A Sociolinguistic Study of Hyperbole in Iraqi Arabic

Abstract

This paper is concerned with hyperbolic expressions as used in Iraqi Arabic everyday conversation (henceforth IA). Such expressions usually pass without challenge by listeners, who accept them as creative intensifications for elevative or effective purposes such as humor or irony, and who often make their own supportive contributions to the figure of speech. The paper attempts an analysis of such expressions from a sociolinguistic perspective. It is usually thought that the linguistic context as well as other metalinguistic factors play a crucial role in the structuring and understanding of tropes.