The Use of Metaphorical Connotation of Inanimate Objects to Describe People by Speakers of Jordanian Arabic: A Pragmatic Study

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the  use of connotations of inanimate objects to describe people by speakers of Jordanian Arabic. Its main goal is to analyze the positive and negative connotative meanings of inanimate object used to describe people in Jordan. Besides, the contribution of gender in making connotative meanings. The study provides a metaphorical principle to suit most of the metaphorical utterances in Jordanian Arabic dialect. This qualitative research includes 8 participants doing their postgraduate program in English language and literature at the Department of English Language and Literature at Mu'tah University for the academic year 2015/2016. The sample of the study were selected randomly. The researcher used two research instruments: textual analysis and semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using descriptive analysis of the text and by looking at themes that emerge in the interview. The findings of this research showed that  speakers of Jordanian Arabic are very much likely to use positive connotations more than negative ones to describe people. This study recommends that more research be conducted  in this area in order to take connotative meanings into consideration to overcome cultural chock.

Keywords: Metaphor, Connotation, Inanimate Object, Arabic, Positive, Negative, Gender.