Gender and Linguistic Gender in the Holy Quran

In linguistics, linguistic gender is distinguished from the biological one. Despite the existence of a relation between the two, linguistic studies indicate that the relationship is not isomorphic. Language of the Holy Quran, also known as Classical Arabic, exhibits an extensive variation in the use and types of linguistic gender. This research provides a new classification of this type of gender, different from the ones already presented in traditional grammars of Arabic, based on the language of the Holy Quran and adopting the Markedness Theory in linguistics. The results may prove useful both in the linguistic interpretation of the Quranic verses, especially those related to women and their significance in the Holy Quran, and in offering language researchers a new and different approach to the analysis of the Arabic language and grammar.