The Morphological Sign in Broken Plurals:A Comparative Semiotic Reading of al-Raḍī and al-Samāwī
This study examines broken plurals in Arabic from a semiotic perspective, viewing them as morphological signs whose meaning is realized through their relations with structure, function, and usage. It offers a comparative analysis of al-Raḍī’s approach in Sharḥ al-Shāfiyah and al-Samāwī’s approach in al-Fawāʾid al-Wāfiyah, focusing on al-Samāwī’s objections and the methodological principles underlying them, particularly criteria of attested usage, frequency, rarity, substitution, and the functional distribution of plurality. The study argues that the disagreement between the two scholars is not merely morphological but semiotic in nature, concerning how the morphological sign is interpreted within a broader semantic and pragmatic network. It concludes that many classical morphological debates implicitly rely on semiotic relations, and that a semiotic reading offers a more balanced understanding of Arabic morphology.
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