Master’s Degree Awarded to Mr. Saif Al-Quaishi in Linguistics
Mr. Saif Hassan Ahmed Al-Quaishi was awarded a Master’s Degree in Linguistics with an average of Excellent and a grade of (94%) for his thesis titled: Transformational Phenomena in Rumiyyat by Abu Firas Al-Hamdani, which was submitted to the Department of Arabic Language, Faculty of Languages – Sana’a University. The MA defense was held on Monday, May 11, 2026.
The MA Viva-voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following:
| # | Committee Members | Designation | Position |
| 1 | Prof. Abdullah Rajhi Mohammed Ghanem | External Examiner | Chair |
| 2 | Prof. Ali Qaed Abdo Sinan | Main Supervisor | Member |
| 3 | Assoc. Prof. Khaled Abdulhaleem Al-Absi | Internal Examiner | Member |
The thesis aimed to:
- Establish a connection between Arabic grammar and transformational theory and its applications in Rumiyyat by Abu Firas Al-Hamdani.
- Trace transformational phenomena in deep and surface structures, including deletion, word order, addition, and substitution.
- Enrich linguistic studies and reveal the semantic transformations resulting from these phenomena in light of contemporary linguistics.
The study yielded several key findings summarized as follows:
- The concept of transformation is implicitly rooted in Arabic grammar, even before its explicit emergence in modern linguistic studies, relying on linguistic intuition and spontaneity.
- Deletion is a transformational phenomenon required by grammar and meaning; however, scholars differ in estimating omitted elements in terms of type and position, and the best estimation is the one that accords with linguistic and rhetorical rules and is supported by contextual, rational, or verbal clues.
- The fundamental structure of nominal and verbal sentences consists of the predicate and the subject, and any addition, deletion, fronting, postponement, or substitution constitutes transformation in the modern linguistic sense.
- The study highlighted the controls and motivations of transformation, including the avoidance of ambiguity, the presence of contextual clues, consideration of meaning, and elevating linguistic structures to an artistic level while maintaining conformity with grammatical rules.
In light of these findings, the researcher recommended the following:
- Giving Chomsky’s transformational theory further in-depth scientific study free from bias, in a way that enriches the Arabic language and renews its vitality.
The defense session was attended by a number of academics, researchers, students, colleagues, and the researcher’s family.
