Truth and Tralatition in Terms of the Relationship Between Word and Meaning
Nurullah ŞentürkWords are like codes that reveal the treasure of meaning buried deep within us. We express the feelings and thoughts that emerge within us through words, thus giving life to meaning. When wording reflects our inner meanings, it is referred to as word-to-meaning harmony. The Methodists call it dalalat of motaabakah/indication of signification conformity. If words indicate a part of the meaning within us, it is called dalalat of tadamun/indication of the inclusion. Because there is a causal relationship between words, words can occasionally go beyond literal meanings, which is also known as the dalalat of iltizam/indication of commitment. These are issues that are undoubtedly determined by the speaker or author. However, under certain conditions, the situation called muqtada al-hal/suitability of meaning for the situation and speaking in accordance with the form required by the situation are restricted. These conditions are expressed as rhetoric in the broadest sense. More specifically, the phenomenon of semantics deals with the use of words, their consequences, and the meanings they convey as truth or metaphor. Truth evokes the phenomenon of lexical meaning and is not the direct subject of rhetoric. However, using words to express meanings in addition to the literal meaning—namely, “metaphor”—constitutes the primary focus of our study. In this study, the classification of words used in terms of declaration science as “truth” and “metaphor,” metaphorical words, and the conditions under which the use of “metaphor” is more meaningful than “truth” are all highlighted.
Lafız-Mana İlişkisi Açısından Hakikat ve Mecâz
Nurullah ŞentürkLafızlar içimizde saklı anlam hazinesini gösteren birer şifredir. İçimizde cereyan eden duygu ve düşünceleri lafızlar sayesinde dışarı vurur, manaya deyim yerindeyse hayatiyet kazandırırız. Lafızlar manayı kuşatan, sarıp sarmalayan kıyafetlerdir. Lafız içimizdeki anlamı ne eksik ne fazla yani tam olarak yansıtırsa buna “lafız-mana uyumu” denir. Bu, usulcüler tarafından delâlet-i mutâbaka diye adlandırılan durumdur. Lafız içimizde var olan anlamın bir kısmına aracılık ediyorsa buna delâlet-i tedammun denir. Lafız bazen de aralarında nedensellik ilişkisi bulunduğu için anlamın dışına taşar, yani lafzın ifade ettiği şey yalın anlamının çok ötesine geçer ki bu durum da delâlet-i iltizâm adıyla anılır. Lafzın bu kullanımlardan hangisini ifade etmesi gerektiğini hiç kuşkusuz konuşan veya yazan belirleyecektir. Ancak bu konuda “muktezâ-i hâl” denilen durum ve vaziyetin gerektirdiği şekle uygun konuşma birtakım şartlarla kısıtlanmıştır. Bu şartlar en geniş anlamda belâgat olarak ifade edilmektedir. Daha özel anlamda “ilm-i beyân” denen ve lafızların kullanımını, kullanımın sonuçlarını ve hangi anlama delâlet ettiğini ele alan fenomen hakikat veya mecâz diye karşımıza çıkar. Hakikat daha çok sözlük anlam denen olguyu çağrıştırmakta olup, doğrudan belâgatin konusu değildir. O halde lafzın hakikî anlamının dışında ilave başka anlamlar ifade etmek için kullanılması yani “mecâz” çalışmamızın ana eksenini oluşturmaktadır. Bu çalışmada beyân ilmi açısından kullanılan lafızların hakikat-mecâz olarak tasnifi, mecâzî lafızların neler oldukları ve mecâz kullanımının hangi şartlarda hakikatten daha beliğ olduğu konusunu üzerinde durulmuştur.
We first envision the objects we see in the world; next, we symbolize and describe them in such a way that each word relates to a specific object. Therefore, every word has been placed to depict an object that we see in nature in the first place. Thus, words have not come into existence haphazardly.
However, words are used beyond their literal meaning at times. The term “trope” refers to the use of words outside of their meaning because of a relationship between them. It is possible to use words in their true sense, and their use with the necessary/connotative meaning associated with the true meaning is expressed as kinaya. Because the use of words beyond these three contexts does not imply any meaning, it is regarded as ghalat/meaningless.
Rhetoric has an important place in all world languages. So, there is Rhetoric in all of languages of the world. Truth and metaphor are inseparable two parts of a sentence. The word use in the dictionary meaning is called truth.
The only way to distinguish words as “truth” and “trope” is using the words in a sentence. In other words, a word that is not used in a sentence, usually evokes its real meaning. If the word has used by a speaker or author, it must mean that means the people can understand. the art of the saying that the public does not understand does not add beauty to the expression. Then the word chosen in the metaphor should be familiar to the audience to whom we are addressing.
When we ask someone for something, if what we ask is easily understood and our request is granted, the word has been used in a literal sense. For example, when we say to our interlocutor, “الكرسي أعطني give the chair to me,” the word “chair” in this sentence refers to the chair itself.
Therefore, because the word al-kursî الكرسي refers to the chair, al-kursi is called the indicator/ al-daall, the chair signifies the chair tool. It is termed as indicated/madlool, which means what is shown in this context is the truth.
If linguists use the term “truth,” it is called “linguistic truth,” Sharia (Allah and the Prophet) puts the word as “shari’a truth,” and in the realm of art, it is called “conventional truth.” However, if the utterer of words is unknown, it is known only as truth. Accordingly, when we use the word “lion أسد “for the predator we know, it becomes linguistic truth. When we use the “Salat صالة “during prayer activities, it becomes shari’a truth. However, in the study of Arabic grammar, when the word “fi’l فعل “,which means verb, is used to express action and time, it becomes “special customary truth,” and when the word “dabba دابة “,which means moving, is used for all four-legged animals, it becomes “general customary truth.”
Therefore, if the word is used in one of the above expression styles, it is called truth, if not, it is called metaphor. For example, the use of the word “lion” in language, referring to a predatory animal, is the truth. Salat/pray word in the religious language is the truth. The word “f’il,” meaning “verb” in Arabic grammar, denotes the truth. However, the use of the same words beyond these meanings is metaphorical.
The speaker depends on a number of rules such as fluency and eloquence when choosing the words he will use. He should also know the relationship between “indicators”. If the speaker knows his “knowledge of rhetoric” he does not choose the wrong word. Therefore, he knows that using the word with the first meaning that comes to mind is truth, and using it out of context is a metaphor.
Abdulkahir did not keep the metaphor issue limited to a definition but rather tried proving his claims in the field of practice. He has analyzed the relationship between the original and secondary meaning (the new meaning of the word after its metaphorical use) and has emphasized that the mandatory “relevance”/relationship between words and meanings should be looked into. He believes in linguistic truth because the realities depend on the states, appearances, temperament, and behavior of beings; that is, the word “hand” and the element that comes from the hand—that is, the blessing—will be achieved.
Thus, the relationship between the “hand,” which is the organ, and the “blessing,” which comes from the hand, will arise spontaneously. Therefore, the first “hand” is “truth” in the sense of organ, according to its relevance. The second “hand”—that is, meaning blessing, is a metaphor. Thus, the above consideration should be considered in every metaphorical use.
Accordingly, the connection/interest between the original and secondary meaning that it acquires should be consistent and logical and not random.
However, to gain a better understanding, what is a metaphor? A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable, with a “qareena mani’a” indicating that the original meaning is not meant. If there is a similarity between two meanings, it causes the speakers and writers to use words other than the real meaning. Thus, we can state that it is the reason for using metaphors.
Nevertheless, when a word goes beyond the limits of its meaning due to “physical proximity,” it is called “Metonymy.” If one word is used interchangeably with the assertion that the words used interchangeably are the same, this art that goes beyond similarity is called “istiara/ metaphor”.
There are none of these in the term “trope.” The word used in its original meaning has a hidden meaning that it is used for in these sentences. However, the motivation that prompts the speaker to use the word in this composition is the secret meaning they hide behind the “truth meaning”—the sentence that was written for it to serve as a cover that conceals the secret purpose.
Majaz is an Arabic metaphor, which is a type of speech that speakers and writers use frequently in daily conversation and writing that decorates their speech, and it affects the listeners.