«Тахиййат»: Сборник статей в честь Н. Н. Дьякова

m 174 n Ludmila Torlakova I will present a limited number of units that exemplify the semantic and formal patterns I identify. It is not easy to describe all subtle distinctions when idioms are out of context. Nevertheless some suggestions can be made. The members of the cluster of idioms meaning “stupid” or “ignorant” 1 differ in syntactic and semantic structure. Some of the expressions have various noun phrase structures and others the structure of sentences. The prototypes that may be deduced from the images these idioms present are individuals who have specific physical features that in Arab society (and elsewhere) are associated with stupidity or a lack of understanding of simple everyday occurrences. This means that the concept of stupidity is approached from different standpoints and fine, subtle nuances can be expressed. Nevertheless The cluster of synony- mous idioms in Arabic can be roughly divided into two groups: expressions dealing with physical outward characteristics of a person that suggest stupidity and expressions concentrated on mental deficiencies that result in a lack of capacity to assess situations and to react in accordance with established social norms. These expressions are metonymies constructed on a common pattern using physical properties to suggest mental or moral properties. All members of the two groups of synonyms have strong negative connotations. Thus the meanings of idioms such as (1) ░arī ḍ u l-qafā — fool (lit., with a wide back of the neck), (2) ░arī ḍ u l-wisādi — fool (lit., with a wide pillow [for a person with fat or long neck]), 2 and to a lesser extent (3) ḍ ā░a ░aqluhu fī ṭ ūlihi — stupid, fool (lit., having lost one’s brain in one’s height), and (4) ░aqlu al-is ṭ ilā ḥ ī fī l-░arabiyya al-mu░ā ṣ ira (al-Qāhira: Dār Gharīb li-l-╥ibā░a wa-l-Nashr wa-l- Tawzī░, 2003); Baranov H. K. Arabic-Russian Dictionary , (Moscow: Russkii Iazyk, 1984), Wehr H. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic , 4th ed., J. M. Cowan (ed.) (Urbana: Otto Harrassowitz, 1994). 1 Kurt Feyaerts in his chapter on “Metonymic Hierarchies”, p. 310, gives a broad definition of stupidity that I adopt here, namely, “a negatively valued, non-pathological deviance from the norm in the domain of mental abilities”. 2 The two first expressions are variants that appear in a tradition about the prophet Muham- mad, who is reported to have laughed and said to a man who claimed that he did not understand Qur░ān 2: 187, which contains the words “until the white thread becometh distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn (trans. Pickthall),” ░innaka la-░arī ḍ u l-qafā or ░inna wisādaka la- ░arī ḍ un ṭ awīlun. http://quran-m.com/container.php?fun=artview&id=655.According to a widely accepted explanation a person who was fat with a broad neck needed a wide pillow. This was a sign of his stupidity. See Ya ḥ yā ibn Sharaf Abu Zakariyyā al-Nawawī, Shar ḥ al-Nawawī ░alā Muslim (Dār al-Khayr, 1996) on http://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book. php?idfrom=3084&idto=3100&bk_no=53&ID=477 (accessed May 9, 2013). A different explanation is offered in Al-Sayyid A ḥ mad al-Hāshimī, Jawāhir al-balāgha fī al-ma░ānī wa-l-bayān wa-l-badī░ (Beirut: Al-Maktaba al-░A ṣ riyya, n.d.) at http://books. google.no/books?id=wqWTGureXFwC&printsec=frontcover&hl=no&source=gbs_ge_summary _r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed May 9, 2013). It was considere d that a person with a long neck was stupid because the longer the neck the greater the distance between the brain and the heart. Cf. http://www.alltebfamily.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-19067.html.