Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 19، number In Volume 7، October 2026 ، issue Number 125

Analyzing the Communicative Components of the Intertextuality of the Nafsat al-Masdour based on the Lexical Layer

Zahra Akbarpour Baghaei (Author in Charge), Zohreh Nouraeinia , Maryam Yozbashi , Khadija Bahrami Rahnama

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nafsat al-Masdour is one of the most distinguished works of Persian ornate prose (nathr-e fanni) from the seventh century AH. From a lexical perspective, it maintains extensive connections with both earlier linguistic traditions and later Persian texts. Although numerous studies have examined the historical and literary aspects of this work, its intertextual components at the lexical level have not yet been investigated independently through a data-driven approach. This study aims to identify and explain these intertextual components and to analyze the role of Nafsat al-Masdour in the transmission, reconstruction, innovation, and continuity of lexical elements in Persian texts.

METHODOLOGY: This descriptive-analytical study adopts a historical-intertextual approach and is based on the computerized corpus of the Lexicography Group of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, together with selected textual sources. Lexical items, technical expressions, compounds, and distinctive phrases in Nafsat al-Masdour were extracted and systematically compared with corresponding evidence from earlier and later texts in order to examine their origin, continuity, development, and patterns of intertextual relationships.

FINDINGS: The analysis of the data showed that the lexical intertextual relationships in Nafsat al-Masdour can be examined in four categories: influence from earlier texts, lexical innovation, the revival and recreation of words and expressions, and influence on later texts. The findings also showed that some of the words and expressions used in the work had already appeared in earlier Persian texts and continued to be used after Nasawi, some were recreated through structural or semantic modification, and some, within the examined corpus, display unique usage.

CONCLUSION: The findings of the study indicate that, at the lexical level, Nafsat al-Masdour played an important role in the transmission, recreation, innovation, and continuation of linguistic elements across Persian texts. While drawing on the lexical heritage of earlier writers, Nasawi contributed to the transmission and development of Persian vocabulary and expressions in later works through innovations in word formation, compound formation, the semantic renewal of certain words, and the revival of a number of linguistic structures. Therefore, in addition to its literary and historical significance, Nafsat al-Masdour constitutes an important source for studies in the history of the Persian language, historical lexicology, and stylistics.

Keyword
Nafsat al-Masdour , Stylistics , Technical Prose , Lexical Layer , Communication , Intertextuality , Intertextual Components.