Synonymy in the View of Early Arabic Linguists: A Descriptive, Inductive and Analytical Study

This study explores the phenomenon of synonymy, a subject of significant interest among Arabic linguists and scholars of the principles of jurisprudence (‘usul al-fiqh) due to its importance in understanding subtle differences between words with similar meanings. The objective is to uncover the true stance of early Arabic linguists on synonymy and determine whether there was disagreement among them. Anyone who reviews the scholars' research on this topic will find that they prove the disagreement between early Arabic linguists, which can be summarized in three directions: proving synonymy, denying it absolutely, and proving it with some conditions. Document analysis is the particular qualitative approach employed in the present study. The data is gathered using a library-based approach, citing synonymy research, recording the views of early linguists, and then verifying them with their writings or other sources from the same time. A descriptive, inductive approach is employed in the process of data analysis. The study concludes that early linguists did not deny synonymy, as there is no contradiction between the existence of differences among many synonymous words and proving their synonymy. Even if they differ in other contexts, two terms are considered synonymous when they convey the same meaning in a particular context. Differences in other contexts do not negate their use to indicate the same meaning. This study is expected to contribute to revealing the truth of the opinion of early Arabic linguists on the phenomenon of synonymy and to contribute to enriching this topic so that it is accessible to the academic scientific community and those interested in linguistic and usul al-fiqh studies.