Departing from the Principles of Quantity and Relevance in Question–Answer Agreement in Al-Ayni’s Commentary “Umdat al-Qari”: A Pragmatic and Argumentative Approach

Abstract

This paper examines the departing from question–answer agreement in Al-Ayni’s interpretive commentary “Umdat al-Qari: Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari”. The study is based on the hypothesis that most dialogic discourses consist of paired questions and answers. Since answers are constructed in relation to the questions and depend on them structurally and semantically, they are expected to align with them in both form and meaning. Accordingly، deviation from this agreement occurs only for communicative or informative purposes intended by the responder and that is what Al-‘Ayni tried to clarify in his commentaries. The paper utilizes a pragmatic approach with all its techniques. It is divided into two sections: the first discusses deviation from the Maxim of Quantity, and the second examines deviation from the Maxim of Relevance.