A Semantic Study upon the Meaning of the Term “KARN”

In Arabic, a term and its framework may be subject to modification from the first use till today both as time passes and due to the influence of Islam on the language. However, the alterations within the meanings of words are relevant to their morphological features. The term ‘‘Karn’’ appears in a negative sense in the Qur’an as the statement denotes ‘‘we destroyed many generations’’ but it appears in a positive sense in the hadith narrations as seen in the statement ‘‘the blessed generations are those who live in my century…’’ and therefore, in this study, this situation necessitates the examination of the term in terms of both its literal sense and origin. Furthermore, the definition and the content of the term also prove problematic. For this reason, it is of significance to create a scientific and academic definition of the term ‘‘Karn’’ which is not used in colloquial speech whereas the word ‘‘akran’’ which is a derivation of ‘‘Karn’’ is common in our language. Specifying what contexts an Arabic word is used in Jahiliyya Arabic poetry, verses of the Qur’an and the hadith narrations makes it easier to understand if semantic extensions, constraints and meaning transfer regarding the word are in question. The use of ‘‘k-r-n’’ verb in various meanings along with its many derivatives which are also used in the verses and the hadith narrations make it necessary to analyse correlation of meaning between aforementioned derived words. Moreover, in this study, it is aimed at gaining insight into various reasons for the contexts in which the term ‘‘Karn’’ has a narrower or larger meaning. The nature of the term of ‘‘Karn’’ has undergone some changes due to ‘‘time, space, quantity and quality’’ and the term has narrow and large meanings in its definitions according to the preferences. The ‘‘time’’ within the scope of the term ‘‘Karn’’ connotes any period of history; the ‘‘space’’ connotes a restricted place; the ‘‘quantity’’ connotes the essence of time in togetherness and the ‘‘quality’’ connotes a close affinity towards an aim. In accordance with aforementioned factors, definitions of ‘‘Karn’’ have been formed as a general/large and a narrow/custom one. Major differences in terms of time, space or quantity/quality are in question whereas there are some similarities or closeness with some of the collective nouns used in the verses of the Qur’an and the hadith narrations. In addition to lack of corresponding ones of some words in another language, there may not be a word which is synonymous with it and thoroughly conveys the meaning in the same language. The