A linguistic analysis of Qur’inic discourse : sound-meaning nexus, cohesion and coherence in Surat Al-Qari‘ah

Abstract EN

This Study explores three linguistic features and the effect of each one on the interpretation of Surat al-Qäri' ah.

These features include sound-symbolism, cohesion, and coherence.

To explore sound-symbolism, the researchers Study phonetic fea- tures of sounds to find out how they affect the hearer's under- Qanding and perceiving of the meaning.

This has been achieved by applying the literary device of onomatopoeia (Ficher, 1999) and the rules of Arabic phonetics on the lev•el of sounds and words in Sürat al-Qäri' ah which is the discourse for data collec- tion.

The phonetic analysis confirms that sound plays an integral role in conveying the meaning and drawing images in the mind of the reader or listener.

The procedures in the selection are to find out the features including sound-symbolism, cohesion, and coherence in this Sura.

For the qualitative analysis of cohesion among verses, Halliday and Hasan (1976) model for cohesive devices is used.

Results prove that interaction of grammatical and lexical cohesive devices is presented through the repetition of these devices.

For Studying coherence, van Dijk's (1977) lev'- els of linear and global coherence, along with Halliday and Hasan's (1985) concepts about intertextuality and using text as context have been implemented.

The analysis shows the main objective that unifies all verses in this Sürah, which is to describe the Day of Judgment.

The above linguistic features are used to make this picture and the State of people clear and visual to the reader of this Sürah therein.