İbn Mâlik’in Sarf Teorisi: İ‘lâl, Tesniye ve Nisbette Kuramsal Açılımlar
Ibn Mālik’s Sarf Theory: Theoretical Expansions in I‘lāl, Tasniya and Nisba

Summary/Abstract: Ibn Mālik (d.672/1274), accepted as an authority in the Arabic language and grammar, was one of the leading figures of the seventh century. He became famous with his didactic poetic work, al-Alfiyya; and played an active role, both in grammar teaching and consolidation of grammatical rules by systematizing Arabic linguistics. Especially, al-Alfiyya, profoundly influenced many linguists who came after him, as it became the subject of numerous commentaries (sharḥ) and marginal glosses (ḥāshiya). While benefitting from previous scholarly traditions, Ibn Mālik did not adopt an imitative stance; rather, he introduced new interpretations to Arabic linguistics through an inquisitive and critical perspective. He subjected even in the views he adopted to his own distinctive intellectual filter, consistently trying to put forth his own thoughts while preserving his originality. In his unique views concerning the science of sarf (ṣarf), he took important steps toward widening the scope of language and reinterpreting its rules. The primary objective of this study is to examine Ibn Mālik’s authentic methodology through the subjects of i‘lāl (vowel mutation), tasniya (dualization), and nisba (attribution), and to reveal the influences of these approaches on the science of sarf. For example, by grounding the dualization of plural nouns and broken plurals, which had been considered as samā‘ī, in qiyās, he brought a new dimension to the understanding of samā‘ism and pointed out that language is not limited to examples heard, but can expand its scope within grammatical rules. In addition, he established criteria for morphological changes in the if‘āl and istif‘āl forms and interpreted the expressions annexed to the tasniya by giving particular emphasis to their i'rab features. The findings obtained as a result of the analyses demonstrate that Ibn Mālik pursued an approach different from that of earlier linguistics, who rigidly upheld the distinction between samā‘ī and qiyas, and that he evaluated even examples deemed samā‘ī within a rule-based framework. Consequently, it has been determined that Ibn Mālik introduced significant innovations, drawing on attested usages, to render the language more systematic; and that he was particularly instrumental in expanding the scope of existing rules by transferring anomalous (shādh/rare) forms on an analogical (qiyās) basis.

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