ARABIC RHETORIC II (AL-MA’AANI) pdf

Arabic Rhetoric Ii (Al-Ma’aani) – National Open University of Nigeria

ARABIC RHETORIC II (AL-MA’AANI)

Ilm-l-maani is the branch of Arabic rhetoric that deals with the meaning of words and their semantic significance.

 It has to do principally with the art of successfully conveying intended ideas or meaning by a skillful combination of words in a sentence or phrase.

Al-ma’ani protects speakers or writers from using an expression that may not suit the situation for which the expression is meant by providing him guidance in knowing different usages of Arabic words. For instance, it explains the original meaning of a word and some other possible meanings which the word may convey in various situations.

 For example, a word can originally be imperative al-Amr and can equally be used in some situations for request al-Itimas; wish al-Tamanna; threatening at-Tahdid; option al-Takhyr; weakness at-Ta’jiz, and so on.  In this Unit, the concept of “Ilm-l-maani will be introduced, and the types of sentences will also be explained.

 The meaning of ilm-l-maani

Al-ma’ani is the study that ensures that a speech agrees with what the situation requires. According to As-sakkaki (1983)”It is an art of successfully conveying intended ideas by skillful combination of precise words at the relevant or suitable context of situation” It is in line with this that the Arabs have said:  (Every situation has its specific style of expression)