International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (IJLLT)

ISSN: 2617-0299
www.ijllt.org

Jordanian Wedding Invitation as a Genre: An Analysis of Rhetorical Structure and

Linguistic Features
Dr. Murad Hassan Sawalmeh
Assistant Professor, Department of Languages and Translation, Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman
Corresponding Author: Dr. Murad Hassan Sawalmeh, E-mail: msawalmeh@du.edu.om

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Received: April 07, 2018 The present study is an attempt to conduct a genre analysis of Jordanian
Accepted: May 20, 2018 wedding invitations. Drawing on the model of genre analysis proposed by
Published:May 30, 2018 Bhatia (1993), a sample of 200 Jordanian wedding invitation cards has been
Volume:1 collected and examined to provide an overview of the main linguistic devices
Issue: 1 used in the texts and analyze to what extent such devices have a social purpose.
The corpus analysis revealed that Wedding invitation cards go beyond
KEYWORDS announcing the wedding of two people to mirroring and deconstructing the
Generic structure, genre social practices, values and beliefs of the Jordanian society that shape the
analysis, socio-cultural values, construction of this genre. I hope that the results of this study will be of help in
linguistic features, wedding further raising cultural awareness.
invitation

1. INTRODUCTION widespread communicative event from which

A wedding invitation is a letter asking the recipient to individuals can learn the practices and rules of
attend a wedding ceremony. It is typically written in specific social groups in a society. Ventola (1987, p.
formal, third-person language and sent out one to two 6) argues that “learning foreign languages is learning
weeks before the finalized wedding date. Like any how to behave linguistically in cultures other than
other invitation, it is the privilege and duty of the host one’s own”; thus, this study will be useful for those
to issue invitations. The communicative purpose of a people who are concerned with becoming familiar
wedding invitation is to inform people that a wedding with and taking part in the social life of members
party is going to be held in a specific time and place from Jordanian culture. Moreover, this study serves
and to call upon them to participate in this occasion as a useful resource about Jordanian society in terms
by their presence. In Jordanian culture, as in all of language use in a particular rhetorical context, as
cultures, the written wedding invitation card is well as socio-cultural and religious background. In
characterized by certain generic textual and linguistic other words, this study is a window that provides a
features that distinguish from other types of written view into various aspects of Jordanian culture and a
genres; it is a traditional text in which socio-cultural, guide to the way through which Jordanian people
as well as religious conventions play a huge role. construct and organize their wedding invitation cards
Wedding invitation cards belong to a group of genres and obituary announcements. The present paper
referred to by Miller (1984) as “homely discourse”, seems to be an interesting enterprise, because while
which includes, as Al-Ali (2006, p. 692) argues, there is substantial body of research on the rhetorical
announcement texts of everyday life such as birth, structure of wedding invitations (Clynes and Henry,
weddings, graduations, obituary announcements and 2005; Al-Ali, 2006; Momani and Al-Refaei, 2010;
the like. A wedding invitation card is a recognizable Sharif and Yarmohammadi, 2013; Sawalmeh, 2014;
‘homely’ discourse that is widely known to people all Sawalmeh, 2015), it is difficult to think of a study in
over the world. That is to say, its content is easily the existing literature devoted to the way that
predicable in terms of the mention of the name of a linguistic choices of a varying nature are related to
bride and a groom, and the time and place of the the sociocultural and religious dimensions in
wedding ceremony, etc. wedding invitations. With this in mind, the present
study is organised as follows. After providing an
In spite of their obvious prevalence and uniqueness, overview of the previous research that has explored
wedding invitation cards have long been rhetorical generic moves rhetorical functions and
understudied homely genres in comparison with other linguistic features in the organization of this genre, I
types of genres. This research attempts to unravel shall discuss the practicalities of how the data
some of the mysteries surrounding this popular collection was conducted, and the model taken to

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data analysis. The fourth section will be dedicated to affiliations and masculine power in the texts. He
exploring the linguistic realizations of the rhetorical found that religious affiliations and masculine power
moves that characterize this genre, together with played a crucial role in shaping the overall
illustrative examples from the corpus. The component moves, and coloured the naming practices
conclusions obtained from the analysis will bring this and lexical choices in the genre. His analysis of a
study to an end. large dataset of 200 Arabic written wedding
invitation cards, for instance, revealed that this genre
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND opened with verses from the Holy Qur’an in the form
The present study draws on Bhatia (1993) genre of formulaic and ritualistic quotations which promote
analysis. The concept of genre has been discussed by marriage in Islam. Masculinity and patriarchal
several researchers from different fields such as kinship culture then ran through the ritualized
literature, rhetoric, writing, linguistics, and invitation text. For example, the “Heading” move
anthropology. One of the most influential definitions began with stating the names of the couple’s tribes,
of genre has been given by Bhatia (1993). He has and such social forces kept on dominating the
proposed a comprehensive definition of genre: representations of the wedding inviters, the guests,
the couple and even the time and the place of the
It is a recognizable communicative event wedding ceremony.
characterized by a set of communicative
purpose(s) identified and mutually In another study carried out in Jordan, Momani and
understood by the members of the Al-Refaei (2010), using model of analysis proposed
professional or academic community in by Holmes (1997) and a modified version of the
which it regularly occurs. Most often it is model outlined by Clynes and Henry, investigated the
highly structured and conventionalized generic structure of Jordanian wedding invitation
with constraints on allowable cards in order to find out what components Jordanian
contributions in terms of their intent, inviters employ to articulate the communicative
positioning, form and functional value. purpose of these invitations. They also investigated
These constraints, however, are often the effect of socio-cultural aspects on the generic
exploited by the expert members of the structure of wedding invitation cards through
discourse community to achieve private surveying many Jordanian people’s opinions using a
intentions within the framework of questionnaire and interviews. The sample of the
socially recognized purpose(s) (P.49). study consisted of 55 invitation cards from a
collection of 150 cards covering the periods from
Accordingly, Bhatia (1993) conceives of genre 1979 until 2006. They found that the wedding
analysis as a means to account for not only the way invitation card genre in Jordan was built around
text is conventionally structured but also for the way obligatory and optional moves which communicate a
it is interpreted, used and exploited in specific lot of information about socio-cultural values and
contexts to achieve certain goals. In the field of norms in Jordanian society that affect the structure of
linguistics, genre analysis is used to describe the such genre. Obligatory and optional moves were: (1)
structure and stylistic features of texts (Coffin, 2001). “Opening”; (2) “Identifying the celebrating families”;
What is of great significance in genre analysis is the (3) “Stating the names of people issuing the
proper identification of the communicative purposes invitations”; (4) “Inviting the guest”; (5) “Identifying
of a text as well as the use of language within the bride and groom”; (6) “Ceremonial
institutionalized settings controlled by arrangements”; (7) “Closing”; and (8) ‘Notification”.
communicative conventions created by a group of Even though Al-Ali and Momani and Al-Refaei’s
individuals in a defined discourse community studies have on the whole yielded excellent and
(Bonyadi, 2012, p. 87). So, in this study, the analysis interesting results, they do not have a number of
of wedding invitation cards will focus on the main shortcomings. Firstly, they concentrated only on the
linguistic choices associated to the generic moves, common generic text structures or components of the
and the socio-cultural explanations for the choices of Jordanian wedding-invitation genre. And secondly,
structure and linguistic features. they did not provide in-depth analysis of the
linguistic patterns which characterize the moves of
In the past few years, two studies investigating the wedding invitation genre. The present study takes a
discourse of wedding invitation cards have been wider perspective to genre analysis, focusing on the
carried out in Jordan (Al-Ali, 2006, Momani & Al- sociolinguistic discourse variability and dynamics in
Refaei, 2010). In a study which explored written light of the underlying academic, social and
wedding invitations, Al-Ali (2006) used a genre and institutional motives and forces. Moreover, Al-Ali’s
critical discourse analysis to examine religious and Momani and Al-Refae’s studies were conducted

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in 2006 and 2010 respectively, and it will be very description) by incorporating the social context and
interesting to see if the language of wedding the communicative purposes of the genre under study
invitation card has changed in the eight years that (thick description).
separate these studies, as examining this genre over a As far as the analysis of micro-linguistic features of
longer period of time might reveal new structural and the genre under study, it was divided up into
linguistic differences, and show how such genre can meaningful units, essentially on the basis of linguistic
evolve and develop over time under the impact of clues, and then it was analysed for the purpose of
social and religious forces that affect the linguistic investigating the salient lexico-grammatical choices
and textual choices of the genre. and strategies which characterize each identified
rhetorical move; that is, to look into their linguistic
3. METHODOLOGY features from syntactic and rhetorical.
3.1 Corpus
Prior to collecting the sample, the researcher checked Arabic language is very rich in rhetorical and stylistic
different types of written wedding invitations. From devices which are utilized to perform specific
this preliminary linguistic check, it was observed that rhetoric functions in their context through invoking
there were no significant differences in the generic meaning that goes beyond the lexical meaning of
structures of these invitations. Thus, a sample of 500 words (El-dali, 2012; Abdullah et al., 2016). It is not
Jordanian written wedding invitation cards, covering surprising, therefore, to find out that the genre of
the period from 2000 to 2018, were selected Arabic wedding invitation cards constitutes a fertile
randomly for the present study from several sources. ground for the proliferation of such linguistic and
Some of the wedding invitation cards were collected literary devices (Fernandez, 2006; Bressler, 2009).
by visiting some local card stores based in the area The microlingusitc features examined in this study
where the researcher lives, while other wedding are considered the most common ones used in the
invitation were accumulated from within the circle of genres of wedding invitation cards. The choice of
the researcher’s family, colleagues, friends, these linguistic features was not at random. Rather,
neighbours and relatives who were asked to provide certain moves of the genres, apart from their
the researcher with as many wedding invitation cards rhetorical functions, are characterised by specific
as possible. distinct stylistic features associated with them. For
example, some rhetorical features (e.g., alliteration,
As a Jordanian, I am very active in attending many rhyme, simile, metaphor, consonance, and assonance)
wedding ceremonies in the Jordanian society; in wedding invitation cards are very specific to the
therefore, through personal observation and taking “Opening” move which is characterised by denoting
part in several Jordanian wedding events, I have been different types of poetry. These rhetorical devices
able to observe how the weddings are carried out by make the writing impressive, vivid and interesting.
Jordanian people who have different customs and Therefore, the bride and groom use them to make
habits. Moreover, as a member of the Jordanian their wedding cards impressive and arouse the
discourse community which constructs and produces potential readers’ interest of reading the wedding
the wedding invitation texts, I already have the invitation card and thus encouraging them to attend
experience and background knowledge of the the wedding ceremony, which is the main
Jordanian community and the communicative communicative purpose of the genre.
conventions related to it. This in turn provided me
with the necessary information needed about the In addition, specific nouns and adjectives with
effect of religious and socio-cultural practices and positive connotations are among the most common
norms on the wedding invitations. syntactic features realized in the genres of wedding
invitation cards. For example, in wedding invitation
3.2 Procedures texts, nouns and adjectives of semantic field of love
The theoretical assumptions on which the present have been employed by the couples in the “Opening”
paper relies are mainly derived from Bhatia’s (1993) and “Deferential ending” move to express the
genre analysis approach. This socially and romantic feelings and emotions; and promote love,
linguistically-oriented approach goes beyond the peace and harmony between them. These nouns and
language analysis of texts and relates the linguistic adjectives which were found to be specific to certain
patterns and elements found in wedding invitation moves include happiness, wishes, perfume, flower,
cards to the social conventions of the wedding rituals. moon, prince, diamond, happy, prosperous, generous,
In other word, the strength of this approach lies in the to mention but few.
fact that it goes far beyond the examination of
patterns of text organization and lexico-grammatical
description of language use in a given genre text (thin

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4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The objective of the corpus analysis is to figure out
Before examining the linguistic features of the genre the preferred verb tense used in each move of the
under study, it is of significance to initially present wedding invitation cards. In general, the analysis of
the generic structure (moves) of the wedding the data suggested some variation as far as the tense
invitation genre. The elements in a typical wedding choice and frequency of occurrence among the moves
invitation card appear in the following order: were concerned.
Opening, Identifying the celebrating families, The data showed that the present tense and the past
Identifying the inviters of the wedding, Requesting tense were the preferred tenses in Move 1 (Opening)
the presence of the guests, Identifying the bride and and Move 7 (Deferential Ending), and that the
groom, Stating wedding ceremony arrangements, present tense was used more frequently in these two
Deferential ending, and Notifications. This section moves. One thing worthy of note is that the present
traces and explores the micro-linguistic features of tense was the only tense restricted to Move 4
this genre with the intention of seeing how Jordanian (Requesting the presence of the guests) and Move 8
brides and grooms organize their wedding invitation (Notifications). It is interesting to note, however, that
cards. It focuses on salient syntactic and rhetorical the other moves, viz., Move 2 (Identifying the
properties. celebrating families), Move 3 (Identifying the inviters
of the wedding) and Move 6 (Stating wedding
4.1 Syntactic Features ceremony arrangements) do not contain any present,
This section presents the prevalent syntactic features past or future tenses at all.
in the wedding invitation text such as sentence
length, sentence complexity, verb tenses, nouns, The results of the study revealed that the present
adjectives, prepositions, ellipsis, etc. simple tense has proved to be the mostly used tense
in the wedding invitation card genre. The main
Sentence Length reason for the predominance of the present simple
Sentence length, in this study, is going to be tense in the moves results from the fact that it
determined by calculating the number of words for expresses the future. That is, the bride and groom,
each move in the wedding invitation card corpus by who are responsible for issuing the wedding
hand, i.e., to find out how many words constitute invitation card, try to tell readers of the invitation that
each discoursal move in the wedding invitation card the wedding ceremony is going to happen in the near
genre. The analysis of the data indicated that there is future, hence using the simple present tense to
variation in sentence length across wedding invitation express the future most frequently. Consider the
cards. More specifically, wedding invitation cards following illustrative examples:
have many short sentences in comparison to long
sentences. tabdaɁ Ɂalsahra masaɁ yawm Ɂalxami:s
(The evening party starts on Thursday evening)
A close examination of the data showed that the
“Identifying the celebrating families move, yataʃarafa:n bidaҁwatikum liħuḍu:r ħaflat zafa:f
“Identifying the inviters of the wedding” move, (X and Y request the honour of your presence to
“Identifying the bride and groom” move, “Deferential attend the wedding ceremony)
ending” move and “Notifications” move are
characterized by short sentences, while the other Nouns
moves; namely, the “Opening” move, “Requesting A careful analysis of the data of the present study
the presence of the guests” move and “Stating yielded the result that nouns in these wedding
wedding ceremony arrangements” move are invitation cards are abundant and plentiful. A close
characterized by long sentences. look at the “Opening” move shows that it includes
nouns such as “happiness” (‫ سرور‬suru:r); “love”
In the light of what was mentioned above, it can be (‫ الحب‬Ɂlħub); “wishes”; ‫ (امنيات‬Ɂumnia:t); “longing”
argued that Jordanian brides and grooms, as members (‫ شوق‬ʃawaq); “fondness”; (‫ الود‬Ɂalwud) “tranquillity”;
of a discourse community, seem to show a clear and “mercy” ( ‫ الرحمة‬Ɂlrħmah);. The Jordanian couple
preference for short sentences when constructing want their marriage to be filled with love, happiness,
their wedding invitation card text, perhaps due to the serenity, and contentment; they want it to be a source
fact that they want to reduce the cost of such wedding of joy and fulfilment their whole life long; therefore,
invitations for economic reasons. Put in a different they use these nouns in their wedding invitation cards
way, they are trying to save space and money to express their romantic feelings and emotions for
because words cost a lot of money when writing the the happy occasion of marriage.
wedding invitation in Jordan.

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The groom tends to express his great love, Ellipsis

appreciation, and romance for his soon to be wife Ellipsis is one of the prominent linguistic phenomena
through describing her as being similar to someone or found in the Arabic language, in both written and
something else. For example, he compares his wife spoken forms. Ellipsis can be defined as the omission
using one of the following nouns: “princess” (‫أميرة‬ of unnecessary words or phrases from a sentence. A
Ɂami:rah); “flower” (‫ زهرة‬Zahra); “moon” (‫قمر‬ careful examination of the wedding invitation card
qamar); “sun” (‫ مسش‬ʃams); “sea” (‫ بحر‬baħr); “gold” ( genre revealed that there are four types of ellipsis.
‫ ذهب‬ðahab); “diamonds” (‫ ألماس‬Ɂalama:s); “knight” ( These types include verbal ellipsis, nominal ellipsis,
‫ فارسة‬fa:risah); “treasure” (‫ كنز‬kinz). prepositional phrase ellipsis and vocative particle
ellipsis.
The “Identifying the celebrating families” move is
mainly characterised by the extensive use of proper ‫]يا [ اللهم بارك لهما وبارك عليهما واجمع بينهما في خير‬
nouns such as “Al-Omari ‫“ ;”العمري‬Al-Sawalmeh [O] Ɂallahuma ba:rik lahumma waba:rik ҁalyihima:
‫“ ;”السوالمة‬Al-Khateeb ‫” الخطيب‬. These proper nouns waʤmaҁ bainihima: fi xayr
represent the names of the couple’s families. They [O] May Allah grant blessings to them and bind them
use the family name to reflect their solidarity, pride with harmony and goodness
and belongingness to their tribes. ‫] نتمى[ ألطفالكم نومت هنيئا‬
[natamana] nawman hani: Ɂan laɁṭfa:likum
The “Identifying the inviters of the wedding” move We [wish] pleasant sleeping for your children)
and the “Identifying the bride and groom” move were
characterised by the use of many common nouns ‫الرجاء عدم اطالق العيارات النارية ] في الحفل [ نهائيا‬
such as “doctor” (‫ الدكتور‬Ɂalduktu:r); “teacher” (‫االستاذ‬ Ɂlradʒa: Ɂ ҁadam Ɂṭla:q Ɂalҁyara:t Ɂana:riyah [fi:
ɁalɁusta:ð); “engineer” (‫المهندس‬ Ɂalħafl] niha: Ɂiyan
Ɂalmuhandis);“lawyer” ( ‫ المحامي‬Ɂalmuħa:mi); Please kindly no shooting [at the ceremony] at all
“judge” ( ‫ القاضي‬Ɂalqadii); “pilot” ( ‫ الطيار‬Ɂaltaya:r);
and “pharmacist” ( ‫ الصيدالني‬Ɂalsaidala:ni). These ‫]موعد [ حفلة الوداع مساء يوم الخميس‬
common nouns, which represent professional and [mawҁid] ħaflit Ɂlwadaҁ masa: yawm Ɂalxami:s
academic titles, are used by the inviters and the [The date] of the farewell party starts on Thursday
couple to demonstrate that they occupy high social evening at 5 o'clock)
positions and are of high social statuses in the
Jordanian society. It can be stated that ellipsis is one of the most
frequent phenomena in wedding invitation card genre
Adjectives since it tends to shorten this kind of discourse for
The results of the analysis showed that the adjectives reasons of economy or style. Therefore, it has been
are employed in four moves only, viz., the “Opening” noticed that some moves in the wedding invitation
move, the “Stating wedding ceremony arrangements” card text are condensed and contracted by using few
move, the “Deferential ending” move and the words relevant to the central ideas of wedding rituals,
“Notifications” move. and thus bringing out the message the bride and
groom want to convey and making the text appealing
A detailed analysis of the “Opening” move, the to readers.
“Deferential ending” move and the “Notifications”
move in the present corpus revealed that the issuers Jordanian wedding invitation cards apparently have a
of the wedding invitation card tend to indicate the characteristic style which is different from the styles
significance of Jordanian wedding by using some that prevail in normal sentences. It has been found
verses of the Holy Qur’an, extracts of Prophet that the nominal ellipsis, prepositional phrase ellipsis
Mohammed's prayers or invocations, or a few lines of and vocative particle ellipsis are a very common style
Arabic poetry to bestow blessings on the bride and of wedding invitation discourse. More specifically,
groom for the wedding journey. Therefore, when the corpus revealed that the verb phrase ellipsis is
constructing their wedding invitation card, the bride very rare if compared to the ellipsis of the nominal
and groom use one of the following key lexemes ellipsis, prepositional phrase ellipsis and vocative
(adjectives) that reflect the religious importance of particle ellipsis in wedding invitation cards.
wedding: “good” (‫ صالح‬Ṣa:liħ);“complete” (‫مكتمل‬ According to the corpus, it is very common for the
muktamil); “happy” (‫ سعيد‬saҁi:d); “generous” ‫(كريم‬ bride and groom to contract the text of the wedding
kari:m); “prosperous” ( ‫ عامر‬ҁa:mir). invitation card when facing constraints in page spaces
and word limits due to the high costs of producing
such invitations. Finally, it is true that the wedding
invitation card genre has too much condensation and

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contraction of words as an economic way to save ha: Ɂana ya Ɂami:rati ‫ر‬atatuki min Ɂa:xir ɁalɁawta:n
words and spaces, but it is attention-grabbing and waɁxṭfik ҁala ħiṢa:n kalfursa:n
arousing for the readers. Here I am, O princess I came from the farthest home
lands and I want take you on a horse like a knight
4.2 Rhetorical features In the above example taken from the “Opening”
move, the bride and groom use simile which is
Alliteration usually introduced by the word “like”. This example
Alliteration can be defined as the repetition of the is a case of a comparison between a thing and
initial consonant sound or letter in two or more words another. For instance, the groom compares himself to
in close succession, as in this illustrative example a knight riding on a horse to take his princess or
taken from Leech (1966, p. 187): “Built Better by sweetheart home.
Burco for you”. Analysis of the data revealed that
this rhetorical device occurs in four moves; namely, Metaphor
the “Opening” move, “Stating wedding ceremony A metaphor has been defined as “a word or phrase
arrangements” move and the “Deferential ending” used in an imaginative way to describe sb/sth else, in
move. However, the alliteration does not occur in the order to show that the two things have the same
other moves of the wedding invitation cards. qualities and to make the description more powerful”
Consider the following examples: (Longman dictionary of contemporary English).
Unlike simile, metaphor does not use the words
‫اللهم بارك لهما وبارك عليهما واجمع بينهما في خير‬ “like”, “so”, “as”, “as if”, “than”, or a verb such as
allahuma ba:rik lahumma wa ba:rik ҁalyihima: “resembles “to indicate the comparison.
waʤmaҁ bainihima: fi xayr Obviously, appropriate application of metaphor, in
(May Allah grant blessings to them and bind them wedding invitation card genre, plays an important
with harmony and goodness) role, which can render wedding invitation cards
picturesque, fabulous and attractive. This figure of
Rhyme speech usually creates a comparison between the
Rhyme refers to the repetition of the similar or bride and another thing or between the groom and
identical sound or sounds of two or more words, another thing. On thorough examination, the corpus
especially at the ends of lines of poetry. The most analysis disclosedthat this figure of speech was
common rhyme pattern used by poets is called “end utilized in the “Opening” move only, most often in
rhyme”. This pattern simply means that the end poetry. Consider the following example:
words of lines of poetry rhyme together. It is clear
that effective rhymes can be an important device in ‫حقق لي االماني ونلت كنزًا قد حوى كل الدرر‬
wedding invitation card genre. Analysis of the data ħaqaq li: ɁalɁama:ni wanilt kinzan qad ħawa kul
revealed that rhyme was used in the “Opening” move eldurar
only, most often in poetry produced by the bride and My wishes have been come true and I obtained a
groom. Examples of this rhyme can be found in the treasure that has encompassed all pearls.
following examples from the “Opening” move:
‫بشر أحبائي وأهل مودتي وكل قريب يريد مسرتي‬ In this example, the bride is compared directly to a
baʃir Ɂaħiba: Ɂi waɁahl mawadati wakul qari:b treasure without the use of the words “like”, “so”,
yuri:d masarati “as”, etc. More specifically, the groom compares his
(Convey good news to my loved people, and every wife with a precious treasure which contains many
relative who wants my happiness) pearls in it. The metaphor, in the above example, not
only has an interesting value but also stimulates the
Simile curiosity of the readers (wedding invitees) to
A simile is one of the most popular techniques used continue reading the whole wedding card.
in Arabic poetry. It can be defined as a figure of
speech in which a comparison between two unlike Euphemism
elements is made, often marked by use of the words Euphemisms are words or expressions which can be
“like”, “so”, “as”, “as if”, “than”, or a verb such as used to avoid those expressions which are deemed to
“resembles”. A close examination of the data showed be taboo in a polite, indirect, tactful, mild and
that this figure of speech was used in the “Opening” implicit way. In other words, they are used to soften
move only, especially in poetry. Consider the or conceal unpleasant, hateful or embarrassing words
following example: and expressions. Euphemisms act as a veil, and they
‫ها أنا يا أمرتي أتيتك من آخر االوطان وأخطفك على حصان‬ substitute these words and expressions with more
‫كالفرسان‬ delicate, pleasant, inoffensive and less shocking ones.

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A number of writers have provided some definitions words. Here are some examples in which the
for euphemism. Rabab’ah and Al-Qarni (2012, p. consonant sound is repeated two or more times in the
730), for instance, define euphemism as “a polite or words:
indirect way of saying a tabooed term”. For Abrantes 1- Slither and slather
(2005, p. 86), euphemism is ‘‘a word or a phrase used 2- Litter and batter
in a specific linguistic and extra-linguistic context to 3- Sent and went
soften or conceal something unpleasant’’. Similarly,
Hudson (2000, p. 261) describes euphemism as ‘‘the A close examination of the genre of wedding
extension of ordinary words and phrases to express invitation cards revealed that this rhetorical device
unpleasant and embarrassing ideas”. was found in three moves, viz., the “Opening” move,
A close examination of the data obtained from the “Deferential ending” move and “Notifications”
wedding invitation cards revealed that the use of the move. Consider the following illustrative example
phenomenon of euphemism occurs in one move only, from the data:
viz., the “Notifications” move. The euphemistic
expressions below bear witness to this phenomenon: ‫يمنع اصطحاب االطفال من ًعا باتا ً بأمر من إدارة الصالة‬
yomnaҁ ɁṢṭiħa:b Ɂalaṭfa:l manҁan ba:tan biɁamr
‫نو ًما هنيئا ً أطفالكم‬ min Ɂda:rat ɁlṢa:lah
nawman hani: Ɂan laɁṭfa:likum (The wedding hall does not permit accompanying
(Pleasant sleeping for your children) children at all)
‫جنة االطفال بيوتهم‬
dʒanna:t Ɂlaṭfa:l biyu:tuhum Assonance
(Children's paradise is their house) Assonance can be defined as a repetition of the
On the other hand, the results of the present study similar or identical vowel sounds in two words or
showed that a number of wedding invitation cards more than two words, often in poetry to create
included direct appeals to the invitees requesting rhythm. The results of the study revealed that
them not to bring their children to the wedding assonance as a rhetorical device occurred in three
celebration for organizational considerations by using moves of the genre of wedding invitation cards,
one of the following direct and hateful expressions: namely, the “Opening” move, the “Stating wedding
ceremony arrangements” move and the
ً‫يمنع اصطحاب االطفال من ًعا باتا‬ “Notifications” move. Consider the following
yomnaҁ ɁṢṭiħa:b Ɂalaṭfa:l manҁan ba:tan illustrative examples from the data:
(Children are not permitted to attend the wedding
party) ََ ‫هيا طيور الخير َزغردي فو‬
‫ق الجباه المؤمنات وغرّدي‬
‫ح عَبيرها فجذورها ترُوى بسنةَ احمد‬
ََ ‫أفراحنا طابت وفا‬
However, this study revealed that most of the couples haya ṭoyu:r Ɂlxayr zaġridi fawq Ɂldʒibah
were unwilling to use the above expression directly ɁlmoɁmina:ti waġrridi
in the invitation cards because this direct expression Ɂfraħuna ṭabat wafa:ħ ҁabi:ruha faʤuðu:ruha turwa
is unpleasant and offensive. Therefore, they resort bisunnati Ɂħmadi
deliberately to replacing this agonizing, undesirable
and embarrassing expression by indirect and polite (Come on birds of good utter trilling cries of joy, and
expressions. In this study, the bride and groom warble upon the forehead of women believers)
sometimes resort to euphemize the expression (Our wedding has a pleasant fragrance, with roots
“Children are not permitted to attend the wedding watered from the Sunna of Ahmad).
party” through writing one of the following pleasant
expressions: Parallelism
‫نو ًما هنيئا ً الطفالكم‬ Parallelism is a common phenomenon used in Arabic
nawman hani:Ɂan laɁṭfa:likum language and is connected to rhymed prose as it gives
(Pleasant sleeping for your children) the construction or structure a clear musical effect.
‫جنة االطفال بيوتهم‬ Simply, parallelism is a device in which two
dʒanna:t Ɂlaṭfa:l biyu:tuhum sentences (phrases or clauses) have the same
(Children's paradise is their house) structure. Cook (1989, p. 15) defines parallelism as ''a
device which suggests a connection, simply because
Consonance the form of one sentence or clause repeats the form of
Consonance is the repetition of a consonant sound another''.
two or more times in short succession. Typically this Jordanian wedding invitation writers tend to use
repetition occurs at the end of the words, but may parallelism in the structure of the wedding invitation
also be found in the middle or at the beginning of the for creating musical effects and encouraging the

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 IJLLT 1(1):118-126

reader to continue reading the whole wedding card. values and reflects that the bride and groom belong to
Mehawesh (2013, p. 260) argues that parallelism high socio-economic statuses in the Jordanian
“draws the ear; listeners are naturally attracted to its society. Second, religion played a prominent role in
pleased sound. Thus, parallelism not only emphasizes wedding invitations. The linguistic lexical choices
an idea but also adds rhythm to a work and making it reflected in different communicative moves of the
pleasing to hear or read”. A careful look at the data corpus display many features of the influences
revealed that this device is widely noticed in the exercised by religious beliefs of the bride and groom
“Opening” move, especially in the Qur’anic in the texts. Examples of the religious lexical choices
quotations, prophetic prayers or invocations and and phrases used by the producer of the wedding
poetic verses. Examples of parallelism in Arabic are invitations are “Al-haj”, “Paradise”, “mosque”,
exemplified by the following phrases taken from the “Allah”, “Most Gracious” and “Most Merciful”,
wedding invitation cards: “church”, “God”, “Christ”, and “Heaven”. Finally,
the producers of wedding invitation cards; namely,
‫بارك لهما وبارك عليهما واجمع بينهما في خير‬ the bride and groom employ a set of rhetorical
ba:rik lahumma waba:rik ʕalyihima: waʤmaʕ devices (alliteration, rhyme, parallelism, metaphor
bainihima: fi xayr and simile, euphemism) which have made the
(May Allah grant blessings to them, grant blessings wedding invitation card genre look very eye-catching
on them and bind them with harmony and goodness) and persuasive for readers. They aimed at not only
informing the readers, i.e., the invitees of the topic of
‫بالطيب والورد نالقيكم وبالحب والخير نشكر تهانيكم‬ wedding invitation card genre but also expressing
bilṭi:b walwarad nulaqi:kum walbilħub walkayer their ideology achieved through using these rhetorical
naʃkur taha:ni:kum devices.
We welcome you with perfume and roses and we
thank you with love and goodness for the I hope to have demonstrated how this genre text is
Congratulations you offered structured and interpreted to serve the communicative
purposes agreed upon by members of Jordanian
In example (1), it is clear that parallelism is created community who constantly take part in this genre and
by repetition of the same structure. The sentences very aware of their social conventions. It is also
“grant blessings to them” (‫ لهما بارك‬ba:rik lahumma), hoped that this study has offered a rich account of the
“grant blessings on them” (‫ لهما بارك‬ba:rik generic linguistic features of the genre text in relation
ʕalyihima:), and “bind them” ( ‫ بينهما واجمع‬waʤmaʕ to religious and socio-cultural values and practices of
bainihima:) are placed with similar forms, hence Jordanian society.
having the same structure. In example (2), the This study aimed to make a significant contribution
structure or the form of the two sentences, i.e., “We to the study of genre of Jordanian wedding invitation
welcome you with perfume and roses” and “we thank cards with the objective to analyse the linguistic
you with love and goodness for the congratulations features and communicative purposes practiced in
you offered” is repeated. More specifically, the these this genre to determine specific
sentences bear the same grammatical structure and conventionalized purposes which are associated with
the words have the same order in succession. different socio-cultural, as well as ideological
backgrounds that Jordanian people practice in
5. CONCLUSION constructing and interpreting this genre. What is
Wedding invitation cards are not limited to merely more, this study drew on the importance of
announcing the wedding of two people; rather, they contextualized genre analysis and explained that
mirror Jordanian people’s ideas and judgments, style, culture and religion, as well as norms
depending on many factors such as economic determine the overall structure and linguistic features
standing, religious beliefs, cultural practices, of this genre. Thus, it is also hoped that this study
customs, etc. They are characterized as ceremonial will serve as a window through which non-Jordanians
genre texts generally constrained by socio-religiously can improve their knowledge of the nature of these
motivated practices and conventions. genres and can learn the rules and practices of
More specifically, in the light of the present research, specific social groups in Jordanian society.
the analysis of the wedding invitations has revealed
interplay between social and linguistic choices which
can be summarized in five main points. First,
wedding invitations primarily achieved a social
purpose. In fact, the explicit reference to academic
and professional titles, which are written in bold-face
with different sizes of font, reinforces socio-cultural

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Jordanian Wedding Invitation as a Genre: An Analysis ofRhetorical Structure and Linguistic Features

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