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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 9
Publication Date: September 25, 2021
DOI:10.14738/assrj.89.10476. Mehdi, M. K. (2021). Supplication in English and Arabic: A Contrastive Study. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(9).
311-319.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Supplication in English and Arabic: A Contrastive Study
Dr. Manar Kareem Mehdi
Al-Zahraa University for Women, Holy Kerbala, Iraq
ABSTRACT
From a religious standpoint, supplication is an act of worship that enables man to
enrich his relationship with his Creator, the Almighty Allah. The essence of
supplication is to revive Allah’s remembrance inside man’s heart. Moreover,
supplication makes clear the fact that man is imperfect, poor and needy to his Lord,
the Perfect, the Rich, and the One Who needs nobody at all (Al-Ameedi and Mahdi,
2014: 23). Linguistically, to supplicate, Vanderveken (1990:192) states, is to beg in
a very humble manner usually from a superior or someone in power. Accordingly,
the present paper aims to find out the syntactic components that constitute the
syntactic structure of the act of supplication in English and Arabic highlighting the
similarities and differences between the two languages in this regard. Hence, the
paper hypothesizes that: (1) the vocative, the imperative, and parallelism constitute
the basic syntactic components in English and Arabic supplication; (2) Arabic is
more explicit than English in the linguistic realization of the act under scrutiny.
Findings of the analysis verify the above mentioned hypotheses.
Key Words: supplication, prayer, syntactic, vocative, imperative, parallelism.
INTRODUCTION
Supplication can be viewed as the act of entreating the Divine Mercy for the pardon of guilt and
the imploring of the Divine Power for the liberation from the sin's bondage. It is offered by a
person who is filled with disgust at the ugliness of sin and who is fixed in his intention to flee
from its control. A supplication may not differ from a petition except in the intensity of its
meaning because the request in a supplication may deepen into entreaty (Palmer, 1894: 10-8).
Thus, the present study aims to find out the syntactic constituents that make up the syntactic
structure of the act of supplication in English and Arabic highlighting the similarities and
differences between the two languages in this regard. Consequently, the paper hypothesizes
that:
1. The vocative, the imperative, and parallelism constitute the basic syntactic
components in English and Arabic supplication.
2. Arabic is more explicit than English in the realization of the act of supplication.
To achieve the aims of the paper and test the validity of its hypotheses, the following procedures
will be adopted:
1. Reviewing the literature written about the act of supplication in English and Arabic.
2. Investigating the grammatical devices used in supplication in the two languages.
3. Contrasting the two languages in this area highlighting the similarities and
differences between them in this regard.
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 9, September-2021
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
SUPPLICATION IN ENGLISH
Supplication: The Concept
The concept of supplication has been investigated from different linguistic perspectives by
different writers.
Palmer (1894: 10-8) defines supplication as entreating the divine mercy for the pardon of guilt
and the imploring of the divine power for the liberation from the sin's bondage. It is offered by
a person who is filled with disgust at the ugliness of sin and who is fixed in his intention to flee
from its control. A supplication may not differ from a petition except in the intensity of its
meaning because the request in a supplication may deepen into entreaty.
Etymologically speaking, the word "supplication" has its root in a Latin word "supplex" which
means "bowed to one's knees"; yet it is also conveniently said to have originated from the Latin
word "supplicar" which means "to kneel before someone in entreaty" (Partridge, 1966: 2469).
Palmer (1894: 18) points out that the etymology of the word "supplication" indicates at once
the humility and intensity of the act being derived from the posture of the supplicant when he
pours forth his entreaties at the feet of his Master.
Semantically, Cassianus (1985: 108) defines supplication as a "plea or petition made on account
of present and past sin by someone who is moved by contrition to seek pardon." According to
Vanderveken (1990: 192), to supplicate is to beg very humbly, usually from a superior or
someone in power. We can, for instance, supplicate a person in such a powerful role to spare
the life of a prisoner, or someone else threatened. Moreover, Sykes (2004:143) considers
supplication as a kind of prayer that is offered with pleading, by someone who is lacking
something, so that it might be obtained.
In the Bible, we read "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be
opened to you" Matthew (7:7). This is the very essence of supplication. An example of
supplication is presented by David in Psalm (55):
(1) Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. (2) Attend
unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise.
Supplication: A Syntactic Perspective
Vocative
The vocative is one of the basic syntactic components of supplication in the sense that it is less
likely to find a supplication without a vocative form.
Quirk et al. (1985: 773) define the vocative as "an optional element, usually a noun phrase,
denoting the one or more persons to whom the sentence is addressed."
John, dinner is ready (Ibid.).
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for that warm welcome (Nelson, 2001: 24).
As for their position in clause structure, Gramley and Pӓtzold (1992: 288) point out that
vocatives are not integrated into the structure of the clause and hence they may precede, follow,
or interrupt a clause.
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Mehdi, M. K. (2021). Supplication in English and Arabic: A Contrastive Study. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(9). 311-319.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.89.10476
Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice
of my supplications.
If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
The Bible ( Psalm 130: 1-3)
Gramley and Pӓtzold (1992: 291) illustrate that vocative forms can be used reciprocally or non- reciprocally. Reciprocal forms indicate some kind of equality between the speaker and the
addressee, like forms of address used among friends or fellow workers. Non-reciprocal forms,
on the other hand, indicate an imbalance in power or prestige, for example parent-child or
teacher-student relationships. Forms of address used in supplication indicate a non-reciprocal
relationship since a human being, who is low in status is addressing a supreme being who is
Almighty Allah. So, when addressing Almighty Allah in supplication, human beings should use
forms of address that express total respect and exaltation praising Allah and glorifying His
Name. Forms of addressing Almighty Allah in supplication may include: (O) God, (O) Lord,
Heavenly Lord, Almighty God, Eternal God, God of All Mercy, Creator of the Heavens, Generous
God, God of Holiness.
Imperative
Another important syntactic device that is extensively used in supplication is the imperative
sentence. An imperative sentence is a sentence type which differs from a declarative sentence
in that "it generally has no subject" but it has "either a main verb in the base form or "less
commonly an auxiliary in the base form followed by the appropriate form of the main verb"
(Quirk et al. 1985:827).
14- Put the flowers on the table. (Ibid.)
15- Be reasonable. (Ibid.)
16- "Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies." The
Bible (Psalm 27: 11)
Biber et al. (1999:219) point out that the subject in the imperative sentence is usually omitted
yet it is often understood to refer to the addressee. Imperatives typically urge the addressee to
do something after the moment of speaking; hence there is no need for tense, aspect, or modal
specification.
As for negative imperatives, Collins (2006: 188) clarifies that a "distinctive structural property
of imperatives is the categorical requirement of the dummy auxiliary do in negatives
(specifically, those where it is the verb that is negated)" [My Bold].
Don't admit anything;
rather than,
Admit nothing.
Parallelism
Parallelism is another key syntactic component of supplication. Aziz (2012: 356) finds out that
parallelism is a predominant characteristic of supplication in both English and Arabic.