Proverbs as Argumentative Strategy in Egyptian Arabic: A Sociopragmatic Study

Abstract

This study examines the argumentative function of proverbs in the daily communication of Egyptians via a sociopragmatic perspective. The proverbs were pragmatically analyzed to reveal their implicature and to evaluate their communicative efficacy as an argumentative strategy. Moreover, the proverbs were socially analyzed to determine whether social variables such as age, gender, education, and place of residence influence their frequency. To conduct this study, fifty-two common proverbs were collected through close observation, note-taking, TV soap operas, films, social media, and the repertoire. Leech’s (1983) Interpersonal Rhetoric Model, Austin’s (1975), and Searle’s (1969, 1976) Speech Act Theory were used to analyze the pragmatic import of each proverb. The study showed that older people, particularly women, villagers, slum dwellers, and laypersons, frequently use proverbs because they are simple, ready-made, and authoritative argumentative strategies. In contrast, youth, highly educated people, and residents of upscale districts rarely use proverbs for social reasons. Although frequent use prevents proverbs and the folklore they represent from fading, it results in a slight communication gap among the various social classes and generations.