The Role and Function of Presupposition in Explaining the Proverbs of Nahj al-Balaghah

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Seyyed Mehdi Masboogh ¹

Hosein Rajabi Ala ²

¹ Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Bu- Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

² Ph.D in Arabic Language and Literature, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jall.2025.85892.1352

Abstract

Pragmatics examines language in context and specific situations to elucidate the speaker's goals and intended meanings for transmission to the addressee. Presupposition, as one of the fundamental components of linguistic pragmatics, investigates the information that already exists between the speaker and the listener, which the speaker assumes the listener is aware of. Nahj al-Balaghah, as a religious and valuable text, is a rich source for guiding humanity. Undoubtedly, limiting oneself to the surface meanings of this book is equivalent to a lack of precise understanding of its profound and eternal concepts, for beneath its apparent words, it alludes to deep issues that require more careful investigation and study. The present research, employing a descriptive-analytical method and a pragmatic approach, has critically analyzed 90 proverbs of Nahj al-Balaghah based on the book Al-Amthal wa al-Hikam al-Mustakhrajah min Nahj al-Balaghah by Mohammad al-Gharawi. The aim is to achieve a more accurate reading and understanding of the presuppositions embedded in these proverbs. The findings indicate that Imam Ali (AS) expressed his moral, social, and political concepts through words and phrases containing hidden layers of meaning, reflecting his high linguistic and communicative competence. In the process of accessing these implicit meanings, by relying on structural, existential, factive, and non-factive presuppositions, he established a more effective communication with the audience and their mental presuppositions, thereby inviting the audience more deeply to reflect and contemplate beyond the concealed meanings.
 
 

Keywords

 Linguistics

Pragmatics

Presupposition

Proverb

Nahj al-Balaghah

Subjects

• Linguistics

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1- foresight

2- existential presupposition

3- factive presupposition

4- non factive presupposition

5- lexical presupposition