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Research Paper

Newness as a Cultural Value

SEX AS A FACTOR IN COMPLIMENTING BEHAVIOR AMONG MARRAKESHI MEN AND WOMEN



As is mentioned in the first part of this paper, Manes (1983) states that certain cultural values may be reflected in and reinforced by compliments. The value of newness is undoubtedly the most important of all these. According to her, compliments are regularly elicited by new acquisitions. This means that any recent acquisition will be noticed and commented on positively by almost any one who sees it for the first time or once it is brought to ones attention. This seems to hold true in the Marrakeshi society too, especially on some religious feastdays such as Laid sghir, the day with which we are concerned in this study. Obviously, new clothing is the most important thing that is associated to this particular day, mainly for children. So, it is not surprising to hear so many compliments on this day.

Bearing all these things in mind, we can understand now the predominance of compliments on apparel on peoples interaction on the day of LAid Sghir. However, it of interest to note that many of the compliments used in this day, especially those addressed to children, do not really express overt approval or admiration of the thing complimented more than they are used as a general expression of pleasure or friendly attitudes, which people feel obliged to express on these religious-specific occasions. So, expressions such as /ziti zala fhad llbsa/, /zat m ak /, /tat ban ahwa mannak/ and so on are most of time used regardless of the value of the object complimented. Another interesting factor to be noted is that compliments in our society can also be elicited by bringing the new object to the ones notice. This is always expressed by the use of the formula /nbus biddik or- nbus biddikum/ (kiss your hands) which is widely used by women to show their new acquisitions especially clothes and jewelry.

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A research paper submitted to the department of English of Cadi Ayyad University
in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Licence-es-Letters in English
Year : 1998 - 1999 / Major : Linguistics / Seminar Title :Pragmatics
Supervisor : Dr. GAJJOUT Hassan