An Aesthetic Analysis of the Deep Structures of Alternation in the Holy Qur'an from a Stylistics Perspective: the Case of Surah Al-An'am and Surah Al-A'raf

Alternation as a linguistic technique in discourse structure that replaces a word (comprising nouns, verbs, prepositions and particles) with its synonym. In the present study, among the various forms of alternation, alternation of forms of names, which happens when in literary discourse, a form replaces another which although similar in terms of derivation contains a meaning different from the original meaning, has been focused on. The present study that used a descriptive-analytical method and took a stylistic approach, analyzed the norm-evading phenomenon of alternation in the Holy Qur'an especially in two surahs of Al-An'am and Al-A'raf. Thus, this article aimed at describing the deep structures of alternating forms and acquainting the readers with their aesthetic objectives. The results suggest that alternation in infinitives has a high frequency in these two surahs occurring chiefly as agent nouns and object pronouns. Following the infinitives, the agent nouns play their role as a stylistic feature replacing past and present verbs in these surahs.