Linguistic deviation and the tendency towards colloquial Arabic in Naǧīb Maḥfūẓ’s novel 'Al-Liṣṣ wa-al-kilāb' ('The thief and the dogs')

摘要

Naǧīb Maḥfūẓ’s novel Al-Liṣṣ wa-al-kilāb might be the best example in reflecting the distinctiveness of Maḥfūẓ’ natural language, which comes closer to the common colloquial, and sometimes deviates from the traditionally familiar language. However, it has continued to be a standard language and sometimes it embodies rhetorical usages including similes, metaphors, and metonymies. This linguistic deviation can be seen as a motivation for language renovation and interconnected with the actual daily life to the extent that it is perceived as an acceptable and natural language and not as an archaic one. Maḥfūẓ digresses from familiar Arabic language usage by employing linguistic nuances such as stylistic foregrounding, backgrounding, the repetition of words, and the arrangement of a sentence’s internal structure; all which in some way or another deviate from familiar usage. Linguistic deviation has also affected prepositions in Maḥfūẓ’ texts. This kind of deviation may be due to erroneous usage in colloquial dialects. Sometimes, the author removes the preposition of the prepositional phrase constituent and changes the noun attached to it into an adverb. It is worthwhile stating that Maḥfūẓ’ trend of deviation is an imitation of modern styles in an attempt to add new expressions and structures to the standard language. In spite of the fact that Maḥfūẓ occasionally made common mistakes and was guilty of sentence structure disorder and weakness, his profound work is full with connotations and metaphors expressing the actual lived reality while still employing the standard Arabic language as much as he could.