Semantic Opposites and Puns in Masnavi Ma'navi: Linking Structure of Thought and Language

In traditional rhetoric, pun and saj’ (Persian rhymed prose) are two figures of speech that shape the beauty of language through musicality of speech. Abdolghaher Jorjani considers the merit of pun in conceptual requirement; it is well received when meaning calls for it. In Masnavi Ma'navi, by Jalaleddin Mohammad Balkhi aka. Rumi, the use of pun and saj’ is remarkable, but the linkage created between these figures of speech and meaning gives a distinctive feature to Rumi’s poetry. This can be observed, for instance, in binary oppositions which have made use of the literary device of pun and saj’. Accordingly, the hypothesis of this research is that many binary oppositions in Masnavi are related to those words which have pun or saj’ in them, and the opposition between verbal balance and conceptual distinction adds to the eloquence. As the theoretical background of the research, a structuralist approach to literary criticism is initially considered to extract binary oppositions, which are then are separated and classified based on the puns and saj/. The research method is descriptive and the results of analyses are as follows: (1) binary oppositions in Masnavi are accompanied by puns and saj’; (2) among all types of binary oppositions in pun and saj’, pun in different initial letters and parallel use of saj’, which both have the strongest sense of musicality,  show the most frequency; (3) many of the binary oppositions appearing in the words with pun or  saj’are not included in diction rules of the language and are Rumi’s poetical innovations; (4) the function of binary oppositions accompanied by pun and saj; is considerable in rhyme making or verse making.