Aesthetics of Sound and Rhythm in Light of Linguistic Analysis: The Poem "Al-Taghayyur" by the Omani Poet Said Al Dhafri as a Model

Abstract

          Modern Omani poetry is a fertile field for study, having witnessed a structural transformation in the poem from the traditional Khalili meter to Shi′ral−Taf′ilah. This research is based on the analysis of the poem "Al-Taghayyur"  by the Omani poet Said Al Dhafri, according to the criteria of phonetic and rhythmic linguistic analysis. By employing a descriptive-analytical approach.

The research confirmed the effectiveness of the phonetic level, where focusing on the smallest sound unit contributed significantly to the poetic text's capacity. The poem "Al-Taghayyur" was structured primarily on the Bahral−Ramal meter (Faˉ′ilaˉtun Faˉ′ilaˉtun Faˉ′ilaˉtun), demonstrating variations in its metrical foot. Furthermore, the poet leveraged syllabic rhyme to create extended rhythmic depth through internal structures. Al Dhafri also utilized the rhythm of parallelism (Al−Tawaˉzıˉ) to enrich the internal music, achieving a high degree of sonic engineering. Finally, repetition (Al−Tikraˉr) was employed skillfully in a consistent verbal style, serving to emphasize key aspects of the phrase rather than the phrase itself, thus avoiding monotony.