LessonsDefining Majāz: Conditions, Indication, and Classification by ConventionQuiz

المجاز في الأصل «مَفْعَل» من جاز المكانَ يَجُوزُهُ
Majāz is originally connected with the verbal notion of passing or traversing a place.

Rhetorically, this suggests the transfer of a word from its assigned meaning to another intelligible meaning. The transfer is semantic rather than a physical journey from one location to another.

The metaphor of traversal is useful only if the route is clear. We must identify the original sense and the relation that enables the hearer to arrive at a second meaning, rather than treat any unusual word choice as figurative language.

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The lexical origin: passing from one sense to another

Defining Majāz: Conditions, Indication, and Classification by Convention

المجاز في الأصل «مَفْعَل» من جاز المكانَ يَجُوزُهُ
Majāz is originally connected with the verbal notion of passing or traversing a place.

Rhetorically, this suggests the transfer of a word from its assigned meaning to another intelligible meaning. The transfer is semantic rather than a physical journey from one location to another.

The metaphor of traversal is useful only if the route is clear. We must identify the original sense and the relation that enables the hearer to arrive at a second meaning, rather than treat any unusual word choice as figurative language.