APPROACHES TO MODES OF READING
There were two major traditional approaches to modes of reading. The first was concerned with the manner of articulation of an expression and the rhythmical phonetic symmetry (al-tanasuq al-sawti fi al-iq’) of words within a given surah or consecutive ayahs. The second was concerned with paraphrastic additions to a given expression to eliminate semantic ambiguity. The two will be discussed below:
- Phonetically-Based Mode of Reading
This approach was initiated and spread by the Madinah school founded by Ubai b. Ka’b (d. 20/640) and focused mainly on the articulatory phonetics of Qur’anic recitation. The companions chose to read some Qur’anic ayāt differently than the canonical ’Uthmanic rescindment. The phonetically-based diverse modes of reading involved vocalic or diacritic variances. Thus, this mode of reading concentrated on the variant phonological forms which a given Qur’anic word might have. In other words, a word could be pronounced differently with or without allophonic variations which may bring about a change of meaning.
“This included phonological patterns such as geminated sound (mushaddad) or a unvocalized consonant (sukūn) as well as case sounds such as the accusative (mansub), short vowel /a/ (fathah), nominative (marfuc), and the short vowel /u/ (dammah), (abdul-Raof:2005:112). An example of an ordinary mode of reading that takes into account the criteria of articulatory phonetics is: [wa qurɁānan faraqnāhu] – It is a Qur’an which We have revealed in parts, Q17:106) which has another mode of reading in terms of phonological change in the geminated trill [r], which is: [wa qurɁānan farraqnahu] where the consonant [r] in [faraqnāhu] is geminated [farraqnāhu], and [fi: ʕamadin mumaddadah] – in towering columns, Q104:9) which has a different mode of reading as: [fi:ʕumudin mumaddadah] where the fatha, i.e., the short vowel [a] in [ʕamadin] is replaced by the dammah represented by the short vowel [u] in [ʕumudin].
The phonetically-oriented mode of reading can be represented by several phonological forms of the same expression. For instance, the verb [ʕabada] – to worship, Q5:60) has 16 modes of reading all of which are irregular and are nominalised nouns of the verb [ʕabada], and the verb [darasta] – to study, Q6:105) has 12 irregular modes of reading.
The phonetically-oriented mode of reading is also concerned with the phonetic symmetry (al-tanasuq al-sawti fi al-iqa’) of ayah-final sounds which can either occur in an ayah-final word or in a refrain which is a rhyme phrase at the end of the ayah that refer to God’s epithets such as [ʁafu:ran raħi:ma]– ever forgiving and merciful), [assami:ʕ alʕali:m] – the hearing, the knowing). Thus, this phonetically-based mode of reading aims to achieve consonance of sounds (tanaghum al-aswat) and their rhythmical phonetic symmetry at ayah-final level. Linguist exegesis, like al-Farra’ (d. 207/822) for instance, have dealt with interesting phonetic features of Qur’anic words with regards to the phonetically-oriented mode of reading. In his Ma’ ani al-Qur’an., al-Farra’ talks about phonetic ellipsis and refers to why the final sound /i/ of the word [jasr] – to pass, Q89:4) is dropped and the word ends with an unvocalized sound /r/. Thus, stylistically, [wal-lajli Ɂiða: jasr] – By the night when it passes, Q89:4 should have a different mode of reading which is adopted by other Qur’an recitors: [wal-lajli Ɂiða: jasri:] because the spelling of the word [jasri] is with a final letter /i/. However, the sound /i/ is deleted in order to achieve rhythmical phonetic symmetry and phonetic consonance in Q89 which is dominated by ayah-final words that end with the sound /r/, as in Q89:1-3 and 5 (Aldubai, 2015:61-71).
We can conclude that the phonetically-based mode of reading aims to achieve melodic sounds and musical tone within consecutive ayahs through the process of phonetic ellipsis, as in [lakum di:nukum wa lija di:n] – You have your religion and I have mine, Q109:6) where the word (di:n – religion) is pronounced with a final sound /n/ in order to achieve symphonious phonetic consonance with the other ayah-final words (al-kafirun – disbelievers) and [taʕbudu:n] – you worship) in Q89:1-2 respectively. The same phonetic rule applies to Q26:78 where the word [jahdin] – (to guide me) ends with the nasal sound /n/ rather than with the vowel /i:/. The reason for this phonetically-oriented mode of reading is to achieve rhythmical phonetic symmetry with the overall phonetic environment of the surah where ayah-final words predominantly end with the sound /n/ as in Surat al-Shu’ra’.
However, we also encounter two phonetically different words in two different ayahs with different final sounds where in one case the ayah-final word occurs without undergoing phonetic ellipsis of the final sound, as in Q77:36, while in the other case, the ayah-final word undergoes phonetic ellipsis of the final sound, as in Q35:36. In [wala juɁðanu lahum fajaʕtaðiru:n] – They will be given no chance to offer any excuses, Q77:36) where the word [fajaʕtaðiru:n] – to offer excuses) ends with a nasal sound /n/ rather than dropping the sound /n/ to get [fajaʕtaðiru]. The major reason for having [fajaʕtaðiru:n] with a final sound /n/ is to achieve rhythmical phonetic symmetry through a word-final sound /n/ that phonetically matches the other ayah-final words which also end with a final sound /n/, as in Q77:34-35 and 37-50. However, in [la: juqᵭa: ʕalajhim fajamu:tu:] – They will neither be finished off by death, Q35:36), the word [fajamu:tu:] – to die) ends with the long vowel [u:] and occurs in the middle of the ayah. Yet, this word is expected to appear with a final sound [n] [fajamu:tu:n]. Instead, this word has undergone phonetic ellipsis where the sound /n/ is dropped in order to achieve rhythmical phonetic consonance with an earlier word in the same ayah [kafaru:] – they disbelieved). Thus, melodic sounds within the same ayah are achieved.
- Semantically-Based Mode of Reading
This approach was initiated by the Kufah school of Qur’anic exegesis founded by Ibn Mas’ud (d. 32/653) as a new exegetical method in Qur’anic exegesis and was concerned with the eradication of semantic vagueness of verses through several linguistic techniques such as addition, deletion and synonymy that aim to free the grammatical or semantic difficulty in a certain ayah. As it is a clarifying method, it is, therefore, an exegetical mode of reading (al-qira’ah al-tafsiriyyah), Abdul-Raof (2005). As far as the current paper is concerned, the emphasis is placed on the phonetically-based mode of reading rather than the semantically-based mode of reading.Source: Phonological Features in Qiraat
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