Some Syntactic Variations in Modern Standard Arabic Proverbs
Abstract
Languages are often regarded as a state of constant flux due to their nature as contact languages. Therefore, variation occurs in all languages since they are alive as their speakers. The present study is concerned with the peculiar type of proverbs; notably, it is about proverbs in Modern Standard Arabic. Consequently, the present research is primarily concerned with exposing some syntactic variations in modern standard Arabic proverbs. It has been assumed that proverbs are frozen forms; however, some scholars have stated that proverbs may undergo some changes and developments across the passage of time. Accordingly, the present research is entirely concerned with investigating the syntactic variations of some Modern Standard Arabic proverbs with any syntactic processes underlying such variations. It is intended to examine any syntactic variation of the same proverbs that may exist in Modern Standard Arabic proverbs and the extent to which they are relatively fixed or totally frozen. The current study investigates the syntactic variations with reference to a universal fixedness approach which is ascribed to the different variations including syntactic ones and relative fixedness of expressions including proverbs.