Survey of Word Functions Contributing to the Comprehension of Sacred Texts (Study Case: Segil)

In the domain of studies related to the Holy Quran, a survey of the intermingled words usually faces two major difficulties. First; researchers face cases where the derivation and precise meaning of the words in their prior used cases is not clearly known. Therefore, the comprehension of verses including such words faces ambiguities and finding the actual root of these words becomes more difficult. And second; in the explanation of such words there are generally lots of interpretative narrations leading to referential, paraphrased, and in some rare instances, literal explanations. These group of narratives and versions do not contribute to the semantics of these words due to their non-linguistic features, but also understanding them and discovering their relation to the mentioned interpretative and paraphrased instances demands knowing the precise and actual meaning of the regarding word. In this situation, if we regard these narratives alongside the verses of Quran, including the contributing words as part of the sacred texts, the actual comprehension of them within the field of linguistics becomes related to the root and the meaning of the contributing words. Such studies on the root and meaning of the contributing words can take place following two processes: 1. the correspondence of root and the meaning of the word according to the text and textual implications in the Quran. 2. The justification and expression of the words’ linguistic courses from the origin language to Arabic. This essay intends to survey one of such words as a sample. The word “segil” is one of these contributing and key words which has faced many derivations and a variety of interpretative narrations are provided for it. A precise comprehension of this word initially demands the analysis and criticism of linguistics regarding the root; especially in the two mentioned criteria. Through an analysis of these derivations, it initially becomes clear that the most suitable suggested root is a Persian root. At the same time it is revealed that in what manners the acceptance of any root and its related suitable meaning influences our understanding of the interpretative narratives and whether we accept or reject them.