Lesson 30 Linguistic Rules

The Arabic language: 1- Introduction: (By Mr. Abdul-Warith Mabroul Sa`id) The language is a well-knit system designed by the human mind as per divine guidance from Allah, Exalted be He.

A Muslim should be cognizant of Arabic Language Sciences in order to comprehend and grasp in the most perfect way Allah’s Noble Qur’an and the Sūnnah of His Prophet (SAWS).

The Arabic language is highly honored since: a) Allah, the All-Knowing, Exalted be He, chose the Arabic language to be the tool of His Revelation that is the Seal of all revelations.

b) The Arabic Rhetoric with all its miraculous inimitability is the main established evidence and proof of the truthfulness and veracity of the Divine Revelation.

c) Allah, Exalted be He, took upon Himself to preserve His Noble Qur’an in its Arabic tongue.

d) Allah, the Great and Almighty, ordained that the Noble Qur’an be revealed in the Arabic tongue so that all believers manage to grasp and contemplate the wisdom behind its revelation.

The Sciences of the Arabic language: The Sciences of the Arabic language comprise: 1)Sciences related to Linguistics and Syntax 2)The Science of Rhetoric

Sciences related to Linguistics and Syntax: a)Deals with the articulation and sound of the letter, known as ‘ilm al-sawt (’the science of phonology’): It deals with the pronunciation, actual properties and types of speech sounds and their production and audition.

b) Arabic inflectional morphology requires infixation, prefixation and suffixation, giving rise to a large space of morphological variation and derivatives.

It deals with the nature of the letters of these words, with regards to any additions, subtractions, transformations, exchanges, changes in the vowelling, and so on. This is known as ‘ilm al-sarf (’the science of morphology’).

c) Syntax (Grammar): deals with types of sentences, the main and complementary constituents of each type, their correlations that make the sentences well- knit.

Also, Grammar deals with various styles as the interrogative, imperative, vocative etc.

In other words, it deals with the relationship of some meanings to others, and the requirements of this relationship, as embodied in and indicated by the vowel on the end of each word. This is known as ‘ilm al-nahw (’the science of syntax’).

d) Semantics: one part of Semantics deals with the meaning of words, whether real or figurative (metaphoric). This is the main job of a Dictionary. The second part thereof deals with the social and psychological denotations of words.

2) The Science of Rhetoric: Deals with the various technical styles that give stylistic beauty and intensity to meanings and expressions. This is called `uluum al-balaaghah (the Science of Rhetoric).

These are: a) The Science of Meanings (al-ma’aani): It deals with the characteristics of speech composition by virtue of which they conform to the requirements of the occasion.

This was considered the most important science of the Arabic balaaghah (rhetoric) to the Arabs.

b) The science of style (al-bayaan): Deals with the different ways of expressing the various shades of a single meaning. Examples of this are: similes (tashbeeh), metaphor (majaaz), figures of speech, metonymy (kinaayah).

c) The science of rhetorical figures (al- badi’): Deals with the artistic adornment and embellishment of speech. Part of this deals with the linguistic aspect of word.

Such ornamentation can take a number of forms, some examples of which are: - Rhymed prose (saj’) which enables prose to be divided into sections.

- paranomasia (jinaas), which establishes similarities among the words used.

- allusion to the intended meaning (tawriyah).

- the use of opposites (muqaabalah) to highlight the intended meaning, and so on.