When do terms get stretched beyond an acceptable range?
Take the word "agreement," as it tends to be used in grammar (subject/verb, noun/adjective). One would think that it would be rather straightforward. So when my Arabic book tells me that adjectives always agree with their nouns, this is no big deal, right?
So, sometimes this agreement is what is called "strict agreement;" as I would be used to calling it, this is real agreement. The adjective is the same case, gender, and number as the noun. However, the case endings also denote definiteness, and sometimes the adjective agrees with the noun in this, and sometimes not. Not a huge deal.
But wait - now we have "deferred agreement." This means that sometimes, we just decide to treat things as if they were feminine singular (used with groups of inanimate objects). In Qu'ranic Arabic, there is a further exception to this, since feminine plural things that form their plural in a particular way can have strict agreement with their adjectives.
And then there is "chiastic concord." When dealing with numbers 3-10 (a friend reminded me that Hebrew is the same way), one takes the opposite gender from the singular of the noun in order for the two to "agree."
And all of this isn't getting into the fact that the verb does not always agree with its subject in number if the subject follows the verb.
5 comments:
Gee, you'd almost think that grammar was a descriptive rather than prescriptive science, wouldn't you?
Speaking of Arabic, I just ran into the interesting notion of the "elative" position in Arabic. The word for "great" is kabir. If I were to say that Allah is great, I would simply say Allahu kabir. But Muslims want to say that Allah is greater than anything else. That brings up a problem because saying something is "greater" per se (comparative position) does not mean that it is "the greatest" (superlative position). But the superlative is a tricky thing because grammatically you can have two or more "greatest" things. Cf. Fritz is faster than Heinz. But if Fritz and Kurt both share the record, then they are both the fastest, viz. the superlative applies to both. Enter the "elative" position. I don't know to what extent this carries through in all of Arabic grammar, but the elative in the case of God, at least, combines the comparative and superlative positions. The elative of kabir is akhbar. Thus, Allahu akhbar means that God is greater and the greatest, or "exclusively greater."
I'll have to look into that. From my extensive 2 weeks of Arabic study, my impression has been that the elative is mainly an ambiguous form which oscillates between comparative and superlative [add the preposition "min" and a (pro)noun, you have the comparative; make it definitie, and you have the superlative; without either (as an adjective), it's dependent on the context]. Though, it very well might have developed since the period I'm studying; Muslims seem to read as much into Arabic grammar as Hindus do Sanskrit.
I think you're right about the amiguity of the elative in general; nor is it unique to Arabic. That's why I said, "I don't know to what extent this carries through in all of Arabic grammar, but the elative in the case of God . . . " It appears to be sufficiently ambiguous to take on the meaning of exclusiveness when applied to God.
Good observation, when Muslims say Allahu Akbar it's to verbalize and announce that Allah is greater than everything. It's a reflection of the belief that Allah is ultimately the most important aspect of our lives. The superlative indicates to all that is created and all that surrounds us is inferior in importance and greatness. Hence Muslims say Allahu Akbar at the start of each prayer and even as an exclamation.
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