The Arabic Word “Thoo” in the Quran: A Semantic Linguistic Study

Abstract

The study in question is an attempt to discuss the Arabic word “thoo”

in its singular, dual , plural and feminine forms , indicating its rules and

cases , after which I have examined all its occurrences in the Holy Quran

(i.e. 102 times)

The study includes an introduction, two chapters and a conclusion.

In the Introduction, the plan and the methodology pertaining to the

study are introduced, followed by a discussion about the origin and declension

of the Arabic word “thoo” as well as its dual, plural and feminine

inflections.

The First Chapter deals with what is known in Arabic as Al Asma’ Al Sittah

or the Six Names. It deals primarily with discussing their syntactic functions;

showing the dialects where they occur; the grammarians’ views about

them, and; the rules of “thoo” with regard to the genitive construction.

As for the Second Chapter, it is concerned with the occurrences of the

word in question (i.e. thoo) in the Holy Quran, and its singular, plural and

feminine inflections, as well as its syntactic functions in the Holy Quran.

This Chapter is sub-divided into sections according to the following syntactic

functions of the word “thoo”, followed by the number of times it occurred

in the Quran:

• It has the same syntactic function of Al Asma’ Al Sittah or the Six

Names in 66 positions.

• It has the same syntactic position of the duals or Al-Muthannā in three

positions.

• It has the syntactic function of the Sound Masculine Plurals or what is

known in Arabic as Jama’ al-Muthakkar As Sālim in one position.

• Its feminine form (i.e. that in Arabic) as a single word was repeated 30

times.

• Its feminine form (i.e. that in Arabic) as a dual word “thawata” was

repeated twice.

• The word was not used in its plural form “thawata” in the Holy Quran.

The research in question is concluded by showing the exact number

of times the word ‘thoo’ and it’s forms occurred in the Holy Quran, in

addition to the following results: ‘Thoo’ is characterized by the genitive

construction with regard to Al Asma’ Al Sittah, and it has only one dialect

known as Al Tamam Language. The Six Names or Al Asma’ Al Sittah have

the following languages: Al Tamam, Al Qasr, Al Naqs & Al Tashdeed. The

Quran does not include the Arabic word ‘ That ‘ as a relative pronoun.