Analyzing the Pragmatic Functions of the Religious Expression /ʔallaːh yaʕtiːk ʔilʕaːfje/(May God grant you health) in Spoken Jordanian Arabic

Abstract This study advances the methodological analysis of religious expression in Arabic by introducing a mixed methods framework for investigating the pragmatic functions of the phrase /ʔallaːh yaʕtiːk ʔilʕaːfje/(“may God grant you good health”) in Jordanian Spoken Arabic. By integrating both parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses, the research identifies and ranks the pragmatic functions of this religious marker across the sample and compares the accuracy of these analytical approaches, offering new statistical validations for the field. A central contribution of this work lies in its detailed examination of demographic and contextual factors in shaping the acceptability (ranking) of pragmatic functions. The findings demonstrate that while age influences acceptability, gender does not, and that contextual variables (physical setting, relationship dynamics, and formality levels) are pivotal in determining how religious expressions are perceived and used in everyday interactions. The study advances the methodological landscape of pragmatics and introduces statistical validations that would benefit future research. Limitations include the need for natural linguistic corpora and larger, more diverse samples.