The Prose and Stylistic Properties of Sibawayh’s al-Kitāb

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Abstract:
Sibawayh’s al-Kitāb is one of the remnants of the Muslim legacy of the second half of the second century AH and is a turning point in the field of scientific issues in the Muslim world. Sibawayh, in his book, as a pioneer of grammarians, uses some stylistic features that make it difficult to grasp the meaning of his work. Therefore, this research, by using a descriptive-analytical method and by selecting sections from al-Kitāb, seeks to explain and describe the stylistic properties that influence the meaning to facilitate the understanding of the book for its audience. Among these properties are the frequent use of absent pronouns, demonstrative and ambiguous nouns, some explanations instead of idioms, syntactic descriptions in the form of examples without specifying them, the use of digression figure of speech, the abundance of brevity with hidden analogies, and the use of relative adverbs to express permissions and the necessity of orders. Sibawayh follows the deductive method, he begins with a few examples, then explains the verses, and finally quotes from the Holy Quran, poetic verses from the era of protest, the proverb, or the speech of Arab speakers. And he is constantly talking to a hypothetical audience.

Keywords

References

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