Image Schemas and its Role in the Formation of the Radial Network, a Case Study of the "Dabar" in the Holy Quran

Semantic change is a subject examined in lexical semantics. Meaning is not a fixed, unchangeable phenomenon. Lexical semantics have led cognitive linguists to consider meaning as a network. “Semantics” has the property of radiality. That is to say it forms a radial network around a core meaning, from which other peripheral meanings are evolved by its flexibility. The radial network is not an instrument to produce different meanings from the core meaning. Rather, it is a model showing how different but connected meanings are stored in the semantic memory. The present research aims to examine the radial network of dabar in the Quran because a clear understanding of Quranic words is an important step in its accurate interpretation and understanding.

The radial network theory is one proposed in cognitive semantics with the cognitive analysis of word meanings in different contexts as its endpoint. In this theory, the meaning of peripheral words evolve from a core meaning and the core meaning forms other meanings as a result of schematic change and flexible metaphorical extension. The outcome of this viewpoint is the radial network: a conceptual network in which several concepts are structured around a core concept. The process binding the core and peripheral meanings is called chaining.

“Posterior” as the core meaning of dabar is a preconception of the embodiment of human sensorimotor perceptions experienced within the context of “orientation”, giving it structure. Researching the word dabar in the Arabic language family shows that “posterior” is an ancient word found in Hamito-Semitic languages. Various derivatives have been formed with this word in Arabic and other related languages, indicating its significance in meaningmaking. The semantic range of the word is broadened with different combinations. Schematic changes are effective in this semantic broadening, leading to a flexible metaphorical extension and meaningmaking. Existing schema-based metaphors in the present research have paved the way with their changes for meanings such as fear, offspring, heedlessness, misguidance, pursuit, time, purposeful knowledge, and listening. The meanings have been obtained from changes in the schemas of orientation, force, motion, balance, cycle, and process.

The obtained radial network is the outcome of eight peripheral meanings structured around a core meaning. The meaning of “posterior” as the most antiquated meaning is a pivotal member of the radial network, incorporating the image schemas of “orientation”, a cognitive concept experienced in the embodiment of human sensorimotor perceptions which give it structure and are easy to learn. “Orientation” as the most frequent schema in meaning-making for the derivatives of dabar is followed by the schemas of force, motions, cycle and balance in this meaning-making. The more abstract the meaning, the more schemas are called for meaning-making. There is a relationship between the obtained radial categories, all of which serve to express human’s experiencing monotheism. In examining the obtained radial network with a cognitive approach to the expressed meanings of the lexicon, some of the meanings are similar, and others such as time, misguidance, listening, and fear are words with no shared meanings.