its user may employ it with a verbal indication that clarifies the intended meaning, as when we say “Suhayl ibn ‘Amr” or “Kilāb ibn Murra.” The reference to this man cannot mean the star, nor does Kilāb here mean “dogs,” the plural of kalb (“dog”). Likewise, saying, “Al-Thurayyā consists of small stars, and Suhayl is the star that rises in the north near the southern pole,” explicitly designates the celestial referent and admits only one meaning. The same applies to all other expressions.

One must therefore distinguish between an expression’s admitting multiple meanings by virtue of its original designation and its admitting multiple meanings in the speaker’s actual use; between the speaker’s indicating the intended meaning and the addressee’s understanding, inference, and judgment that the expression conveys that meaning. And the purpose of