POLIFUNKCIONALNOST KAO PRINCIP: UPOTREBA LEKSEMA ḤATTĀ U ARAPSKOM JEZIKU
POLYFUNCTIONALITY AS A PRINCIPLE: THE USE OF LEXEME ḤATTĀ IN ARABIC

Summary/Abstract: Lexeme ḥattā, as a member of several closed parts-of-speech classes in Arabic, received due attention in Arabic grammatical description throughout the time span from the era of classical Arabic until the present day. The content of the grammatical description of this lexeme, however, is in stark contrast to the attention it has received in the literature. Thus, the description of the meaning and usage of the preposition ḥattā, from which other functions of this polyfunctional lexeme have developed, is largely harmonized, while the analysis of its other functions, plagued by inconsistencies and contradictory statements, remains far from being comprehensive and systematic. The syntactic functions of lexeme ḥattā are therein mentioned only rarely and sporadically, lacking a systematic analysis. Therefore, the main goal of this paper is the analysis of various syntactic functions that lexeme ḥattā can take in the Arabic sentence. The analysis is based on the analytical-descriptive method and the typological-functional approach. Its results show that lexeme ḥattā covers a wide spectrum of syntactic functions in Modern Standard Arabic, ranging from preposition with dimensional (time and space) and non-dimensional meanings, via adverb used for emphasis before phrases and sentences, and subordinating conjunction introducing adverbial clauses of time, purpose and result, to correlative particle used in time clauses with the meaning of immediate succession. In addition to providing a systematic description of the various functions of lexeme ḥattā, the analysis presented in the paper also contributes to expanding of the description of its individual functions, as well as demonstrates the important role that lexeme ḥattā plays in enriching the inventory of means of stylistic choice in Arabic.

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