EVLETTR: Evasive Letterplay
| EVLETTR: Evasive Letterplay | |
|---|---|
| Category | Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘) |
| Subcategory | Indirectness & Ambiguity |
| Balaghascore.com | |
| Code | CA-8 |
| BalaghaBase.org | |
| Code | Q78 |
| OpenAlex | |
| ID | W4415372146 |
| Cite this page | |
| 🔗 DOI | 10.64393/balagha.Q78 |
| Download PDF | |
| Taxonomy | |
| ARDT | v0.1.0, v0.1.1 |
Definition
Evasive Letterplay (al-mawāraba) is an Arabic rhetorical device where the communicator frames their speech such that its wording can be interpreted differently through a consonantal distortion (taḥrīf), a change in pointing (taṣḥīf), or a similar modification, in order to escape censure or accountability.[1][2]
Mechanism
- The communicator produces an utterance that contains an element susceptible to a small formal change - such as a change in pointing (taṣḥīf), a consonantal distortion (taḥrīf), or a similar modification - that yields a different meaning.[1]
- This formal susceptibility creates two possible readings of the utterance, one objectionable and one innocuous.[1]
- If challenged, the speaker can claim the innocuous reading was intended, thus avoiding accountability.[1]
Recognition
Evasive Letterplay may be present when:
- An utterance contains a word (or words) susceptible to a small formal change — such as altered pointing or a consonantal shift — that produces a substantially different meaning.[1][2]
- The original reading is open to objection, while the altered reading is innocuous or complimentary.[1]
- The speaker may resort to the alternative reading if challenged, as illustrated in the cited example.[1]
Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects
Evasive Letterplay:
- Allows the speaker to escape censure or accountability (li-yaslama min al-muʾākhadha) by claiming the innocuous alternative reading was intended.[1]
Applying the Recognition Framework
The information on this page can be used to evaluate whether this device is present in a candidate lexical item using the Specific Device Recognition part of the Universal Framework for Identifying Arabic Rhetorical Devices:
Examples
- Source Example
لقد ضاعَ شِعْرِي على بابِكُم
كَمَا ضَاعَ عِقْدٌ على خَالِصَهMy poetry was lost at your doorstep,
Just as a necklace was lost on Khāliṣa.- Explanation
- Abū Nuwās composed these lines, using ḍāʿa (was lost). When Caliph al-Rashīd objected, Abū Nuwās claimed he had said ḍāʾa (shone), a reading achievable through a minimal change in pointing. Both ḍāʿa shiʿrī (my poetry was lost) and ḍāʿa ʿiqd (a necklace was lost) could thus be reread as ḍāʾa shiʿrī (my poetry shone) and ḍāʾa ʿiqd (a necklace shone), yielding an entirely different and innocuous meaning.[1]
- Constructed Example
كَتَبَ الصَّحَفِيُّ: «إنَّ هذا المسؤولَ أَكَلَ أَمْوَالَ الشَّعْبِ»
The journalist wrote: "This official devoured the people's funds."
- Explanation
- The journalist used akala (devoured/embezzled). When called to account, he claimed he had written akkala (fed/provided for), meaning the official had spent the funds on the people's welfare. Since the two forms share an identical unpointed skeleton (أكل), the distinction rests entirely on a tashdid — a diacritical mark — making the escape reading formally available through a minimal change in pointing.
- Constructed Example
قالَ الخَطِيبُ: «إنَّ هذا الوَزِيرَ يَخُونُ وَطَنَهُ وَأَهْلَهُ»
The orator said: "This minister betrays his homeland and his people."
- Explanation
- The orator used yakhūnu (betrays). When challenged, he claimed he had said yakūnu (is/will be), completing the sentence as "this minister will be a sword for his homeland and his people." The two forms differ by a single dot on the first root letter (خ → ك), a minimal consonantal shift that constitutes taḥrīf, and which — in rapid speech or unvocalised writing — renders the escape reading formally plausible.
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 121, ISBN 9786144162798.
- ↑ a b Basil Hatim, Arabic Rhetoric: The Pragmatics of Deviation from Linguistic Norms, LINCOM Studies in Communication 04 (Munich: Lincom Europa, 2010), 183, ISBN 9783929075731.
Page history
- 2026-02-10 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CD-3: Evasive Letterplay to EVLETTR: Evasive Letterplay.
- 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
- 2025-04-15 - Page created: Evasive Letterplay.
