What does Al-ḥrf mean?

Islam > Glossary > Al-ḥrf

Discover the meaning of the term Al-ḥrf (حرف) in Islamic vocabulary.

Definition Al-ḥrf

Al-ḥrf according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

That which indicates a meaning residing in something other than itself.

Al-ḥrf according to An-Nihaya (Ibn al-Athir)

The she-camel whose pregnancy is concealed (al-dhamira); it was likened to a letter of the alphabet because of its subtlety.

Al-ḥrf according to Dustur al-'Ulama (Al-Ahmadnagari)

In language: the extremity. Among the grammarians: a word that indicates a meaning not intelligible in itself, because its intelligibility requires that something else join it; the letter, in this sense, is the counterpart of the noun and the verb. Know that the letters (huruf) may be set in opposition to expressions (alfaz): one says 'they are expressions' or 'they are letters'; by the expression is meant what is composed of alphabet letters, and by the letter what is not composed of them, whether it be a combination of a letter among the particles of meaning (huruf al-ma'ani) and a simple noun, for example, or something not composed at all, that is, simple, like ya alone or kaf alone; in bik, it is composed of a particle and a noun, not of alphabet letters, so it is a letter (harf), and each one of its parts is likewise a letter, because it is not composed of them. The letter, in this sense, thus also comprehends the noun and the verb, such as the kaf of address and the q of the imperative: it is not opposed to them, but opposed to the expression (lafz) in the sense of what is composed of alphabet letters.

Al-ḥrf according to Maqalid al-'Ulum (As-Suyuti)

That whose indication of its unitary meaning depends on a relational term, from the standpoint of linguistic convention.

Al-ḥrf according to At-Tawqif (Al-Munawi)

The original (al-asli): what remains in the inflections of the word, whether expressed or estimated. The superfluous (al-za'id): what drops out in some of the inflections of the word.

Al-ḥrf according to At-Ta'rifat al-Fiqhiyya (Al-Barkati)

I mean thereby the letter of the structural forms (mabani), namely the letters of the alphabet. Al-Qari said: 'They said, in defining the letter: it is a sound resting on a real syllable, that is, its support lies on a specific part of the parts of the throat, the tongue and the lips, or on an estimated syllable, which is the breath of the mouth.'

Related terms: Al-ḥrf