Radial Category of Meanings for the Verb DIDAN In Nahj Al-Balagha Sermons on the Basis of Frame Semantics (The Case of Verb Raʾā)

The present research tries to review and analyze the radial category of meanings for the verb "DIDAN" in the linguistic context of Imam Ali (AS) sayings based on the theory of Frame Semantics by Fillmore, through a cognitive approach and by using descriptive analytical methods. A broad semantic domain has been allocated to the verb "DIDAN" based on human cognition and knowledge. The core meaning of "DIDAN" is to see with the eyes as the physical organs of the human body. However the mentioned verb can expand the scope of its meaning in different collocations and imply on the inner and immaterial seeing such as understanding and believing. Therefore, we have tried to review the semantic extension of the verb “DIDAN “in the speech of Imam Ali (AS). According to the radial category viewpoint, each word has an evident core meaning and can also create new peripheral abstract meanings depending on its position in the various linguistic contexts. Semantic frames of the verb "DIDAN" in the reviewed sermons include: Visual –conceptual, understanding, assuming, knowing, believing, finding, perceiving and deciding; however in some instances, the verb “Raʾā” has been used in two different semantic frames alongside each other.