A linguistic Analysis for Coherence in the Quranic Text

Appropriateness must be preserved in any acceptable text to achieve logical connectivity and textuality. Based on the notion of 'logical coherence' advocated by Levy (2003) and our criteria of continuity of thought and lexical cohesion, one can analyse Quranic text in terms of appropriateness, continuity of thought, and lexical cohesion. Appropriateness is a prototypical Quranic discourse property which is based upon linear thematic connection both intrasententially (within a sentence) and intersententially (between sentences). Quranic discourse displays a number of techniques through which the text accomplishes appropriateness. Some of such techniques are specific to Quranic Arabic. A number of sceptic researchers claim that the ayahs of the Quranic text are randomly assembled and bear no logical connection to the surrounding ones (e.g. Ohlander, 2005; Paret, 2010). This baseless  claim assumes that the Quranic text lacks appropriateness, thematic unity, and an underlying logical structure. The present paper, hence, is an attempt to counterargume such claims through providing discussions on how the Quranic text achieves appropriateness through proper employment of grammatical constructions, accurate selection of lexical items, and thematically connect sentences and surahs. More precisely, I follow a text-specific-properties method to argue for how coherence and appropriateness are achieved in the text. In addition, following Beaugrande and Dressler’s (1981:20) argument that textual and discourse appropriateness leads to the continuity of thought, this paper examines how appropriateness is hinged upon the textual fact of continuity of thought through investigating sequentiality and connectivity of senses at a word level, sentence level, or at a larger running text.