The Importance of Pronoun in the Standard Arabic Style

Abstract

Pronouns play an important cohesive role in Arabic Language. They ensure coordination, concision and clarity in discourse. The present paper is an attempt to define pronouns and their types in Arabic. It explains their fixed desinential structure, and their degree of definiteness among other definite categories of speech. An attempt is then made to shed some light on the so-called 'Damîr Al-Sha’n' (i.e. pronoun of distinction) and 'Damîr Al-Fasl' (i.e. the independent pronoun). Differences between Kufi and Basri schools of grammatical thought regarding the status of pronouns are also discussed to show that the relationship between pronouns and their referent has been discussed on logical grounds that cannot be confirmed by usage, and that Arabic is unique as to its use of the so-called (´Damîr Al-Sha’n).