Hyperbole in Jordanian Spoken Arabic: A Lexico-Grammatical Analysis

Authors

  • Rafat M. Al Rousan

    Department of Translation, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan
  • Khalid Qasim Bani Domi

    Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan
  • Kifah Rakan Alqadi

    Department of English Language and Literature, Al alBayt University, Mafraq 25113, Jordan
  • Malak AlRousan

    Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26726, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i2.8417
Received: 14 January 2025 | Revised: 5 February 2025 | Accepted: 6 February 2025 | Published Online: 25 February 2025

Abstract

Hyperbole is a linguistic device used to exaggerate emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and ideas. This paper studies the lexico-grammatical forms of hyperbole in Jordanian-spoken Arabic. Specifically, it studies the forms and meaning of hyperbolic expressions in the everyday use of JSA. The study reports findings from a corpus of 1373 hyperbolic expressions collected from naturally occurring conversations between Jordanian friends and family members. This study uses content analysis methods to analyze its data. It also adopts an integrative approach, adapting lexico-grammatical categories from previous studies. The findings reveal that hyperbole in JSA manifests in various lexico-grammatical forms, which interact together to achieve the aim of hyperbole. In addition, single lexical words (nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs) and multi-words (phrases and clauses), thirteen prominent hyperbolic lexico-grammatical forms were identified in this study. They include idioms, similes, extreme terms, temporal, numerical, metaphorical, scale, negation, comparison, repetition, intensifiers, conditional, and proverbs. The findings reveal that idioms were the most frequently accruing prominent lexico-grammatical category, followed by similes and extreme terms. On the other hand, proverbs were the least frequently occurring form. All of these hyperbolic forms are used in JSA to emphasize feelings, attitudes, opinions, and ideas. The study also shows that context is essential in the interpretation of hyperbole in JSA. Finally, this study suggests some recommendations for future research.

Keywords:

Hyperbole; Lexico-Grammatical Forms; Jordanian Spoken Arabic; Linguistics

References

[1] Claridge, C., 2010. Hyperbole in English: A Corpus-Based Study of Exaggeration. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. pp. 4–246.

[2] Callister, M.A., Stern, L.A., 2007. The role of visual hyperbole in advertising effectiveness. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising. 29(2), 1–14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2007.10505212

[3] Kreuz, J., Roberts, M., 1995. Two cues for verbal irony: Hyperbole and the ironic tone of voice. Metaphor and Symbol. 10(1), 21–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms1001_3

[4] Stern, J., 2000. Metaphor in Context. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA. pp. 5–12.

[5] Mora, L.C., 2006. How to Make a Mountain Out of a Molehill: A Corpus-Based Pragmatic and Conversational Analysis Study of Hyperbole in Interaction [Doctoral Dissertation]. València, Spain: Universitat de València. pp. 1–494.

[6] Agbayani, R.S., Lucas, R.I.G., 2025. Linguistic insights into philippine automobile advertisements. Forum for Linguistic Studies. 7(1), 578–588. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i1.7248

[7] McCarthy, M., Carter, R., 2004. "There’s millions of them": Hyperbole in everyday conversation. Journal of Pragmatics. 36(2), 149–184.

[8] Saleh, S.M., Braime, M.M., 2014. A textual analysis of hyperbole and litotes in selected English political speeches. Anbar University Journal of Language and Literature. 16, 45–83.

[9] Gibbs Jr, R.W., 1994. Figurative thought and figurative language. In: Gernsbacher, M.A. (ed). Handbook of Psycholinguistics. Academic Press: San Diego, USA. pp. 411–446.

[10] Leech, G.N., 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. Routledge: London, UK. pp. 1–268.

[11] Sperber, D., Wilson, D., 2012. A deflationary account of metaphors. In: Wilson, D., Sperber, D. (eds.). Meaning and Relevance. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. pp. 97–122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139028370.007

[12] Carston, R. Wearing, C., 2015. Hyperbolic language and its relation to metaphor and irony. Journal of Pragmatics. 79, 79–92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.01.011

[13] Douglas, R.H. Online etymology dictionary. Available from: https://www.etymonline.com/ (cited 5 November 2024).

[14] Abrams, M.H., Harpham, G.G., 2009. A Glossary of Literary Terms, 9th ed. Wordsworth Cengage Learning: Boston, USA. pp. 1–383.

[15] Burgers, C., Brugman, B.C., Renardel de Lavalette, K.Y., et al., 2016. HIP: A method for linguistic hyperbole identification in discourse. Metaphor and Symbol. 31(3), 163–178. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2016.1187041

[16] Ferré, G., 2014. Multimodal hyperbole. Multimodal Communication. 3(1), 25–50.

[17] Norrick, N.R., 2004. Hyperbole, extreme case formulation. Journal of Pragmatics. 36(9), 1727–1739.

[18] Norrick, N.R., 1982. On the semantics of overstatement. In: Detering, K., Schmidt-Radefeldt, J., Sucharowski, W. (eds.). Sprache Erkennen und Verstehen. Max Niemeyer Verlag: Tübingen, Germany. pp. 168–176.

[19] Colston, H.L., Keller, S.E., 1998. You’ll never believe this: irony and hyperbole in expression and interpretation. Discourse Processes. 25(3), 201–223.

[20] Spitzbardt, H., 1963. Overstatement and understatement in British and American English. Philologica Pragensia. 6(45), 277–286.

[21] Al-Dalawi, Y.I., Al-Mahdawi, A.O., 2019. A pragama-linguistic study of hyperbole in English political discourse. Journal of Garmian University. 6(5th Conferance of Human sciences), 1047–1059.

[22] Omar, Z.K., Khalaf, A.S., 2009. A sociolinguistic study of hyperbole in Iraqi Arabic. Journal of Al-Anbar University for Language and Literature. 1(1), 763–772.

[23] Melhem, B., Qader, R.F.A., 2017. A Socio-Pragmatic Study of Hyperbolic Expressions in Colloquial Jordanian Arabic [MA dissertation]. Irbid, Jordan: Yarmouk University. pp. 1–84.

[24] Mohd Khatatbeh, A.A., Al-Haq, F.A.A., Al Sobh, M., 2018. Exaggeration in congratulatory expressions in Jordanian Arabic: A socio pragmatic study. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature. 7(5), 29–33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.7n.5p.29

[25] Hijazin, R., 2022. A semantic analysis of rhetorical figures in Jordanian proverbs. Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences. 49(5), 522–533.

[26] Migdadi, F., Badarneh, M.A., Al-Wedyan, T., 2024. Birth congratulation messages on Facebook in Jordan: A socio-pragmatic snalysis. Jordan Journal of Modern Languages and Literatures. 16(1), 161–182.

[27] Creswell, J.W., 2009. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches, 3rd ed. SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks, USA. pp. 1–270.

[28] Hymes, D.H., 1962. The ethnography of speaking. In: Gladwin, T., Sturtevant, W.C. (eds.). Anthropology and Human Behavior. Anthropological Society of Washington: Washington, DC, USA. pp. 13–53.

[29] Gheyle, N., Jacobs, T., 2017. Content analysis: A short overview. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321977528_Content_Analysis_a_short_overview (cited 17 November 2024).

[30] Hassan, I.M., 2014. A pragma-linguistic analysis of hyperbolic constructions in book blurbs. Journal of the College of Basic Education. 20(85), 815–831.

[31] Khalifa, R., 2024. Hyperbole in the images' captions of Arabic YouTube videos: A cognitive study. Journal of Scientific Research in Arts. 25(1), 35–68.

[32] Crystal, D., 2008. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6th ed. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK. pp. 1–529. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781444302776

[33] Finch, G., 2000. Linguistic Terms and Concepts. Palgrave: London, UK. pp. 1–188.

[34] Práce, D., 2012. A contrastive study of hyperbole in Czech and English. A corpus-based study [Master Thesis]. Karlovy, Prague, Czech Republic: Filozofická fakulta Univerzity. pp. 1–57. Available from: https://dspace.cuni.cz/bitstream/handle/20.500.11956/46179/DPTX_2010_2__0_312044_0_113370.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

[35] Ryding, K.C., 2005. A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. pp. 1–701.

[36] Mieder, W., 2004. Proverbs: A Handbook. Greenwood Press: Westport, CT, USA. pp. 1–279.

[37] Aljadaan, N., 2018. Understanding hyperbole. Arab World English Journal. 212, 1–31. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.212

Downloads

How to Cite

Al Rousan, R. M., Bani Domi, K. Q., Alqadi, K. R., & AlRousan, M. (2025). Hyperbole in Jordanian Spoken Arabic: A Lexico-Grammatical Analysis. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(2), 952–966. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i2.8417

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 2 (February 2025)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Rafat M. Al Rousan, Khalid Qasim Bani Domi, Kifah Rakan Alqadi, Malak AlRousan

Creative Commons License

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