Communicative and Social Dimensions in Al-Jāḥiẓ's Linguistic Thought

Abstract

This study aims to elucidate the communicative and social dimensions in Al-Jāḥiẓ's linguistic thought (d. 255 AH/868 CE) and reassess them within contemporary scholarship, transcending exclusive reliance on Western theoretical frameworks. Adopting an analytical-comparative approach, it examines selected passages from Kitāb al-Ḥayawān, focusing on definitions of faṣāḥa, the concept of mawāḍiʿ al-kalām, onomatopoeia, and his theories of language learning and translation. Data collection involved close reading and thematic extraction, followed by conceptual comparison with modern pragmatics (Austin, 1962; Grice, 1975), communicative competence (Hymes, 1972), functionalism (Halliday, 1978), and sociolinguistics (Labov, 1972). The analysis reveals six main themes: expanding faṣāḥa to all humans regardless of language; distinguishing grammatical knowledge from practical eloquent faculty, anticipating Hymes's competence; establishing a pragmatic theory through mawāḍiʿ al-kalām; recognizing habitual usage and social consensus in linguistic change; linking language acquisition to "intense need" (farṭ al-ḥājah), foreshadowing instrumental motivation; and awareness of translation's psycholinguistic and cultural challenges. The study establishes the absence of an epistemic gap between Arab heritage and modernity, highlighting Al-Jāḥiẓ's originality as a functionalist and pragmatic pioneer, as its originality lies in systematic comparison rather than treating heritage as isolated artifacts. Theoretically, it advocates for an independent "Arabic linguistics" grounded in tradition yet engaged globally. Practically, it connects to language teaching, translation, and linguistic diversity, as the study aligns with decolonizing linguistics and re-evaluating non-Western traditions in modern academic research.