The Qur’ān and the History of Arabic: Between Representation and Morphological Uniqueness

Abstract

This essay examines a selected corpus of singular Arabic nouns exhibiting multiple plural formations in the Qur’ān، with the aim of reassessing their linguistic function within a broader historical and vernacular framework. The analysis demonstrates that these plural variants do not constitute mere dialectal alternations; rather، they encode semantically nuanced distinctions within the general lexical field of each lemma. A comparative reading against pre-Islamic poetic corpora further reveals that many of these semantic differentiations are not attested in earlier usages، suggesting a distinctive layer of linguistic elaboration within the Qur’ānic discourse.

Building on this observation، the study advances a Vernacularist reinterpretation of Qur’ānic language as Lisān ‘Arabī mubīn (بلسان عربي مبين)، understood not as a singular، standardized variety، but as a general Arabic language (Lisān) that encompasses and integrates multiple Arabic vernaculars (lughāt al-‘Arab). In this sense، the Qur’ān operates as a unifying linguistic matrix that brings together diverse dialectal systems into a coherent expressive framework (al-Munajjid، 1972). Classical sources further support this view، indicating that the Qur’ānic register reflects a multiplicity of Arabic linguistic forms—traditionally enumerated as up to fifty recognized varieties (al-Suyūṭī، 1996).

Within this paradigm، what is conventionally termed Classical Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic (al-lughah al-‘Arabiyyah al-fuṣḥā) is reinterpreted as one vernacular among many، whose historical dominance derives not from intrinsic linguistic superiority but from its institutionalization as the primary written and grammatized variety (Hajjaj، 2024). Consequently، the Qur’ān should not be treated as a direct reflection of a single dialect nor as a straightforward diachronic bridge to pre-Islamic Arabic; rather، it represents a linguistically composite and rhetorically elevated form that selectively incorporates and reshapes vernacular features.

The essay concludes that the morphological and semantic idiosyncrasies observed in Qur’ānic pluralization—and by extension other linguistic phenomena—limit the reliability of the Qur’ān as a sole source for reconstructing the historical development of Arabic in Late Antiquity. Instead، it should be approached as a supra-vernacular linguistic system، one that both preserves and transforms the diversity of Arabic expression within a unified discursive act