A Sociolinguistic Study of Bad Omen Superstitions in Arabic and Russian Languages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/bsj.Vol23.Iss48.1771Keywords:
superstition, bad omens, Arabic language, Russian language, bad omen predicting objects, bad omen subjectsAbstract
This paper tackles the linguistic means of expressing superstitions that predict bad omens in Arabic and Russian languages. Its main purpose is to find out Arabic and Russian bad omens beliefs of different types and to analyse them sociolinguistically. By consulting some articles and studies that tackle this subject in addition to conducting some informal interviews with people chosen purposely, data of this study are collected. Adopting Fliginskikh et al’s (2018) model, superstitions are divided into two main groups: bad omen predicting objects and bad omen subjects; and these groups are subdivided into other subgroups. The results of analysing the first group show that the biggest subgroup of bad omen predicting objects is that of ‘household appliances and items’. It is also found that the subgroups of ‘house’, ‘funerals’, ‘pathway’ and ‘numerals’ are specific for the Russian language, while no subgroup is completely specific for the Arabic language. In addition, common, specific and partially coincide bad omens are distinguished in both languages. These differences between Arabic and Russian superstitions are a result of traditional, cultural and linguistic differences in both languages. According to the findings of the second group, it is detected that the person that is most influenced by superstitious bad omen is ‘the subject of action’.
References
Abed, S. N. and AlMamoory, S. M. A. (2024). A Psycho-Pragmatic Study of Superstition in Literary Texts. Journal of Language and Linguistics in Society, 4(3), 11-25.
Afhami, R. Danesh, N. and Mohammadi-Zarghan, S. (2019). Magical thinking and superstitious beliefs in Iranian culture. Journal of culture cognitive science, 1-9.
Aljamal, A. (2007). Al-eilm Wal khurafa fi Hayat Al-'insani. ed.1. Cairo: Cultural Islamic Library.
Al Dilaimy, H., Al-Rawe, M and Hazim, M. (2020). A Socio-Cultural Analysis of Superstitions and Other Powerful Institutions in Iraqi Arabic. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. Volume 13 (5), 975-989.
Benvenuti, M. F. L., De Toledo, T. F. N., Velasco, S. M. and Duarte, F. M. (2018). Behavior and illusions: a model to study superstition in a participant replacement experiment. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica , 31(17),1-9.
Bhat, M. A. H., Mir, F. A., Shah, B. A., Qadri, A. and Hafiz, I. (2024). A Study of Superstitious Beliefs among the Undergraduates of Govt Degree College Women Anantnag. 12 (3), 1-14.
Bobillon, P. (2017). L’irrationalité des croyances. Philosophie. https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-01599746
Bord, R. J. and Faulkner, J. E. (1975). Religiosity and Secular Attitudes: The Case of Catholic Pentecostals. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 14(3), 257-270.
Boyko, L. (2020). Signs and Superstitions across Cultures: Russian, English, and French Linguocultural Traditions. Topical Issues of Linguistics and Teaching Methods in Business and Professional Communication. election and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the conference, eISSN: 2357-1330.
Campbell C. (1996). Half Belief and the Paradox of Ritual Instrumental Activism: A Theory of Modern Superstition. The British Journal of Sociology, 47, 1, 151-166.
Delacroix, E. and Guillard, V. (2008). Understanding, defining and measuring the trait of superstition. Paris: Paris Dauphine University.
Farooq, A. and Kayani, A. K. (2012). Prevalence of Superstitions and other Supernaturals in Rural Punjab: A Sociological Perspective. A Research Journal of South Asian Studies, 27 (2), 335-344.
Fliginskikh, E. (2014). Towards a Definition of a Term ‘Super-stition’. Vestnik Chuvashskogo Universiteta. Cheboksary. vol. 1.
-, (2014). On the question of defining the term “superstition”. Bull of the Chuvash Univer. Human., 1, 153–157.
Fliginskikh, E. E., Semenova, G. N., Yakovleva, S. L. and Mitrofanova, T. A. (2018). Death Omens in the Superstitions of the English, Russian, and Mari Languages. Proceedings of INTCESS2018- 5th International Conference on Education and Social Sciences, 322-331.
George, S. & Sreedhar, K.P. (2006). Globalisation and the Prevalence of Superstitious Beliefs. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 32 (3), 241-247.
Glare, P. G. (Ed.). (1982). Oxford Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kalandarovna, Y. L. (2023). Superstitions in Linguoculturology. Best Journal of Innovation in Science, Research And Development. 2(5), 260-263.
Karimova, G. K. (2023). Linguistic and Cultural Aspect of the Study of Linguistic Phenomena. American Journal of Language, Literacy and Learning in Stem Education. 01 (06), 48-50.
Katalo, K. H. (2021). Superstitious Ideas among a Sample of Adults and the Elderly in Southern Palestine. Journal of Art, 139, 147-172.
Kramer T. and Block L. (2008). Conscious and nonconscious components of superstitious beliefs in judgment and decision making. Journal of Consumer Research, 34, 783-793.
Lasikiewicz, N. and Teo, W. Y. (2018). The effect of superstitious thinking on psychosocial stress responses and perceived task performance. Asian J SocPsychol, 21: 32-41.
Musa, R. E. (2002). Muetaqadat Al-shabab Alsaeudii fi Alsuhri. Majalat Altarbiat, Jami’at Al-'azhar, Kuliyat Altarbia, (106 ),45-67.
Petrova, T., & Yang, T. (2021). Russian And Chinese Superstitions: The Dialog Of Two Linguistic Cultures. In D. K. Bataev, S. A. Gapurov, A. D. Osmaev, V. K. Akaev, L. M. Idigova, M. R. Ovhadov, A. R. Salgiriev, & M. M. Betilmerzaeva (Eds.), Knowledge, Man and Civilization - ISCKMC 2020, vol 107. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 2399-2406). European Publisher.
Risen, J. L., & Nussbaum, A. D. (2013). Sense and Superstition. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/opinion/sunday/sense-and-superstition.html.
Roud, S. (2006). The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland. Penguin.
Sawakir, R. and Ibrahim, E. (2015). Al-numua Al-nafsia Alaijtimaeia wa Hajat Al-masnin fi daw' nazariat 'Ariksun. Studies and Social Researches Journal,12,124-115.
Tashtush, R. E. (2011). Mada ’intishar Al-tafkir Alkhurafi lada talabat Muealam safin fi Jami’a Jarash Al-ahlit. Majalat Al-mnarat, Al'imarat Alearabiat ,17(4), 179-149.
Vijay, T. S., Tripathi, P. and Vijay, M. K. (2017). Superstitious beliefs among school teachers. International Journal of Home Science, 3(2), 613-615.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 م.م. رغد قيدار غانم قسم اللغة الانكليزية, كلية التربية للعلوم الانسانية, جامعة الموصل
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
