The Narrations of Ibn al-Aʿrābī in al-Jawharī’s al-Sihah: A Linguistic Study

Abstract

Narration—in both its oral form and that of transmission from scholars—is considered the foundation of the Arabic language and one of the cornerstones of collecting and recording Arabic speech. Early scholars drew upon it in constructing their linguistic works and based their various linguistic studies upon it. Ibn al-A'rabi is one of the narrators of Arabic and one of its leading figures who enriched linguistic studies with the vast linguistic heritage he compiled. This research sheds light on the narrations of Ibn al-A'rabi that al-Jawhari relied upon and employed in constructing his dictionary, "al-Sihah," which he established on a methodology unprecedented in its scope. The study seeks to gather these narrations that al-Jawhari transmitted in his "al-Sihah," examining their linguistic manifestations, including semantic aspects, morphological dimensions, and the use of poetry as evidence. These narrations had a prominent presence in many of the entries of his dictionary.