Analysis of Invitation Cards for Attending Wedding Ceremonies in the Jordanian Society Essay Example

Analysis of Invitation Cards for Attending Wedding Ceremonies in the Jordanian Society Essay Example Analysis of Invitation Cards for Attending Wedding Ceremonies in the Jordanian Society Essay Analysis of Invitation Cards for Attending Wedding Ceremonies in the Jordanian Society Essay The data are elicited through a questionnaire that consists of twenty five items compiled from invitation cards for both Muslims and Christians. The findings of the study show that the form of the invitation cards in Islam and Christianity in the Jordanian society is systematic and influenced by social, economic, and religious factors. Finally, this study recommends that further research to be conducted investigating other invitation cards for other events in the Jordanian society such as, invitation cards for attending meetings, lectures, celebrations, royal feasts and tribal reconciliation. 1. Introduction This paper reports on the results of a study which investigates the analysis of wedding invitation cards between Muslims and Christians in the Jordanian society. Also, it explores how the Christian and Muslim wedding invitation cards are structured. Al-Qudah (2001: 1) suggests that sociolinguistics is a relatively new branch of linguistics which deals with topics related to the interaction between society and language. Hymes (1979: 61) states that genres often coincide with speech events, but must be treated as analytically independent of them. Campbell and Jamieson (quoted in Swales 1990: 43) defined a genre as a group of acts unified by a constellation of forms that recurs in each of its members. These forms, in isolation, appear in other discourses. What is distinctive about the acts in a genre is a recurrence of the forms together in constellation. Nunan (1993) insisted that the term genre recently adapted by functional linguists who argue that language exists to fulfill certain functions, and that these functions will determine the overall shape or generic structure of the discourse Do the socio-cultural factors have a significant role in the organization and production of such wedding invitation cards? We have been thinking of this question for ages. The invitation cards have great communication potential(Willer 2001: 16). They represent a means to invite other people to attend the wedding ceremony which is arranged by the families of both the bride and the groom. Brown and Levinson (quoted in Haidarah 2001: 27) provide an insightful account of the various ways in which people can convey messages through invitation cards. The communicative purpose of such invitation is to inform people that a wedding part is going to be held in a specific time and place and to invite or call upon people to participate in this occasion by their presences. A wedding party is a significant event in the Islamic Jordanian society. the party will function as an announcement to the public that X and Y are a husband and wife from now on. A large group of people are invited in order to witness that event. It seems that this field of study is fairly new; it has not been investigated thoroughly. It is also clear that this topic has not been studied in Jordan. Hence, the need for such research in this area to identify the organization and production of such wedding invitation cards. An invitation card is considered one of the most important forms of genre. Scollon (1995) defines genre as a term borrowed from literature to refer to different conventional forms of speech events. For examples, jokes, lectures, sales letters, contracts, evaluation reports, advertising copies and so forth are all different genres found in every day professional communication. By genre we mean any speech event, whether it is spoken or in writing which has fairly predictable sets of speech acts, participants, topics, settings, or other regularly occurring and conventional form. Raheja and Puri (1995: 68) viewed that the wedding invitation card can be organized in a number of formats. However, the following important information must be included: (1) The fact that it is a wedding event; (2) the names of the hosts; (3) the names of the bride and the groom; (4) that data and the year; (5) the time; (6) address of the ceremony. The Jordanian society Jordan is a developing country, just like any other country in the Arab world. It has a rooted history that pushes to become one of the most advanced countries in the region. Socially, the traditional heritage in Jordanian society is that family members, relatives, friend, and neighbors should support each other morally and sometimes substantially in times of adversity and happiness. Friendship between people of the same sex is occasionally expressed by holding hands when walking in the street. Marriage is still common in Jordanian society. When two persons decide to become partners for life, the bond linking them is called marriage, which, ideally, is supported to last for a lifetime. Raheja and Puri (1995: 1) said that marriage is an institution; a union of two people; to love, cherish and obey. Marriage has become part of a tradition. Derived from the Latin word traditio, tradition encompasses to the cumulative social heritage in the form of habits, customs, attitudes and ways of life, which have been transmitted from one generation to the next either through written scripture or word of mouth. The marriage contract, in Jordan, is held between the brides father hand in hand with the bridegroom in the presence of the official judge and witnesses. Guthrie (2001: 15) indicated that the marriage contract included detailed trousseaux inventories and gifts to the bride from her own family, as well as the dowry (mahr), which was for her sole use and benefit. Religious language is repeated after the judge in this event, which is common in all Islam countries. Wedding celebration usually lasts three days and often involves over a hundred guests. Men and women usually celebrate separately in different places. The bridegroom and his family terminate the general celebrations with a big meal in the afternoon for guests, relatives, friends and others The bride celebrates in her parents house mostly together with a great number of female relatives and friends. . 3- Objectives The objective of this study is: 1- To describe the genre of wedding invitation cards within the Jordanian society. 2- To identify the distinctive features that form the structure of the invitation cards in Islam and Christianity. 3- To account for the socio-cultural factors that contribute to the production and organization of such genres. 4- To identify the religious factors that affect the identification of the genre of invitation cards. 4. Methodology. 4. 1. Population The population of this study consisted of all people living in the city of Jerash (males and females). Those people were from two religions Islam (Sunni and Circassian ) and Christianity . This population will help in showing the various forms of invitation cards for attending wedding ceremonies within the Jordanian society with reference to their religions. 4. 2. Sample The sample of this study has been chosen randomly for the questionnaire. The number of people involved for this questionnaire was 13 females and 37 males. Their ages ranged from 22 to 65. Non of them were illiterate, very few had only elementary education, some of them have only secondary education. As for higher education, some of the respondents have Diploma, some have B. A, others had Masters degrees, while few of them have doctoral degrees in different fields. Table (1) shows the distribution of this sample according to religion, sex, and number : Number of females |Number of males |religion | |2 |24 |Sunni |Islam | |5 |3 |Circassian | | |6 |10 |Christianity | |13 |37 |Total | Table (2) shows the distribution of this sample according to their education : Number of females |Number of males |educatio n | |0 |3 |Elementary | |5 |8 |Secondary | |3 |3 |Diploma degree | |4 |18 |Bachelors degree | |1 |3 |Masters degree |0 |2 |Doctoral degree | |13 |37 |Total | 4. 3. Data elicitation The data were elicited through a questionnaire which gives the informants the opportunity to respond frankly without embarrassment. On the first page of the questionnaire there are five questions that elicit demographic information about the subjects, i. e. sex, age, place of living (the city of Jerash) in addition to religion and educational levels. Religion is considered one of the most important variables in this study. The five questions investigate whether age, place of living, sex, educational levels and religion affect the form of the wedding invitation cards. The questionnaire consists of twenty five items investigating the structure and the form of the wedding invitation cards for both muslins and Christians. After careful observation of available invitation cards for attending wedding ceremonies, the researchers have written the twenty five items that were used to collect the data. The questionnaire items consisted of two types (Multiple-Choice and Yes/No questions). The subjects were asked to answer these questions carefully with the assistance of the researchers. 5. Results and discussion. The main focus of this paper was to analyze the invitation cards in Islam and Christianity within the Jordanian society. In order to achieve this objective, the researchers used a questionnaire as a tool to collect dada that would show any potential and significant differences between Muslims and Christians in this regard. The results of this tool will be presented in detail below. The analysis of the questionnaire results showed approximately similar differences between Islam and Christianity. Results of question one which was about the person who offers the invitation card showed that 57. 6% of Muslims wedding invitation cards were offered by the father, 30. 7% of them by the elder brother, 4% by the cousin, and 7. 7% by others, such as the bridegroom himself. As for, Circassians, analysis of results showed that 62. % of them was the father, 25% of them was the elder brother, and 12. 5% of them was the cousin. While Christians, analysis indicated that 75% of them was the father, 18. 7% of them was the elder brother, and 6. 3% of them was others. We have found that the father is the one who always off ers the wedding invitation cards for both Muslims ( Sunni and Circassian ) and Christians (see table 1). Table (1): The person who offers the wedding invitation card. |total |others |cousin |The elder brother |father |Who offered the invitation card? | |100% |7. 7% |4% |30. % |57. 6% |Sunni | |100% |0% |12. 5% |25% |62. 5% |Circassian | |100% |6. 3% |0% |18. 7% |75% |Christian | Question number two which asked about mentioning the name of the bride in the invitation card revealed that 46% of Muslims (Sunni) mentioned the brides name, 50% 0f Muslims (Circassian) also mentioned the brides name, while all of Christians mentioned the name of the bride in the invitation cards. It was found that more than half of Muslims didn’t mention the brides name because of either their social or religious contentments (see table 2). Table (2): Mentioning the brides name. |Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |Mentioning | | | |the brides name. | | | | | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0% |50% |54% |100% |50% |46% | | With regard of those who did not mention the name of the bride, it was found that 85. % of Muslims (Sunni) used instead of the brides name the word: k? ri:m-? uhu (his wife), 14. 3% of them used the word: ibn-tuhu (his daughter). 75% of Muslims (Circassian) also used the word k? ri:m-? uhu (his wife), the rest used the word: ibn-tuhu (his daughter). Also we have found that some of them used the expression ? aqiqatuhu(his sister). As for Christians, they all mention the brides name. (see table 3). Table (3): The way the brides name is mentioned. |total |others |his brothers daughter |his daughter |his wife |How is the brides name mentioned instead? | |100% |0% |0% |14. 3% |85. % |Sunni | |100% |0% |0% |25% |75% |Circassian | |0% |0% |0% |0% |0% |Christian | Question four which asked about the reasons why the brides name wasn’t mentioned in the invitation card showed that 41. 6% of Muslims (Sunni) didn’t mention the brides name because of Social contentment, 58. 4 % of them was because of Religious contentment. Whereas, 100% of Circassians was because of only social contentment. In case of Christians, there were no reasons for not mentioning the brides name (see table 4). Table (4): The reasons why the brides name wasn’t mentioned in the invitation card. total |others reasons |religious |social contentment |Whatre the reasons for not mentioning the | | | |contentment | |brides name | |100% |0% |58. 4% |41. 6% |Sunni | |100% |0% |0% |100% |Circassian | |0% |0% |0% |0% |Christian | As for question five that was about the one who insists on not mentioning the brides name in the invitation card, findings showed that 14. % of Muslims (Sunni) was the grooms father who insists on not mentioning the brides name, 7. 1% was the brides family, and 78. 6% was the grooms himself. 75%of Muslims (Circassian) was the grooms himself and 25% was only the brides family. In comparison with Muslims, Christians had no reasons for not mentioning the brides name in the invitation card (see table 5). Table (5): The person who insists on not mentioning the brides name in the invitation card. |total |groom himself |brides family |rooms farther |Who insists on not mention ing the brides name? | |100% |78. 6% |7. 1% |14. % |Sunni | |100% |75% |25% |0% |Circassian | |0% |0% |0% |0% |Christian | By analyzing results of question six that was about mentioning the bride and grooms job title in the invitation card, it was found that 30. 7% of Muslims (Sunni) mentioned the job title, while 69. 2% refused to mention it. 50% of Muslims (Circassian) mentioned the job title and the rest didn’t. As for Christians, 43. 7% insisted on mentioning their job titles and 56. 3% didn’t. We have found that the reason behind mentioning the job title is prestigious one (see table 6). Table (6): The person who insists on not mentioning the brides name in the invitation card. Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | | | | | |Mentioning the job | | | |title | | |Muslim | Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |56. 3% |50% |69. 2% |43. 7% |50% |30. 7% | | Question seven asked about beginning the invitation card with a verse of the Holly Koran. Analyzing the results showed that 53. 8% of Muslims (Sunni) usually began their invitation cards with the following verse of the Holly Koran: â€Å"wa men ayatehe an khalaqa lakum min anfusikum azwajan litaskunu elaiha waj? ala binakum mawadatan wa rahma ina fii ? aalika la’yaatin liqawmin yatafakaroon† And of his signs is this: he created for you helpmeets from yourselves that ye might find rest in them, and he ordained between you love and mercy. Lo, herein indeed are portents for folk who reflect. While 75% of Muslims (Circassian) used the same verse of Holly Koran. It seems that Muslims (Circassian and Sunni), who didn’t use the verse of the Holly Koran, tend to use a verse of poetry such as: Ya m ar ala? bab ha? ihi d? watii fatafaDalu litu? arikunii bah d? etii Oh, lovely people, this is my invitation come and share me my happiness Table (7 ): Beginning the invitation card with a verse of the Holly Koran. disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |Beginning the invitation card| | | |with a verse of the Holly | | | |Koran. | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |NA |25% |46. 2% |NA |75% |53. 8% | | Question eight investigated if the invitation card began with a text of the Bible, results of their answers revealed that 100% of Christians used the following common text of the Bible: 1- â€Å"bilmd? di walkaramati kalilhuma† â€Å" marry them with glory and dignity 2- â€Å"ma d? ama? hu allaah la yufariquhu insan† † What God combines can not be separated by humans. 3- wlikai ya? lamu ana ismaka qad ? ukira ? la haa? a albeit al? ii banait To know that your name had been mentioned upon this house you built. 4- myahun ka? era la tastati:? an toTfe? almahaba wasyool la ta? moroha. Much water couldn’t put out love and flood cant overwhelm it. Whereas, Muslims used a verse of the Holly Koran and a verse of poetry. We have found that none of the Christians used a verse of poetry in their invitation cards (see table 8). Table (8): Beginning the invitation card with a text of the Bible. Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | | | | | |Beginning the invitation card with| | | |a text of the Bible. | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0% |NA |NA |100% |NA |NA | | Results of question nine which was about including the invitation card a verse of poetry showed that 7. 7% of Muslims (Sunni) mentioned a verse of poetry, while Muslims (Circassian) was 12. 5%. As for Christians, 6. 2% of them mentioned a verse of poetry such as: Ya m ar ala? bab ha? hi d? watii fatafaDalu litu? arikunii bah d? etii Oh, lovely people, this is my invitation come and share me my happiness Table (9): Including the invitation card a verse of poetry. |Disagree |Agree | | | | |Including the invitation card| | | |a verse of poetry. | | | | | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | |Circanssian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |93. 8% |87. 5% |92. 3% |6. 2% |12. 5% |7. 7% | | As for question ten which was about if the invitation card included a statement to the invitees about not accompanying children, the results showed that 27% of Muslims (Sunni) mentioned a statement, while Muslims (Circassian) was 12. 5%. As for Christians, 18. 8% of them mentioned a statement. During our interview with the subjects, we have found that Christianity urges the family to accompany their children to the wedding ceremony (see table 10). Table (10): Including the invitation card a statement to the invitees about not accompanying children. |Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |A statement to the invitees about | | | |not accompanying children. | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |81. 3% |87. 5% |73% |18. 8% |12. 5% |27% | | Analyzing results of question eleven that investigated the statement that is used by those who didn’t like children to come to the wedding ceremony, showed that 57. 1% of Muslims (Sunni) and 100% of Muslims (Circassian) used the following direct statement: â€Å"yurd? a ? adam iSTi ab al? Tfaal† † Please, don’t accompany children. While 14. 2% of them used the following indirect statement which is more polite than previous one: â€Å"d? nat al aTfaal byuutahum† . † Children paradise is their homes In contrast with Muslims, Christians preferred to accompany thei r children to the wedding ceremony (see table 11). Table (11): Statements used by people who didn’t want children to come to the wedding. |total |Pleasant sleeping for|Children paradise is their|Not accompanying children |What is the statement used by people who didn’t| | |your children |homes | |want children to come to the wedding? | |100% |28. 7% |14. 2% |57. % |Sunni | |100% |0% |0% |100% |Circassian | |0% |0% |0% |0% |Christian | As for question twelve which was about if the invitation card contained a statement to the invitees about not shooting with a gun, the results showed that 53. 8% of Muslims (Sunni), 12. 5% of Muslims (Circassian), and 25% of Christians mentioned the following statement: â€Å"yurd? a ? adam iTlaaq al? yaraat alnaaryah† † Please, don’t shoot with a gun. Table (12): A statement to the invitees about not shooting with a gun Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |A statement to the invitees | | | |about not shooting with a gun. | | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |75% |87. 5% |46. 2% |25% |12. % |53. 8% | | In regard to question thirteen that was about the price of the invitation card, analysis showed that the price of the invitation card of 57. 6 % of Muslims (Sunni), 62. 5% of Muslims (Circassian), and 50% of Christians were less than one dinnar. Whereas 38. 4% of Muslims (Sunni), 25% of Muslims (Circassian), and 50% of Christians were less than half dinnar. With relation of the rest of the subjects, the price of their invitation card was more than one dinnar (see table 13). Table (13):The price of the subjects invitation cards. |total |More than one dinnar. Less than half dinnar |Less than one dinnar |What was the price of the invitation | | | | | |cards? | |100% |4% |38. 4% |57. 6% |Sunni | |100% |12. 5% |25% |62. 5% |Circassian | |100% |18. 8% |31. 2% |50% |Christian | Findings of question fourteen that was about how the invitation card was formed showed that forming the invitation card of 27 % of Muslims (Sunni), 37. % of Muslims (Circassian), and 25% of Christians were between the brides family and the bridegrooms family. . Whereas 34. 6% of Muslims (Sunni), 50% of Muslims (Circassian), and 68. 7 % of Christians were between the bride and the bridegroom. In contrast, 38. 4% of Muslims (Sunni), 12. 5% of Muslims (Circassi an), and 6. 3 % of Christians invitation cards were formed by the bridegroom himself (see table 14). Table (14): Forming the invitation card. |total |the bridegroom only. |consultation between the |consultation between the brides |How was the invitation card | | | |bride and the bridegroom. family and the bridegrooms family. |formed? | |100% |38. 4% |34. 6% |27% |Sunni | |100% |12. 5% |50% |37. 5% |Circassian | |100% |6. 3% |68. 7% |25% |Christian | Analyzing results of question fifteen that was about Putting the invitation card in an envelope, it was found that 100% Muslims (Sunni), 87. 5% of Muslims (Circassian), and 93. % of Christians have put their invitation cards in an envelope. The rest offered the invitation cards without envelopes. (see table 15). Table (15): Putting the invitation card in an envelope . |Disagree |Agree | | | | |Putting the invitation card in | | | |an envelope. | | |Muslim | Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circ assian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | |0% | | | | | |62% |12. 5% | |93. 8% |87. 5% |100% | | Considering results of question sixteen which was about if the invitation card was written in a language other than Arabic, it was found that most of the invitation card were written in Arabic. Whereas very few of them were written in English (see table 16). Table (16) Writing the invitation card in a language other than Arabic . |Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |Writing the invitation card in a | | | |language other than Arabic. | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |93. 8% |100% |100% |6. % |0% |0% | | Analyzing results of question seventeen which was about the way in which the invitation card was sent, it was found that 50% of Muslims (Circassian), and 18. 7% of Christians have sent their invitation cards by mail. As for 100% of Muslims (Sunni), and 50% of Muslims (Circassian), and 75% of Christians have sent their invitation cards by hand. Only 6. 3% of christens have sent their invitation cards by fax (see table 17). Table (17) The way in which the invitation card was sent. |total |by fax |by hand |by mail |How were the invitation cards sent? |100% |0% |100% |0% |Sunni | |100% |0% |50% |50% |Circassian | |100% |6. 3% |75% |18. 7 % |Christian | Considering results of question eighteen which was about if the name of the publishing house was mentioned in the invitation card , it was found that 88. 4% of Muslims (Sunni), 37. 5%of Muslims (Circassian), and 50% of Christians have mentioned the name of the publishing house in the invitation card (see table 18). Table (18) Mentioning the name of the publishing house in the invitation card. . |Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |Mentioning the name of the publishing| | | |house in the invitation card. | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |50% |62. 5% |11. 6% |50% |37. 5% |88. % | | As for question nineteen which investigated where the name of the publishing house appears in the invitation card, it was found that the name of the publishing house of 95. 4% of Muslims (Sunni), and 100% of both Muslims (Circassian) and Christians appeared Inside the invitation card, while only 4. 6% of Muslims (Sunni) appeared at Back of the invitation card (see table 19) Table (19): The place where the name of the publishing house appeared. |total |back of the invitation card |inside the invitation card |Where does the name of the publishing house appear? | |100% |4. 6% |95. % |Sunni | |100% |0% |100% |Circass ian | |100% |0% |100% |Christian | Results of question twenty which asked about if the invitation card finished with a statement of wishing happiness to the invitees showed that 80. 7% of Muslims (Sunni), 87. 5%of Muslims (Circassian), and 93. 8 % of Christians have finished their invitation cards with the following statement of wishing happiness to the invitees. Damat alafraa? ?alefat diarikum al? amira May happiness surrounds your inhabited homes Table (20): Finishing the invitation card with a statement of wishing happiness to the invitees Disagree |Agree | | | | |Question | | | |Items | | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Finishing the invitation card with a | |6. 2% |12. 5% |19. 3% |93. 8% |87. 5% |80. 7% |statement of wishing happiness to the| | | | | | | |invitees. | Analysis of answers of question twenty one which was about if the invitation card contained the place address of the event in the invitation card revealed that all of the subjects mentioned where the wedding ceremony was held in the invitation card (see table 21). Table (21): Mentioning the place address of the event in the invitation card. Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |Mentioning the place address of the | | | |event in the invitation card. | | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0% |0% |0% |100% |100% |100% | | In regard to question twenty two which was about if the invitation card contained information about the men party, results showed that 92. 3% of Muslims (Sunni), 100 %of Muslims (Circassian), and 68 % of Christians have mentioned information about the men party. The rest of subjects haven’t. (see table 21). Table (22): Mentioning information about the men party. Disagree |Agree | | | | | | | | |Mentioning information | | | |about the men party. | | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |C hristian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |31. 3% |0% |7. 7% |68. 7% |100% |92. 3% | | As for question twenty three which investigated if the invitation card included the time of the event, analysis of results showed that all of the subjects mentioned the time when the wedding ceremony was held (see table 23). Table (23): Mentioning the time of the event in the invitation card. |disagree |agree | | | | | | | | |Mentioning the time of the event in | | | |the invitation card. | |Muslim (34) | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |0% |0% |0% |100% |100% |100% | | Analysis of question twenty four which was about the place in which the wedding ceremony was held showed that 65. 3% of Muslims (Sunni) and 87. 5 %of Muslims (Circassian) held their wedding ceremonies in hotels. While, all Christians held it in churches. In contrast, the rest of Muslims(Sunni and Circassian) held the ceremony at their homes (see table 24). Table (24): The place of the wedding ceremony. | | | |Where was the wedding ceremony held? | |total |the bridegrooms house |church |hotel | | |100% |34. 7% |0% |%65. 3 |Sunni | |100% |12. 5% |0% |87. 5% |Circassian | |100% |0% |100% |0% |Christian | Finally, analysis of results of question twenty five, the last question, which was about if the invitation card contained a statement about having lunch, showed that 30. 7% of Muslims (Sunni), 25 %of Muslims (Circassian), and 43. 7% of Christians have mentioned a statement about having lunch in their invitation cards (see table 25). Table (25): Mentioning a statement about having lunch. |disagree |agree | | | | |Question | | |Items | | |Muslim | |Muslim | | |Christian | |Christian | | | | | | | | | | |Circassian |Sunni | |Circassian |Sunni | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Mentioning a statement about | |56% |75% |69. 2% |43. 7% |25% |30. 7% |having lunch in the invitation | | | | | | | |card. | 6. Implications This study has shown that the main communicative function of wedding invitation cards is to invite people to attend wedding ceremonies. It has been observed through the analysis of the data that there are socio-cultural factors which affect the organization of invitation cards in the Jordanian society. The role of sex has proved to be an important factor especially in invitations for attending wedding parties. The name of the bride tends not to be mentioned when she belongs to a more socially conservative family. It, thus, substituted by an expression like: k? ri:- m-? uhu (his wife) or the expression ? aqiqatuhu(his sister). This is a tendency of the socially conservative Muslim families who don’t like to announce the names of their daughters or sisters to the public. However, the name of the bride tends to be mentioned when she is well-educated and belongs to a less conservative family. In contrast with Muslim families, all of Christian families tend to mention the name of their daughters in the invitation cards. The findings of this study reported here implied that the well educated people in Islam and Christianity tend to mention their job titles such as Sheikh, Doctor, Engineer†,† Lawyer, etc, in the invitation cards. And such titles are used and printed in large font and bold type to indicate high level of education and high social status. The discussion of the results of this study has shown that religious factors also seem to be of considerable importance. Muslim and Christian societies have its faith in Allah(God) deeply ingrained within its activities. This underlying Islamic and Christian values are reflected in the openings which utilize verses from the Holy Koran or texts from the Bible. for examples, Muslims usually begin their invitation card with the following verse of Koran: â€Å"wa men ayatehe an khalaqa lakum min anfusikum azwajan litaskunu elaiha waj? ala binakum mawadatan wa rahma ina fii ? aalika la’yaatin liqawmin yatafakaroon† And of his signs is this: he created for you helpmeets from yourselves that ye might find rest in them, and he ordained between you love and mercy. Lo, herein indeed are portents for folk who reflect. While Christians begin their invitation card with the following verses of Bible: 1- â€Å"bilmd? di walkaramati kalilhuma† â€Å" marry them with glory and dignity 2- â€Å"ma d? ama? hu allaah la yufariquhu insan† † What God combines can not be separated by humans. 3- wlikai ya? lamu ana ismaka qad ? ukira ? la haa? a albeit al? ii banait To know that your name had been mentioned upon this house you built. In addition, the analysis of the data indicated that the socio-economic status is also communicated in the invitation, and is found to be important in the description of the genre of invitation cards. This is revealed by the use of colorful and perfectly decorated invitation cards which include drawings such as hearts and bunches of flowers. Such invitation cards are expensive, and are meant to communicate other messages than inviting people to attend a wedding party, they tend to convey that the invitor enjoys a high economic status. 7. Conclusion The main focus of this study was analyzing invitation cards of Muslims and Christians for attending wedding parties in the Jordanian society. In order to find out any potential significant differences between wedding invitation cards of Muslims and Christians, a questionnaire as tool of collecting data was used. Data analysis revealed that there were significant differences in the way Muslims and Christians form their wedding invitation cards. The investigation of our data has shown that the communicative purpose of a text is the most important criterion for the identification of such wedding invitation cards. Dealing with various kinds of wedding invitation cards within the Jordanian Islamic and Christian societies, it has been revealed that other social, economic, and religious factors are also of great significance in the description of invitation cards. The results of this study indicated that there were significant differences between wedding invitation cards of Muslims and Christians, for instance, Muslims tend not to mention the name of the bride in the invitation cards, while Christians does. Also, Muslims tend to start their invitation cards with a verse of Koran or a verse of poetry, whereas Christians start them with only a text of Bible. In addition, Muslims tend to hold their wedding ceremonies whether in a hall (hotel) or in the grooms house, while all Christians hold it in a church. Finally, it can be said that form of invitation cards according to this study is systematic and affected by the social status, education, and religion. 8. Recommendations In light of this study and its significance, the following is recommended for future researchers in relation to invitation cards: It may be valuable to carry out research papers investigating other invitation cards for other events in the Jordanian society such as, invitatio n cards for attending meetings, lectures, celebrations, royal feasts and tribal reconciliation. 2- Carrying out research papers about invitation cards is a relatively new topic in the Arab world. Therefore, it is significant for future researchers to deal with this topic in depth. REFERENCES Al-Qudah, M. 2001. Congratulation patterns on happy occasions in Jordan. Unpublished M. A. thesis, Yarmouk university. Haidarah, H. 2001. Congratulation and condolence announcements in Yemeni newspapers. Unpublished M. A. thesis, Yarmouk university. Hymes, D. 1974. Foundations in scociolinguistics: an ethnographic approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Gutherie, S. 2002. Arab women in the middle ages: private lives and public roles. London: Westbourne Grove. Nunan, D. 1993. Introducing discourse analysis. Penguin Group Ltd. Raheji, N. and A. Puri. 1995. How to arrange a wedding. New Delhi: Palus Press. Scollon, R. 1995. intercultural communication: a discourse approach. Blackwell publishing Ltd. Swales, J. 1990. Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willer, L. 2001. warning: Welcome to your world baby, gender message enclosed: an analysis of gender messages in birth congratulation cards. Women and Language 24. 16-24.