Investigating Lexical Defamiliarization in Yusuf (AS) Surah based on the Theory of Formalists’ Cognitive Linguistics

This research investigated lexical defamiliarization in Yusuf (AS) surah based on the theory of Formalists' Cognitive Linguistics. The linguistic model of the formalists (formalism) can be a powerful tool to indicate defamiliarized lexical meanings in the surah. Lexical defamiliarization is defined as avoiding the norms of literal meanings not to conform to the standard language. The lexical concepts are linguistically outside the direct meaning in the text. In light of the lexical decoding of unconventional concepts, the Holy Quran tries to make the readers think to decode the indirect lexical meanings and achieve the verses' purposes. The present research was carried out in a descriptive-analytical way based on Leech's theory (۱۹۶۹). The results of data analysis showed that the lexical defamiliarization words that occurred in Yusuf (AS) surah can be divided into two parts: lexical defamiliarized words that were mentioned only once holding the highest frequency and lexical defamiliarized words that were mentioned twice and had a lower frequency. The findings showed that lexical defamiliarization in this surah has greatly contributed to the beauty of the surah plot shaping the form of metaphorical concepts and aesthetic effects.

Keywords:

Holy Quran , Cognitive linguistics , Lexical defamiliarization , Russian formalists , Yusuf Surah (AS)