soussan jabri
Abstract
In order to express their view of different phenomena, authors of literary texts occasionally expand upon the meaning of signs to the extent that their meanings would undergo a transformation. ...
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In order to express their view of different phenomena, authors of literary texts occasionally expand upon the meaning of signs to the extent that their meanings would undergo a transformation. These signs would then function as keywords the meanings of which sound hard to grasp. Today, a semantic study and an examination of the conceptual relationship between words and sentences make possible the objective analysis of the processes involved in the semantic expansion and metamorphosis of the signs; having studied the conceptual relationship between the signs, the researcher could then easily comprehend the attitude and outlook of the author of the text. From among conceptual relationships, Hyponymy and contrast are specifically efficient in the semantic analysis of linguistic signs within a text. In order to highlight the role of conceptual relationships in the process of semantic expansion and metamorphosis of linguistic signs, semiotics of "need" in Hāfiz poetry has been examined. Based on researches in this domain, conceptual relationships between words and sentences and the semantic affinity between "piety" and "self centeredness", "pride", "vanity", "deceitfulness" and "hypocrisy" expand the meaning of piety to an extent that it overlaps with "hypocrisy", thence the phrase "hypocrite piety." The contextual meanings of such keywords as "piety", "hypocrisy" and "need" indicate that Hāfiz, apart from his social and individual pathology of the concept of "piety," creates a complicated network of references, connotations and associations based upon the contrast between "need" and "piety." Thus, he not only expands the meaning of "need" but also creates a Hāfiz-specific concept of piety based on the semantic overlap between the concept of "need" and "ascetic poverty." Key words: Conceptual Relations, Sign, Semantic Change, Semantic Development, Hāfiz Poetry
