Language and Religion in Jordan

Abstract

This paper tries primarily to show how religion influences some aspects of Jordanian Arabic, specifically its impact on some daily speech acts, such as naming practices, greetings, farewells, taking oaths, offering condolences, etc. We argue that although all Jordanians speak Arabic and identify themselves as Jordanians (with the exception of few ethnic groups) regardless of their faiths, there are some linguistic clues that can help them identify the religious affiliations of their interlocutors. The data for this study were collected based on both authors' personal observations in their daily-life conversations. In addition, data were collected through informal interviews in which the interviewees were asked about how they often identify the religious affiliations of other Jordanians. Moreover, data were collected from the Jordanian TV and other media; public speeches and university lectures. Our findings show that Jordanians rely on both linguistic and non-linguistic cues in order to identify the religious affiliations of others. They also admitted that sometimes not knowing the religious affiliations of others might result in the inappropriate use of language in some situations, such as offering condolences, giving advice, etc.

Keywords: Jordanian Arabic, religion, linguistic cues, speech acts, politeness