1. The meaning of the term luġa

In the Arabic grammatical tradition, the term luġa (pl.luġāt) means (i) ‘dialect’, (ii) ‘(dialectal) word’, (iii) ‘word in a dictionary’, and hence (iv) ‘lexicography’, and finally (v) ‘language’. The term luġa was used in this latter meaning in the phrase waḍʿ al-luġa ‘the conventional nature of language’ in speculations about the relationship between names and designation (see Versteegh 1987:168;…