The Semiotics of the Title in the Works of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ṣafadī

Abstract

This study examines the semiology of the title in Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ṣafadī’s (d. 764 AH / 1363 AD) work. He is one of the prominent figures of the 18^th century AH, who left behind him an encyclopedic legacy in literature, history, and linguistics. The research assumes that the title functions as a textual threshold with semantic and aesthetic significance that operates beyond its identifying role to act as a guide for reception and a shaper of the reader’s horizon of expectation.

The study aims to reveal the linguistic and stylistic structures of al-Ṣafadī’s titles. It intends to analyze their syntactic patterns and rhetorical mechanisms, and highlight their cultural symbols and artistic connotations, which reflect both the spirit of the age and the author’s creative sensibility. The researcher employs a semiotic-analytical methodology that combines close textual reading with cultural interpretation to uncover the functions of the title as a parallel text containing a network of multiple signs and meanings.

The study concludes that al-Ṣafadī transformed the title into an independent creative structure that unites rhythmic harmony, structural beauty, and symbolic depth through the variation of syntactic forms (binary, ternary, quaternary, and quinary) and the use of rhyme, paronomasia, and structural balance. The findings indicate that al-Ṣafadī’s titles are miniature texts saturated with symbols, performing evocative and promotional functions, and serving as artistic and semantic gateways to the worlds of his larger works.