Reference and Its Impact on Text Coherence in Lady Zainab's -peace be upon her- Sermons in Kufa and Sham: A Textual Study

Abstract

Abstract

        This study aims to investigate the use of reference as a cohesive device in the two sermons of Lady Zaynab (peace be upon her), analyzing its textual and semantic functions and examining its role in achieving textual cohesion. It further explores its contribution to discourse construction and meaning-making through the theoretical frameworks of text linguistics and discourse analysis, with the objective of attaining a deeper understanding of the textual and rhetorical features that characterize these two immortal sermons.

Hence, this research seeks to uncover the manifestations of reference in the two sermons of Lady Zainab, peace be upon her, and to analyze their textual and semantic functions, and to demonstrate their effect in achieving textual coherence and clarifying their effect in constructing discourse and directing meaning, employing the data of textual linguistics and discourse analysis methods to reach a more accurate understanding of the textual and linguistic characteristics that distinguish these two immortal sermons.

The study is organized into an introductory section and four chapters. The introductorysection, entitled"Introductory Foundations," addresses two topics: the concept of reference, and) the sources and chains of transmission of the two sermons. The first chapter examines reference through pronouns in Lady Zaynab's (peace be upon her) two sermons. The second chapter investigates reference through demonstrative expressions, while the third chapter discusses reference through relative pronouns. The fourth chapter is devoted to reference through comparative devices in the two sermons. The study concludes with a summary of the major findings, followed by a bibliography of the primary and secondary sources that contributed to the completion of the research