NONHUMN: Addressing the Non-Human

    From The Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric

    مخاطبة غير العاقل
    NONHUMN: Addressing the Non-Human
    CategoryLinguistic Embellishments
    (‘ilm al-badī‘)
    SubcategoryPersuasive Tricks
      
    Balaghascore.com
    CodeCE-13
      
    BalaghaBase.org
    CodeQ119
      
    OpenAlex.org
    IDW4415405315
      
    Cite this page
    🔗 DOI10.64393/balagha.Q119
     Download PDF
      
    Taxonomy
    ARDTv0.1.0, v0.1.1

    Definition

    Addressing the Non-Human (mukhāṭabat ghayr al-‘āqal) is an Arabic rhetorical device where communicator addresses a non-human object that cannot respond to or even hear the speech act.[1]

    Mechanism

    • The communicator directs speech at a non-human object, treating it as a potential recipient of communication.[1]
    • The object is attributed the human capacity to hear and respond, even though it possesses neither.[1]
    • This produces an unreal speech situation — the normal conditions of communicative exchange are suspended.[1]
    • The device usually operates through use of the vocative particle yā (O), directed at the non-human addressee.[1]

    Recognition

    Addressing the Non-Human may be present when:

    • The communicator addresses a non-human object.[1]
    • The vocative particle yā (O) is used before a non-human addressee.[1]
    • The addressed entity is incapable of hearing or responding to the speech act.[1]

    Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects

    • Implicit dispraise of someone or something.[1]
    • Sarcasm through deliberate understatement of the referent's actual scale or worth.[1]

    Applying the Recognition Framework

    The information on this page can be used to evaluate whether this device is present in a candidate lexical item using the Specific Device Recognition part of the Universal Framework for Identifying Arabic Rhetorical Devices:

    • Use the Definition, Mechanism, and Recognition sections of this page in Step 1.
    • Apply the substitution test in Step 2.
    • Consider contextual indicators in Step 3.
    • Use the Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects section of this page in Step 4.

    Examples

    Source Example

    يا خروفُ لا تفرح . القصّابُ في انتظارك

    O lamb, do not be joyful. The butcher is waiting for you.

    Explanation
    The speaker addresses a lamb — a non-human animal incapable of hearing or comprehending speech — using the vocative yā. The lamb is treated as though it can receive a warning, exemplifying the unreal speech situation characteristic of Addressing the Non-Human.[1]
    Source Example

    عيدٌ بِأيِّ حالٍ عُدتَ يا عيدُ؟

    O ʿĪd, in which state have you come back?

    Explanation
    The speaker addresses the festival of ʿĪd — an abstract recurring occasion, not a person — posing it a direct question via the vocative. The festival cannot hear or answer, producing the unreal communicative situation that defines Addressing the Non-Human.[1]
    Source Example

    يا حديدُ لا تنصهر ولا تتحوّل الى قنابل لتحرق الأبرياء

    O iron, do not melt and change into bombs to burn the innocent.

    Explanation
    Iron, an inanimate substance, is addressed with a prohibitive command. As it is entirely incapable of volition, hearing, or response, the address exemplifies Addressing the Non-Human's attribution of human communicative capacity to a non-human object.[1]
    Source Example

    يا عنكبوتُ لا تتغطرس فبيتُكَ واهنٌ

    O spider, do not be snobbish. Your house is flimsy.

    Explanation
    A spider is addressed directly and admonished against arrogance. The spider cannot comprehend or respond to this address; the vocative and imperative together create the characteristic unreal speech situation of Addressing the Non-Human.[1]
    Constructed Example

    يا نهرُ، إلى أين تذهب بمياهك؟ أما تعلم أن القرى تموت عطشاً؟

    O river, where are you taking your waters? Do you not know that the villages are dying of thirst?

    Explanation
    The speaker addresses a river — an inanimate natural feature incapable of hearing, understanding, or redirecting its course in response to speech — using the vocative yā. The river is treated as though it can receive both a question and a rebuke, producing the unreal communicative situation that defines Addressing the Non-Human.


    Different From

    • PERSONF: Personification where the characteristics of a human entity are transferred to a non-human, inanimate, or abstract entity.

    References

    1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Hussein Abdul-Raof, Arabic Rhetoric: A Pragmatic Analysis (Oxford: Routledge, 2006), 246-247, ISBN 9780415386098. DOI: 10.4324/9780203965399



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