The Foundations Of The Morphological Orientation Of Qurʾānic Semantics And Its Role In Their Semantic Integration

Abstract

The various forms of the Qurʾānic readings constitute one of the most significant fields of study closely connected to the linguistic sciences. They represent an important source for enriching Arabic and establishing its grammatical and morphological norms. Consequently, scholars have engaged extensively with them at times, adducing them as authoritative evidence and, at other times, defending their validity. All of this activity developed within the framework of ʿilm al-tawjīh (the science of orientation), whose branches have multiplied in accordance with the various axes of linguistic variation found among the readings. Within this broader context, the present study focuses on one such axis, namely, the morphological axis. It proceeds from a central problem: to investigate instances of morphological variation in certain Qurʾānic passages and to examine the impact of such variation on the semantic importance of the verse's context. Furthermore, it explores the role of the science of orientation in elucidating the aspects of semantic integration among these differing forms, notwithstanding their variation and divergence. To address this problem, the study adopts a descriptive‒comparative methodology to identify selected instances of variation between readings: the first concerns nouns, and the second concerns verbs. In doing so, it presents the various cognitive and linguistic tools employed by scholars of orientation to demonstrate the semantic coherence among these forms within the structure of the Qurʾānic text, despite their formal differences.