A Cognitive-based Investigation of the Rules of Semantic Extension of Preposition An (about; from) in Quran

Locative prepositions are considered the rich source of understanding and interpreting Quran methodologically. The present study, focusing on the preposition “¿an” which is one of the most useful prepositions in Quran, aims to analyze the meanings of the preposition as well as the way it has been extended based on the rules and principles of meaning extension within the cognitive semantic framework. To do this, different uses of “¿an” has been studied. Having reviewed the theoretical foundations such as recognition of trajector, landmark as well as the conceptual network of meanings related to prototypes, we introduced the focal meaning of the preposition and the way it has been extended in Koranic expressions. Then we have proposed some rules such as mapping, active domain and semantic dynamism, each of which includes some other components playing a part in its meaning extension.