Derivation Contestations Among Arab Scholars Regarding Ibnu Fāris’s Dictionary Maqāyīs Al-Luġah

Abstract

The Dictionary Maqāyīs al-Luġah, developed by Ibnu Fāris (d.395H/1004A.D), is one of the most applicable dictionaries in the Arabic language, relying on the idea of derivation in its construction. Some Arabic linguists argue that derivation in the dictionary is a semantic derivation, whereas others claim it is verbal. Al-Suyuti sees small as the only type of derivation. Meanwhile, Muḥammad Jabal states that axial semantics derivation is what the Ibnu Fāris dictionary was built on. This study examines the lack of consensus among linguists on the derivation basis of Ibnu Fāris’ dictionary (d.395H/1004A.D) proposed by al-Zajjāj (d.311H/923A.D), who defined Derivation as “every two words that share common letters.” On the other hand, al-Ramani (d.384H/994A.D) defined it terminologically as “deducting a branch from an origin.” This disagreement over derivation concepts sparked a debate among Arabic linguistic scholars, particularly in determining the type compatible with the derivation concept. It is inconclusive which derivation was applied in building Ibnu Faris’ Dictionary. Thus, the current study was proposed in response to the ongoing controversy. This research applied the descriptive approach. Based on the selected corpus, this study explored small derivation and axial semantics types compatible with the derivation concept, and both types were found in the dictionary. Small derivation meets the derivation criteria in terms of construction, order, and broad connotation, whereas axial semantics controls the internal semantic framework of the linguistic root. Other non-derivations, such as big, bigger, and biggest, are also deemed linguistic phenomena.