For mutawāṭiʾ, distinguish how a universal applies from the other attributes of its bearers.
“Zayd is human”: humanity is predicated of Zayd.
“ʿAmr is human”: the same common meaning applies to ʿAmr.
“ʿAmr is taller than Zayd”: a difference in height, not an additional degree of humanity.
A common concept may have many instances without becoming graded. Graded predication requires a relevant difference within the way the shared meaning itself is attributed.
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Simple and Compound Expressions: Terms and Their Semantic Divisions
For mutawāṭiʾ, distinguish how a universal applies from the other attributes of its bearers.
“Zayd is human”: humanity is predicated of Zayd.
“ʿAmr is human”: the same common meaning applies to ʿAmr.
“ʿAmr is taller than Zayd”: a difference in height, not an additional degree of humanity.
A common concept may have many instances without becoming graded. Graded predication requires a relevant difference within the way the shared meaning itself is attributed.