Chapter 9. Alla yustur

Abstract

This paper has aimed to explore the semantics and pragmatics of eight interjectional phrases used in Jish, a small Arabic-speaking town in northern Israel. These interjectional phrases have two characteristics in common. First, each of them includes the word alla ‘God’ or ṣalīb ‘cross,’ and second, they are employed when the speaker senses some danger, hence my naming them “danger-thwarting divine interjectional phrases.” Using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach, a cultural script has been produced for each of the target interjectional phrases. The cultural scripts describe the norms governing the use of these phrases, and they are written in terms that are simple and (semi-)universal. Thus, they can be translatable into any language, offering cultural outsiders access into one part of the Jish Arabic linguaculture.