FORMLAIC EXPRESSIONS IN NORTHERN KURMANJI: A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS

DILGASH MOHAMMED SALIH TAYIB; HAVAL ISMAIL AHMAD SIMO

DILGASH MOHAMMED SALIH TAYIB Dept of English, College of Languages, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region-Iraq
HAVAL ISMAIL AHMAD SIMO Dept of English, College of Languages, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region-Iraq

Keywords: Pragmatics, Politeness, Compliments, Compliment Responses, Northern Kurmanji

Abstract

Formulaic language covers a wide range of prefabricated linguistic units from idioms and proverbs to speech act routines, turns of phrase and collocations. One important feature of formulaic language is arbitrariness: there is often no particular (linguistic) reason why a particular expression should be preferred among semantically equivalent expressions to fulfil a particular communicative function, thereby becoming a formulaic means of expressing a particular meaning. The current study investigates formulaic expressions in Northern Kurmanji with reference to English. It is an attempt to find out the frequency of using these expressions in daily interaction. The study also tries to cover some of the common formulaic expressions exchanged by speakers of Northern Kurmanji. These include the analysis of expressions used in welcomes and greetings, departure, swearing, condolence, weddings, party and food. The analysis of the data has revealed that native speakers of Northern Kurmanji use different formulaic expressions in different aspects of life and occasions. Such occasions can be classified into anxiety provoking events, happy events and rapport establishment events.

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