PRONUNC: Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning
| PRONUNC: Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning | |
|---|---|
| Category | Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘) |
| Subcategory | Sound Aesthetics |
| Balaghascore.com | |
| Code | CD-4 |
| BalaghaBase.org | |
| Code | Q126 |
| OpenAlex.org | |
| ID | W4415412877 |
| Cite this page | |
| 🔗 DOI | 10.64393/balagha.Q126 |
| Download PDF | |
| Taxonomy | |
| ARDT | v0.1.0, v0.1.1 |
Definition
Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning (iʾtilāf al-lafẓ maʿa al-maʿnā) is an Arabic rhetorical device where words are suited to their meanings, such that forceful and strong words and expressions are chosen for contexts of pride and enthusiasm, and gentle and soft words and expressions are chosen for love poetry and the like.[1] Al-ʿAlawī defined it as that words be suited (lāʾiqa) to the intended meaning and appropriate for it: if the meaning is grand, the word should be grand; if the meaning is gentle, the word should be gentle.[2] Ibn Abī al-Iṣbaʿ summarised it as meaning that the words of the intended meaning should not include any word unsuited to that meaning.[2] The device was named (sammāhu) by Qudāma ibn Jaʿfar, though he did not explain its meaning.[2]
Mechanism
- The wording corresponds to the character of the meaning: strong and weighty wording for strong meanings, and gentle wording for gentle meanings.[1][2]
- Al-Jāḥiẓ described this as a proportional correspondence between types of words and types of meanings, such that each kind suits its corresponding semantic register.[2]
- Al-Marzūqī described it as the result of prolonged literary discipline, so that words become proportioned to meanings without excess or deficiency.[2]
- Al-Qāḍī al-Jurjānī held that words should be ranked according to the rank of meanings and not treated uniformly across all poetic purposes.[2]
- In this encyclopedia, the mechanism is described as the fitting of lexical register to semantic register: elevated meanings call for elevated wording, and delicate meanings for delicate wording. This systematises the formulations of al-Jāḥiẓ, al-Marzūqī, and al-ʿAlawī without adding a new category.
Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects
- When word and meaning are properly matched, the result occupies one of the finest positions of eloquence (aḥsana mawqiʿ min al-balāgha).[2]
- When wording is unsuited to meaning, this constitutes a rhetorical flaw (ʿayb).[2]
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:
Recognition
Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning (Iʾtilāf al-lafẓ maʿa al-maʿnā) may be present when:
- A passage of pride, boasting, or martial enthusiasm employs forceful and weighty wording.[1]
- A passage of love, longing, or tenderness employs soft and delicate wording.[1]
- No word in the passage appears unsuited to the intended meaning.[2]
The following diagnostic tests aid identification:
- Test 1 — Register substitution: substitute a word of a different stylistic register. If the rhetorical fit weakens, the original wording may exemplify this device.
- Test 2 — Proportionality check: ask whether any word feels stronger or weaker than the meaning requires. If all wording is proportionate, the device may be present.
Examples
- Source Example
إِذَا مَا غَضِبْنَا غَضْبَةً مُضَرِيَّةً / هَتَكْنَا حِجَابَ الشَّمْسِ أَوْ قَطَرَتْ دَمًا / إِذَا مَا أَعَرْنَا سَيِّدًا مِنْ قَبِيلَةٍ / ذُرَى مِنْبَرٍ صَلَّى عَلَيْنَا وَسَلَّمَا
"When we become angry with a Muḍarī anger, we tear the veil of the sun or make it drip blood; when we lend a chief of a tribe the heights of a pulpit, he prays over us and greets us with peace."
- Explanation
- The theme is tribal pride and force. The lexical choices are forceful and weighty, matching the grandeur of the meaning, which illustrates the agreement of wording and meaning.[1]
- Source Example
لَمْ يَطُلْ لَيْلِي وَلَكِنْ لَمْ أَنَمْ / وَنَفَى عَنِّي الْكَرَى طَيْفٌ أَلَمْ
"My night did not grow long, yet I did not sleep; and a passing vision drove sleep away from me."
- Explanation
- The theme is longing and emotional tenderness. The wording is soft and restrained, matching the gentleness of the meaning.[1]
- Source Example
إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِنْ تُرَابٍ
"Indeed, the likeness of Jesus before God is like that of Adam: He created him from dust." (Qurʾān 3:59)
- Explanation
- ʿAkkāwī explains that the word turāb (dust) — the most elementary of substances — is the most fitting word for the meaning, because by reducing the origin of Jesus to the humblest of materials, it refutes the claim of his divinity. The precision of this lexical choice, from among all possible words, makes it an instance of word perfectly matched to meaning.[2]
- Constructed Example
تَقَدَّمَ الجَيْشُ كَالسَّيْلِ الجَارِفِ، وَسَحَقَ كُلَّ مَا اعْتَرَضَ طَرِيقَهُ، وَدَكَّ حُصُونَهُمْ دَكًّا، وَأَخْضَعَ رِقَابَ الأَعْدَاءِ إِخْضَاعًا لَا هَوَادَةَ فِيهِ.
"The army advanced like a sweeping torrent, crushing all that stood in its path, demolishing their fortresses utterly, and subduing the necks of the enemies with a subjugation that admitted no leniency."
- Explanation
- The theme is military force and martial domination. The lexical choices throughout are heavy and percussive — سَحَقَ (to crush), دَكَّ (to demolish, raze), أَخْضَعَ (to subdue), with the cognate accusatives دَكًّا and إِخْضَاعًا amplifying the weight of each verb — so that the wording is proportionate to the forcefulness of the meaning, illustrating the concordance of pronunciation and meaning.
- Constructed Example
تَذَكَّرْتُهَا عِنْدَ هُدُوءِ اللَّيْلِ، فَتَسَلَّلَ شَوْقِي إِلَيْهَا كَمَا يَتَسَلَّلُ النَّسِيمُ بَيْنَ أَوْرَاقِ الشَّجَرِ، وَرَفَّ قَلْبِي رَفِيفًا خَافِتًا، كَأَنَّهُ جَنَاحُ فَرَاشَةٍ لَمَسَ الضَّوْءَ.
"I recalled her at the stillness of night, and my longing for her stole through me as the breeze steals between the leaves of a tree, and my heart fluttered a faint flutter, as though it were the wing of a butterfly that had touched the light."
- Explanation
- The theme is tender longing and delicate feeling. The lexical choices are consistently soft and restrained — تَذَكَّرْتُهَا (gentle recollection), تَسَلَّلَ (to steal through, slip quietly), هُدُوء (stillness, quietude), النَّسِيم (a light breeze), رَفَّ (to flutter softly) — and the cognate accusative رَفِيفًا خَافِتًا compounds the delicacy by qualifying the flutter as faint. The closing image of a butterfly wing touching light is chosen so that both vehicle and tenor belong to the same register of fragility, ensuring that no word in the passage is stronger than the meaning requires, which illustrates the concordance of pronunciation and meaning in the amatory register.
Notes
- The term iʾtilāf here conveys harmony, agreement, or fitting correspondence between wording and meaning.
- Qudāma ibn Jaʿfar is credited with naming the device, but later rhetoricians are the ones who explain and elaborate its meaning.[2]
- The sources do not provide formal subtypes for this device; only broad contrasts of lexical register (strong versus gentle) are explicitly illustrated.[1]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 115-116, ISBN 9786144162798.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Inʿām Fawwāl ʿAkkāwī, Al-Muʿjam al-Mufaṣṣal fī ʿUlūm al-Balāgha: Al-Badīʿ wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Maʿānī (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1996), 11-12.
Page history
- 2026-02-11 - Migration to Semantic Device Identifiers: Renamed from CI-2: Concordance of Word and Meaning to PRONUNC: Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning.
- 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
- 2025-04-17 - Page created: Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning.
