الفهرس 
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Abstract
Summary
Introduction
Condolences, according to Speech Act Theory, belong to the expressive class. This class aims at expressing the speaker’s psychological attitude (Searle, 1976). Thus, when offering condolences, the speaker expresses sorrow and sympathy at the news of someone’s death. Choosing the right expressions when offering condolences may seem difficult for many people, as they struggle with how to express sympathy. Non- native speakers of a specific language may not know how to condole a native speaker of this language. If people use the target language according to their cultural- norms, they may be perceived as impolite, unfriendly, weird or even ridiculous (Bentahila and Davis, 1989). Condolences can be considered, according to Bentahila and Davis’ (1989) description, “culturally prescribed clichés” (p. 103).
Objectives
The main objective of the present study is to make a cross-cultural contrast between Egyptian Arabic (EA) and English condoling comments on Facebook. The two languages’ semantic, syntactic and lexical aspects are investigated. Moreover, the use of emoticons and photo comments are explored in the data. Furthermore, the frequency of each aspect is calculated. The study also aims to explore how the socio-cultural norms and Politeness determine the way Egyptians and English- speaking users on Facebook offer condolences.
Questions
1. What are the semantic strategies frequently used by Egyptian and English- speaking users on Facebook when offering condolences?
2. What are the sentence types used by Egyptian and English- speaking users on Facebook when they comment on an obituary status update?
3. What are the lexical aspects that distinguish Egyptian and English condoling comments on Facebook?
4. What are other aspects that differentiate between the EA and English condoling comments on Facebook?
5. How might cultural norms and Politeness affect the way Egyptians and English-speaking users on Facebook offer condolences?
Significance
The analysis of the observed data resulted in the introduction of new condoling strategies which adds to the previous models introduced by Elwood, 2004; Farnia, 2011; Samavarchi & Allami, 2012; and Moghadam & Pishghadam, 2013.
Furthermore, this study contributes to the field of Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis through the application of different linguistic theories to investigate authentic situations in Computer-Mediated Communication environments. It would benefit learners of both English and EA languages in that they will be familiar with the way native speakers of each language offer condolences. In socio-pragmatics, knowledge of this contrast is not only a significant contribution to the study of pragmatics; it is also of practical help to people in regular contact with Egyptian and/ or English speakers. This can help learners avoid saying something during a condolence routine that may sound inappropriate to speakers of these two languages. The classification presented in this study can function as a model for researchers to compare condolences in other cultures. Moreover, this study presents a better understanding of both EA and English linguistic and cultural aspects.
Data Collection
Naturally- occurring data represent the corpus of the study. Farahat (2009) states that naturally- occurring data is collected through ”observing people’s behaviour in authentic situations” (p.48). The ethnographic method of participant observation is used to collect such naturally-occurring data. Participant observation is defined as ”a way of collecting data in naturalistic settings by ethnographers who observe and/or take part in the common and uncommon activities of the people being studied” (DeWalt & DeWalt, 2002, p. 2).
Results
Results showed that the most frequently occurring strategy by Egyptian users on Facebook, whether Muslims or christians, was the religious consolation strategy. Egyptian data showed that (86.8%) of the collected comments contained religious prayers directed to the deceased and his/her family. Since using religious prayers and expressions is a part and parcel of the Egyptian society, due to the strong belief in the Almighty God and fate, the religious expressions used in this strategy are unique to the Egyptian society and do not have counterparts in the English culture, except for asking God to let the deceased’s soul rest in peace.
Considering the English data, the results of the current study showed that the most frequently occurring strategy was the direct condolence/sympathy strategy. Out of the 100 collected English comments, 50 (27%) comments contained direct explicit condolence and/or sympathy. Moreover, the apology strategy occurred in 43 (23.2%) comments. The condoler expresses his/her sorrow by apologizing for hearing these sad news. This strategy distinguished the English data, as it was not found in the EA data. Thus, English condolences on Facebook can be described as direct and apologetic, whereas EA condolences are religious. English data showed variation in the frequency of the condoling strategies, whereas EA data was almost dominated by one strategy, namely the religious consolation strategy.
Results showed that the most frequently used sentence type, in both EA and English data, was the declarative condoling sentence. According to Martínez (2012) declarative constructions, due to their compatibility with the semantics of expressive acts, are more preferred in the performance of condolences; they allow speakers to express their feelings using a statement.
Furthermore, condolers of the two languages showed a tendency toward using compound and elaborated condolences. This can be interpreted according to the Politeness Principles’ sympathy maxim (Leech, 1983). The condoler tries to prove that he/ she sympathizes with the bereaved and that his/her emotions are genuine by giving high value to the bereaved’s feelings.
Results of EA data showed that 90% of the collected comments contained implicit condolence, whereas 10% contained explicit condolence. However, implicit condolence in the English data appeared in 50% of the collected comments. Most condolences are implicit because they express sympathy indirectly. According to Leech (1983) using indirect speech acts would be more polite as it is considered a negative politeness strategy. The variance in the frequency of the Egyptian and English implicit condolences can be interpreted due to the fact that Western culture values directness of expression, whereas Eastern culture emphasizes subtlety (Lam, 2017).
English subjects showed a tendency toward using intensifiers when commenting on obituary status updates. They used the intensifiers ”very”, ”so”, and ”really” to strengthen and emphasize their feelings of sympathy and sadness. Thus, the condoler follows the Sympathy Maxim (Leech, 1983) by exaggerating his/her feelings of sympathy. Moreover, English data also contained interjections used by the subjects of the study to express their feelings of shock after hearing the news of someone’s death. ”Ooooh” and ”OMG” are the two interjections found in the English data. Thus, intensifiers and interjections are features that distinguished the English from the EA condolences.
English subjects showed a preference for using emoticons to express their sympathy and sadness while commenting on obituary status updates. Data showed that 29% of the comments contained emoticons to reveal sadness and sympathy. However, many English comments contained more than one type of emoticon. However, Egyptians did not show a preference for using emoticons in condolences on Facebook. Such difference between Egyptian and English use of emoticons can be interpreted by the fact that cultures have norms that govern emotional expression. Western cultures are individualistic cultures, therefore, they tend to express their emotions freely, Whereas Eastern cultures are collectivists thus they tend to hold back and show fewer emotions. Such social norms keep the tact of each culture (Katka, 2011).