Bumper Stickers in Jordan: A Structural Analysis

Abstract

This study has set out to determine the structural patterns of bumper stickers in Jordan. This study is significant since it is the first one to approach bumper stickers structurally. The study has investigated 227 stickers, which can be considered the corpus of stickers in Jordan. The study has found that around 90% of the stickers are sentences, most of which are simple sentences expressed in the present tense. This combination of the three elements i.e. sentence, declarative and simple is what facilitated the job of drivers to write their opinions, attitudes, beliefs, etc. and is what made it possible for the others i.e. drivers and pedestrians to understand the stickers. The study has also found that imperative and negative imperatives are quite common since the stickers are not addressed to the writer/driver rather to the others so as to inform them about his state, his miserable condition, his opinions, his loyalties, and his vehicle. The stickers are addressed to others to demand certain behaviors from them such as driving wisely, not challenging the sticker writer, respecting him if he is driving a truck or a lorry, etc.