1887
Volume 9, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2210-4119
  • E-ISSN: 2210-4127

Abstract

Abstract

The current study adopts a dialogue-analytic approach to the examination of complaint behavior in Saudi Arabic as spoken in the Najd region, the central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To this end, role-plays with 120 Saudi nationals who are Najdi-speakers were recorded and transcribed. Statistical comparisons revealed that Najdis used a variety of complaint strategies with requests for repair, expressing annoyance and providing modified blame being the most frequent. Najdis also produced a large number of initiators and internal and external modifiers, mainly to mitigate the negative force of complaints. Although a small influence was found for gender, the variables of age, social distance and social dominance showed a strong influence on the Najdis’ complaint behavior. The results are discussed in light of relevant theoretical models and the existing literature.

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2019-07-12
2024-12-06
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): complaint; Mixed Game Model; Saudi Arabic; speech act; variational pragmatics
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