The Correlation between Definite Noun Phrases and Verb Forms in Qur'anic Narrative Texts

Abstract

In a previous article I have examined shifts of noun phrase forms in Qur'anic narrative texts and found that this kind of shift is strictly associated with the construction of texts and development of stories. It was also found that other categories such as voice, aspect and tense are connected with the shifts of these noun phrase forms. In the present paper I first confirm the argument made in my previous paper: that forms of noun phrases are markers of point of view in narratives. Next, the correlations between these noun phrase forms and various verb forms are inquired into, and the effect of using different noun phrase forms and verb forms in the texts is discussed. The argument is restricted to narratives because these realise textual coherence more than the early fragmentary revelations, and because the points of view in these narratives can be examined through the various persons coming into the stories. In addition, this study focuses on definite noun phrases rather than indefinite ones as, other than when they are first introduced into the texts, the referents in these stories are referred to with definite noun phrases, or more strictly speaking, a number of prophets and other famous persons are frequently introduced with definite noun phrases.