Grammatical Causation: An Original and Applied Study of Its Origins, Development, Approaches, and Types Among Grammarians

Abstract

Grammatical causation (al-‘illah al-naḥwiyyah) is a fundamental pillar of grammatical analogy (al-qiyās al-naḥwī) and the most crucial element in interpreting grammatical rulings. This research aims to define grammatical causation and trace the stages of its origin and development among early grammarians. It also sheds light on how it was influenced by the methods of causation used by jurists and logicians, especially during the Abbasid era, when grammarians emulated jurists in their principles and borrowed terminology from logicians and philosophers. Despite this influence, the study clarifies that, according to Ibn Jinni, the causal principles of grammarians are closer to those of theologians and differ from those of jurists.

The research explores the approaches to grammatical causation, such as consensus, textual evidence, implication, and division and testing. It also presents the most important types of causation as mentioned by Al-Suyuti and others. The study provides illustrative examples for these types, such as the causation of similarity, causation of sufficiency, causation based on meaning, and causation of lightness. The research concludes that the origins of grammatical causation were purely Arabic and that most of these causal principles are rooted in reasons such as lightness, conciseness, frequent usage, returning to the original form, and clarifying meaning.