CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Problem
Speech acts are those actions which are performed by utterances. They are commonly given more specific labels such as apology, promise, congratulate, assert, request, compliment, blame etc., in both English and Arabic. The speech act of blame can be defined as "the act of disapproving or condemning something bad." (Searle and Vanderveken, 1985: 191). In fact, the act of blame has received relatively little attention compared with many other speech acts. It seems that it is a problematic act since pragmatists and philosophers disagree in labelling this act under certain specific classification nor do they suggest its felicity conditions. Hence, the present study highlights the analysis of the act of blame pragmatically. Moreover, it deals with the semantic and syntactic constructions of blame in both English and Arabic whether explicitly or implicitly:
(1) (2)

I blamed the man for his impatience. (explicit blame) . (explicit blame)

I blame you for ignoring your duty.

(3)

Can't you be more patient? (implicit blame)

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(implicit blame) (4) { (

He setteth unto Us an argument, and hath forgotten his (own) creation (origin), Sayeth he: Who will enliven the bones when they are rotten? (Ali, 1988: 1331) It is to be noticed that blame conveys negative criticism, indignation and resentment. Under certain conditions, an addresser may find himself in a way or another blaming people as individuals or blaming their deeds or behaviours. Thus, this study attempts to answer the following questions: 12How can the act of blame be identified in both English and How can this act be recognized religiously in the two Arabic? languages?

1.2 Objectives
The study aims to: 1- Present material about the speech act of blame pragmatically, semantically and syntactically in both English and Arabic. 2- Set certain felicity conditions for issuing the speech act of blame in both languages.

1.3 Hypotheses
In view of the preceding statements about the act of blame in English and its counterpart in Arabic, it is hypothesized that: 12-

The felicity conditions suggested could be applied to English and Arabic religious texts. The explicit forms used to express the speech act of blame in such texts are expected to be less than the implicit ones. There is no clear-cut line between blame and some other acts used in English and Arabic.

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1.4 The Procedures

The procedures adopted in this study are the following: 12Presenting a theoretical survey of the relevant literature on the speech act of blame in English and Arabic respectively. Applying the felicity conditions suggested (in Chapter Four) to analyze certain religious texts from the Holy Bible in English and the Glorious Qur'an in Arabic.

1.5 Limits
The study will be confined to the investigation of a number of Biblical verses from the "Old Testament and New Testament" in English and aayas taken from different surahs of the Glorious Qur'an in Arabic because such texts represent the standard forms of these languages.

1.6 The Value

It is hoped that this study will be valuable both theoretically and practically since it tries to present a general framework of the act of blame at pragmatic, semantic and syntactic aspects in both English and Arabic. It is also hoped to be of value to teachers, learners and translators who are interested in such aspects of linguistics.