Seyyed Heydar Shirazi

Abstract "Pause," as one of the suprasegmental elements and a part of the temporal dimension of speech, plays a significant role in the semantic distinction of words and sentences, particularly in the various forms of "ma." The importance of "pause" in speech is further emphasized by the accurate understanding achieved through its proper articulation in the phonological system of discourse. Word-level and inter-word pauses at the syllabic and lexical levels are classifications that, in addition to brevity and semantic expansion, play a crucial role in structural differentiation and various syntactic forms. Numerous verses of the Holy Qur'an provide evidence that proper positioning of pauses clarifies the semantic distinctions between different types of "ma," including ma mawsoola (relative), ma nafiyah (negative), ma istifhamiyah (interrogative), ma za’idah (expletive), ma nakirah tammah (indefinite), and the semantic distinctions between negative, descriptive, interrogative, additional, and similar sentences, thereby resolving sentence ambiguities. Accordingly, this study employs a descriptive-analytical and comparative approach to explore various syntactic combinations of "ma," aiming to deepen the understanding of the auditory style of Qur'anic expressions with a focus on "pause."