Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 22 Issue 1

The previous semantic molecules of the animals are verified by the following animal proverbs, each of which will be thoroughly discussed in a separate section. Note that Lit. Tr. and Fig. M. are abbreviations for ‘Literal Translation’, and ‘Figurative Meaning’ respectively. In addition, the phonetic symbols and the sounds of the Arabic words used in the transcription of the collected data are shown in Appendix A. a) Donkeys Table 2: Donkey proverbs associated with the identification of the source domain and the target domain. Proverbs Source Target 1. ،قّيضناكملا رامحلاو ساّـفر ( 'l-maka:n Dayyiq wo 'l-Huma:r raffa:s ) Lit. Tr. The place is narrow, and the donkey is kicking. Fig. M. Some people can be so annoying when dealing with others. Donkey An annoying/irritating person 2. هحزم حزم يز ضع ،ريمحلا سفرو ريفحتو ( mizHu zai mizH 'l-Hami:r 9aDD wo rafs wo taHfi:r ) Lit. Tr. His sense of humor is like donkeys’: biting and kicking and carving. Fig. M. Some people have a really annoying, bad sense of humor and make horribly lame jokes. 3. رُحلا ،ةزمغ نم نم رامحلاو ةسفر ( 'l-Hur min ġ amza: w-'l-Huma:r min rafsa: ) Lit. Tr. A free man from a wink, and a donkey from a kick. Fig. M. A shrewd person can understand an implicit message quickly, but a stupid one could take a while to grasp a particular concept. A stupid person A donkey can be defined as a four-legged domesticated member of the horse class with long ears and dorsal hooves that is found in dry, warm areas as deserts and savannahs. Donkeys have long served as pack animals in many parts of the Hijazi community ages ago. They are viewed as working animals which are used by humans for carrying heavy loads or as means of transportation, even though nowadays they seem to be an uncommon sight in cities. Thus, donkeys have been depicted in many Hijazi proverbial expressions as part of the people’s cultural heritage. As indicated in Table 2, the first two proverbs have similar meanings, indicating relatively the same target. The first proverb describes a specific context in which a person finds himself in a really small place, yet he is being annoyed by the hard kicks of a raging donkey. If the current proverbial saying is used in a certain Hijazi situation, the donkey would immediately refer to an annoying addressee who cannot stop arguing in the wrong direction or doing a particular action that is considered irritating to the other party. As a consequence, the speaker attempts to sarcastically prevent the interlocutor from invading his/her personal space by paying more attention to what he/she is saying or doing in a particular social interaction. Eventually, a donkey’s annoyance is mapped onto an annoying human being who seems to disrespectfully disturb others. In the same vein, the second proverb appears to portray donkeys negatively by mapping their unfavorable trait of harassment onto a lame person who has a really bad sense of humor, i.e. someone who makes horribly bad or offensive jokes. The proverb generally criticizes people who annoy others by intruding into others' lives or by making silly and offensive jokes As for the third proverb, the donkey represents a stupid person who is so slow in comprehending concepts and is incapable of understanding anything except when he/she is being kicked hard. On the contrary, a smart person is depicted as ّرُح ‘ a freeman ’ who would grasp the meaning of anything simply from a ةزمغ ‘ wink ’ (see Table 2). The proverb scorns people who lack the necessary mental ability to understand something and encourages them to promote their intelligence. In sum, it seems that the donkey in the Hijazi proverbial expressions is associated with negative and abusive connotations. The Hijazi people relate donkeys to a number of negative characteristics as dullness, stupidity, and stubbornness. Such depiction of donkeys appears to be in concordance with several other research studies (Nadim, 2000; Estaji & Nakhavali, 2011; Salamh & Maalej, 2018; Alghamdi, 2019; Al- Salem, Ali & Alrashdan, 2020). © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue I Version I 59 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 C Exploring Connotative Meanings and Metaphors of Saudi Animal Proverbs: A Semantic and Pragmatic Analysis