Semantic Components of the Word Nuzul in the Holy Quran Based on Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Axes

The root "nzl" is one of the most frequent roots used in various lexical forms close to four hundred times in the Quran. Originally meant 'to descend from top to down', this root has found semantic expansion in the Quran when used in other senses, such as creating, forgiveness, learning, entering, trial and promise. Whenever the word nuzul has been used to refer to rain, its context is different from the sending down of the Quran: in the former, this word is solely used with the word sama (the sky)while in the latter, when indicating the sending down of wahy, it is always collocating words and phrases such as min indina, rouholamin, heart of the Prophet and along with multiple attributes of God. In the Holy Quran, this word has collocated on the syntagmatic axis with words and phrases such as merciful and compassionate, the Lord of the Worlds, "Mighty, the Wise", "the Wise, the Praised One", and Haqq and that it shows the greatness and holiness of the Quran and in fact it introduces God as the real actor and the doer of the revelation. Further, at paradigmatic axis, it has been substituted by words such as wahy, ilqa, qiraat, tilawat, aati, Ja’a, and Jaala each of which tell the sending down of the Quran in some ways and portray Prophet's (SA) relationship with the Angel of Revelation. In sum, this descriptive-analytical study analyzed the word nuzul taking a semantic approach on two syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes and expressed its semantic components.