The Phonetic Developments in Semitic Languages and Their Role in the Divergence of Quranic Readings (Qirāʾāt)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Professor at the Islamic Seminary of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to investigate the phonological origins of variant Quranic readings (Qirāʾāt) by examining how historical phonetic sound shifts from Proto-Semitic into classical Arabic dialects and sister Semitic languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Akkadian, and Ge'ez) influenced reading divergences.
Methodology: Adopting a comparative-historical linguistic methodology within a descriptive-analytical framework, the study cross-examines lexical cognates, phonological sound shifts (labials, sibilants, interdentals, gutturals, velars, and liquids), and dialectal data across ancient Semitic corpora alongside canonical and noncanonical Quranic transmissions.
Findings: Findings reveal that numerous variant readings (e.g., b/f assimilation, ṯ/f shifts, s/š alternations, ṣ/s/z variations in ṣirāṭ and saqar, ḏ/d mutations in iddakara, and ḥ/ʿayn shifts in ‘attā) are systematic manifestations of regular Semitic phonological rules and regional Arabian dialectal developments, rather than scribal errors or random conjectural adaptations.
Conclusion: Comparative Semitic linguistics provides a rigorous, objective benchmark to reconstruct proto-forms and distinguish primary readings from secondary phonetic innovations, validating that diverse Quranic readings preserve authentic, ancient dialectal trajectories embedded within the broader Semitic language family

Keywords

References

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  • Receive Date: 11 March 2026
  • Revise Date: 07 April 2026
  • Accept Date: 30 April 2026

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