Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
PhD in Quranic and Hadith Studies, Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran
2
PhD in Arabic Language and Literature, Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran
3
Master’s Degree in Quranic and Hadith Studies, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran
Abstract
Objective: Dialogue is a central narrative element through which meaning is constructed and communicated, characters are revealed, and events are directed. Paul Grice’s cooperative principle provides a pragmatic framework for examining explicit and implicit meaning through the maxims of quantity, quality, relation, and manner. This study investigates dialogue in the story of Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, in Surahs al-Araf, al-Kahf, and al-Qasas. Its objective is to identify departures from these maxims and explain their semantic and pragmatic effects on the construction of meaning and the narrative functions of dialogue.
Method: The study adopts a descriptive and analytical method to examine dialogues occurring in sixty-two Quranic verses: twenty-two verses from al-Araf, twenty-three from al-Qasas, and seventeen from al-Kahf. The analysis considers these dialogues in light of Grice’s four maxims, focusing on instances in which conversational contributions depart from their requirements. It examines the relationship between these departures, the implicit meanings conveyed, and the communicative purposes served within the selected narrative passages.
Results: The findings indicate that departures from the cooperative maxims are purposeful rather than incidental features of the examined dialogues. They serve several semantic and communicative functions, particularly revealing the psychological and intellectual traits of characters, strengthening the persuasive dimension of dialogue, and directing the recipient’s attention toward implicit meanings. These departures also contribute to the mental representation of characters and the development of the narrative plot. Their significance therefore extends beyond individual conversational exchanges to the ways dialogue shapes characterization, advances events, and brings the rhetorical and linguistic aesthetics of the Quranic text into focus.
Conclusion: The study concludes that dialogue in the selected passages of Moses’s story operates within a precise pragmatic system that connects linguistic structure with semantic function. Departures from the cooperative maxims contribute to this integration through their role in conveying implicit meanings and supporting narrative expression. Examining these departures clarifies the relationship between conversational form, communicative purpose, and the construction of meaning in the dialogues analyzed.
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