Morphological Analogy According to Al-Ba’li (d. 709 AH) in his Commentary on Ibn Malik’s Alfiyyah Morphology department

Abstract

This research focuses on Al-Ba'li's morphological analogy through his commentary on Ibn Malik's Alfiyya, demonstrating that analogy is one of the most important pieces of evidence scholars have relied upon in establishing grammatical and morphological rules. Al-Ba'li followed this approach, exploiting analogy to explain linguistic issues, and his reliance on it is evident in several areas. Scholars have divided analogy into four types: according to usage, according to meaning and expression, according to clarity and obscurity, and according to the common cause. Al-Ba'li's commentary demonstrates his great emphasis on analogy according to the common cause, given its precise reasoning and its consistency with the principles of Arabic speech. He also referred to anomalous analogy, demonstrating his awareness of the diversity of levels of analogy between the common and the anomalous, and his grasp of the methods of Arabic usage, He did not refer to the other sections of the analogy.