A Study of Two Qur’anic Counterfactuals: An Application of a Model of Conceptual Projection and Integration

Abstract

This paper examines two Qur’anic counterfactuals from the perspective of the Combined Input Hypothesis. This is a model of figurative meaning construction developed by Ruiz de Mendoza and others between 1999 and 2003 as an alternative model to Conceptual Blending Theory (see Fauconnier & Turner 2002, 2003). The purpose of the study is twofold: 1) to demonstrate the adequacy of the Combined Input Hypothesis for studying Qur’anic counterfactuals and 2) to draw attention to the need to approach non-literal Qur’anic language from a perspective that is broader than Conceptual Metaphor Theory (c.f. Lakoff & Johnson 1980) or Conceptual Blending Theory; namely, one that offers a psychologically realistic account of conceptual mapping and integration by taking into account content and formal cognitive operations involved in the processes.