ınternatıonal asıan congress on contemporary scıences

ınternatıonal asıan congress on contemporary scıenses, Makkah, Suudi Arabistan, 6 - 11 Ağustos 2026, ss.1-273, (Tam Metin Bildiri)

Abstract

Contemporary linguistic studies have witnessed a remarkable shift in their approach to

discourse, as meaning-making is no longer viewed as being confined solely to linguistic

utterances. Rather, it has expanded to encompass various pragmatic elements that influence

the communicative process, foremost among them silence, which functions as a meaningful

sign performing communicative roles no less significant than speech itself. Nevertheless,

Arabic studies have largely approached silence as a rhetorical phenomenon, a social behavior,

or a psychological state, while its role as a meaning-generating component within dialogic

discourse from a pragmatic perspective has received only limited attention. This reveals a

research gap that calls for further investigation and analysis.

This study is based on the assumption that silence is not merely the absence of speech; rather,

it is an effective communicative strategy that contributes to meaning construction and directs

the course of discursive interaction. Its semantic value does not stem from silence itself, but

from the context in which it occurs, the nature of the relationship between interlocutors, and

the linguistic and non-linguistic cues accompanying it. Accordingly, the study aims to explore

how silence contributes to the production of meaning in Arabic dialogic discourse, identify its

most prominent pragmatic functions, examine the role of context in guiding its interpretation,

and propose an analytical framework that explains the relationship between silence,

intentionality, and discursive interaction.

The study adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology within a pragmatic framework by

analyzing selected samples of Arabic dialogues in order to uncover the functions performed

by silence in different communicative situations and to identify patterns of its occurrence as

an indicator of implicit meanings that transcend the surface structure of discourse. The

analysis draws upon several key pragmatic concepts, particularly context, intentionality,

inference, presupposition, and conversational implicature, thereby enabling silence to be

examined as a semantic unit that plays a significant role in organizing interaction and

generating meaning.

The study is expected to demonstrate that silence constitutes an effective pragmatic resource

in Arabic dialogic discourse, performing multiple functions that vary according to

communicative contexts. These functions include expressing acceptance or rejection,

managing conversational turns, highlighting emotional attitudes, reinforcing implicit

meanings, and guiding interpretation. Furthermore, the findings are expected to confirm that

silence cannot be understood independently of context; rather, its interpretation emerges

through the interaction of linguistic, cultural, and social factors surrounding it. Consequently,

silence should be regarded as an integral component of the semantic structure of discourse

rather than an external element. The scientific value of this study lies in restoring attention to

silence as a productive pragmatic mechanism in meaning construction and in expanding the

horizons of Arabic pragmatic research through the application of pragmatic concepts to the

analysis of non-verbal phenomena within dialogic discourse.

Keywords: Silence, Meaning Construction, Pragmatics, Dialogic Discourse, Context,

Intentionality.