Contextual Analysis of some Semantically Linked Expressions in the Qur’anic Discourse

Section: Research Paper
Published
Jun 24, 2025
Pages
139-160

Abstract

Variation of words in the context is one of the intriguing linguistic problems of discourse. The study deals with expressions in the Qur'anic context that are seemingly similar, but are linguistically, and contextually dissimilar. Palmer (1981: 89) rejects the existence of absolute synonymy in language by saying" It can, however, be maintained that there are no real synonyms, that no two words have exactly the same meaning ". Words variation is Qur'anic specific phenomenon and context is the linguistic habitat of meanings variation. The Holy Quraan as the revelation of Allah has the highest language style, and the meaning of words is varied according to context. Qur'anic discourse contains many great features such: richness of vocabularies, various methods of words derivation, and the precision of meaning. Bint Al-Shati (1978) explains plainly that the Quraan as a text is quite different in that it is not written by any one of the Arabs, but rather by Allah in the Arabic language. This means that each word, and even each letter, has a special role to play at different levels of meaning or usage in a particular context, and context is the guideline and the criterion for determining the choice of words in Quraan. The meaning of words is highly affected by context. Therefore, context plays a very important role in analyzing and understanding the meaning of expressions in a particular discourse. Any discourse has a close relationship with its context in that the former elaborates the latter and helps the reader interpret the meaning of words, utterances, etc. in a certain discourse. The knowledge of context is a premise of the analysis of discourse (Song, 2000: 878). In a similar vein, Dash (2008 : 21) remarks that context carries a tremendous role in the disambiguation of meaning as well as in recognizing the real meaning of words.

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How to Cite

Saleh, A., & امیر. (2025). Contextual Analysis of some Semantically Linked Expressions in the Qur’anic Discourse. Adab Al-Rafidayn, 44(70), 139–160. https://doi.org/10.33899/radab.1970.163387