The Specificity of the Particle Fa in the Arabic Language Cover Image

Specifičnosti partikule fa u arapskom jeziku
The Specificity of the Particle Fa in the Arabic Language

Author(s): Amira Trnka-Uzunović
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Syntax, Semantics, Comparative Linguistics
Published by: Fakultet islamskih nauka u Sarajevu
Keywords: particle; semantics; syntax; chronological sequence; immediate sequence;

Summary/Abstract: The particle fa, one of the most frequent in Arabic, is most often understood only as a conjunction, however, its semantic field is far broader. Unlike the other, equally frequent particle wa, which only connects two contents and needs other elements to nuance its semantics, the particle fa has a very broad semantic field. Thus, the particle fa could refer to: the immediate sequence in the realization of the contents being linked, joining contents which represent the answer to the cause and the introduction of sentences that correspond to the clauses of effect in the Bosnian language, and the introduction of semantically independent content in relation to the previous. Based on the relevant literature, the paper tries to present the most frequent syntactic functions of this particle, in which it manifests itself as a conjunction ḥarf al-‘aṭf, as a particle of re-initiation fā’ al-isti’nāf, and as a particle that introduces the consequence of the cause fā’ al-sababiyya and the consequence/result of the condition fā’ li ǧawāb al-šarṭ. The different semantic-syntactic contexts in which this particle is recognized confirm the thesis that, regardless of the function it performs, the particle fa retains its basic meaning of the immediate chronological sequence. Research conducted in the Qur’anic surah al-Baqara offers certain results that confirm the views expressed, and act as the basis on which certain conclusions are drawn.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 23
  • Page Range: 313-333
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Bosnian