The Semantic Change of  Yā Rab ( Oh, God!') in Persian Rhetoric and Grammar and Its Comparison with Arabic Poetry and the Holy Qur ān

Using their talent and artistic taste, the Persian and Arab great poets and writers have changed the lexical phrases, structurally and semantically. One of the examples of such innovations is using the phrase ‘Oh, God + the exclamatory-interrogative device’ which is used to show surprise with exaggeration and overstatement. When using the phrase ‘Oh God’ with the exclamatory-interrogative device, it shows exaggeration in surprise; because in the rhetoric, sometimes apostrophe or aversio, is used for exclamatory intentions. And some questions are of exclamatory nature, that is, they express surprise. So combining apostrophe and exclamatory questions produces an intensively exaggerated surprise. Whereas originally the phrase ‘oh, God’ is just a benedictory apostrophe used in the prayers. The most appropriate Persian equivalent for ‘oh, God+ the exclamatory-interrogative device” is the phrase ‘be nām-e izad’. This article is the result of research in the two areas of Persian rhetoric and grammar, and Arabic eloquence in poetry and the Holy Qur’ān.