The semantic and pragmatic analysis of the Qurʾānic readings (qirāʾāt): An investigation at the intersection of tafsīr and modern linguistics
Abstract
This study aims to demonstrate, through a practical approach, how variant readings (qirāʾāt) influence the semantic structure of the Qur’anic text. Its primary objective is to examine the semantic effects of variant readings—such as narrowing, expansion, or shifts in meaning—frequently discussed in classical tafsīr literature, and to assess whether the relationship between qirāʾāt and semantics can provide an interdisciplinary framework for Qur’anic interpretation. The study adopts a qualitative method based on documentation and comparative document analysis. Classical and modern works on tafsīr and semantics, together with authentic (ṣaḥīḥ) qirāʾāt traditions, constitute the main sources. The selected verses are analyzed through synchronic and diachronic semantics, information structure, pragmatics, and compositional analysis. The findings reveal no contradiction (tanāquḍ) among the different modes (wujūh) of qirāʾāt that would disrupt meaning. Rather, these readings remain within the limits of the wording (lafẓ) and enrich the text through variation of diversity (ikhtilāf al-tanawwuʿ). They also clarify the jurisprudential, theological, ethical, and psychological dimensions of the verses. Integrating ʿilm al-qirāʾāt, which preserves the transmitted wording of revelation, with semantics, which uncovers the text’s layers of meaning, offers theoretical and practical coherence for understanding the Qur’an’s inimitability (iʿjāz) and universal message.