When Egyptians fear death or apprehend it, or when they are confront with the taboo M Magdalena Zawrotna a of death, they tend to submit themselves to God’s will, hoping that he will save them g from danger. While taking refuge in God, they resort to religious formulae, choosing d a from what seems to be an endless collection of prophylactic, protective or soothing le incantations and blessings. The role of religion in everyday social interactions of n a Egyptians cannot be overemphasised. It regulates human relations and helps to ca- Z talyse the inner fears of man. Religious formulae denote complex cultural concepts a LINGUISTIC RESPONSE w by relating to multi-layered and multi-dimensional, recurrent situations. This em- r o bedding in sociocultural context is a crucial feature of formulae. Thus, “formulaicity” t n is the lens through which this book analyses the response to the taboo of death in a Egypt. L TO THE TABOO OF DEATH I N G U IN EGYPTIAN ARABIC I S T I C R E S P O N S E T O T H Magdalena Zawrotna, PhD E T A A graduate of Arabic philology at the Jagiellonian Univer- B sity and a lifelong learner of Arabic. She also studied at O O the University of Cairo and completed her PhD studies in O linguistics in Cracow. She specializes in Egyptian Arabic, F English-Arabic code switching, and the use of language D E on the Internet. She also translates from and teaches Ara- A bic, in addition to conducting research in Cairo. Currently T H she works at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian I N University, where she teaches Arabic (MSA) Egyptian dia- E lect and translation. G Y P T I A N A R A B I C JA JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS Linguistic Response to the Taboo of Death in Egyptian Arabic Magdalena Zawrotna LLiinngguuiissttiicc RReessppoonnssee ttoo tthhee TTaabboooo ooff DDeeaatthh iinn EEggyyppttiiaann AArraabbiicc Jagiellonian University Press The publication of this volume was financed by the Institute of Oriental Studies – Faculty of Philology of the Jagiellonian University Reviewer dr hab. Marcin Grodzki Cover design Michał Kowalski © Copyright by Magdalena Zawrotna & Jagiellonian University Press First edition, Kraków 2021 All rights reserved This publication is protected by the act on copyright and related rights. The publisher, Jagiellonian University Press, is the copyright holder. Copying, distributing and other use of this publication in full or in part without the publisher’s consent is prohibited except for the permitted personal and public use. ISBN 978-83-233-5031-6 ISBN 978-83-233-7264-6 (e-book) Jagiellonian University Press Editorial Offices: Michałowskiego 9/2, 31-126 Kraków Phone: +48 12 663 23 80 Distribution: Phone: +48 12 631 01 97 Cell Phone: +48 506 006 674, e-mail: [email protected] Bank: PEKAO SA, IBAN PL 80 1240 4722 1111 0000 4856 3325 Contents 1. Transcription system 7 2. Introduction 11 3. What is formulaicity? 29 4. Material 33 4.1. Language� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 35 4.2. Computer-Mediated Communication� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 36 5. State of research 39 5.1. Formulae� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 40 5.2. Research on formulae in Arabic� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 44 6. Structural notes 49 6.1. Opening formula > General reference to God� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 50 6.2. Framing formula > Death-related expression� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 51 6.3. Core � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 52 6.3.1. Core� I � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 53 6.3.2. Core II� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 56 6.4. Supplement� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 59 6.4.1. Supplement I > Blessing for the deceased� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 59 6.4.2. Supplement II > Blessing for the mourner� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 69 6.5. Framing formula > Death-related expression� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 72 6.6. Closing formula > General reference to God� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 72 6.7. A special case� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 73 6.7.1. Reaction to news about the traged�y � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 73 6.7.2. Blessing for the deceased� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 75 6.7.3. Curse� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 76 6.8. Further features of the material� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 78 7. Qualitative analysis of death announcements, comments containing condolences and their responses 85 7.1. Death announcements� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 85 7.2. Comments and dialogues� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 92 7.3. Response to the condoler� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 94 7.4. Variability in formulae� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 97 7.5. Intensifying formulae� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 109 7.6. Grammaticalisation � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 111 7.7. Problems with language� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 112 7.8. Curses � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 113 8. Recapitulation of the analysed material 117 9. Death and the agency of God 125 9.1. Transmission of baraka� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 125 9.2. Islamic outlook on life � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 127 10. The taboo of death 133 11. Summary 141 12. Questions for further exploration 145 Bibliography 147 1. Transcription system Consonants n Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Alveopalatal Palatal Velar Backvelar Uvular Pharyngealy Glottal Stop –voicless p t ṭ k q ʾ Stop – voiced b d ṭ g Fricative – voiceless f s ṣ š ḫ ḥ h Fricative – voiced v z ẓ ž ġ ʿ Nasal – voiced m n Lateral – voiced l ḷ Flap – voiced r Semivowel – voiced w y Vowels Short Long Front Back Front Back High i u ī ū Mid e o ē ō Low a ā 8 In the transcription system, the actual pronunciation is taken into account, there- fore, for instance, in ya rabb il-ʿalamīn [ā] is shortened to [a]. Whenever there is doubt in terms of whether Egyptian Arabic (EA) or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)/Classical Arabic (CA) pronunciation should be applied, the transcription followed a native speaker suggestion (see Methods). Most of the examples, how- ever, represent a mixed variety. • In dialectal material, whenever the environment of a sound calls for it, short vowels are dropped, e.g., ya bni, long vowels are shortened, e.g., fakra, mugamalāt, ḥagg, šabb and helping vowels are added. • In line with the above, vocative ya is spelled with the short a, whereas in standard examples it is spelled conventionally as yā. • Verbs with object pronouns, e.g., yikallimhum, nouns with possessive pro- nouns, e.g., kitābu and all word combinations in which one word is attached to another as a clitic are written together. • The use of hyphen is highly limited, it appears mostly in the article al-/il-. • The initial hamza is dropped when it is in a middle of a breath group and elsewhere with only a few exceptions, e.g., in which [ʾ] is the result of the reduction of [q]. • The process of emphasis spreading, e.g., the occurrence of backed allophones of [a] and [ā] is not noted. • Ē in dialectal examples corresponds to the standard diphthong [ay], e.g., ʿalēh. • Both h and ḥ may be used to note the future tense particle, depending on the original notation. • In original examples the Latin spelling (if available) suggest both yi- and y- in verbal forms, therefore, in some cases short vowels were dropped, e.g., tkūn. • In aḷḷāh the final h is retained in consistency with ēh, lēh, etc., although, in most cases, it is silent. • The negative particle (la, lā, laʾ) is, for more consistency, spelled always as lā. • Individual pronunciation of EA users might differ, therefore, when in doubt, the spelling was provided by a native speaker. • In EA examples, the punctuation is limited to comas, question and excla- mation marks, occasionally a colon might occur. • In direct citations the original spelling was retained, e.g. “sheex” (Parkinson 1985: 136). • No capitals are used in the transcription. • MSA/CA notation is consistent with ISO transcription. In English fragments the conventional notation is employed. • Some inconsistencies in spelling might occur when code-switching (CS) between MSA/CA and EA is employed when different situations of use are referred to, e.g., ḥasbunā ḷḷāh wa niʿma l-wakīl/ḥasbina ḷḷāh wa niʿma l-wakīl. 9 The notation of formulae was highly problematic, because they mostly have stan- dard or classical origin; however, the usage is dialectal, e.g., subḥāna l-ḥayy allaḏi lā yamūt, aḷḷāh yirḥamak ya ʿamm ḥasan, yatagāwaz ʿan sayʾātu. Consultations with a native speaker did not always solve the problem, because often several variants of pronunciation were proposed. Therefore, in such cases the following rule was adopted: when the rest of the utterance is unambiguously classical, the nota- tion follows ISO rules with ǧ for ج, dental sounds and other markers of the standard variant. Otherwise, the pronunciation was recognised as dialectal. In some cases, however, two types of notation (and pronunciation) are adopted, based on the intuition of the consulted native speaker.