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

Conceptualizing Stupidity and Ignorance in Arabic Idioms m 181 n (27) ░a ḥ maqu min rijlatin — awfully stupid, silly (lit., sillier than purslane 1 ) As the idioms given above show, the group of similes construed on the pattern of ░af░alu min is an especially homogeneous and uniform group. Ex- cept for the personal names, if not well known like Ju ḥ ā, it is not difficult to guess the intended phraseological meaning. These idioms have very much the function of “second naming” for stupidity in its varied aspects. It has to be noted that because of the time gap and cultural differences, since a number of these expressions belong to Classical Arabic, it is not easy to “decode” which specific facet of the concept of stupidity is targeted. This would be decided ad hoc by the speaker in particular discourse situations and understood individu- ally by the listener. The aspect of stupidity intended by the speaker and that assumed by the listener may not always overlap. The great number of synony- mous similes elaborating on the concept of stupidity or that of ignorance can be seen both as the product of reflecting on these human qualities and as the result of playful humorous creativity. Above all it is essential to emphasize that ░af░alu min similes with their specific pattern are bitingly expressive and carry strong evaluative force. They were created not only to name stupid- ity and ignorance but also to denote them in an intensified and exaggerated fashion. Not all idioms based on the patterns I have discussed above are actively used in Modern Standard Arabic, but whatever the frequency of individual expressions today, it is possible to argue that the number of idioms in the cluster of synonyms denoting stupidity and/or ignorance can provide an idea about how concerned Arab writers have been and are with these mental properties. As it is possible to see from the foregoing analysis, all the idi- oms discussed above broadly qualify the related concepts of ignorance and stupidity. It is obvious that these concepts have many varied aspects. Each idiom through its own image and structure conceptualizes one or more of these different aspects. Here one sees that by means of idioms it is possible to express fine and subtle characteristics and differentiate nuances between features that are almost impossible to express with one word only. This ex- plains the existence of many synonymous or nearly synonymous idioms in one semantic field. What an image gives is a basic outline of a situation. The rest, with details and nuances, is left to the speaker and the listener to rebuild. The speaker has in mind his own denominative intentions. According to this intention in a given situation he selects from his “idiomatic thesaurus” an idiom that according 1 This plant is also called in Arabic al-baqla l- ḥ amqā░ – “silly herb,” because it grows on the path of torrential streams, and then when they come gets uprooted and dies. See al- ░I ṣ fahānī, Sawā░ir al-░amthāl ░alā ░af░al , 130.