<![CDATA[This study examines khat (Arabic calligraphy) as a social semiotic practice that can expand the meaning of Arabic orthography through calligraphic visualization. Such semantic expansion involves intensifying the visual emphasis of meaning, introducing additional layers of meaning, and transforming the semiotic function of linguistic signs in particular contexts, rather than merely enhancing the aesthetic appearance of written forms. The study adopts M.A.K. Halliday’s theory of Language as Social Semiotic as its primary theoretical foundation, operationalized through Kress and van Leeuwen’s visual grammar categories, namely contact, social distance, modality, information value, framing, and salience. This framework is used to analyze how the visual features of khat contribute to the construction of social, cultural, spiritual, and ideological meanings that extend beyond the referential functions of linguistic signs. Employing a qualitative descriptive-interpretative approach, the study analyzes four calligraphic specimens: the word Allah rendered in the thuluth style, the basmalah in the naskh and thuluth styles, Ayat al-Kursi rendered in geometric Kufic script, and digital khat typography. These specimens are examined through the ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions. The analysis identifies three mechanisms of semantic expansion in the specimens examined: semantic amplification, semantic expansion, and semantic transformation. Semantic amplification refers to the intensification of the visual emphasis of linguistic meaning, as interpreted through the comparison between the basmalah rendered in the naskh and thuluth styles. Semantic expansion refers to the addition of layers of meaning through visual form, as exemplified by the geometric order of Ayat al-Kursi rendered in the Kufic style. Semantic transformation, meanwhile, refers to a shift in the semiotic function of a sign within a particular context, as illustrated by the placement of the word Allah in the thuluth style within a mosque’s mihrab, where it functions as part of the visual marking of sacred space. Based on these four specimens, the study advances an initial proposition that Arabic orthography, when realized through calligraphic practice, can function as a social semiotic resource for representing cultural, religious, and ideological values through visual choices shaped by their contexts of use. This proposition offers a direction for extending the study of khat beyond aesthetic and historical analyses toward a more systematic social semiotic approach. However, claims concerning gaps in previous research and the novelty of this approach require substantiation through a sufficiently comprehensive literature review]]>
Copyrights © 2026
