Lexical Alternation: Assigning Particles the Meanings of Nouns in al-Tabrīzī’s Commentary on al-Kāfiyah: A Descriptive-Analytical Syntactic Study

Arabic grammar is the primary discipline for regulating the language and positioning each of its elements appropriately within context. Any deviation from this standard is regarded by grammarians as ḥaml ʿalā al-maʿnā (“interpretation based on meaning”), also known as taqāruḍ or tanāwub (“lexical alternation”), a phenomenon that occurs only in texts marked by eloquence, most notably the Qurʾān. This study focuses on one aspect of such alternation—assigning certain particles (ḥurūf) the meanings of nouns (asmāʾ), a departure from the apparent usage that necessitates explanation and interpretation to account for the semantic link between them. The research investigates this phenomenon in Jalāl al-Dīn al-Tabrīzī’s (d. 838 AH) commentary on Ibn al-Ḥājib’s al-Kāfiyah (d. 646 AH), addressing two cases: interpreting illā as ghayr (“other than”), as in Qurʾān 21:22, and interpreting ḥattā as maʿa (“with”). Adopting a descriptive-analytical methodology, the study examines al-Tabrīzī’s treatment of these issues, referencing early and modern grammarians as well as other commentators on al-Kāfiyah. The findings reveal the rhetorical and semantic value of substituting one lexical category for another—particularly the occurrence of a particle in place of a noun—as a form of linguistic creativity that enriches the text and expands its meanings.