Vol. 56 No. 2 (2008)
Research Article

Nicknames of Kuwaiti Teenagers

PDF
  • Madeline Haggan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/175622708X302368

Published 2008-06-01

Copyright (c) 2008 Maney Publishing

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Abstract

Although nicknaming among teenagers and nicknaming among Arab adults has been studied, nicknaming among Arab teenagers has not. Nicknames of their peers were collected from Kuwaiti teenagers, and Kuwaiti undergraduates judged the nicknames as derogatory, affectionate or neutral. In spite of religious injunctions against the practice, hurtful nicknames were the most common and females were as likely as males to receive uncomplimentary nicknames. Nicknames were also classified as based on appearance or on personality/behaviors, and how they reflected local or western culture. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and practices arising out of rapid oil-funded development are presented as possible explanations for some of the results.

PDF

References

  1. Abdel-Khalek, A. M., 2002. ‘Death, Anxiety and Depression: A Comparison between Egyptian, Kuwaiti and Lebanese Undergraduates,’ Omega, 45 (3): 2002.
  2. Abdel-Khalek, A. M., 2004. ‘Happiness Among Kuwaiti Students,’ Journal of Happiness Studies, 5: 93–97.
  3. Abdel-Khalek, A. M., and Lester, D., 2006. ‘Optimism and Pessimism in Kuwaiti and American College Students,’ International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 52 (2): 110–22.
  4. Ali, Y., 1977. The Glorious Qur’an. Translation and Commentary, American Trust Publications for The Muslim Students’ Association of the United States and Canada, second edition.
  5. Al Mashaan, U. S., 1993. ‘Personality and Some Differences in Kuwait University Students During the Iraqi Invasion. A study of the differences among those who stayed in Kuwait and those who left,’ Alam Al Fiqh (Kuwait), pp. 132–34.
  6. Al Nawawi, Abu Zakariyya Yahya Ibn Sharaf 1312/1992. Kitab al Adhkar, Mecca: al Maktaba al Tijariyya.
  7. Al Shahi, A., 1988. ‘Some Personal Names and Nicknames Among the Riverain People of Northern Sudan,’ Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, 19 (2): 131–39.
  8. Crozier, W. R., and Dimmock, P. S., 1999. ‘Name-calling and Nicknames in a Sample of Primary School Children,’ British Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 4(12): 505–16.
  9. De Klerk, V., and Bosch, B., 1996. ‘Nicknames as Sex-role Stereotypes,’ Sex Roles, 35 (9–10): 525–41.
  10. De Klerk, V., and Bosch, B., 1999. ‘Nicknames as Evidence of Verbal Playfulness,’ Multilingua, 18 (1): 1–16.
  11. Dollinger, A., 2006. ‘An Introduction to the History and Culture of Pharaonic Egypt. Childhood in Ancient Egypt: Birth, growing up, education,death’ <http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/people/childhood.htm> [accessed 5 January 2006].
  12. El-Haddad, Y., 2003. ‘Major Trends Affecting Families in the Gulf Countries,’ in Major Trends Affecting Families A Background Document, United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development, http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/family/Publications/mtelhaddad.pdf
  13. Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, S. B. G., 1969. Personality Structure and Measurement, San Diego: Robert R. Knapp.
  14. Fortado, B. 1998. ‘Interpreting Nicknames: A Micropolitical Portal,’ Journal of Management Studies, 35 (1): 13–34.
  15. Haggan, M., 1998. ‘Islam and Learning English: The Approach-avoidance Dimension,’ 1TL Review of Applied Linguistics, 121–22: 85–120.
  16. Lester, D., and Abdel-Khalek, A. M., 1998. ‘Depression in College Students in the United States and Kuwait,’ Psychological Reports, 83: 410.
  17. Mehrotra, R. P., 1979. ‘Name Change in Hindi: Some Sociocultural Dimensions,’ Anthropological Linguistics, 21 (4): 205–10.
  18. Morgan, J., O’Neill, C., and Harré, R., 1979. Nicknames: Their Origins and Social Consequences, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
  19. Neethling, S. J., 1994. ‘Xhosa Nicknames,’ South African Journal of African Languages, 14: 88–92.
  20. Nicholls, C., 1995. ‘Warlpiri Nicknaming: A Personal Memoir,’ International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 113: 137–45.
  21. Phillips, B. S., 1990. ‘Nicknames and Sex-role Stereotypes,’ Sex Roles, 23 (5–6): 281–89.
  22. Roumani, H., 2005. ‘The Impact of Maids as Carers on Children’s Social and Emotional Development,’ Journal of Early Childhood Research, 3 (2): 149–67.
  23. Schimmel, A., 1989. Islamic Names, Edinburgh University Press.
  24. Van Dam, M., 2003. ‘On the Phonological Structure of /i/-Suffixed English Nicknames,’ 1ULC Working Papers Online 03–01 (www.indiana.edu/~iulcwp).
  25. Wardat, M., 1997. ‘Nicknaming in Jordanian Arabic: A Sociolinguistic Perspective,’ Interface, 12 (1): 45–58.