A Linguistic Analysis of Thanks and Praise-Related Words in the Qur anic Ayahs Based on Jakobson's Communication Model and Coulmas's Taxonomy of Thanks

This study aimed to analyze ayahs referring to the act of giving thanks in the Quran within two linguistics frameworks. To this end, Jakobson’s communication model, according to which the communication between the sender and the receiver of a message is analyzed in the inter-human relations, was initially used to study the relationship between the Creator and the Creatures. In addition, Coulmas's taxonomy was applied in order to classify various types of giving thanks in the Quran. Data were collected from the Holy Quran and some of its translations using relevant software and websites. Then, The frequency of two words Hamd and Shokr and their derivations were counted to be 68 and 75, respectively. Only four instances of referring to the act of thanks and praise, in which the relation between the praiser and the praised have been assumed, were found in ayahs 30 and 158 of SurahAl-Baqarah, ayah 3 of Surah Al-Isra, and ayah 13 of Surah Ar-Rad. In these four ayahs, the archangels, Allah, the Most Exalted, Prophet Noah (UHBP), and Rad (Lightening) have appeared in the positions of the sender of the message or the praiser. Moreover, with respect to Coulmas's taxonomy of thanks, it was revealed that these ayahs can be categorized as Type I and Type III of different forms of giving thanks.