Some Views on the Baghdad Language School and Its Prominent Linguists: Analytical Approach
Mustafa KeskinArabic grammar emerged with the objective of preventing the incorrect recitation of the Qur’an and averting misunderstandings by attempting to read an Arabic text correctly within the framework of certain rules and principles. Originating in Basra, systematic studies were sequentially conducted in Kufa, Baghdad, Andalusia, and Egypt. Within this framework, some linguists from Basra and Kufa who settled in Baghdad by carrying out studies that brought different perspectives on the linguistic field basically made a choice between the views of these two schools and blended them while also introducing their own perspectives, thus forming the Baghdad School of Arabic Grammar. This article discusses the Baghdad language school and the prominent linguists in it. The introduction provides fundamental information about the emergence and formation of Arabic grammar. Subsequently, it elucidates the formation process of the Baghdad School of Arabic Grammar following the Basra and Kufa linguistic schools, outlining its fundamental approaches and characteristics. Additionally, it provides brief information about the lives and works of influential linguists who pioneered the formation of the Baghdad School, such as Ahfesh al-Awset, Ibn Qaysan, Abu Ali al-Farisi and Ibn Jinni, and their different linguistic views from previous linguists were discussed with an analytical approach.
Bağdat Dil Ekolü ve Önde Gelen Dilcilerine Ait Bazı Görüşler: Analitik Bir Yaklaşım
Mustafa KeskinKur’ân’ı Kerim’in yanlış okunmasını önlemek ve doğru olmayan anlaşılmaların önüne geçmek amacıyla ortaya çıkan Arap dili grameri, Arapça bir metnin belli kaide ve kurallar çerçevesinde doğru okunmasını hedeflemiştir. Bu kapsamdaki ilk sistemli çalışmalar, Basra’da başlayıp daha sonra sırasıyla; Kûfe, Bağdat, Endülüs ve Mısır dil ekolleriyle devam etmiştir. Bu çerçevede dilbilimsel alana dair farklı bakış açısı getiren çalışmalar yaparak Bağdat’a yerleşen Basralı ve Kûfeli bazı dilciler, temelde bu iki ekolün görüşleri arasında tercih yaparak harmanlama yapmıştır. Yanı sıra kendilerine özgü bazı bakış açılarını da ortaya koyarak Bağdat dil ekolünü oluşturmuşlardır. Bu makalede, Bağdat dil ekolü ve bu ekole mensup bazı önde gelen dilcilerin görüşleri ele alınmıştır. Bu kapsamda Arap dili gramerinin ortaya çıkışı ve oluşum sürecine dair temel bilgilerin verildiği bir giriş ile başlanmıştır. Sonrasında Basra ve Kûfe dil ekollerinden sonra tesis edilen Bağdat dil ekolünün oluşum süreci, Bağdat dil ekolünün temel yaklaşımları ve bu ekolün temel özellikleri hakkında bilgiler verilmiştir. Bununla beraber, Bağdat ekolünün oluşumuna öncülük eden, Ahfeş el-Evsat, İbn Keysân, Ebu Ali el-Fârisî ve İbn Cinnî gibi önde gelen önemli dilcilerin hayatları ve eserleri hakkında kısa bilgiler verilmiş ve kendilerinden önceki dilcilerden farklı dilsel görüşleri analitik bir yaklaşımla ele alınarak aktarılmıştır.
The fact that the first addressees of Islam were Arabs and that the Holy Quran was transmitted in Arabic increased the importance of this language. In this context, Arabic preserved its originality during the first period of Islam, but the spread of Islam to large areas and the adoption of different nations into this religion caused an increase in incorrect usage (lahn) of the language. To prevent these mistakes and ensure the correct pronunciation of the Holy Quran, it became necessary to determine and record the grammatical rules of the Arabic language. Grammar studies emerging within this framework have turned into language schools during the historical process. The first school created in this context is the Basra language school. Later, some linguists came together in the city of Kufa, and the linguistic studies they put forward using different approaches were called the Kufa school. Linguists from Baghdad, Andalusia, and Egypt who came after the members of these two schools introduced new approaches by focusing on these two previously established schools. The new linguistic approaches developed by these linguists are referred to as Baghdad, Andalusian, and Egyptian language schools, depending on their location. In this study, the Baghdad language school, which has ranked third chronologically in Arabic language studies, and the opinions of some leading linguists belonging to this school are discussed. In this context, it began with an introduction in which basic information about the emergence of Arabic grammar and the formation process of language schools was provided. Afterwards, the following information is given about the formation process of the Baghdad language school, which was established after the Basra and Kufa language schools; the basic approaches of the Baghdad language school; and the basic features of this school; After the city of Baghdad was made the capital of the Abbasid State, it quickly became the center of scientific studies as well as cultural activities. One of the important features of the city is that it brought together linguists from Basra and Kufa. Although it is not as advanced as the cities of Basra and Kufa in terms of grammar studies, they have begun to gain great importance with the new grammar methods introduced by the linguists who settled here. With this new method, the linguists residing here integrated the views of the Basra and Kufa schools on certain issues and undertook a conciliatory mission by making choices between the views of both schools on certain issues. Thus, the Baghdad school made a choice between the views of the Basra and Kufa linguists, who presented different views and partly created a new language school based on their work. It is possible to summarize the basic approaches of this school as follows; 1-Sema; Baghdad linguists accepted all the different Arabic dialects as ijtihad. 2-Qiyas; The Baghdad school neither ignored rare uses, like the Basra school, nor fully accepted them, like the Kufa school, in terms of their ability to form the basis of qiyas. They adopted a middle path between the views of both schools and accepted rare uses by dividing them into three parts. 3-Shaz recitations; Baghdad linguists stated that if these are supported by narrations, they can be accepted and used as evidence. 4-Istishhad with hadiths; They accepted that the form of expression in the hadiths could be ijtihad and that many rules were built based on this usage. 5- Istishhad with Arabic poetry; Baghdad linguists, unlike Basra and Kufa linguists, stated that third and fourth layer poems could also be evidence for grammar. In addition, in this study, some important names that pioneered the formation of the Baghdad school were mentioned, and some of their approaches were conveyed. The names discussed in this context are:
1- Ahfeş el-Avset, whose real name was Saîd b. Mes‘ade el-Belhî, known as el-Ahfeş elEvsat, completed his scientific education under the guidance of important scholars of Basra, especially Sîbeveyhi, the founder of the Basra language school. Some of Ahfesh’s views on Arabic grammar are as follows: He departed from the strict understanding of the qiyas of the Basrans and accepted that qiyas could be made into the flexible qiyas of the Kulans, which allowed for the application of qiyas to non-fusha poetry and usages in the Arabic language, along with fusca poetry. He expressed that in a verb sentence where the direct object (maf’ul bihi) is present, another element outside it can serve as the nabi fa’il. He acknowledged the possibility of meulen bidi to pass between muzak and muzafün lathi. He stated that ‘atf can be made on a major zamir. He affirmed the permissibility of inserting zamiru’l-fasl between hal and nuchal. He permitted the introduction of the particle من/min in affirmative sentences. He mentioned that the presence of the particle نَّإ َ /inne ending with ما/ma, known as huruf-i müşebbeh bi’l fi’l (letters that resemble verbs), does not hinder the function of these letters.
2- Ibn Laysan, a person endowed with sharp intellect and strong reasoning abilities, expressed several views, some of which can be summarized as follows: He claimed that twodigit numbers like إثنتان و إثنان are meuni numbers, similar to numbers between eleven and nineteen. He stated that in the pronouns يََ هِ-ِ وََهُ, the root of the pronoun is solely the letter ه/ha, while the letters الواو الياء/ya-vav are zaid (additional) letters. He mentioned that it is permissible to present the hal to the macrur nuchal. He believed that in the sentence روٌٌمْْ عَ َ نْْ كِِ َ َ َ َزْْيٌدٌ ََوَل the ,ما قاَم particle و/vav serves as a ‘atf particle, while the particle نْْ كِِ َ لَ/lakin serves as an ibtida’ particle.
3-Ebu Ali el-Fârisî received his education from the grammar scholar Ibnu’s-Serrâc in Baghdad. Some of the views of al-Fârisî, who later went to Mosul and continued his scientific studies, regarding Arabic grammar are as follows: In contrast to the opinions of Sibawayh and the Basra school regarding the phrase ً ً أو عليًا اًمحمد كلمت, where ma’tuf of ً considered is عليًا amil of ma’tuf aleyhi, according to some scholars, al-Farisi adopted the view that after the ‘atf particle, another mazur verb كلمت functions as amil. Fârisî accepted that the word could consist of a letter and a noun. Luzari argued that the verb in the present tense (muzari) can indicate both the present and the future metaphorically without adding any preposition to the beginning of the verb. Concerning the i’rab of asma al-hamsa, he asserted that these nouns are mu’rab with letters added to their ends.
4-Ibn Cinnî took grammar lessons from his teacher Ebû Ali el-Fârisî at a young age and established scientific circles with his teacher in many towns for many years. Some grammatical views specific to Ibn Cinni are as follows: He predicted that if khazar is an zarf, its muteallıq can be mentioned. Contrary to Basra linguists, Ibn Cinni states that Mubteda and intima together are amil in haber. He accepted that the preposition “la”, which fulfills the action of Lease, is used in ma’rifes and bakras. At the end of the study, the following conclusions were reached: The representatives of this language school mostly used the eclectic/preference method and re-evaluated previous studies with a scientific approach. While linguists from Basra and Kufa revealed their linguistic approaches by choosing among available raw data, linguists from the Baghdad language school produced information using the eclectic method for the first time in the history of linguistic studies. Thus, linguists from Baghdad, while re-evaluating the raw data at hand, evaluated the opinions and comments of linguists from Basra and Kufa and made a choice between them within the framework of scientific criteria. This method is important in terms of the use of scientific methods within the scope of linguistic studies. In this context, scientific approaches such as qiyas, sema, eclecticism, deduction, and induction have been applied to linguistics. Another conclusion reached in this study is that Baghdad linguists generally handle language rules with a flexible approach.