Phonetic Value in the Work Durrat Al-Ghawwās Fī Awhām Al-Khawāṣ

The goal of this research project is to investigate phonetics in the context of Qāsīm ibn ʿAlī al-Harīrī’s major work, Durrat al-Ghawwās fi Awhām al-Khawāṣ. This very important Arabic work deals with the study of Arabic prosody and phonetic accuracy, but it also focuses on correctly pronouncing words. Additionally, this Arabic text addresses the phonetic errors that educated Arabic speakers and writers commonly make. Al-Harīrī’s perspective of language is that language operates as a system (of sounds) that convey meaning through their organization. Consequently, in this article, we will analyse and investigate the phonetic features and sound-based distinctions found in al-Harīrī’s work to demonstrate how he viewed sound and meaning. Additionally, the study compares in contrast al-Harīrī’s findings regarding the relationship between sound and meaning with the findings of contemporary linguists, especially those who study how sounds interact semantically with language.