I say:

As for their discussion of the settlement: “settlement,” “river,” and similar terms designate both a place and what occupies it. Thus, “settlement” encompasses both the dwellings and their inhabitants. A statement about it may concern the inhabitants, the dwellings, or both. This is like the term “human being,” which designates both soul and body, although a statement may concern only one of them. Likewise, “speech” designates both wording and meaning, although a statement may concern only one of them.

As for the derivation of these words, some scholars have erred here by failing to distinguish between qaraʾa, with a hamza, and qarā–yaqrī, with a yā. The verb meaning “to gather” is qarā–yaqrī, without a hamza. From it come qarya (settlement), qirāʾa (reading), and similar words. Another example is qaraytu al-dayfa, aqrīhi: that is, “I brought the guest in and drew him close.” Qaraytu al-māʾa fī al-hawd means “I gathered the water in the basin”; taqarraytu al-miyāh means “I sought out the watering places.” Qarawtu al-bilāda, qaraytuhā, and istaqraytuhā are used when you explore lands, travelling from one to another. From this comes istiqrāʾ: examining something in its entirety. This differs from istaqraʾtuhu al-Qurʾāna, “I asked him to recite the Quran,” for that derives from the root containing a hamza. Thus, a settlement is the place where people gather, and a statement about it sometimes concerns the place and sometimes the people.

As for qaraʾa with a hamza, its meaning is to make manifest and clear. Qurʾ and qirāʾa (recitation) belong to this root. An example is their saying:

“The she-camel—a slaughter camel—has never brought forth a fetal membrane.”

That is, she has not made it manifest and expelled it from her womb. The reciter is the one who brings forth the Quran and makes it manifest. Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation.”

Thus, He distinguishes between collecting and reciting.