Criteria for Inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric
| Cite this page | |
|---|---|
| 🔗 Live DOI | 10.64393/balagha.criteria.inclusion |
| Date | 16 August 2026 |
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Introduction
The purpose of the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric is to provide a stable, operational framework for the identification and analysis of Arabic rhetorical devices. The encyclopedia's scope is not to catalogue every named phenomenon in the Arabic rhetorical tradition. Accordingly, the encyclopedia's inclusion criteria ensure that each device contributes meaningfully to:
- Clear rhetorical identification,
- Linguistic analysis,
- Consistent annotation, and
- Computational or corpus-based operationalisation.
A rhetorical device is included only if it satisfies methodological standards that ensure analytical clarity, taxonomic distinctiveness, and reliable identification. The full inventory of the encyclopedia's rhetorical devices can be accessed from the home page, and in derived resources such as the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy, the Arabic Rhetorical Device Identifier, and the Balagha-ID app.
Devices that lack the necessary definitional precision, overlap extensively with broader interpretive phenomena, or cannot be annotated with reasonable reliability are not included. Exclusion does not deny a rhetorical device's historical attestation or rhetorical value. Rather, it reflects a principled commitment to taxonomic coherence and operational clarity. The Encyclopedia maintains a list of devices which have been rejected, along with the reasoning for rejection.
Criteria for Inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric
The Criteria for Inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric operationalise the theoretical framework established by the Model for Rhetorical Action and the Design Principles of the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric. A candidate rhetorical device must satisfy all of the following criteria for inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric:
A candidate rhetorical device must have attestation in established Arabic rhetorical theory (see Principle 4: The Encyclopedia's Typological Foundation is the Classical Arabic Rhetorical Tradition).
Criterion 1: Attestation
- To ensure the strength of the Encyclopedia's provenance, the classical Arabic rhetorical tradition must attest to the existence of a candidate rhetorical device through at least three sources.
Criteria 2–4 operationalise Steps 2–4 of the Model for Rhetorical Action. Step 1 (Communicator Intent Step) is not an inclusion criterion because although communicator intent may motivate a rhetorical action, it is not a necessary condition for rhetorical action to occur and cannot ordinarily be established reliably from linguistic evidence alone.
Criterion 2: Linguistic Operation
- A candidate rhetorical device must correspond to a clearly defined and identifiable Linguistic Operation rather than only to a general communicative effect, purpose, topic, or stylistic quality (see Principle 2: The Encyclopedia Uses a Linguistic Operation-First Approach to Rhetorical Analysis and Principle 3: The Encyclopedia Views Rhetorical Devices As Atomic Units).
Criterion 3: Cognitive Relationship
- A candidate rhetorical device must be capable, through its Linguistic Operation, of establishing or activating one or more communicatively relevant Cognitive Relationships for the addressee between concepts, meanings, expressions, sounds, structures, assumptions, or other elements of the discourse, through which the Linguistic Operation can acquire rhetorical significance.
- Such Cognitive Relationships may be semantic, conceptual, formal, structural, phonological, or otherwise linguistic according to the nature of the Linguistic Operation. Mere perception of a linguistic feature or incidental regularity is not sufficient; the relationship must be capable of supporting Communicative Enhancement.
Criterion 4: Communicative Enhancement
- A candidate rhetorical device must be capable, through the Cognitive Relationship established or activated by its Linguistic Operation, of contributing to the enhancement of one or more identifiable communicative effects in the addressee.
- The Communicative Enhancement need not correspond to demonstrable Communicator Intent, and a particular occurrence need not demonstrably produce the enhancement in every addressee.
Criterion 5: Taxonomic distinctiveness
- A candidate rhetorical device must be sufficiently distinct from existing devices in its Linguistic Operation to justify an independent taxonomic position.
- A difference only in Cognitive Relationship, the particular communicative effect enhanced, or Communicator Intent is not sufficient to establish a separate rhetorical device where the underlying Linguistic Operation is the same.
Criterion 6: Operationally identifiable
- The attested definitions, descriptions, and examples of a candidate rhetorical device must provide sufficient evidence for the Encyclopedia to derive stable operational recognition criteria, including through Controlled Abstraction where necessary, such that independent analysts can identify and annotate instances of the device consistently.
See Also
- Model for Rhetorical Action - establishes the theoretical model of rhetorical action operationalised by these criteria.
- Design Principles of the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric - outlines the Encyclopedia's design principles through which the Model for Rhetorical Action is applied to the organisation of rhetorical devices.
Page History
- 2026-08-16 - Page created: Criteria for Inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric by splitting from Design Principles of the Encyclopedia of Arabic Rhetoric.
