Kennings in English and Arabic: A Comparative Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1608.10Keywords:
comparison, culture, figurative substitution, kennings, metonymyAbstract
This study presents a comparative analysis of kennings in English and Arabic. It compares the structural, functional, and cultural aspects of kennings in English literature and kennings-like constructs in Arabic, particularly the metonymy of a modified object. Although such a figurative substitution is used to enhance poetic language in both languages, their forms and objectives are different. In contrast to Arabic kennings, which prioritize social refinement and Qur'anic eloquence, English kennings are recursive, two-part compounds with deep roots in mythical and oral memory traditions. Both cultures' historical emergence of these terms suggests distinct literary inspirations. Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon literature's poetic tradition is the source of English kennings, which are frequently used to enhance narrative through abstraction and multi-layered meaning. The present study attempts to shed light on the metonymical wordplay employed by English and Arabic to promote cognitive playfulness. Such use of language necessitates active interpretation by the readers, depending not only on their linguistic but also cultural knowledge, for decoding several hidden meanings. The study demonstrates that kennings are culture-bound expressions shaped by sociocultural norms. The main objective of this study is to advance language studies by demonstrating how kennings and metonymy reflect cultural thinking patterns and by offering a framework for examining figurative language across diverse linguistic traditions. The findings show that although English and Arabic kennings share indirect figurative expression and similar poetic functions, they differ sharply in structure, substitution patterns, and cultural-religious foundations.
References
Abdul-Raof, H. (2006). Arabic rhetoric: A pragmatic analysis. Routledge.
Abram, C. (2019). Kennings and things: Towards an object-oriented skaldic poetics. In E. Weiskott & I. Dumitrescu (Eds.), The shapes of early English poetry: Style, form, history (pp. 161–188). De Gruyter.
Al-Alawi, Ibn H. (1980). Al-Ṭiraz al-Mutaḍamman li-Asrar al-Balagha wa-ʿUlum Ḥaqaʾiq al-Iʿjaz [The Treatise Containing the Secrets of Eloquence and the Sciences of the Truths of Inimitability]. Dar al-Kutub al-Khidiwiyya.
Al-Andalusi, Ibn H. (1886). Lillah Ayy Shihab Ḥarb waqd. Aldiwan.net. Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://www.aldiwan.net/poem69064.html
Al-Bakri, M. T. (2017). Fuḥul al-balaghah [The Masters of Eloquence]. Hindawi Foundation.
Al-Bayan. (1978). Al-Bayan (Issues 151–156). Rābiṭat al-Udabāʼ fī al-Kuwayt [Kuwaiti Writers Association]. Retrieved February 15, 2026, from https://www.google.iq/books/edition/al_Bay%C4%81n/oUQTAQAAMAAJ?hl=ar&gbpv=0&bsq=kennings%20%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A8%20%D9%88%D9%83%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9%20%D9%81%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A8%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A
Aldekhan, M., & O'Neill, S. (2024). Intellectual meaning: An analysis of metonymy in English and Arabic. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10(3), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.10301
Al-Haj Eid, O. A., Abu-Gub, M. N., & Shureteh, H. (2023). A comparative and contrastive study of Arabic and English metonymic expressions. Kolkata: Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 15(3), Article 14.
Al-Hayyani, A. F. (2014). Al-Kinayah fī al-Qurʼan al-Karim: mawḍuʻatiha wa-dalalatuha al-balagiyah [Metonymy in the Noble Qur’an: Its Topics and Rhetorical Implications]. Dar Ghidaa for Publishing and Distribution.
Alisoy, H. (2025). The art of the epic: Stylistic mastery in Beowulf. Global Spectrum of Research and Humanities, 2(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.69760/gsrh.01012025004
Al-Hashimi, A. I. (2019). Jawāhir Al-balāghah fī Al-maʻānī wa-Al-bayān wa-Al-badīʻ [Jewels of Rhetoric in Meaning, Figures of meaning and Rhetorical Embellishment]. Hindawi Foundation.
Al-Jurjanīi, ‘A. (1992). Dala’il al-I‘jaz [Proofs of Inimitability] (M. M. Shakir, Ed. & Comm.). Al-Khanji Library.
Al-Mubarrad, A. A. (1956). Al-Kamil fi al-lughah wa-al-adab [The Complete Book of Language and Literature] (Vol. 2). Nahdat Misr Press.
Al-Safadi, Ṣ. (2013). Al-Ghayth al-Musajjam fī Sharḥ Lamiyyat al-ʿAjam [the Flowing Rain: A Commentary on "Lamiyyat al-ʿAjam"]. Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya.
Al-Sakakīi, S. (1987). Miftaḥ al-‘Ulum [the Key to the Sciences] (N. Zarzur, Ed.). Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
Al-Shantemari, Y. (2004). Sharḥ Diwan Abi Tammam, Ḥabib ibn Aws al-Ṭaʼī [Commentary on the Dīwān of Abū Tammām] (Vol. 1). Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs.
Al-Taftazani, S. al-D. (1899). Mukhtasar al-ʿAllama Saʿd al-Din al-Taftazani ʿala Talkhiṣ al-Miftaḥ li-l-Imam al-Khaṭib al-Qazwinīi [Abridgment of the Commentary on “The Summary of the Key”] (1st ed.). Al-Maṭbaʿa al-Kubra al-Amiriyya. https://books.google.com
Bashir, T. D. (2016). Al-Ṣurah alfnh fi shiʻr Ibn Zaydun: A textual study [the Artistic Image in the Poetry of Ibn Zaydūn: A Textual Study]. Dar Ghidaa for Publishing and Distribution.
Baer, P. (2013). A semantic analysis of Old Norse kennings [Doctoral dissertation, University of Victoria]. University of Victoria Repository.
Bauer, T. (2010). The relevance of early Arabic poetry for Qur'anic studies, including observations on Kull and on Q 22:27, 26:225, and 52:31. In A. Neuwirth, N. Sinai, & M. Marx (Eds.), The Qurʾan in context: Historical and literary investigations into the Qurʾanic milieu (pp. 699–724). Brill.
Bestilleiro Álvarez, L. (2016). The study of kennings in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf [Undergraduate thesis]. A Coruña: Universidade da Coruña, Facultad de Filoloxía.
Brunning, S. (2015). (Swinger of) the Serpent of Wounds: Swords and Snakes in the Viking Mind. In M. D. J. Bintley & T. J. T. Williams (Eds.), Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia (pp. 53–72). Boydell Press.
Davis Secord, J. (2016). Joinings: Compound words in Old English literature (Toronto Anglo Saxon Series, Vol. 20). University of Toronto Press.
Farid, A. H. (1998). Al-Kinayatu wal-Ta’riḍ. Dar Qiba’ for publishing and distribution.
Faulkes, A. (1997). Poetical inspiration in Old Norse and Old English poetry. Viking Society for Northern Research.
Frank, R. (1978). Old Norse court poetry: The dróttkvætt stanza. Cornell University Press.
Gardner, T. (1972). The application of the term "kenning". Neophilologus, 56(4), 464–468. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01515295
Hadidi, S. (2001). Al-Qaṣidah Al-ghinaʼiyah. Al-Karmal Journal, (68), 64-88. The General Union of Palestinian Writers and Journalists.
Heaney, S. (2000). Beowulf: A new verse translation (Bilingual ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.
Holland, G., (2005). Kennings, Metaphors, and Semantic Formulae in Norse dróttkvætt. Arkiv för Nordisk filologi, 120, 123-147.
Ibn al-Athir, D. (1939). Almth al-saʼir fiadab al-Katib wa-al-sha’ir [The Standard of the Literate Writer and Poet] (M. M. Abdul Hamid, Ed.). Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi & Sons.
Ibn al-Khatib, L. (1989). Al-Diwan (M. Moftah, Ed.). Dar Al-Thaqafa.
Ibn Manẓūr, M. (2010). Lisan al-ʻArab. Maddat Nuṣaṣ [The Tongue of the Arabs]. Dar Ṣadir.
Ibrahim, H. (2018). Diwan Ḥafiẓ Ibrahim (Vol. 2) (A. Amin, A. Al-Zein, & I. Al-Ibiary, Eds.). Cairo: Arab Press Agency.
Krause, W. (1930). Die Kenning als typische Stilfigur der germanischen und keltischen Dichtersprache [The Kenning as a Typical Stylistic Figure of Germanic and Celtic Poetic Language] (Vol. 7, No. 1). Halle (Saale): Max Niemeyer Verlag.
Lababidi, A. (1893). Laṭaʼif al-lughah [the Subtleties of language]. Dar al-Ṭibaʻh al-ʻamirah.
Lindow, J. (1975). Riddles, kennings, and the complexity of Skaldic poetry. Scandinavian Studies, 47(3), 311–327.
Lombardi, M. C. (2023). Bears, kennings and skaldic poetry. In Bear and Human: Facets of a Multi-Layered Relationship from Past to Recent Times, with Emphasis on Northern Europe (pp. 827–838). Brepols Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TANE-EB.5.134364
Meissner, Rudolph. (1921). Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik [The Kennings of the Skalds: A Contribution to Skaldic Poetics]. Retrieved April 3, 2025, from http://www.septentrionalia.net/etexts/kenningar.pdf
Mohammed, E. T., & Al-Qazaz, A. A. (2024). Translation assessment of Qur'anic & prophetic intertextuality with reference to Mahfūz's Cairo Trilogy. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature, 30(1), 79–90.
Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. Routledge.
Patria, B. (2020). Kenning variation and lexical selection in early skaldic verse [Doctoral thesis]. University of Oslo. https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/79489
Ross, M. (2007). Skaldic poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages – a new edition. In M. C. Ross (Ed.), Poetry on Christian subjects (Vol. 7). Turnhout: Brepols. Retrieved April 2, 2025, from https://skaldic.org/m.php?i=297&p=doc&utm_source=chatgpt.com
Simpson, D. G. (1979). The use of kennings in Anglo-Saxon literature [Unpublished manuscript]. South Charleston High School. Retrieved February 17, 2026, from http://www.davidgsimpson.com/ref/kennings.pdf
Stetkevych, S. P. (1986). Ritual and sacrificial elements in the poetry of blood-vengeance: Two poems by Durayd ibn al-Ṣimmah and Muḥalhil ibn Rabīʿah. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 106(1), 47–56. https://doi.org/10.2307/601585
Sturluson, S. (1987). Edda (A. Faulkes, Trans.). Everyman.
Sverdlov, I. V. (2015). Man is the measure of all things: The system of kennings as a tangible object. Retrospective Methods Network Newsletter, (9), 29–41.
Wahba, M. (1968). An English-Arabic vocabulary of scientific, technical, and cultural terms. L.D.F.
