The Sociopragmatics of Attitude Datives in Levantine Arabic

Examines the social functions of attitude dative pronouns in four Arabic dialects

Analysing data from a variety of sources, including soap operas, movies, plays, talk shows and other audiovisual material, this book examines attitude datives - pragmatic markers that deal with interpersonal attitudes and relations - in Levantine Arabic. It examines four types of attitude dative in context to deepen our understanding of the interaction between social dimensions and pragmatic markers. Using data from Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Palestinian dialects it provides a valuable non-European perspective on language use.

• Documents the phenomenon of attitude datives in four Levantine Arabic dialects
• Utilises data from a variety of sources including soap operas, movies, plays, talk shows
• Examines four types of attitude datives: topic/affectee-oriented, speaker-oriented, hearer-oriented, and subject-oriented
• Analyses the evaluative and relational functions of attitude datives as interpersonal pragmatic markers in their social contexts