ملخص الدراسة:

This study investigates the function of the article عسى ('Asa) in Arabic by reviewing the grammarians' viewpoints. Most grammarians regard 'Asa as defective perfect verb, therefore they attach some suffixes of the perfect verb to 'Asa like the quiescent ta of feminization and the subjective inseparable pronoun. Some other grammarians assimilate 'Asa to the article لعل (la'ala), which refers to taraji (anticipation). 'Asa, according to the second school, is a subjunctive particle for the pronouns after it. The present study shows both usages substantiated by standard Arabic classical examples. It also shows the parsing of 'Asa relying on its counterpart as it is mentioned in a given context whether transitive or intransitive. Similarly, it reviews this counterpart whether it is a verb or a particle. Moreover, the study explains the thorny function of 'Asa between its linguistic function that indicates anticipation and wishing and its Quranic usage as it is attributed to Allah. It is proved that taraji is addresses' specific device of speech.