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

m 182 n Ludmila Torlakova to him best qualifies the person described. Selecting a certain expression, the speaker also selects a set of characteristics within the field of stupidity and ignorance. The listener, on his side, tries to understand within the context the denominative intention of the speaker in order to decode the metonymy, meta- phor, or simile on which the image of the idiom is based and to experience the intended emotional response. The images do not go beyond the shared knowl- edge and experience of the linguistic community. They have to be operating with known, recognizable items, symbols and situations. The novelty, the ex- citement, and the appreciation come from unexpected associations, creativity, and hyperbole. The concepts of stupidity and ignorance and their cluster of synonymous idioms is just one of the many negative areas widely represented in Arabic phraseology. The negative features and qualities of people have to be ridiculed, criticized, and denounced. In this way language reinforces and indeed imposes the behavioral norms and cultural boundaries set by the society.