الكنية في المجتمع اللغوي السعودي : دراسة تداولية

Abstract EN

Address terms are considered in sociolinguistic studies as valuable indicators of the circumstances and social meanings of an interaction.

The current study is a socio-pragmatic investigation of the use of teknonyms, kunya, in the Saudi speech community.

This linguistic form is one of the most frequently used address terms in Saudi Arabic, and thus an important part of the Saudi address system.

It is composed of two parts: a kinship term, abu, father of, or umm, mother of, in addition to the eldest son's name in most cases, such as: abu Ahmad, and umm Abdullah.

This descriptive analytical study aims to identify the most important factors that determine the use of teknonyms in Saudi Arabic, and explore its social functions.

It also investigates how language users view this term, and its social significance for them.

To this end, the study describes the use of teknonyms in the Saudi speech community, and analyses it in relation to its surrounding different social factors, in four social interactions: family, relatives, friends and acquaintances, and in the work place.

The data for the analysis was collected through a questionnaire, in which 224 male and female Saudis participated, and short interviews with 12 of these participants.

The study proceeds in three stages: collecting the data, describing and analyzing it, and finely, discussing the results.

The findings of the study identify the most important factors governing the use of teknonyms in the Saudi speech community, and shed light on the impact of the context and the role of the speaker.

They also reveal the different social meanings of this term, as well as confirm the prevalence of the use of this form and its prestigious status in this community.