PRONUNC: Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning
| PRONUNC: Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning | |
|---|---|
| Category | Linguistic Embellishments (ʿilm al-badīʿ) |
| Subcategory | Wordplay & Phonetic Styling |
| Built upon | 4 sources |
| Annotation Unit | |
| ARDT Code | PRONUNC |
| Level | 1 (Rhetorical device) |
| Included in Taxonomy | |
| ARDT | v0.1.1 v0.1.0 |
| External Identifiers | |
| BALAGHAScore | CD-4 |
| BalaghaBase | Q126 |
| OpenAlex | W4415412877 |
| Cite this page | |
| 🔗 Live DOI | 10.64393/balagha.Q126 |
| Use this page | |
| Download | PDF JSON  |
Definition
Concordance of Pronunciation and Meaning (iʾtilāf al-lafẓ maʿa al-maʿnā) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which words are suited to the character of the intended meaning, such that forceful and strong words and expressions are chosen for contexts of pride and enthusiasm, gentle and soft words and expressions are chosen for love poetry and the like, or the historical or cultural register of the wording is matched to that of the subject matter.[1][2][3]
Background Information
The Arabic name iʾtilāf al-lafẓ maʿa al-maʿnā describes the operation directly: the wording is in agreement or concordance (iʾtilāf) with the meaning, so that the character of the words is suited to the character of the intended meaning.[1][4][3]
Linguistic Operations
- The wording is selected so as to correspond to the character of the intended meaning; this correspondence may concern qualities such as force and gentleness, or the historical and cultural register of the subject matter.[1][4][2]
- Where the intended meaning belongs to an unusual or early cultural setting, correspondingly unusual diction may be appropriate; where the meaning derives wholly or partly from later developments or ordinary contemporary life, more current diction may appropriately be used.[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.[4]
- Al-Marzūqī described it as the result of prolonged literary discipline, so that words become proportioned to meanings without excess or deficiency.[4]
- Al-Qāḍī al-Jurjānī held that words should be ranked according to the rank of meanings and not treated uniformly across all poetic purposes.[4]
- 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.[4] Ibn Abī al-Iṣbaʿ summarised it as meaning that the words of the intended meaning should not include any word unsuited to that meaning.[4] The device was named (sammāhu) by Qudāma ibn Jaʿfar, though he did not explain its meaning.[4]
- Ṭabāna illustrates the correspondence as a matter of lexical familiarity as well as force or delicacy: when Zuhayr expresses a somewhat unfamiliar meaning, he uses words intermediate between unfamiliarity and ordinary usage; when the meaning becomes clearer, he uses more familiar and commonly used words.[3]
- In this encyclopedia, the linguistic operation is described as the fitting of lexical register to semantic character. The relevant correspondence may concern intensity, delicacy, elevation, familiarity or unfamiliarity, or historical register, by which the diction is made proportionate to the intended meaning.
Communicative Enhancements
- When word and meaning are properly matched, the result occupies one of the finest positions of eloquence (aḥsana mawqiʿ min al-balāgha).[4]
- When wording is unsuited to meaning, this constitutes a rhetorical flaw (ʿayb).[4]
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]
- A subject associated with an earlier, unusual, later, or everyday cultural setting employs diction whose historical or social register corresponds to that setting.[2]
- No word in the passage appears unsuited to the intended meaning.[4]
- The relative familiarity or unusualness of the wording corresponds to that of the meaning: a somewhat unfamiliar meaning may be expressed through correspondingly less familiar wording, while a clearer meaning may be expressed through more familiar and commonly used words.[3]
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
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]
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]
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.[4]
وَخَوْفُ الرَّدَى آوَى إِلَى الْكَهْفِ أَهْلَهُ / وَعَلَّمَ نُوحًا وَابْنَهُ عَمَلَ السُّفْنِ / وَمَا اسْتَعْذَبَتْهُ رُوحُ مُوسَى وَآدَمٍ / وَقَدْ وُعِدَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ جَنَّتَيْ عَدْنِ
"The fear of death made the Companions of the Cave take refuge in the Cave, and taught Noah and his son how to build ships; neither Moses nor Adam found death sweet to the soul, although they had been promised the gardens of Eden thereafter."
- Explanation
- Al-Nābulusī explains that the meaning of these verses belongs to a later cultural context, and that it is therefore appropriately expressed in the diction of later times. The example illustrates concordance between the historical or cultural character of the intended meaning and the register of the wording.[2]
أَثَافِيَّ سُفْعًا فِي مُعَرَّسِ مِرْجَلِ / وَنُؤْيًا كَجِذْمِ الْحَوْضِ لَمْ يَتَثَلَّمِ / فَلَمَّا عَرَفْتُ الدَّارَ قُلْتُ لِرَبْعِهَا / أَلَا انْعَمْ صَبَاحًا أَيُّهَا الرَّبْعُ وَاسْلَمِ
"Blackened hearthstones at the resting-place of a cauldron, and a trench like the base of a cistern, unbroken; then, when I recognised the dwelling, I said to its campsite: ‘May you enjoy a good morning, O campsite, and remain safe.’"
- Explanation
- Ṭabāna explains that Zuhayr intended a somewhat unfamiliar meaning in the first verse and therefore composed it from words intermediate between unfamiliarity and ordinary usage. In the second verse, when he turned to a clearer meaning, he composed it from familiar, commonly used words. The example therefore illustrates the correspondence of wording to meaning through the relative familiarity or unfamiliarity of the vocabulary.[3]
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.
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.
The old oak crashed to the earth, wrenching its roots from the soil and shattering the wall beneath it.
- Explanation
- The meaning is one of violent physical force, and the wording is correspondingly forceful: “crashed,” “wrenching,” and “shattering” are strong lexical choices suited to the character of the event. Gentler alternatives such as “fell,” “lifting,” or “breaking” would express a similar basic event but would not match its force as closely. The example illustrates the concordance of wording and meaning by matching the strength of the vocabulary to the strength of the intended meaning.
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.[4]
- The sources do not provide formal subtypes for this device; rather, they illustrate different dimensions of correspondence between wording and meaning, including strong versus gentle diction, familiar versus relatively unfamiliar diction, and earlier or unusual versus later or everyday diction.[1][3][2]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g h 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 Pierre Cachia, The Arch Rhetorician: Or The Schemer’s Skimmer: A Handbook of Late Arabic Badīʻ Drawn from ʻAbd al-Ghanī an-Nābulsī’s Nafaḥāt al-Azhār ʻala Nasamāt al-Asḥār, Studies in Arabic Language and Literature 3 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1998), p. 116; §158, ISBN 9783447040327.
- ↑ a b c d e f Badawī Ṭabāna, Muʿjam al-Balāgha al-ʿArabiyya, 3rd rev. and expanded ed. (Jeddah: Dār al-Manāra; Riyadh: Dār al-Rifāʿī, 1988), 43.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Inʿam Fawwal ʿAkkawi, al-Muʿjam al-Mufassal fi ʿUlum al-Balagha: al-Badiʿ wa-l-Bayan wa-l-Maʿani (Beirut: Dar 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.
