Exploring the Genesis of Early Arabic Linguistic Thought: Qur'anic Readers and Grammarians of the Kūfan Tradition (Part I)

Abstract

The Qur'anic reading tradition's approach to Arabic linguistic thought was largely prefigured by the desire to preserve physically the oral language of scripture, ensuring its textual integrity was never compromised. Qur'anic readers evolved rudimentary models of linguistic thought which were purposefully anchored to the service of scripture. These readers devised improvements in orthography; they devoted treatises to the articulation of scripture, defining the conventions therein; and they collated with precision the stock of readings enshrined within the Qur'anic canon. These functional linguistic procedures were designed to project meticulously the liturgical and spiritual value of scripture; moreover, they were governed by the pre-eminent ascendancy of precedents. This linguistic activity served as a catalyst for Arabic linguistic thought. Emerging from the ranks of these readers are figures who sought to relate the linguistic phenomena inherent in the corpus of Qur'anic readings to a theory of language; paradoxically, the very models of grammar and philology which were discerningly formulated for the service of scripture become the standard by which the linguistic configurations of the Qur'anic diction are appraised and justified. The strictures of authentication adhered to by readers predicated an implicit rejection of the abstract inquisitiveness practised by these linguists. And therein lies the history of the genesis of Arabic linguistic thought which this article will attempt to expound upon.