woman h abibti 'my f. loved one' in front of other people was considered somewhat obscene, while use of the masculine habiibi to her was acceptable. It has been reported that in those days songs for public occasions (weddings, etc.) inevitably used the masculine forms, while songs meant only for men's ears used the female forms. Most EA speakers are not entirely aware of this older system; they just know that nowadays there is a kind of poetic license, and that whether a song uses the masculine or feminine form depends on how the words fit the rhythm and rhyme more than on anything else. Male singers do commonly use the male forms and all assume that they are addressing female lovers. Several informants told me, however, that habiibi to a girl friend rather than h abibti was definitely mooda 'adiima 'oldfashioned,' and most of the newer pop songs avoid it. Why the custom is still hanging on in [email protected] while it is dying out in other parts of the language is not clear, but one reason could be that mu@aakasa involves knowledge of a fairly broad but clearly limited set of stock phrases which have been "handed down" and which are therefore not as subject to linguistic change as are other more fluid parts of the system. Other terms in the corpus that imply beauty include kolha 'dark-blue or black eye make-up,' looz 'almond,' Siik 'chic,' and four terms that mean 'white': beed, beeda, bayaada, and 'abyad. All but beed were used to females in mu@aakasa. Beed was used to a male for the same purpose.

Friendly and Joking Terms 195 Terms Implying Other Good Qualities This category includes terms used mainly for mugamla that imply that addressee has some good quality: politeness, good parentage, a good heart, respectable, etc. The more common terms include muhtaram 'respectable,' commonly used by bus conductors to passengers, zoo' 'polite,' used to anyone who has done something polite (like giving up a bus seat to an older woman), and ya raagil ya tayyib Ό goodhearted man,' used to any older man either in greeting or as a reaction to something nice he has done for speaker. The less common terms include nabiil 'noble,' haayil 'excellent,' hinayyin 'soft hearted, tender,' ibn ilhalaal legitimate of birth,' zar«/'nice,' ibn ilgani 'son of a rich man,' ya raagil ya kariim Ό generous man,' and ya silt ya kariima Ό generous lady.' Descriptive Terms This category includes terms that describe something salient about addressee. When a young woman found out she had passed her final exams of her fourth year of college, her friends and family exclaimed several times: mabruuk, ya bakaloriyuus! Congratulations, B.A.! Another girl was "walking on air" because she had just become engaged to be married, and her sister addressed her as farhaana "happy.' A girl wearing blue jeans was addressed as kawboy, a girl wearing a yellow dress as ya wood ya 'asfar Ό yellow boy,' a boy with a new car was addressed as ya waad ya datsun, and a girl whose father is a mechanic was addressed with ya diizal. Clearly, none of these terms are common, and there is a great deal of on-thespot creativity in coming up with something appropriate. Terms of Affection This is the set of terms used to friends, lovers, spouses, one's own children, and to young children in general, to express affection. The most common term is habiibi (f. habibti, pi. habaybi) 'my loved one.' Over 120 instances of the use of these three forms occurred in the natural data, almost all of which involved use to young addressees. Both older and younger speakers were involved. Interview informants agreed that the terms are used to spouses, lovers, friends in general (of either sex) and by older speakers to any young addressee, known or unknown.

196 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Two much less common variants of habiibi are habibna 'our loved one' and hubbi 'my love.1 More than twenty-five other terms of affection occurred. Some involved the names of sweet foods: mahallabiyya 'a kind of pudding,' basbuusa 'a dessert,' halaawa 'a sweet,' @asal 'honey,' Sarbaat 'a sugary fruit punch,' sukkar 'sugar,' and hilw (f. hilwa) 'sweet.' Of these, @asal, Sarbaat, sukkar, and hilwa are the most common. All are used to young children and friends, hilwa is common in mu@aakasa, and sukkar and @asal are often used by bus conductors to riders when they are in a good mood. Others involved the names of small animals: 'utta 'cat,' wizza 'goose,' batta 'duck,' katkuuta 'chick,' 'at'uuta 'some small thing.' All of these were used to young children, although one informant stated that wizza implies something like 'sexy hips' and could be used as mugamla to one's girl friend. Another stated that battä could mean 'a little fat,' although it is not clear whether this is considered good or bad. Nonsense terms like nuunu and duudu are sometimes used as terms of affection to babies. Finally there are several other terms that don't fit a particular class but which are clearly terms of affection. Those that occurred in the natural data are: 'amar 'moon,' 'amuur (f. 'amuura) 'diminutive of 'amar,' gaali 'dear,' @umri 'my life,' danaaya 'my close one,' dal@aadi 'my little spoiled thing,' hilm xayaali 'dream of my imagination,' xeeri 'my cherished one,' mu@gibi 'my miracle,' basmiti wifagri 'my smile and my dawn,' ruuhi 'my soul,' @eeni 'my eye,' @ineeya 'my eyes,' and nuur @eeni 'light of my eye.' The interesting term ruuh 'ummak (f. ruuh 'ummik) 'spirit of your mother' is used by mothers to their children as a term of affection, and by older siblings to younger ones in hizaar. Other Friendly Terms A few other friendly terms occurred which do not fit the above categories. The term handasa 'engineering' has been mentioned. It is used to bus drivers and young men generally, as one informant put it, muta'assir bilmasrahiyyaat ilkomidiyya 'influenced by the comic plays.' It is apparently not used to real engineers. Terms for a king, malik, a prince, 'amiir, and a princess, 'amiira, are used in a friendly way to young people, particularly by bus conductors. The term raa'isa 'dancer' was used by a young man to his sister to express admiration for her bellydancing. The terms @ariis 'bridegroom' and @aruusa *bride,' besides being used to engaged and newly married persons, are used to young people in general, again often by bus conductors.

Friendly and Joking Terms 197

Neutral Terms There are several terms with very basic meanings like 'man,' 'woman,' 'youth,' and 'human being' that are used as terms of address. They are not terms of respect; rather they imply either friendship, loom or hizaar. The most general, bani 'aadam 'human being,' is technically a plural ('sons of Adam') but it has been reinterpreted as a singular word and now takes the feminine bani 'adma and the plural bani 'admiin. It is used in hizaar to friends as in: matyelja y a bani 'aadam! Hurry up, human being! but is most common in loom, used to remind addressee that he is not acting as a human being should. For example, a car was trying to get out of a parking lot but a vegetable man had pulled his cart up blocking the entrance. After a short argument, the driver yelled: ya gada@ 'ith arrak ya bani 'aadam! You bull-head, get out of the way, human being! The person who recorded this piece of data glossed the whole sentence as meaning xalliik 'insaan roughly 'stay a person (rather than something less than a person like you are now acting).' The term Sabaab (the plural of Sabb 'youth') is used as a friendly term in greeting groups of young men. The term raagil 'man' is used mainly for loom, as in: ya raagil @eeb! Shame on you, man! and for cases of @adam ittasdiiq 'unbelief, doubt that what someone has said is true,' as in: ya raagil battal ilkalaam da! Hey, man, don't say such things! Both usages seem to imply that addressee is supposed to be a man, but that he hasn't been acting like one, so he should shape up. It is also the term one yells at a soccer or other sports player when he makes a bad or unsuccessful move. Sitting in the stands at a tennis match, one informant noticed that every time a player made a good play someone would exclaim ya walad and every time he made a bad play someone would yell ya raagil. The former

198 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

implies vitality, strength and ability, while the latter implies that addressee is not a man like he should be. Occasionally young males will use raagil in a friendly way to each other in greeting but this should probably be considered hizaar. The term naas 'people' is used in loom to a group of people, as in the example quoted in chapter four where the upstairs neighbor yelled to the downstairs neighbors to let him have some water pressure with: 'intu ya naas ya Hi taht! siibu lmayya Swayya! You, people down below! Turn the water off for awhile! It may also be used neutrally to an observing public (real or imagined), especially during a fight or argument* Suuf ya naas . . . Look, people... Finally, there are two terms that mean 'woman,' both rather rude. The term ma ra 'woman' (pi. nisaa") is almost abusive. It occurred only once in the natural data, a sister using it in extreme anger to tell her sister to leave. The plural form is not quite so rude; it was used in an annoyed tone by a salesman to two co-salesgirls who were supposed to be helping him but weren't. The term waliyya 'woman' is reported to have been the most common term used by baladi men to address their wives, but this seems to be dying out. It is still used to express annoyance to baladi women, however, and several examples to strangers (especially by bus conductors) occurred. Of the twelve examples of use of waliyya in the natural data, one could be considered mu@aakasa and the remainder express either annoyance or anger. Summary Like the terms for relatives and the terms of respect, the terms used for mugamla, mu@aakasa, hizaar, and loom have been highly elaborated. In this case, however, instead of creating variant forms, most of the "creative" activity has been involved with deriving new terms from adjectives and nouns in EA, and from nonsense syllables and borrowed words. Thus, with a few exceptions, there are a large number of terms available for any particular function, and no term is used very much. The exceptions involve the terms gada@, habiibi, Saatir, gamiil and the neutral terms, all of which have rather general meanings and all of which are very common in use. In other cases it often appears to be the creativity itself which is important. EA speakers appear to enjoy their language greatly, and they often go to great lengths to get the term that is perfect for the situation they

Friendly and Joking Terms 199 are in, even if they have to make it up. There is a playful undercurrent to almost all of these terms, no matter how they are used, and speakers who are "good" at using them may use them as much to show off as to communicate something to addressee. The terms do serve important communicative functions, however, despite the playfulness. They mari:: friendship and affection, they allow speakers to find fault without being abusive, and they allow them to joke and otherwise speak with sarcasm. This latter function may seem unimportant on the surface, but in Cairo (and probably in most other places) it has become an extremely important mechanism for dealing with the pressures of relationships and of life in general. It has been noted before that a great deal of the total interaction of many young peer groups involves sarcasm and playful banter, and it is the ability to give, and take, this kind of speech that allows friendly relationships to continue on an even keel. Therefore, while many EA speakers would consider most of the terms discussed in this chapter to be rather peripheral to the term of address system since they don't mark formality or respect, still the terms must be considered extremely important in the entire communicative context, because of what they do communicate, and what they allow speakers to do.

Chapter 8

Terms of Abuse

Basyuni:

Then what are we looking for?

Huseen:

Honor your contract with me. The contract says you're not to ask me what we're looking for. You work with me and that's it. How come Mitwalli can work quietly . . .

Basyuni:

Because he's stupid (gabî)\ Because he's ignorant (gaahit)\

Mitwalli: (with extreme calmness and respect) Professor Basyuni ('ustaaz basyuuni) . . . Professor Basyuni. . . see how I'm calling you Professor? . . . Professor Basyuni, you are impolite ('inta 'aliil il'adaby. Basyuni:

(to Huseen) Are you happy now?! Do you see?! Finally I'm ridiculed in front of you. Does the contract also say I have to be verbally abused?!

Huseen:

You want to abuse him and have him not respond?! Listen, Basyuni, calm down, my son (ibni), calm down and wise up. I know your nerves are on edge these days. Staying in the desert does that to people. (from the play biir il'amh by Ali Salim)

Introduction The EA word Sitiima 'abuse, vilification' refers to words that imply something (usually very) negative about addressee. In English, while it is possible to use abusive terms as terms of address (as in 'Hi, stupid!') it is much more common to simply "call" someone something, using patterns like 'You !' (You idiot!') or 'You are a(n) !' ('You're a creep!'). The opposite is true in EA. While on a very few occasions terms of abuse may be heard as the predicate of equational sentences ( 'inta xawal 'You are a homosexual,' 'inta ihn kalb 'You are a son of a dog,' also see the quote from

Terms of Abuse 201

the play above) by far the most common practice is to use them as terms of address, preceded by the vocative particle ya. Despite this, it is usually true that many instances of abusive term usage come closer in meaning to 'You (term)!' than to Ό (term)!' In these cases they often appear almost unconnected to surrounding discourse, and function solely, or almost solely, to attribute features of the term to addressee, rather than functioning as regular terms of address on the discourse level to get addressee's attention, mark turn changes, etc. In a previous chapter this kind of use is referred to as the "name-calling" function of term of address usage. In other cases, terms of abuse are used as regular terms of address, surrounded by other speech and performing discourse functions. Even in these cases, however, the name-calling aspect of the meaning can be quite important This is frequently played with by EA speakers who may insert an abusive term in a discourse otherwise marked as respectful in order to sarcastically emphasize its effect, as in: 1. A young man approaches a coffee house where he is greeted by a friend who says with a polite voice: 'ahlan ya siidi itfaddal itfaddal yabn ilwisxa! Hello, sir, have a seat, sit down, you son of a prostitute! EA speakers use terms of abuse both in hizaar 'sarcastically' and seriously. They use them sarcastically to friends, especially among youthful peer groups, in which case the abusive meaning is not taken at face value. When asked why he had used a fairly "heavy" term of abuse to his best friend, with whom he had not been angry or annoyed, one informant replied that the term meant 'inta sahbi 'awi 'you are really a close friend.' In other words, since he would never use abusive terms in this way to any addressee with whom he had a formal or respectful relationship, his using the terms freely and sarcastically to close friends actually maiks intimacy and friendship. The terms are used seriously to express anger, annoyance, disgust or disapproval of addressee. As an extension of this, parents and teachers use abusive terms to instill "correct" values into their children and students. On one occasion a father was heard using a term that had been characterized as extremely vile by some informants to his two-year-old son who had fallen off a chair and was crying. Interviewees were asked during the recorded interview why a father would call his own son a xawal 'homosexual playing the female role' in such a situation, and almost all of them responded that he did it to inculcate in the child the values of ruguula 'manliness,' which are considered to be the opposite of the values associated with the term xawal. Likewise, almost all teachers (including very polite ones) use terms like himaar 'donkey' that imply stupidity specifically in order to get their students to act and perform intelligently. This pattern of usage is closely related to the well-

202 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

known child-rearing practice of creating shame on the part of the child. Informants felt that using these terms of abuse is one of the best ways of creating feelings of shame in the child and therefore of instilling in him the proper values. Ranking the Abusive Terms A large number of abusive terms are used by EA speakers. Over 125 were recorded in the natural data, although only about 25 were used more than once. Interestingly, all of the common abusive terms and most (possibly all) of the less common ones have associated with them a ranking on what might be called the "heaviness" scale. In discussing particular terms, informants often classed them as ti'iil 'heavy* or xafiif'light,' and they were often willing to rank two terms, stating that one is heavier than the other. Other words used to describe light terms include raaqi 'refined' and basiita 'simple,' while other words used to describe heavy terms include gamda 'solid,' bayxa 'degenerate, very bad,' wihSa "bad,' and baladi. Informants stated that for any one speaker, the angrier or more annoyed he is the lower down the scale he is likely to go to choose an abusive term. They also stated that the more a speaker is speaking down (in social class or age) the lower the term would most likely be. Interview Data Seven of the abusive terms were discussed in the interview, and a clear social class gradation of these terms emerged. (Note that the questions on abusive terms were not asked of the female informants since the author was advised that this would be offensive, so the discussion that follows refers to male informants only.) Three categories of terms emerged, those claimed only by upper class speakers, those claimed only by working class speakers, and those claimed by all classes of speakers. These terms and their rankings appear in Table 30. Working class speakers claimed normally to use the heavy terms when angry, but might also use the medium terms in "polite" settings (as, for example, to a fellow student in school in the presence of a teacher), or when they want to sarcastically imply that addressee is not a "real" man and therefore couldn't take the heavy terms. The term gabaan was considered by these informants to be very light, almost feminine, and when asked to give examples of its use, they inevitably put on a female voice and used it in a way that implied that addressee had female characteristics.

Terms of Abuse 203 Table 30. Ranking of Abusive Terms by Interview Informants UPPER CLASS (Light Terms)

mugrim kalb

criminal dog

ALL CLASSES (Medium Terms)

ibn ilkalb gabaan himaar

son of a dog coward donkey

WORKING CLASS xawal ibn ilwisxa (Heavy Terms)

homosexual son of a dirty woman (prostitute)

Upper class speakers claimed normally to use the light terms, but they also might drop down to the medium terms in situations involving real anger. For them, gabaan is a rather heavy term. Middle class speakers lie somewhere in between these two extremes. They typically use medium terms, but they may use the heavy ones if truly angry, more so if they themselves live in a baladi neighborhood, and they may also use the light terms, both sarcastically, as working class speakers use the medium terms, and seriously, more so if they live in "nice" neighborhoods, or in school settings. It should be noted that two upper class male informants pointed out that upper class males, in peer groups, delight in using the heavy terms, but that this is taken as a "mimicking" of working class usage rather than as reflecting on the speakers themselves. Informants also stated that any male of any class, if sufficiently angry, might "descend" to the truly heavy terms, but that upper class males do it less than others. It should also be noted that some upper class speakers, both male and female, find the heavy terms to be so bayxa 'degenerate, rotten, vile' that they simply cannot bring themselves to pronounce them, much less use them. In other words, for these speakers a taboo reaction is in evidence for the heavy terms. No taboo is involved with the medium or light terms for any speaker, as far as can be determined, and working class speakers demonstrate no feelings of taboo even for the heavy terms. The Natural Data The natural data on the abusive terms support the general outline taken from the interview data. The data divide very neatly into three groups: 1) those

204 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Table 31. Data Summary for the Terms of Abuse, As a Group Variable 1. Speaker Sex

Column% (Outcome 1) Male Female

4.1 5.7

2. Speaker Social Upper 6.1 Class Middle 3.6 Working 3.7 3. Speaker Age

Young MidAge Old

6.0 3.0 1.9

Significance Level .015 .000

.000

4. Addressee Sex

Not Significant

5. Addressee Social Class

Not Significant

6. Addressee Age Young MidAge Old 7. Acquaintance

8. Tone

6.3 1.8 0.6

.000

Known 5.3 SLKnown 1.8 Unknown 2.6

.000

Normal Sarcastic Angry Imperial

0.3 15.8 12.0 1.3

9. a. Relationship Up 0.2 (Broad) Across 5.2 Down 5.8 b. Relationship (Detailed)

.000

.000 .000 OVERALL EFFECT 44.1%

terms used mainly by middle and upper class speakers, 2) those terms used by all classes of speakers, and 3) those terms used mainly by middle and working

Terms of Abuse 205

class speakers. The first category includes the terms judged by informants as light and the last category the terms judged by informants as heavy. All of the heavy terms, it should be noted, have some sexual content, either actual or metaphorical. Only one heavy term was used by upper class speakers, and this is almost certainly a case of upper class speakers' "mimicking" working class usage. Because there are so many abusive terms, each being used only a little, the data were combined for the purposes of analysis so that all terms of abuse would be compared to all other forms. Table 31 summarizes the results of the analysis for these terms. The data were also divided into three groups: light, heavy and medium terms. Table 32 compares these three categories only to each other. The numbers in the table refer to the actual number of instances of that category of terms used in the natural data, and the percentages refer to the percentage of all terms of abuse used by or to that particular category of speaker or addressee, how much involved light (or medium or heavy) terms. For example, under speaker sex we see that 19% of all abuse terms used by males involved light terms of abuse, while 38% involved medium and 42% involved heavy terms. Of all the terms of abuse used by females, on the other hand, 43% involved light, 43% involved medium, and only 13% involved heavy terms of abuse. Thus, the percentages in each category add up to approximately 100%. Sex Both males and females give and receive most of the terms. As a group, however, female speakers are much more likely to choose light or medium terms, while male speakers are almost as likely to choose heavy or medium terms over light ones. The addressee data show similar patterns. Overall, females use terms of abuse somewhat more than males do. Age A look at the age totals on Table 31 indicates that, in general, young speakers and addressees are much more likely to use and receive abusive terms than their old or middle-aged counterparts. This is even mare pronounced for addressees than it is for speakers. Usage to an addressee the same age as speaker is more likely for all categories of terms than is usage to a younger addressee. Usage to an older addressee is very rare.

206 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Table 32. Comparison of Light, Medium and Heavy Terms of Abuse to Each Other Speaker Sex M F Light Terms Medium Terms Heavy Terms

30(.192) 60(.385) 66(.423)

22(.431) 22(.431) 7(.137)

Speaker Social Class WC MC UC Light Terms 0 10(.182) 42(.525) Medium Terms 25(.347) 21(.382) 36(.450) Heavy Terms 47(.653) 24(.436) 2(.025) Y

Speaker Age MA 0

40(.282) 8(.160) Light Terms Medium Terms 52(.366) 22(.440) 5CK.352) 20(.400) Heavy Terms

4(.267) 8(.533) 3(.200)

Addressee Sex M F 40(.242) 59(.358) 66(.400)

12(.286) 23(.548) 7(.167)

Addressee Social Class WC MC UC 2(.023) 19(.333) 31(.500) 32(.364) 19(.333) 31(.500) 54(.614) 19(.333) 0 Y

Addressee Age MA 0

49(.265) 2(.105) 74(.400) 6(.316) 62(.335) 11(.579)

1(.333) 2(.667) 0

Social Class The natural data clearly support the social class distinctions made by the interview informants. Working class speakers chose heavy terms about twothirds of the time and medium terms the other third, choosing only a few light terms. Middle class speakers chose medium and heavy terms each about two-fifths of the time and light terms one-fifth. Upper class speakers chose light terms over half of the time, and chose medium terms the remainder except for the exceptional use of one heavy term mentioned above. Similar patterns exist for the addressee data. The terms are clearly marked for social class. The social class direction totals indicate that a huge majority of instances of use of the abusive terms involved use to an addressee of speaker's same social class, with a few down and almost no up usages recorded.

Terms of Abuse 207

Acquaintance An overwhelming majority of the data involving terms of abuse involved use to known addressees. A few instances of use of the more common terms to unknown addressees also occurred, however, always expressing real anger. Relationship A huge majority of all abuse term usages in the natural data involved use to friends, neighbors, brothers, cousins and other relatives. Many also were used by teachers to students and by parents to their children. A few instances of use to strangers, waiters, taxi and bus drivers and employees of speaker also occurred. In summary, it may be said that the abusive terms are marked as light, medium or heavy. Upper class speakers use light terms normally, descending to medium terms to express real anger. Middle class speakers use light and medium terms normally, descending to heavy terms when very angry. Working class speakers use the heavy terms normally, and use medium terms only sarcastically to imply effeminacy. Female speakers of any social class tend to stay somewhat higher on the continuum than their male counterparts do. In the next several sections individual terms from the various groups will be discussed, and a list of the terms of each type that appeared in the natural data is given. Light and Medium Terms of Abuse Upper class informants stated that they use a much larger number of abusive terms than working class speakers do, precisely because their parents have trained them not to use the "truly expressive" (heavy) terms available to working class speakers. Upper class speakers have therefore proliferated the terms of abuse greatly, so that they will have a large number to choose from for any particular occasion. The main categories from which they have chosen words to become terms of abuse are 1) names of animals, 2) names of low professions (with the exception of professions relating to sex), 3) names of physical defects, 4) names of moral defects (stingy, cowardly, etc.), 5) words for mental defects (craziness, stupidity), 6) words for objects considered lowly (shoes, asphalt), 7) words implying that addressee is a child, and 8) words implying that addressee has purposely been avoiding speaker. These categories will be discussed individually.

208 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Names of Animals Animal terms occurring in the data include kalb (f. kalba) 'dog,' along with ibn ilkalb 'son of a dog' and several variants, mi@za 'goat,' toor "bull, thickheaded' wahS 'wild animal,' @igl 'calf,' hisaan 'horse,' gamuusa 'water buffalo,' hayawaan 'animal,' gahS 'small donkey,' and himaar 'donkey.' Of these, only kalb, hayawaan and himaar are common. The first, kalb, when used by itself, is definitely a light term, disavowed by working class informants and claimed by upper class informants. Its relative politeness is probably to be attributed to the fact that it contrasts directly with the most common term of abuse in EA, ibn ilkalb 'son of a dog,' which is not considered to be so polite. Several variants of ibn ilkalb appeared: bint ilkalb 'daughter of a dog,' wilaad ilkalb 'children of a dog,' ibn diin ilkalb 'son of the religion of a dog,' bint diin ilkalb 'daugter of the religion of a dog,' and bint sittiin kalb 'daughter of sixty dogs.' All of these are considered to be medium terms of abuse, used by all classes. They seem relatively light for working class speakers but quite heavy for upper class speakers. This, of course, contrasts with kalb alone, which is light for all classes of speakers. The term hayawaan 'animal' appeared only in classroom settings in the natural data, in all cases being used in anger. Its use implies that addressee is not acting like a human being (i.e. is not obeying classroom etiquette). The term himaar 'donkey,' and the rare ibn il himaar a 'son of a female donkey,' imply a lack of intelligence. The former term is used frequently in classroom settings, like hayawaan, by both fellow students and teachers. Informant statements about this term illustrate the position of medium terms generally. One upper class male informant claimed to use himaar to his close friends, adding that use of low terms in this way could imply intimacy. A middle class informant from a baladi neighborhood, however, claimed to use it only to a friend who was muhtaram Siwayya 'a little respected,' rather than to really close friends. A working class informant claimed to use it only "in school." The term, then, appears as fairly heavy for upper class speakers, but quite light for middle and working class speakers. Names of Low Professions The terms taken from names of low professions include ibn il@arbagi 'son of a donkey cart driver,' bint ilgassaala 'daughter of a washwoman,' miraat il@askari 'wife of a soldier' (this one apparently implies that addressee is fat), haraami (f. haramiyya) 'thief,' bint ilharamiyya 'daughter of a thief,' bint innattaaSa 'daughter of a pickpocket,' bint il'owantagi 'daughter of a con-man,' mugrim (f. mugrima) 'criminal,' ibn ilmugrima 'son of a criminal,' and bint ilmugrima 'daugher of a criminal.'

Terms of Abuse 209

Of these, only mugrim and its variants are relatively common. All of them are light, and are usually used to young children, neighbors, siblings and one's own children. In many cases they are used with a tone of voice that causes them to be taken as dala@ 'terms of endearment' rather than Sitiima 'abuse.' Physical Defects The abuse terms which have been taken from words for physical defects include 'a@ma "blind,' bint il@amiyya 'daughter of the blind woman,' 'ara@ 'bald,' bint il'ar@a 'daughter of the bald woman,' 'a@wag and mu@wiga 'stooped,' tarS 'deaf (pi.),' tixiina 'fat,' and garbaan 'leprous.' All of these terms, with the possible exception of 'a@ma 'blind' are light, and also not common. Several informants of all classes claimed that 'a@ma is used to strangers who bump into them in the street or who don't look before crossing the street. Informants also claimed that the term for deafness is used in school to students who do not catch something the first time. A further term, lazlaz, was reported by one informant to mean 'fat,' but it did not occur in the natural data. Moral Defects The abuse terms taken from words implying some moral defect include tifis (f. tifsa) 'stingy,' diniyya 'stingy,' 'aliil il'adab 'impolite,' ibn tarbiyit iSSaari@ 'son of street education' (i.e. unrefined, impolite), bayxa 'vile, of low morals,' nadl 'vile,' muftari (f. muftariyya) 'oppressor, bad,' gabaan (f. gabaana) 'coward,' wisix (f. wisxa) 'dirty,' bint ilmihazza'a 'daughter of the dirty woman,' manzar 'hypocrite,' and ibn ilyahuudi 'son of a Jew' (i.e. stingy). Of these, only gabaan occurred more than a few times. It is used by all classes and is therefore a medium term. Working class speakers apparently use it in its "true" meaning, to imply that addressee is acting like a coward, while upper class speakers use it as a more general term of abuse for anything bad. FOT example, an upper class man who was knocked off his motorcycle by a truck illegally turning left got up and screamed ya gabaan! at the truck driver. In a sense, gabaan is the upper class equivalent of working class xawal. The term xawal 'homosexual' is the opposite of gada@ and everything it stands for in the way of macho manliness. While gabaan does not have a positive term opposite it as xawal does, for speakers of the upper classes it appears to be the opposite of their somewhat less macho ideal of manliness and "humanness."

210 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

The other moral defect terms appear to be mainly light, although wisix and bayxa are most likely medium. Mental Defects The terms taken from words for mental defects include magnuun (f. magnuuna, pi. maganiin) 'crazy,' bint ilmagnuuna 'daughter of the crazy woman,' bint ilmuhawwasa 'daughter of the mad woman,' liibi "Libyan' (i.e. crazy), malhuus 'crazy,' lahs 'crazy,' @abiit (f. @abiita) 'stupid,' ibn il@abiit 'son of a stupid man,' bint il@abiita 'daughter of a stupid woman,' 'ahbal (f. habla) 'stupid,' ibn ilhabla 'son of a stupid woman,' gabi (f. gabiyya) 'stupid,' 'akwaS 'slow to understand,' si@iidi Upper Egyptian' (i.e. slow, stupid), and fallaaha 'farmer* (i.e. slow, unmannered, stupid). Of these, the most common are magnuun 'crazy,' which is a very light term, and three of the words for 'stupid': gabi, 'ahbal and @abiit. For some reason, the first two are light, while @abiit is medium. It is not clear why this should be so. Lowly Objects The terms of abuse taken from words for objects consideredly lowly include gazma 'shoe,' zift 'asphalt,' and raxam 'rubbish.' While raxam appears to be a medium term, zift is clearly one of the lightest terms of abuse. The feminine zifta also occurred, as did the form si zift 'sir asphalt,' a sarcastic combination of an old-fashioned term of respect with a Sitiima. Terms Implying That Addressee Is a Child The term @ayl 'child' and its plural @ayaal appeared in the data, always used to imply that addressee has just done something not in keeping with his supposed level of maturity. Both forms are considered to be fairly light. Terms Implying Purposeful Avoidance Three terms were used to imply that addressee has been purposefully avoiding speaker: harraab (f. harraaba) 'one who flees,' maxfi 'hidden,' and day@a 'lost.' It should be noted that one of the most common ways of greeting a friend whom speaker has not seen for about two days is with some expression implying that addressee has been avoiding speaker. Both try to say it first so

Terms of Abuse 211

as to avoid being accused by the other. Use of one of these three terms is only one of many possible ways of expressing the same idea. For example: 2. A young woman comes to visit a friend at the friend's house. The latter greets her with: izzayyik yaxti ya day@a? kull da giyaab? How are you, my sister, O lost one? All this absence? to which the young woman responded: hiyya 'ana Ili day@a walla 'inti? 'ana kunt @andik imbaarih wis'al 'ummik! Am I the lost one or are you? I came by yesterday, just ask your mother! Other Light and Medium Terms of Abuse The reader will have noticed by now that there truly are a large number of light and medium terms of abuse. A few that do not fît any of the categories mentioned until now include bahlawaan 'clown,' balaawi 'catastrophe,' midawwixni 'you who are mixing me all up,' mitanniS 'you who are ignoring (me)' and several terms that imply that speaker is going to injure addressee in some way: madruuba 'hit' (i.e. 'you who are going to be hit'), a'ta@ ra'abtak 'your neck cut off (i.e. 'you who are going to have your head chopped off), and maksuur irra'aba "broken neck' (i.e. 'you whose neck I'm going to break'). All of the latter were said as threats to get young children to do something. Heavy Terms of Abuse The heavy terms of abuse that appeared in the natural data include Sarmmta 'rag (prostitute),1 bint i SSarmuuta 'daughter of a prostitute,' ibn il'ahba 'son of a prostitute,' ibn ilwisxa 'son of a prostitute' (f. bint ilwisxa, pi. wilaad ilwisxa), ibn ilmara ilwisxa 'son of a prostitute,' ibn ilwasiixa 'son of a prostitute,' xawal 'male homosexual playing the female role,' ibn iixawal 'son of a homosexual,' @ars 'pimp' (f. @arsa), mitnaaka 'fucked (f.)' (pi. mitnaakiin), kusummak 'your mother's cunt' and bint ilmi@arrasa 'daughter of a pimp.' These are "fighting words" for all classes of speakers, although upper class speakers almost never use them. Some upper class speakers refuse even to

212 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

pronounce some of them. Working class speakers (as well as some middle and upper class young men) also use these terms in a friendly way, often as part of a Sitiima battle in which two friends trade insults in a competitive way, each trying to better the insult of the other. Two examples of such semi-friendly exchanges follow: 3. Two young male working class friends are playing cards at a coffee house. One keeps getting distracted and the other yells in fake annoyance: ma til@ab yabn ilwisxa! Come on, play your card, you son of a prostitute! The other replies: ya tayyib yakusummak 'ihna waraana haaga? What's your problem, your mother's cunt, do we have anything else to do? 4. A working class young man pauses at the door of a small shoe factory where his ftiend works and says: izzayyak ya sulum, izzayyak yabn ilwisxa? How are you Sulum (nickname for Sulayman), how are you, you son of a prostitute? Sulayman replies: itfaddal y aad ya @ars ya Ili 'ummak bitaklak! Come in, my boy, you homosexual, you whose mother eats you! The first then comes back with: bass xawal! you homosexual! That'syaenough, As one informant stated, these terms that imply that there is something sexually wrong with addressee or with his mother or father would probably never be used to a "real" homosexual or a "real" son of a prostitute except in cases of extreme anger. Thus, as in the examples cited above, the message is often 'inta sahbi 'awi 'you are my good friend.' In other cases, of course, the message involves real anger. The terms are used in anger to strangers

Terms of Abuse 213 (usually in baladi areas), friends, neighbors, and to one's children. Two examples of use to chidlren follow: 5. A two-year-old working class girl wet her bed and her mother spanked her. As she stood there crying, a neighbor lady walked in and went over to pick her up and comfort her. As she was doing this, the mother told the neighbor lady what the girl had done. She immediately threw the girl to the floor in disgust and exclaimed: yawisxa! yakalba! ya Sarmuuta! You dirty thing! You dog! You prostitute! 6. A working class mother told her 15-year-old daughter to sweep the courtyard. The daughter argued, and the mother, angered, yelled: imsahi ya bint iSSarmuuta ya mitnaaka! imsahi kwayyis badai ma 'aagi 'atalla@ @ineeki! Sweep, you daughter of a prostitute, you (who have been/will be) fucked! Sweep well or I'll come and tear your eyes out! The terms ibn ilwisxa and xawal are by far the most common of the heavy terms, with kusummak and ibn il'ahba also being relatively common. As stated above, the term xawal appears to be a catch-all term for waking class speakers, used whenever speaker wants to imply that addressee does not measure up to the ideals of macho manliness in whatever way. Summary We have seen that EA has a large number of terms of abuse, even though the great majority are not common. Terms are marked in the lexicon as light, medium or heavy, with the largest number of terms being light and medium since these two categories include all of the creative categories of various kinds of defects, animals, etc., and with only the sexual terms being marked as heavy. How speakers use the terms of abuse is determined both by social class and by individual degrees of "politeness." A majority of speakers (only the very polite being exceptions) have about two-thirds of the continuum in their active vocabulary, almost all speakers using the medium terms, but only upper and middle class speakers using the light terms and only middle and working class speakers using the heavy ones. Women tend to use a lighter portion of the scale than do the men of their social class. Friends use the lowest terms in their repertoire in a relatively friendly way to each other. Upper class males occasionally use the very heavy terms: some do this among themselves because mimicking working class usage is now "in style,"

214 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

and others do it only in fights, especially to working class addressees (for example, according to one informant, an upper class young man may give a heavy term to a taxi driver, if the taxi driver has "descended to the same level of abuse"). All parents use terms of abuse to aid in raising their children, but again, usage is very strictly correlated to social class; upper class parents generally use only light terms to their children, middle class parents may have a slightly broader range, and only working class parents use the heavy terms to their children. Informants, without hesitation, labeled light terms as raaqi 'refined' and heavy ones as bayxa 'vile,' baladi, etc., clearly recognizing that how one uses his terms of abuse is a sensitive marker of his social status. On a pragmatic level, then, using and interpreting terms of abuse involve several different levels of meaning: who speaker thinks he is and who he thinks addressee is, how angry he is with addressee, whether addressee is a close friend or not, as well as the surface level of the "dictionary" definitions of the terms and the implications of these dictionary definitions. Finally, it should be pointed out that terms of abuse are expected in certain situations, and therefore, since they are expected, they do not cany the angry force they may seem to carry to an outside observer. For example, teachers are expected to use terms of abuse to students. It is likely that most middle class American speakers of English would be rather surprised to hear a term of abuse from a teacher, and if they did hear one they would assume that it expressed extreme anger. EA speakers, on the other hand, expect to hear (relatively light) terms of abuse from teachers, and they therefore hear the terms when used by teachers as expressing slight annoyance, or merely a simple correction of a student. This same thing applies to the use of terms of abuse to one's Mends, children, and in various other situations. It is certainly not too much to claim that an instance of term of abuse usage cannot be properly interpreted without knowing the social class of speaker and addressee, how well they know each other, what kind of a situation they are in, and whether (and which) terms of abuse are expected in that situation.

Chapter 9

Conclusion

(The director of the high school calls in the ringleader—Bahgat—of a problem gang of students to interview him in the presence of his father. As he comes in he leaves a large suitcase outside the door.) Direct«': What's that you're putting there? Bahgat:

A suitcase. Good Morning, father (baaba).

Director. What kind of a suitcase? Bahgat:

A suitcase for books.

Director: Why did you leave it outside? Bahgat:

I didn't think it was appropriate, O presence of the director ( haçbit innaazir), to enter your office with a suitcase.

Director

(sarcastically) My goodness (ya salaam), how polite! My goodness, what manners! (Imperatively) Go get it!

Father:

And this is a suitcase for books?!

Bahgat:

Yes, your presence (hadritak) knows that the final exams are near, and you've got to be ready with the most books and notes possible.

Director: This suitcase is full of books and notes, right? Bahgat

Yes, O presence of the director (hadrit innaazir).

Director: Open it and show me. Bahgat:

Your presence (hadritak) doesn't believe me?!

Director

I believe you! Open it!

216 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Bahgat

I don't have the key.

Director:

(calls to the office boy) Gaabir! (to Bahgat) Don't open it then! We'll open it! (to Gaabir, who has come in) Go get a hammer and a chisel!

Gaabir:

I'll tear it to pieces! (he goes out)

Bahgat

(calls after him) No need, Gaabir, I'll lode for a key. (He gets out an enormous key ring with over SO keys on it.)

Father:

What are those keys for? Answer, boy (ya walad)l

Bahgat:

Father (baaba), there's no need to get upset These keys aren't for anything specific. I carry them as spares.

Father:

Spares for what?

Bahgat:

For anything—anything that needs to be opened. A can of sardines, a can of jam. But there's still no key to open the . . .

Director:

(Yells) Bring the chisel, Gaabir!

Bahgat

For what, O presence of the director (hadrit innaazir)? Just a minute. (Yells) Don't bring the chisel, Gaabir! (he opens the suitcase) Books, I swear by God, and notes, (he gets a small notebook out of the suitcase) Here you go, here's a notebook! Now do you believe it's a suitcase for books?!

Director:

(he dumps out everything in the suitcase) My eyes (ya @eeni)\ My good sir (ya siidi)\ Wool, cigarettes, whiskey, tobacco, sweaters, cocoa, tea. This isn't the School of High Morals anymore, it's the Shawarbi School (referring to a high class shopping district in Cairo).

Bahgat

It's impossible! Unbelievable! Not Possible! Who brought these things here?

Director:

Come on, buster (laa ya Seex)\ Play the fool! Play the fool!

Bahgat

Aha! The man who was sitting by me at the tram station! He took my suitcase and I took his! (He goes into a fake act of hysteria.) Now what will I do? How will I study? Why, O my

Conclusion 217

Lord (ya rabbi) would you do this to me? I can't fail again this year, I can't! But if that's your will, O Lord (ya rabb) well I can't stand in your way! (He suddenly becomes himself again.) Excuse me a moment The man got off at the Camp Shiraz stop. I know what he looks like. I'll go look for him and bring the books. Don't weary. (He hurries out) Director: (Yells) Grab that boy (ilwalad da), Gaabir! Grab him! Thief (haraami)] Thief! Thief! Bahgat:

(returns) Thief?! OK, let it be. I won't reject that word because I know you didn't mean thief in the meaning "thief." But what really got me mad is when you said "Grab that boy." I am not a boy! I am not nothing! I have a name! And my name is big! So you've seen for yourself, father ( baaba) how we're treated around here!

Father:

Bahgat, my son (ibni)\ There's no need to joke! There's no need to be funny. The situation is serious! The presence of the director (hadrit innaazir) insists he is going to shut down your class and kick you all out!

Director:

(picks up a pen) I'm writing the letter to the ministry right now!

Bahgat:

(whispers to his father) Don't worry. He gets 500 pounds for this class from the ministry every year. If he shuts us down, they'll stop sending the money!

Director: What are you saying, Gentleman (afandi)? Bahgat:

Nothing, O presence of the director (hadrit innaazir).

Director: Does your presence (hadritak) work as a suitcase salesman? Bahgat:

No, sir (afandim)\

Director: Then what?! Bahgat:

These are things I work with in my spare time. All the students work in their spare time. You get tired of studying, you feel bored, you've got to breathe some air. Have you got something against someone breathing air? You earn a couple of piasters, and then come back to your studies all refreshed.

218 Constructing the Social Context of Communication Father:

This is the first time I knew my son was a suitcase salesman!

Bahgat

What do you mean!? You just bought a jacket from me the day before yesterday!

Father:

You said you got it from one of your friends !

Bahgat:

Makes no difference. Hey, I got that piece of wool I told you about It comes to 22 pounds.

Father:

22 pounds is a lot!

Bahgat:

That's what it costs. Would I try to make a profit off you? What do you think of it, O presence of the director (hadrit innaazir)?

Director:

Shut up!

Bahgat

OK, forget it! (from the play madrosi ilmuSaagibiin by Ali Salim)

In this book we have looked carefully at EA terms of address and pronouns in order to determine what they mean in a very broad sense. We have seen that there is a relatively large number of terms available, and that a rule exists requiring term of address usage at relatively frequent intervals. We have also seen that the use of individual terms is closely related to aspects of addressee and his relationship to speaker, aspects of speaker himself, and aspects of the situation in which the term is used. We have found that the terms are deeply embedded into the social context of their use, and conversely that using the terms gives the surrounding discourse its social context or at least the context that speaker wants to assume. We have further seen that the terms are also related to each other, that variable meanings have arisen at least partially because of the availability of numerous forms, and that the social meaning of any one term is often best understood when the term is compared to similar and contrasting terms. And we have seen that terms have various levels of meaning, with sarcastic and joking meanings referring to the basic meaning but also extending it playfully or maliciously. The quote from the play at the beginning of this chapter was included as an illustration of a fairly full range of terms being bantered back and forth in an actual situation (terms of respect, terms for relatives, terms for God, terms of surprise, etc.) and how even in situations where marking respect with terms of address is taken seriously, as it would be by a student talking to his father or to the director of

Conclusion 219

his school, many, many terms are used with a playful or sarcastic undercurrent In this final chapter, each of these aspects of the EA term of address system will be discussed individually. EA Terms of Address In Their Social Context Addressee Related Factors The choice of an EA term of address is almost always related to features associated with addressee and his relationship to speaker. Almost all terms are marked for sex of addressee (only afandim 'sir, ma'am' is used freely to both sexes), several are marked for age of addressee (hag g, 'pilgrim,' kabtin 'captain,' mi'addis 'pilgrim'), many are marked for social class of addressee (@ammfulaan 'uncle of so and so,' sitt 'umm fulaan "Mrs. mother of so and so,' madaam 'Madam'), and many are closely related to addressee's relationship to speaker (maama 'mother,' baaba 'father' and all of the terms for relatives when used to actual relatives, 'ustaaz 'professor' and 'abla 'older sister' to teachers, Seex 'sheikh' and @amm 'uncle' to friends, etc.) or to addressee's occupation or other role ('usta 'master,' rayyis 'boss,' doktoor 'doctor,' baSmuhandis 'chief engineer,' Seex to an actual sheikh, etc.). It is in the realm of addressee-related features and the relationship of addressee to speaker that the axes of power and solidarity come into play. Terms marked for respect (hadritak 'your presence,' siyadtak 'your dominence,' doktoor 'doctor,' afandim 'sir, ma'am,' madaam "Madam,' etc.) or intimacy (axuuya 'my brother,' walad 'boy,' @ammi 'my uncle,' habiibi 'my loved one*) are addressed to respected and intimate addressees, respectively. Besides the general terms of respect, several categories of addressees are associated with a specific term and expect to receive it A wonderful example of this appears at the end of this chapter. Doctors, engineers, teachers, bosses, drivers, artists, artisans, and others have terms that "go with" them. While other terms may be used, the "right" term is both more common and more correct in a certain sense. For example, even though a large number of terms are used constantly to friends in peer group settings (Seex 'sheikh,' @amm 'uncle,' walad 'boy,' beeh "bey,' the friendly and abusive terms) every interview informant, without exception, stated that the most proper term for a friend is his first name. Even when the terms are used sarcastically, the sarcasm is almost always effective precisely because it denies some aspect of addressee that is "supposed" to be accepted or assumed. Clearly, then, in choosing terms of address, speakers are required to categorize the addressee in terms of sex, age, social class, occupation and relationship to speaker, including whether the relationship is marked by respect, formality and/or intimacy.

220 Constructing the Social Context of Communication

Speaker Related Factors Besides making judgments about addressee and their relationship to him, speakers in many cases are also required to categorize themselves in order to choose a term. These judgments involve age (some terms, like 'usta 'master' and afandi 'sir,' and some names, are going out of fashion with the younger generation), sex (a few usages are limited to speakers of a certain sex, like use of beeh 'bey' to teachers, and many other terms, while used by both sexes, favor one over the other, like 'axi 'my brother,' maami 'mother,' and the terms of abuse), and especially social class. To a surprising degree, in EA, the same pattern appears again and again. All social classes use terms of abuse, but the upper and lower ends of the spectrum insist on differentiating themselves from each other by using different sets of terms. All social classes use terms to address their relatives, but again two sets of terms appear, each associated with opposite ends of the social spectrum. And of course, everyone has a name, and even here there is evidence of at least the beginning of a division between the upper and lower classes. Even with the mainstream terms of address-the terms of respect-which all social classes use, in many cases different patterns of use are evident, each pattern associated with one end of the social spectrum. For example, working class speakers use baSmuhandis 'engineer' indiscriminately while upper class speakers make an effort to restrict its use to real and "small" engineers. Working class speakers use sitt "Mrs.' to all varieties of addressees, while upper class speakers use it only to lower class addressees. Similar patterns exist for @amm 'uncle (FaBr),' hagg 'pilgrim,' doktoor 'doctor,' and many other terms. The EA system, therefore, requires its native speakers to be constantly making statements about their social universe by requiring term of address usage. They must constantly decide who they think they are, who they think addressee is, and what they think the relationship between them is or should be. Since the terms often have an overt discourse function that does not involve this social statement, the social statement could be considered covert to a certain extent But it is not hidden, and it is not avoidable. If a speaker is to use the terms at all (and he must by EA rules) then he must use them in a certain way, and no matter which way he chooses he is saying something. Sarcastic uses are also closely related to speaker-related factors. If a speaker uses a term in a way that does not fît with people's perceptions of what kind of a person he is, then the usage is taken to be joking, mimicking or on some other non-serious basis. For example, when upper class college students use the heavy terms of abuse, no one attributes to them the qualities that would be attributed to a working class speaker heard using them. The students are understood to be mimicking working class usage. This is because these terms, by rule, "go with" working class speakers, and if you have good evidence in front of you that the person using the terms is not working class, then some mitigating circumstances are automatically

Conclusion 221 assumed. One (and often many) exceptions do not necessarily change the rules, except perhaps very slowly, over time. The Development of the EA Term of Address System The Addition and Extension of Terms It is also instructive to review how the EA term of address system has developed. Apparently starting with a basic system of family terms and terms of respect, two basic patterns have been used to differentiate terms, and several patterns of extending the usage of terms can be noted. First, a large amount of borrowing from high prestige languages, usually European, but earlier Turkish, has taken place, often resulting in double systems of terms, a situation that almost asks for a sociolinguistic differentiation on some basis or other. The Turkish terms have Altered down through the whole system and are used by all to mark respect, but only some of the European terms have done so (doktoor 'doctor'), while others have remained more or less the province of the upper classes (tant 'aunt,' madaam "Madam,1 etc.). A subphenomenon of this same basic pattern involves the borrowing of a term from standard Arabic as a prestige form ('aanisa 'Miss'). The second basic pattern is that of phonological reduction. In some cases the reduced form has differentiated itself in meaning from the full form (still retained), but it is interesting to note that the reduced form always refers to something of lower class than does the full form (compare 'ustaazl'usta 'teacher/work-master,' ra'iis/rayyis 'prisident/boss,' mu@allimlmi@allim 'teacher/baladi businessman'). In other cases a series of forms result, all of which retain the same meaning but which are differentiated by the social class connotations associated with their use (walad/waad/wala/yala/yaa 'boy,' bintlbittlbih 'girl'). In the case of the words for father and mother, both of these two basic patterns-borrowing and phonological reduction-are in evidence (maamil maama/'ummi/amma, daadilpaapilbaabilbaabal'abuuyal aaba). We have seen that almost all of the family terms have been extended metaphorically to non-family. Likewise the earned terms of respect are extended to those who have not earned them. Further, some of the terms of respect and family terms have taken on new, negative meanings when used to friends (Seex 'elder,' @amm 'uncle,FaBr') apparently capitalizing on something inherently negative in their original meanings (perhaps 'oldness' for Seex and 'commonness, simpleness' for @amm). Also, use of high terms by such speakers as salesmen and bus conductors (as mugamla) to speakers who really do not "deserve" them is such a widespread and important phenomenon that it almost certainly is encouraging a general downward drift of terms, allowing new ones to come in at the top.

222 Constructing the Social Context of Communication Finally, terms have gained new meanings or associations by the addition of pronoun endings and independent pronouns. Interestingly, these don't always follow the same pattern. The addition of a pronoun ending usually makes a term less rude or direct and more affectionate {sittísitti "Mrs ./my lady,' @amml@ammi 'uncle/my uncle,' sayyid/siidi 'Mr./my master,' bint/binti 'girl/my daughter'), but in two cases the addition of the pronoun makes the term more rude ('uxt/uxti 'sister/my sister,' 'axl'axi/axuuya 'brother/my brother/my brother'). The addition of a form of 'inta 'you' either before or after a term is always rude and usually implies an order to do or stop doing something {'inta ya walad 'you, boy,' ya waad 'inta *boy, you'). The Attrition of Terms As a result of these various kinds of growth and elaboration, the system is now very large. We can assume that a point would be reached beyond which further growth would be impossible without the gradual attrition of other forms. This does appear to be happening at the present time: a whole set of forms is in the process of dying. Tlie process appears to involve first a stage where use as a term of respect becomes limited to one (usually lower) social class, then gradually it comes to be used only in jest, and finally ceases to be used at all. The terms sayyid "Mr,1 si "Mr.,' afandi 'gentleman,' baaSa 'pasha,' and haanim Madam,' all appear to be in one stage or another of decline. The term 'usta 'boss' could be at the beginning stages of a similar process as it is now consciously avoided by some upper class speakers. Likewise, 'abla and 'abeeh have begun to be avoided by high speakers. Most of these terms, particularly those of Turkish origin, appear to be following the general downward drift or "devaluation" referred to above. Variation and the EA Terms of Address The EA term of address system, then, is very much alive. It is structured on one level on the basis of sex, age, social class, degree of intimacy, and role of addressee in relation to speaker and on another level on the basis of social class and to a lesser extent sex and age of speaker himself. It is in the process both of growing, creating new terms through borrowing and various means of elaborating already existing forms, and of dying, gradually losing forms that have for some reason or another become specialized to a group no longer in existence, or picking up now undesirable connotations. Both in the process of growth and death many forms enter variable rule relationships with other forms. In fact, as long as there is more than one term available for a particular type of addressee in a particular situation, variation will be a permanent part of the system. To a large degree it is this variation that

Conclusion 223

allows for the second kind of structure mentioned above, that related to speaker rather than addressee. If there existed only one term for mother, then the structure of that term in the address system would be based entirely on qualities of addressee and on addressee's relationship to speaker. When there are two or more available terms, however, in a large speech community with different groups that in many cases value the differences over the "sames," however small these differences may be, it is almost inevitable that the groups will come to differentiate themselves by their use of the variables, adding to the structure of the system a whole new aspect Labov and many other researchers have convincingly shown that with phonological variation this is indeed the case. It is almost as if the various groups in a single society combed over the language to find possible variables with which to differentiate themselves while still maintaining the ability to communicate with all members of the community. One is tempted to believe that this aspect of the structure of the EA term of address system is intimately connected with the all-important questions: "Who am I?" and "Who is like me, who is not?". Studying this aspect of the system would therefore also tell us a great deal about the different values of the various groups (and indeed does, as we have seen). Of course, the answers to these all-important questions vary because everyone is a member of more than one group at once. A typical EA speaker may be at the same time a human being, an Egyptian, a Cairene, a member of the college-educated middle class, an underpaid member of the Ministry of Supply, a resident of Darb il'Ahmar, a working class quarter, and a member of an unofficial group of friends from his youth who still get together and play cards at the local coffee house and which includes several working class members. Depending on the situation he is in, his present emotional state, and the state of his shifting loyalties between these groups (among other things), he very well may rate himself as a very different person at different times, and this difference in rating will be marked by a different pattern of term of address usage. The important thing is that the various patterns of use are available throughout the whole speech community, allowing speakers very graphically to be different things. Although we must assume that generally a speaker picks up a few closely related patterns (one segment of the entire continuum) as he grows up and sticks with them for life, the possibility of consciously manipulating the patterns for personal ends remains very real. This is equally true for phonological variation. The mass of speakers may be using the variation simply as a symbol of what they truly believe themselves to be, but some must be using it to become what they aren't.

224 Constructing the Social Context of Communication Concluding Remarks Two questions remain to be answered: how important are the terms of address in the broader process of communication in the EA speech community, and to what extent could the results of this research help non-native EA speakers to communicate more effectively with native EA speakers? The answer to the first question is that they are very important. Unless the proper relationship between speaker and addressee is established and recognized by both, the communication cannot be felicitously carried through. When a customer walks into a shop, the salesman immediately establishes his role as servant by using a high term in asking if any help is needed. When a customer walks into a pharmacy he immediately establishes the pharmacist as expert by calling him doktoor. Terms smoothe out the conduct of human relations, a fact noted by several of the informants. EA speakers and addressees are very (even overly, to an outside observer) sensitive to the implications of terms. Several informants mentioned situations in which a speaker refused to answer, listen or react to communications preceded by an "incorrect" term of address. The most revealing one involved an informant who was an artist. He was commissioned to paint a mural on the walls of a small jewelry shop in a certain section of Cairo. He always worked in his "grubbies," and at the time of the story he was the only one in the shop. A couple walked up to the window of the store, saw something they liked, and called for the informant to come and help them. Since they only saw the grubby clothes and the paint they assumed he was a painter and yéüedyarayyis ! Ήey, boss!' several times. The informant claimed that on hearing this term addressed to himself he felt a rising anger, bordering on fury, and he managed to simply ignore them. Angered at being ignored they exploded into the shop only to be confronted by a mural rather than a painted wall. Embarrasment would be too weak a word to describe their reaction. They were absolutely mortified. They had insulted an artist. The apologies were immediate and profuse: laa mu'axza ya baSmuhandis, makunnaaS @arfiin... Please don't take offense, engineer, sir, we didn't know... After telling this story, the artist added an even more telling bit of information. Speaking in English, he said: "That is why most interior decorators in Cairo wear suits to do even the most filthy jobs, even when they know they will get ruined, so people will call them the right term. They consider the cleaning expense to be a legitimate business expense necessary to maintain their peace of mind." The answer to the second question, to what extent this kind of information could help non-native EA speakers communicate better with native EA speakers is also clear. This kind of information is vital to effective

Conclusion 225

communication. Terms are one of the most important tools EA speakers have to provide their communication with its social context, and when that context is ignored or misunderstood the overt content of the message is also likely to be taken incorrectly. It is only too easy to conjure up "horror story" scenarios of well-meaning translators for businessmen or diplomats communicating the wrong thing at a very crucial moment (apparently something of this nature happened to a translator to President Carter in Poland). And one can only imagine how much ill-will between nations is created by covert symbolic statements that were not meant the way they were taken. Knowledge of the proper use of terms of address is, therefore, as important to the overall success of a communication as knowledge of the conjugation of verbs would be. The terms give the entire communication its social setting and tell addressee how the rest of the communication is to be taken or understood. Ability to use the terms felicitously is as important as any other aspect of linguistic knowlege about another language and failure to use them appropriately is as likely to foil real communication as is failure to use correct grammar or pronunciation. The terms of address may be peripheral to the syntax of EA, but they are central to the process of communicating in EA.

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Index of Terms aaba. aabalhagg @àa'il.. 'aanisa. 'abeeh @abiit @abiita. 'ab la 'abufulaan 'abuuna. 'abyad @adlaat •adra. afandi afandim. 'ahbal 'ahwagi 'ahwaS 'aliil il'adab 'a@ma. 'amar. 'amiir 'amiira. @amm am m a @amm ilhagg @ammi @ammina @amm irrayyis @amm iSSabaab @amm iSSeex @ammiti @ammu @amm il'usta. 'amuur. 'anba. 'ankil •ara@ @art>agi 'aribna. @ariis

66, 77 35 193 168 94 210 210 94 .58 139 194 193 193 172 154 210 149 210 209 209 196 196 196 98 69, 79 105 72 104 105 105 105, 138 72 105 105 196 139 96 209 149 107 196

@ars 211 @arsa. 211 'aruuba 193 @aruusa. 196 @asal 196 'asfar. 195 @askari 149 a'ta@ ra'abtak 211 'at'uuta. 196 'a@wag 209 'axi 87 'axiina. 92 axuuya. 87 axx 72, 85 @ayaal 210 @ayl 210 'ayyuha l'ixwa wa l'axawaat...l83 baaba 66, 77 baaba lkibiir 35 baabi 66, 77 baaSa. 173 bahawaat 180 bahlawaan 211 bakalwiyuus 195 balaawi 211 bani'aadam. 197 baSawaat 177 basbuusa. 196 basmiti wifagri 196 baSmuhandis 125 batal 193 batta. 196 bayaada. 194 bayxa. 209 beed 194 beeda. 194 beeh 177 bih 107 bint 107 bint diin ilkalb 208 binti .70,81

236

Index

bint il@abiita bint il@amiyya. bint il'ar@a bint ilgassaala bint ilharamiyya. bint ilkalb bint ilmagnuuna bint ilmi@arrasa bint ilmihazza'a bint ilmugrima bint ilmuhawwasa. bint innataaSa bint il'owantagi bint ilwisxa bint iSSarmuuta bint sittiin kalb bint ya term bitt daada daadi dakatra. dala@di danaaya. datsun day@a diniyya diizaL doktoor. doktoora. duf@a. duudu @eeni faalih fadiltak fadilt iSSeex fahlaawi fallaaha farhaana fitik fituwwa gaali gabaan gabaana.

210 209 209 208 208 208 210 211 209 208 210 208 208 211 211 208 114 107 147 69, 66 124 196 196 195 210 209 195 121 121 148 196 196 193 17 35,138 192 210 195 192 192 196 209 209

gabi gabiyya. gada@ gahS gamaa@a. gamii@ gamiil gamuusa gaibaan gazma. gid@aan. ginn goz @ammiti goz xalti gruub haanim haayil habaybi habibna. habiibi habibti hadritak hadrit ilmuSrif. hadrit issool hadrit izzaabit hagg hagga. halaawa. haraami haramiyya. hairaab hayawaan hilm xalaali hilw hilwa himaar hinayyin handasa. hirik hisaan hubbi @ibaad ullaahi

210 210 191 208 169 169 194 208 209 210 191 193 72 72 169 167 195 195 196 195 195 17 35 35 35 150 150 196 208 208 210 208 196 196 196 208 195 196 192 208 195 183

Index

ibni ibn il@biit ibn il'ahba ibn il@arbagi ibn il'eeh ibn ilgani ibn ilhabla ibn ilhalaal ibn ilkalb ibn ilmara ilwisxa ibn ilmugrima. ibn ilwasiixa. ibn ilwisxa ibn ilxawal ibn ilyahuudi ibn tarbiyit iSSaari@ @ibs @igl @ineeya. 'inta ixwanna. kabtin kalb katkuuta kawboy kolha kumsari kusummak Labels Iah s la@@iib liibi looz ma@aali lwaziir maama maama lkibiira. maami madaam. madmwazell madmuba magari maganiin magnuuna. mahallabiyya

.70, 81 210 211 208 192 195 210 195 208 211 208 211 211 211 209 209 192 208 196 16 92 153 208 196 195 194 149211 59 210 193 210 194 .35 69, 79 35 69, 79 162 168 211 193 210 210 196

maksuur irra'aba malhuus malik manzar mara ma@Sar ilmuslimiin maxfi mi'addis mi'addisa. mi@allim miis midardah midawwixni miraat @ammi miraat il@askari miraat xaali mistir misyu mitanniS mitnaaka mitnakiin mitr mi@za. muftari mu@gibi mugrim mugrima muhtaram mu'min mu'mina. mu'miniin mu@wiga naas nadl Names naymiin Nicknames niyaftak nuunu nuur @eeni paapi qadaasit ilbaaba raagil raagil ya kariim

237

211 210 196 209 198 183 210 153 153 139 182 192 211 72 208 .72 182 182 211 211 211 147 208 209 196 208 208 195 183 183 183 209 198 209 42 184 .45 17 196 196 69, 66 139 197 195

238 Index raagil ya tayyib raa'isa. raxam. rayyis niuhi ruuh 'ummak sa@adítkum sa@adt ilbeeh Saatir sabwa. Sarbaaaí. Sarmuuta SawiiS sawwaa' sayyid. sayyidaati wa saadati sayyidu rra'iis Seex Seexa. Sibs sidnaSSeex sifulaan siidi si@iidi Siik sitt sitt haanim sitti sitt iddoktoora. sitt il@araayis sitt ilhagga sitt ilkull sitt issitaat sitt yakariima. siyaadit ra'iis ilwuzara siyadtak siyadt innaayib siyadt il@amiid. siyadt il@aqiid siyadt illiwa siyadt ilwakiil siyadt ilwaziir. siyadt irraa'id

195 196 210 144 196 196 18 181 193 192 196 211 148 149 157 183 183 134 134 192 138 170 158 210 194 162 167 165 35 35 35 35 35 195 35 17 35 35 35 35 35 35 35

siyadt irra'iis siyadt issafiir sizifL sukkar. taalib tant tarS term ilterm Pattern tifi? tixiina toor \idsak. 'ummfulaan @umri 'usta 'ustaaz 'ustaaza. 'utta uxL uxti waad. wahS wala. walad. waladyaterm. waliyya. wilaad ilwisxa. wisix wisxa wizza. xaala. xaali xalti xawaaga. xawal xeeri yaa. ya 'albi yaani ya btaa@ yabu ya(car) ya faatir ramadaan

35 119 210 196 149 72, 96 209 .35, 119 209 209 208 17 58 196 141 128 128 196 72, 85 87 107 208 107 107 114 198 211 209 209 196 96 72, 96 .72, 96 182 211 196 107 184 184 61 .62 62 183

Index 239 ya fattaah ya @aliim ya razzaa' yakariim. 184 ya haafiz rabbak 183 yala. 107 ya Ui 60 yarabb 184 ya rabbi 184 ya saahib il .62 yasaatir. 184 ya saayim ramadaan 183 yaxaasir rabbak 183 yazaman 184 zariif. 195 zift 210 zifta. 210 zoo' 195