Transferred meanings of the words for parts of the human body in spoken Syriac with reference to English

Abstract EN

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that similarities in the use of words for parts of the human body in language do exist in both Syriac and English though they belong to completely different families, viz.

Semitic and Germanic, respectively.

The researcher assumes that differences in the use of such words do not always arise from the language determinacy on how people see the world around, but from the cultural needs and the context in which such words are used.

Therefore, the transferred meanings of the words for parts of the human body in Spoken Syriac depends on the language user's ability to decide (through his cultural and social background knowledge and experience) to decide what is in the language and what is in the world.

One of the conclusions that this study comes up with is that the linguistic as well as the pragmatic contexts are among the main determinant factors behind accurate identification of different meanings of words for parts of the human body.