Linguistic Analyses of Rhymed Proverbs, Idioms and Fixed Expressions in Jordanian Arabic

Authors

  • Ayman Yasin

    Coordination Unit for Service Courses, Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Al-Jubeiha P.O. Box 1438, Jordan
  • Wafa AlQtaishat

    School of Arts, Arabic Language and Literature, The University of Jordan, Amman 11941, Jordan
  • Wafa' Aladwan

    School of Arts, English Language and Literature, The University of Jordan, Amman 11941, Jordan
  • Ibtisam Hussein

    Department of Arabic, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.10981
Received: 10 July 2025 | Revised: 24 July 2025 | Accepted: 30 July 2025 | Published Online: 25 September 2025

Abstract

This study explores the syntactic and prosodic structures of rhymed proverbs, idioms, and fixed expressions in Jordanian Arabic (JA). The study highlights how these expressions give precedence to phonological considerations over strict syntactic or semantic norms. While traditional and previous research has often focused on meaning or cultural context, this work shifts attention to form, as it examines how Arabic idioms and proverbs value rhyme, parallelism, and style. Data were collected from classical sources like madʒmaʕ al-ʔamθaːl and contemporary social media, with a focus on rhymed expressions still used in JA. The analysis is based on both classical Arabic grammar and modern linguistic frameworks. The results of the study show that these expressions not only carry rich semantic and cultural dimension, but they also exemplify a blend of syntax, sound, and morphology. A lot of Jordanian proverbs, idioms and fixed expressions give priority to prosody rather than to meaning or syntactic structure as many of these expressions have parallel bi-clausal structures with matching rhythm. In some cases, suffixes, ellipsis, topicalization, inversion and exaggeration are skillfully used for prosodic purposes. Conditional structures and headless relative clauses are manipulated to maintain phonological symmetry at semantic and syntactic cost. In conclusion, phonological harmony frequently shapes or overrides conventional grammatical structures.

Highlights:

  • The paper presents a linguistic analysis of rhymed proverbs, idioms and fixed expressions in Jordanian Arabic.
  • This study shows how prosodic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects interact in the creation of rhymed proverbs, idioms and fixed expressions
  • The paper indicates that in many Jordanian proverbs, idioms and fixed expressions, rhyme is the driving force rather than the meaning or syntactic structure.

Keywords:

Prosody; Rhyme and Rhythm; Semantics; Syntax; Jordanian Arabic

References

[1] Shorfat, S., 2012. Women Portray in the Jordanian Folk Proverbs. Available from: https://www.proquest.com/docview/1124368186?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals (cited 13 April 2025). (in Arabic)

[2] Al-Mawsuʕa Al-Ghanijja, 2020. Arabic language and culture. Available from: https://teacherhelp.info/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9/ (cited 25 March 2025). (in Arabic)

[3] Al-Maydani, A., 1892. Collection of Proverbs, 3rd ed. Primary collection. Matbaʕat al-Ḥanafijja: Cairo, Egypt. pp. 1–1499. (in Arabic)

[4] Al-Sakaki, Y., Al-Qazweeni, M., Khafaji, M., 2014. Explanation of Rhetoric Sciences, 2nd ed. Dar Al-Jaleel: Amman, Jordan. pp. 1–324. (in Arabic)

[5] Qaṭamesh, Abd al-Majid., 1975. Arabic Proverbs: A Historical and Analytical Study. [PhD Dissertation]. Cairo University: Cairo, Egypt. pp. 1–473. (in Arabic)

[6] Al-Amad, Hani. 2006. A Comparison between Al-Maydani's “Majma‘ al-Amthal” and the Jordanian Popular Proverbs Book (A Study of Similar Proverbs). Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences. 33(2), 285–299. (in Arabic)

[7] Al-Amad, Hani Ṣubḥi., 2008. Studies in Folk Literature, 1st ed. Greater Amman Municipality Publications: Amman, Jordan. pp. 1–328. (in Arabic)

[8] Al-Fuqaha', Abdallah Awda., 2007. Phonological and Morphological Phenomena in Arabic Proverbs. [Master Thesis]. Mu'tah University: Mu'tah, Jordan. pp. 1–112. (in Arabic)

[9] Amayra, Ḥ., Nazzal, F., 2014. The Language of the Arabic Proverb: A Descriptive Analytical Study. Journal of the Islamic University for Humanitarian Research. 22(1) 59–86. Available from: https://journals.iugaza.edu.ps/index.php/IUGJHR/article/view/669. (cited 10 March 2025) (in Arabic)

[10] Hammad, M., 2020. The Impact of Ancient Arabic Proverbs on Grammatical and Morphological Guidance: Proverbs from Sharh al-Kāfiyah al-Shāfiyah as a Model. Journal of the Faculty of Arabic Language in Menoufia. 35(2), 641–786. Avaliable from: https://bfam.journals.ekb.eg/article_135835.html (cited 27 February 2025). (in Arabic)

[11] Rajaḥ, D., 2022. Stylistic Features in Aphorisms and Proverb. The Arab Journal for Scientific Publishing. 41. Avaliable from: https://search.mandumah.com/Record/1435956 (cited 2 March 2025). (in Arabic)

[12] Posts of Jordanian Jokes: The Jordanian Proverbs Are Many. Available from: https://web.facebook.com/NHFAT.JORDAN/posts/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%AB%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%83%D8%AB%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%AE%D8%B4%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%AB%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86%D9%8A/10160635775646617/?_rdc=1&_rdr (cited 15 May 2025). (in Arabic)

[13] Suleiman, Y., 1994. Arabic Sociolinguistics: Issues and Perspectives, 1st ed. Curzon Press: London, UK, pp. 1–273.

[14] Mieder, W., 2004. Proverbs: A Handbook, 1st ed. Greenwood Press: Westport, CT, USA, pp. 1–304.

[15] Abdul-Raof, H., 2006. Arabic rhetoric: A pragmatic analysis, 1st ed. Routledge: Oxford, UK, pp 1–316.

[16] Tayyara, A.E., 2022. The practicability of proverbs in teaching Arabic language and culture. Language Teaching Research. 26(4), 799–819. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168819895253

[17] Abu-Lughod, L., 1989. Zones of theory in the anthropology of Arab societies. Annual Review of Anthropology. 18, 267–306. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.18.100189.001411

[18] Ismael Taher, I., 2020. A cognitive semantic study of the impact of socio-cultural factors on meaning construction in selected English and Arabic proverbs: A contrastive study. Arab World English Journal. 248. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.248

[19] Al-Jurjani, ʿA.i.M., 1985. The Book of Definitions, 1st ed. Librairie du Liban: Beirut, Lebanon. pp. 1–262. (in Arabic)

[20] al-Anṣari, I.H., 1950. The Enricher from Grammar Books, 1st ed. Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi: Beirut, Lebanon. pp. 1–312. (in Arabic)

[21] Al-Suyuti, J.a.-D., 1909. The Collection of the Audios in Explaining 'Jam‘ al-Jawāmī‘' in the Science of Arabic, 1st ed. Muhammad Amin al-Janāǧī & Co: Cairo, Egypt. pp. 1–234. (in Arabic)

[22] Hall, J.D., 2017. Instrumental Prosody. In: Bristow, J. (eds.). Nineteenth-Century Verse and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, Switzerland. p. 207.

[23] Wray, A., 2002. Formulaic language and the lexicon, 1st ed. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. pp. 1–332.

[24] Kuiper, K., 2009. Formulaic genres, 1st ed. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, Switzerland. pp. 1–223.

[25] Badawi, E., Carter, M.G., 1990. Modern written Arabic: A comprehensive grammar, 1st ed. Longman: Essex, UK. pp. 1–-812.

[26] Versteegh, K., 2014. The Arabic language, 2nd ed. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, UK. pp. 1–410.

[27] Fernando, C., 1996. Idioms and idiomaticity, 1st ed. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. pp. 1–265.

[28] Al-Makhzumi, M., 1986. Arabic Grammar: Critique and Direction, 2nd ed. Dar al-Raed al-Arabi Publisher: Beirut, Lebanon. pp. 1–332. (in Arabic)

[29] Hayat, G., Hayat, N., 2020. A Study of the Book. In Arabic Grammar: Critique and Direction by Mahdi Al-Makhzumi, 1st ed. pp. 1–67. Available from: http://dspace.univ-tissemsilt.dz/bitstream/handle/123456789/483/%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%AD%D9%88%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%20%D9%86%D9%82%D8%AF%20%D9%88%20%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%87%20.pdf (cited 11 January 2025).

Downloads

How to Cite

Yasin, A., AlQtaishat, W., Aladwan, W., & Hussein, I. (2025). Linguistic Analyses of Rhymed Proverbs, Idioms and Fixed Expressions in Jordanian Arabic. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(10), 338–355. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i10.10981

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 10 (October 2025): In progress

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Ayman Yasin, Wafa AlQtaishat, Wafa' Aladwan, Ibtisam Hussein

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.