Verb Structure in Imām Shāfi’s Anthology: A Morphosemantic Study

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate verb structure in Imam Shafi’is poetic works. It is a theme oriented collection of poems attributed to him which deals with specific themes in a general style. The choice for this particular literary piece is informed by its exhibition of deliberate and extravagant display of rhetorical devices, as well as easy accessibility of its content relative to other classical poetic works, which could barely be appreciated without an advanced Arabic dictionary. This collection of poems however is made up of nineteen different parts under each of which are group of assemblies with varying themes. While most of the themes are inter-locked, a few others are absolutely different. One thing is certain though, beneath each assembly, one will discover a strong religious tone, a sound moral lesson, as well as a good pearls of wisdom. Though Imam Shafi’is poetic works certainly lacks the sheer ingenuity, aesthetic flair, and imaginative thrills unlike other classical poetic works, yet it is replete with vast socio-cultural knowledge and rich linguistics material worthy of attention. This study on the other hand sought to highlight how the various forms of Arabic verb structure, mainly three consonantal root and four consonantal root, and their related extensions contribute to meaning formation in this literary piece. This was accomplished jointly via a descriptive linguistic analysis & text interpretation (hermeneutics). The study discovered that, the various verb structure as used in the poetry had strong connection with the context within which they were used. The most frequently used verb structure is the three consonantal root. The three consonantal root, mainly used for the passive voice usually had two meanings: the literal and the metaphorical. It is envisaged that the study will help readers appreciate the unique role of verbs in Arabic sentence in building vocabulary stock, and to discover how abstract rules governing the derivation of words are applied on a contemporary Arabic text