The Phonetic and Lexical Implications in Nahjul-Balagha: A Case Study of the Al-gharra Sermon

As one of the branches of stylistics, statistical stylistics, relied on preference of quantity over assumptions, seeks to discover an author’s method. The relationship between language content and phonetic form is one of the most important language and thinking issues disputed among scholars. Lexical implication is the first step addressed by scholars, followed by phonetic, inflectional and grammatical implications. Using statistical stylistics, the present research seeks to discover the implications hidden behind the lexicon in theAl-gharra sermon.  The Al-gharra sermon having prominent features is examined at two phonetic and lexical levels. At the phonetic level, the voiced, voiceless, explosive, fricative implications of the sounds, the sound repetitions and the implications of the syllables are examined. At the lexical level, word consistency with the semantic contexts of the sermon is analyzed. The results indicate that most sounds are voiced, which is consistent with the sermon register, i.e., Imam Ali’s insistence on his invitation. The syllables are consistent with the register and verbal situation such that the closed syllables imply Imam Ali’s invitation to getting an acceleration in its acceptance, and the long syllables imply Imam Ali’s warning against neglecting this invitation. At lexical level, the words used in the semantic contexts are consistent with the sermon space and the language register also explains the meanings of the lexicon.