Autonymy in the Arabic Linguistic Tradition

What is it about?

In our tradition, metalanguage and autonymy find their roots in Greek thought (Porphyrus, III- IV century C.E.). Nevertheless, we encounter them also in the falsafa (e.g. Fārābī, IV/X century) and, from then onwards, in the Arabic linguistic tradition. The second part of the article will be devoted to the importance of this logical-philosophical tradition in the Šarḥ al-Kāfiya by the grammarian Raḍī al-dīn al-Astarābāḏī (VII/XIII century). In the first part of the article, however, starting from the study of ‘delocutive verbs’, we will deal with the grammatical category of ḥikāya (‘citation’), through the chapter that Zağğāğī (IV/X century) dedicated to this subject in his Kitāb al-Ğumal. Finally, we will examine the extent to which these two traditions eventually joined.

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