Kalla ‘No’ in Glorious Qur’an: Semantico-Syntactico Study
Abstract
This study aims at identifying different meanings of the response particle (kalla) No and tracing its usage in the glorious Quran. Kalla had many functions: negating, restraining and repelling what precedes it and confirming what follows it. Negation with Kalla differs from other negation particles; it denotes that what precedes it cannot be, at any rate, true whereas other particles negate the action without wondering about its reliability. Therefore, unlike other particles, the negated action precedes Kalla, and the sentence that follows it usually signifies confirmation, swearing, reassuring the audience/hearer and restraining which requires a reaction to a positive context some scholars count Kalla as having the meaning of yes in fact, just the opposite, Kalla means no; it negates the positive ness of an action.