Semantic Analysis of the Name" Raḥīm" in the Quran by using Talmy Theory; a Case Study of Surah Al- Baqarah

علوم قرآن و حدیث

Article 8, Volume 56, Issue 1 - Serial Number 112, August 2024, Pages 181-200   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/jquran.2024.84444.1606

Authors

Zahra Nadali^{* 1}; Dana Talebpour²; Mohammad Shafigh Aski³

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran

²Ph.D. Graduate, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

³Assistant Professor, Department of Theology and Islamic Studies, Farhangian University, Mazandaran, Iran

Abstract

Nowadays, cognitive linguistics is one of the sciences that is useful in the exact clarification of valuable hidden meanings of the Quranic verses. The theory of "figure and ground" is one of the important issues in this field proposed by Talmy, the famous American linguist. By using this theory, it is possible to examine the semantic relation between the interval words and the context of the verses and gain a deeper understanding of them. "Raḥīm" is one of the prominent Divine Names which has a high frequency in the Holy Quran and has been repeated twelve times in Surah al-Baqarah. By using Talmy's theory of figure and ground, it is possible to analyze the syntagmatic relation between the Name and other Divine Names such as "Tawwāb", "Ghafūr", "Raḥmān", and "Raʾūf" as well as its posteriority between other Names. Analysis of the data shows that the repetition of the Divine Names is influenced by the context of each verse and has its own denotation. On the other hand, according to the cognitive theory, it represents that the position of some of them is more important than others. Meanwhile, the coupled Names "Ghafūr" and "Raḥmān" have the most repetition in Surah al-Baqarah to become their meaning more established in the believers' hearts, and they know that His grace and forgiveness are extensive and include all the Servants forever. Also, the divine mercy, repentance-accepting (Tawwāb), and divine affection (Raʾfat) originate from the everlasting source of His grace. If we consider the divine Names as the ground and the content of the Surah as the figure, we will find that the subject of more than a third of the verses of the Surah are about Allah's presence in life.

Keywords

Semantics; Context; Surah al- Baqarah; Name " Raḥīm"; Talmy

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