Key Terms and Definitions in Balāǧat

Abstract

The science of balāǧat, an Eastern classical subject within philology, was fully systematized in the 12th century by Khorezmian scholar Abu Yāqub Yūsuf as-Sakkākī (1160-1229). This article analyzes the content of balāǧat, demonstrating that it is a discipline focused on the rules and methods for expressing meaning through properly structured phonetics, morphology, lexicon, semantics, and syntax, in a manner appropriate to the context. It identifies the core components of the balāǧat system as lafẓ (word), kalām (speech), meaning, phrase, condition (situation), speaker (mutakallim), and addressee (muḫātab). The article explains that the science of ma‘ānī explores how to craft speech (kalām) suitable to the circumstances dictated by the situation; the science of bayān covers methods and principles for elucidating a single meaning through various ways and identifying signs directly related to the meaning; and the section known as badī‘ examines artistic devices, or "literary arts," which are now a focus in literary criticism and the study of poetic language.