Methods of Expressing Apologies in Arabic from the Perspective of Social Linguistics

The act of apology is one of the most important linguistic elements which is influenced greatly by social and cultural conditions. Regardless of the scale of the society, each person performs the act of apology while using particular interpretations or speech acts with respect to the following factors: age, gender, social status, etc. The present research aims to investigate the methods of expressing apologies in Arabic from the perspective of social linguistics. The study is both qualitative and quantitative. The data collected by Dialogue Completion Test (DCT) consists of 150 Arab native speakers of equally divided genders. The questionnaire consists of ten situations in which each person needs to apologize to the other person during his/her life. Also, it should be noted that the variables of the questionnaire are adaptable with respect to the cultures of each society.Arab native speakers were asked to carefully read the questionnaire and imagine themselves in various situations so that they select one or more propositions as their reaction to the situations. The first situation put the person in a moment when he/she has not been able to participate in an invited meeting or party. The frequent responses provided by the participants in such situations have been the profuse act of apology along with persistent justification while requesting the comprehension of the justification and forgiveness from the other side. The second situation puts a person in a moment when he/she is rejecting his friend’s request of borrowing a car by lying that the car is broken but the friend sees through the lie and the person needs to apologize for it. The most frequent form of apologizing for this situation has been the insistent justification. In the third situation, a person imagines that he/she has borrowed a book from his/her friend but the book is torn apart out of carelessness. In this situation, the person has accepted the mistake and proposed compensation. In the next situation, the person has eaten an afternoon brunch to later understand the fact that it belonged to another member of the family. Justification has been the most frequent reaction in this situation. The fifth situation pictures a scene in which a person has arrived late for a meeting with his friend and has put his friend into a long waiting. The most frequent response for such situations has been the profuse act of apology along with justification. In the sixth situation, a person imagines a moment in which one of his/her friends or a member of his/her family asks him/her to buy something but he/she mistakenly buys something else. As such, his/her friend suffers from a loss of money. Simple apologizing, accepting the mistake, and offering compensation for the loss of money have been the most frequent forms of apologizing in such a situation. In the seventh situation, the person imagines having forgotten his/her brother or sister’s birthday while other members of the family have bought a present for the brother or sister. In this case, the brother or sister is really angry over this mistake and the person needs to apologize to the brother or sister. The most frequent expression of apology used in this situation has been to profusely apologize and justify the reason for forgetting the date of the birthday. The eighth situation is the moment when a person is sitting in a ceremony backbiting another while the other person appears and hears the backbiting; therefore, the one who has backbitten needs to apologize to the other person. Again, the most frequent form of apology used in this situation has been to profusely apologize and justify the reason for backbiting. The ninth situation imagines a person who unwittingly hit a valuable vase and causes it to break. Along the same line, the most frequent form of apology used in this situation has been to profusely apologize and bring justification for it. Finally, in the tenth situation, two friends or colleagues are in the middle of a big fight when one loses the end of the rope and says unpleasant words to the other person without any ulterior motive; though the person gets regretful and tries to apologize to the other person. The most frequent form of apology used in this situation has been to profusely apologize to the other person while bringing justification and taking responsibility for the impolite act.Analysis of the results shows that Arab native speakers combine methods when they need to apologize in various situations. For example, they combine keeping their respect and friendships with another person while decreasing the created anger and fury. Moreover, they tend to use verbal apologies which are also more found among women. Women are also more like to justify their mistakes and take responsibility for their actions, though this needs to be noted that men have openly criticized the other side or defied any sort of responsibility over the action which shows their tendency toward power, dominancy, and the maintenance of social status.