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"definition": "Diminishing Expression provides an exemplar of how a rhetorical category from another rhetorical tradition may fail to correspond directly to an atomic device in Arabic rhetoric, and how an apparent rhetorical device may instead decompose into an existing linguistic operation and a separate pragmatic effect.\nAbdul-Raof presents Tapinosis as a semantic embellishment involving depreciation or belittlement. His examples include referring to a jabal (mountain) as a rabwa (hill), and referring to a nahr (river) as a jadwal (stream).[1]\nAlthough the resulting pragmatic effect may be described as al-taḥqīr (belittlement or depreciation), the linguistic operation in these examples is not itself a distinct operation of \"diminishing\". The communicator instead applies a lexical concept associated with a lesser but similar entity to the actual referent.\nWhy this is a concept rather than a deviceAt first sight, Tapinosis might appear to correspond to an Arabic rhetorical device called al-taḥqīr. However, analysis of Abdul-Raof's examples reveals that the identifiable linguistic operation is already accounted for elsewhere in the taxonomy.\nFor example:\n\nفي بلادي نهرٌ وعندكم جدول\nIn my country, there is a river and you have got a stream.\n\nThe referent is understood to be a river, but the communicator designates it as a stream. The expression therefore involves the transfer of a lexical concept to a referent to which it does not literally apply, on the basis of similarity. In the Encyclopedia's taxonomy, this is analysed through metaphorical transfer.\nWhat makes the expression depreciatory is not a separate linguistic operation, but the direction of the conceptual substitution: the selected analogue is smaller, weaker, or less impressive than the referent.\nThe same analysis applies to Abdul-Raof's second example:\n\nزرتُ بلادكم الشهر الماضي وصعدتُ الربوةَ في الشمال\nI visited your country last month and climbed the hill in the north.\n\nHere, rabwa (hill) is used where jabal (mountain) would more accurately describe the referent.[1]\nDecomposition under the Model for Rhetorical ActionThe phenomenon can therefore be decomposed as follows:\n\nMRA Level\n\nAnalysis\n\nCommunicator Intent\n\nTo depreciate, belittle, or diminish the perceived importance of the referent.\n\nLinguistic Operation\n\nMetaphorical transfer: a lexical concept is applied to a different but similar referent.\n\nCognitive Relationship\n\nSimilarity combined with a downward scalar relationship, such as mountain → hill or river → stream.\n\nPragmatic Effect\n\nBelittlement or depreciation (taḥqīr).\n\nThis distinction is important because taḥqīr is not restricted to metaphorical expressions. Arabic rhetorical sources also recognise belittlement as a possible rhetorical effect of other linguistic operations. For example, ʿAkkāwī records istifhām al-taḥqīr among the rhetorical uses of interrogation.[2]\nThe fact that the same pragmatic effect may result from different linguistic operations is evidence against treating the effect itself as an atomic rhetorical device.\nCross-tradition terminologyThis exemplar also illustrates a broader problem in comparing rhetorical traditions.\nA rhetorical term used in one tradition does not necessarily correspond one-to-one with a device recognised in another. A named figure may package together:\na linguistic operation;\na particular cognitive relationship; and\na characteristic pragmatic effect.Consequently, importing the name of a figure into the Arabic rhetorical taxonomy without first decomposing its mechanism may produce duplicate devices for linguistic operations that are already represented elsewhere.\nIn this case, Abdul-Raof's Tapinosis identifies a recognisable rhetorical configuration, but the examples supplied do not require a new atomic device. They can instead be represented as a particular use of metaphor producing the pragmatic effect of taḥqīr.\nWhat this exemplar demonstratesThis case illustrates three principles of the Encyclopedia's analytical framework:\n\n Rhetorical terminology is not necessarily transferable between traditions on a one-to-one basis. A named figure in another rhetorical tradition may not correspond to an independent device in Arabic rhetoric.\n Pragmatic effects are distinct from linguistic operations. Taḥqīr is a genuine rhetorical effect, but it may be produced through metaphor, interrogation, or other linguistic operations.\n Device identification begins with the linguistic operation. The relevant question is not merely \"What is this figure called?\" but \"What has the communicator done to the language?\"\nThe original Diminishing Expression entry was therefore retired from the device taxonomy. Its examples are retained here because they provide a useful exemplar of rhetorical decomposition under the Model for Rhetorical Action.",
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