Obligations of the Translators of the Qur'an Towards the Qur'anic Readings

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-147
Author(s):  
S. K. Tabatabaee
Keyword(s):  
Past Tense ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Syntactical Structure ◽  
The Way

It is historically established that the readers of the Qur'an read certain Qur'anic phrases or words in various ways. Some of these different readings affect the pronunciation of certain words without changing their meanings, e.g. ‘kufuwan aḥad’ where two readings exist: ‘kufuwan aḥad’ with fā' madmūma and wāw maftūha without hamza and ‘kufu'an aḥad’ with hamz and fā' maḍmūma. Other readings, however, may affect the function of a word in a sentence in terms of the syntactical structure of the sentence and the grammatical function of the word, and the way it is to be parsed. This can be observed in ‘mālik yawn al-dīn’ (Q.1:4) where three readings exist: ‘māliki yawmi'l-dīn’, ‘maliki yawmi'l-dīn’ and ‘malaka yawma'l-dīn’, turning mālik into a past tense verb and rendering the word yawm in the nasb mood. Another example can be found in the Qur'anic phrase ‘bi-mā kānū yakdhibūn’ (Q.2:10) where two readings exist: ‘yakdhibūn’ with yā' maftūḥa and single dhāl, and ‘yukadhdhibūn’ with yā' maḍmūma and doubled dhal. This article will focus on the obligations to be undertaken by the translators of the Qur'an in relation to the latter type of Qur'anic readings.

Zero Marking of Past Tense in Child African American English

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Lee ◽  
Janna B. Oetting
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
American English ◽  
African American English ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Grammatical Function

Zero marking of the simple past is often listed as a common feature of child African American English (AAE). In the current paper, we review the literature and present new data to help clinicians better understand zero marking of the simple past in child AAE. Specifically, we provide information to support the following statements: (a) By six years of age, the simple past is infrequently zero marked by typically developing AAE-speaking children; (b) There are important differences between the simple past and participle morphemes that affect AAE-speaking children's marking options; and (c) In addition to a verb's grammatical function, its phonetic properties help determine whether an AAE-speaking child will produce a zero marked form.

Defective Paradigms

2010 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Design Feature ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Analytical Approaches ◽  
Important Design ◽  
As If ◽  
The Way

An important design feature of language is the use of productive patterns in inflection. In English, we have pairs such as ‘enjoy’ — ‘enjoyed’, ‘agree’ — ‘agreed’, and many others. On the basis of this productive pattern, if we meet a new verb ‘transduce’ we know that there will be the form ‘transduced’. Even if the pattern is not fully regular, there will be a form available, as in ‘understand’ — ‘understood’. Surprisingly, this principle is sometimes violated, a phenomenon known as defectiveness, which means there is a gap in a word's set of forms: for example, given the verb ‘forego’, many if not most people are unwilling to produce a past tense. Although such gaps have been known to us since the days of Classical grammarians, they remain poorly understood. Defectiveness contradicts basic assumptions about the way inflectional rules operate, because it seems to require that speakers know that for certain words, not only should one not employ the expected rule, one should not employ any rule at all. This is a serious problem, since it is probably safe to say that all reigning models of grammar were designed as if defectiveness did not exist, and would lose a considerable amount of their elegance if it were properly factored in. This volume addresses these issues from a number of analytical approaches — historical, statistical and theoretical — and by using studies from a range of languages.

THE SIGNS AND FEATURES OF ARABIC NON-DECLINABLE WORDS

2020 ◽  
pp. 117-125
Author(s):  
Malika NASIROVA
Keyword(s):  
Influencing Factors ◽  
Influence Factor ◽  
Influencing Factor ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Semantic Meaning ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
Imperative Mood ◽  
Main Factor

Medieval Arab linguists traditionally began their scientifc works with questions of inflection [declension]. Case inflection is the main factor that determines the word’s grammatical function in a sentence and the meaning that it carries. It is well known that there are three cases in the Arabic language with special diacritical markings ( تاكرحHarakaat). The ability of a word to have a particular case leads to its categorization as “complete”, “incomplete” or “non-declining”. The endings of a word in a sentence may change due to the [influencing] factor, or even if the [influencing] factors change, their ending may not change. The frst of them is called «mu’rab» which means «declension (conjugation)» and the second – “mabniy” which means “immutability, non-inflection”. Change under the influence of factors [at the end of the word] is called “i’rab” (that is inflection) and non-change under the influence of factors is called “bino” (that is «non-inflection in cases). “I’rab” is a marking that represents an influence factor at the end of a word. The ending of a word as a result of this factor can be “marfuu’ ” [damma-nominative], “mansuub” [fatha-accusative], “majruur” [cassative] or “jazm” [sukunconditional]. Linguists identify the types of “damma”, “fatha”, “kasra” and “sukun” according to the movements at the end of non- declining words. Arab linguists study words by dividing them into two groups in accordance with the case change: these are the words “mabni” and “mu’rab”. If a word is associated with another word or an active factor precedes it but it does not change its case ending (the last pronunciation of the word does not change) such words are called “mabni” and these words do not change at all. Non-declining words include all prepositions, the past tense verb, the imperative mood of the verb, the verb to which the afrmative “nun” is attached or the verb with the ending feminine “nun” and some nouns. Verbs and prepositions do not change initially. It should be noted that the auxiliary words are not changed because there is no need for that. Conjugation is only necessary when there is a basic structural meaning. Auxiliary words by themselves never make sense (semantic meaning)

scholarly journals Derivational and Inflectional Morphemes: A Morphological Analisis

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-85
Author(s):  
Rugaiyah Rugaiyah
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Past Participle ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Inflectional Morphemes ◽  
Derivational Morphemes ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative ◽  
Reading Texts

This study was intended to describe  the category of inflectional and derivational morphemes found in  Reading Texts of 2013 Curriculum English Textbook for the X Grade of Senior High Schools Published by Ministry of Education and Culture. Morpheme is used to refer to the smallest unit that has meaning or serves a grammatical function in a language. The morphemes which can meaningfully stand alone are called free morphemes while the morphemes such as –er and –s, which cannot meaningfully stand alone are called bound morphemes. The design of this study was descriptive qualitative. The results of this study show that Derivational prefixes consist of  inter-, eco-, un-, ar-, pre-, re-, pro-, be-, de-, in-, dis-, a-, ex-, auto-, mis-, agri-, em-, ap-, im- and al-. While,  Derivational suffixes consist of four categories. Thus are nominal, verbal, adjectival, and adverbial suffixes.  First, nominal suffixes, namely  –ism, -ation, -al, -ing, -ist, -or, -ity, -er, -ance, -ment, -ion, -ess, -ium, -ature, -ry, -ant, -ce, -ive, -cy, -y, -r, -ge, and -ness. Second, Verbal suffixes, namely –n and –ize. Third, Adjectival suffixes,  namely  –al, -ly, -ous, -ing, -able, -ic, -ish, -ive, -ian, -ny, -less, -ed, -ary, -nese, -y, and –ful and the last is adverbial suffix  –ly. Otherwise, the categories of inflectional morphemes that found in texts consist of  Noun suffixes (plural) such as;  –s, -ies, and –es, Noun suffixes (possessive) e.g;  –s’ and -’s, Verb suffixes (3rd person singular) are –s and –es, Verb suffixes (past tense) are –ed and –d, Verb suffixes (past participle) such as; –n, -d, and -ed, Adjective suffixes (comparative) are  –er, - r, and –ier and  Adjective suffixes (superlative) are –st and –est. Therefore, based on the result of finding verb suffixes are not found.  

Nasr’s development as a writer in his second language

1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marietta Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
School Year ◽  
Pause Length ◽  
Most Significant Change ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Way

Abstract During the first 6 months of the school year of 1985, at Brunswick Language Centre, I observed Nasr as he was learning to write in his second language. The most significant change which occurred is that Nasr gained an appreciation of the way in which English written anguage is different from spoken language. That is, rather than merely recording his spoken language, Nasr became a writer in English. The changes manifested themselves not only in the product, namely the texts themselves, but also in the processes by which they were produced. These processes can be both directly observed, as recorded on videotape or in the observational diary, which was kept once weekly, or inferred from the product. The major ways in which the last piece is more “developed” is that Nasr has chosen a more “advanced” genre, and the piece conforms more strictly to one genre, rather than also containing elements of other genres. Nevertheless, the earlier pieces mark important, transitional stages and I have therefore chosen to call these intermediate forms “intertext”. Nasr gains mastery over linking mechanisms more characteristic of written than of spoken language he moves from co-ordination to subordination, and through the use of reference and ellipsis, he gradually eliminates the various forms of redundancy. Acquisition of form and function of the past tense Is regarded as essential for the production of sustained narrative and, as such, can also be viewed as a form of cohesion. In Nasr’s case the changes in the writing behaviour include an increase in pause length and a reduction in the number of pauses, changes in the number and type of revisions made, and differences in the way in which input from the teacher is generated.

scholarly journals From connectors to extension particles, the meaning of sipa ki in Mauritian Creole

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 9-25
Author(s):  
Shimeen-Khan Chady
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Shared Experience ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
The Way

The extension particles are not considered as discourse markers by all researchers mainly considering the grammatical function the connectors which they are based on can present. However, as for discourse markers which “desemantisation” has been revoked, other researchers argue that extension particles maintain part of their original meaning while endorsing an intersubjective value. I try to study this question in this article for the Mauritian Creole extension particle sipa ki which is formed on the connector sipa. A fine-grained conversational and pragmatics analysis of 6 hours of ordinary conversations, collected in 2014 shows how sipa ki plays a part in conversational relation co-construction. While helping the enunciator to construct their own discourse and showing their attitude towards it, sipa ki provides information on the way the sentence has to be interpreted by soliciting (assumed) shared experience by interlocutors for message reconstruction. I argue that speech effects provided by extension particle sipa ki partly rely on the meaning of connector sipa on which it is constructed and which also holds an intersubjective value.

18. Graphic Identification, Semantic Interpretation and Phonological Implications in the Oracle Writing of Shang

Early China ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (S1) ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Paul L-M. Serruys
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Short Discussion ◽  
Graphic Analysis ◽  
Chinese Writing ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACTAll translations or interpretations of the Shang oracular texts are ultimately founded on the way in which one understands the system of the early Chinese writing and its underlying principles. This writing system cannot be fully understood unless the study of the graphic structure of each writing unit is combined with that of all other factors that can be observed from the point of view of semantic content and phonology. A short discussion of these three aspects or factors in the writing system is intended to show that any graphic analysis from the very beginning needs to consider the word that is represented by the graphic unit and to determine it in meaning(s) and pronunciation(s), grammatical function(s), and its relationship with other words, whether cognates, synonyms or homonyms, liable to be used as loan units ( ). The graphic analysis must not only explain the pictographic aspects of the graphs, but also determine the possible phonetic, semantic, or etymonic roles played by any of its constituent parts. In this respect, processes like polyphony, polysemy, graphic convergence and confusions, and loan graph substitutions all require vigorous scrutiny from the point of view of the phonology of the Shang language. Besides using information from later bronze texts, classics, and early dictionaries, it is important to let the Shang data speak for themselves.

On the Origin of the Epic Preterit

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-226
Author(s):  
Katja Mellmann
Keyword(s):  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Classical Case ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Temporal Relation ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Source Information ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
The Past ◽  
Verb Forms

Abstract The use of past tense in narrative discourse at first glance seems to imply that the narrated events are lying in the past as compared to the act of narration. However, this intuitive notion was doubted by several scholars in the mid 20th century, among them Käte Hamburger, Harald Weinrich, Émile Benveniste, and Ann Banfield. This article investigates the temporal constitution of literary narratives from a perspective of the biological evolution of Human cognition. My analysis begins with Hamburger’s most disputed claim that in epic fiction the past tense »loses its grammatical function of designating what is past« and proceeds by testing a derived hypothesis against a cross-cultural sample of (mostly oral) folklore. Hamburger denied any temporal relation between the speaker and that which he speaks of, assuming instead a fictitious neverland in which the narrated events are situated and to which the preterit refers. If Hamburger’s model is correct, so the derived hypothesis goes, then the use of past tense in fictional narratives is merely a cultural convention, and different narrative traditions should expose different conventions. Indeed it can be shown that in other cultures stories are told in the present tense, in infinitive verb forms, or in forms indicating abstractness or remoteness. It can be followed that Hamburger was right at least in presuming that reference to the past is not a necessary constituent of verbal storytelling. Actually, instead of referring to the past, the epic preterit rather seems to indicate a change in the modality of speaking, thus adhering to the category of grammatical mood rather than tense. In some languages of oral cultures, however, this presumed mood shows up instead as a way of indicating the source of information. This kind of source information – fully grammaticalized in a quarter of the world’s languages – is called ›evidentiality‹ by linguists. In a phylogenetic perspective on the evolution of cognition, source information only becomes necessary with extended inferential and communicative capabilities and may thus have emerged as a cognitive tool in early humans when entering the ›cognitive niche‹. Evidentiality markers in language may thus be the linguistic reflex of a very ancient cognitive scope category in the innate architecture of the human mind, one which served to separate first-hand experience from reported knowledge. In oral storytelling, evidentiality is marked not only by specific verb forms but also by specific formulas (›they say‹/›it is said‹), intonations, or rhetorical devices. From this perspective, the phenomenon observed by Hamburger and others can be said to originate in the beginning of Tradition – that is, of verbal transmission of cultural knowledge. My hypothesis is that literary narratives in literate cultures still use this ancient cognitive scope operator of ›tradition‹ when employing the epic preterit. Admittedly, in literate cultures it often suffices to put »A novel by« on the title page in order to signal the categorical otherness of narrative fiction. Yet still, authors employ additional means to evoke the atmosphere of a ›murmuring conjuring‹ – as Thomas Mann once called it – that creates the impression of an objective world of tradition behind the individual story told. I point toward examples in literary first-person narratives, because homodiegetic narration – in contrast to Hamburger’s classical case of heterodiegetic narration – shows a continuous spatio-temporal relation between speaker and that which he speaks of and thus requires additional means or efforts to signal a break between the ordinary world of first-hand experience and the world of the literary. Since Hamburger once treated the epic preterit as a signal of fictionality, I briefly discuss the notion of fiction in the last paragraphs of my paper. I consider ›fictionality‹ to be a late cultural concept in literate societies that is not identical with the cognitive category of ›tradition‹ but is ultimately made possible by the existence of the latter.

Self-sacrifice for in-group's history: A diachronic perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Babińska ◽  
Michal Bilewicz
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Emotional Events ◽  
Reciprocal Process ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe problem of extended fusion and identification can be approached from a diachronic perspective. Based on our own research, as well as findings from the fields of social, political, and clinical psychology, we argue that the way contemporary emotional events shape local fusion is similar to the way in which historical experiences shape extended fusion. We propose a reciprocal process in which historical events shape contemporary identities, whereas contemporary identities shape interpretations of past traumas.

What is the purpose of cognition?

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aba Szollosi ◽  
Ben R. Newell
Keyword(s):  
Infinite Number ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
The Way

Abstract The purpose of human cognition depends on the problem people try to solve. Defining the purpose is difficult, because people seem capable of representing problems in an infinite number of ways. The way in which the function of cognition develops needs to be central to our theories.

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