From a semantic perspective, the Arabic language is an inquiry into the essentialism and nominalism of its vocabulary and structures

Document Type : Scientific Research

Author
Hamid Reza Mirhaji
Associate Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
10.48311/LRR/lrr.2025.89369.0
Abstract
The issue of "stability" and "change" is not limited to natural phenomena; the realm of language is also influenced by this discourse. Since the time of the Quran’s revelation, Muslims have developed a profound connection with language, making this topic a significant concern for Muslim scholars as well. The question of whether there are immutable semantic cores, or a lack thereof, can be explored from two perspectives: ontology and pragmatics. In the ontological view of language and its theoretical aspects, early Muslim scholars generally emphasized the existence of a fixed and unchangeable semantic center. Nevertheless, opposing views also emerged in this area. However, in the domain of word and structural meaning, many perspectives highlight the changeability and instability of word referents and sentence structures. Each of these two viewpoints carries its own interpretive and cultural consequences, and neglecting them can lead to specific and far-reaching implications in understanding and interpreting texts. A balanced approach in dealing with these two interpretive perspectives can mitigate the harmful effects of total dependence on either one.

Keywords
language
meaning
hard semantic cores
essentialism
nominalism
Subjects