Basic Intro to Arabic Gramm

8/14/2019 Basic Intro to Arabic Gramm

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Basic Introduction

to

NahwPrepared

byAmienoellah Abderoef


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What is the theory of ?

Basically, the theory of involves; an effect / change at the end of a word

produced by another word preceding it.

Thus, in the following sentences:

(The teacher came) (I asked the teacher)

(I greeted the teacher)the effect / change is the , the and the at the end of " " " produced by " in the first sentence, " " in the second sentenceand " " in the third sentence respectively.

The effect / change in Arabic is called " / " , the word at whose end the effectchange is produced is called the " / " and the word which produces the effectchange is called the "

. "

Remark (Optional Reading): The reason for these changes or effects produced at the

end of " " is to distinguish the different grammatical roles or functions that aword like " " acquires when placed in a sentence. Prior to its existence in thesentence, " " had no other meaning apart from the teacher. However, when itwas placed after the verb " " it acquired the grammatical role of being the oneperforming the action indicated by that verb i.e. the one doing the coming. Likewise, when

it was placed after the verb " " it acquired the grammatical role of being the directobject of the action indicated by that verb i.e. the one to whom asking is done directly.

Also, when it was placed after the preposition " " it acquired the grammatical role ofbeing the indirect object of the action of the verb " " since the verb is connectedindirectly to the object i.e. via the particle (or more specifically the preposition) " " .Thus, every action necessarily has a doer And optionally an object to which the verb iseither directly or indirectly connected.

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Action

Doer

Direct

Object

Indirect


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As these grammatical roles are all abstract meanings existing only in the mind of thespeaker, the classical Arabs devised a system of phonetically and diacritically markingthe ending of a word in order to make these grammatical roles known to the listener.Thus, the grammatical role of the doer of the action in the sentence became known by

means of a at the end of the word. The grammatical role of the direct object of theaction became known by means of a at the end of the word. The grammaticalrole of the indirect object of the action became known by means of a at the endof the word.

Therefore, "

" :

being the doer of the verb " " in the first sentence is marked with a at itsend,

being the direct object of the verb " " in the second sentence, is marked with a , and finally being the indirect object of the verb " " in the third sentence (in that the actionis transferred onto the object via the preposition " " ), is marked with a .

In Arabic grammar the verb is referred to as the , the doer as the ,the direct object as the and the indirect object as the .

In Arabic sentences comprising the , the and the combination no matter what the word-order the noun marked with the isalways going to be the (whether grammatically or semantically) and the nounmarked with the

is always going to be the

as illustrated in the

following sentences:

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Action

Doer Direct

Object

Indirect


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[Zaid hit Khalid (with normal emphasis)] VSO [Zaid hit Khalid (with different emphasis)] VOS [Zaid hit Khalid (with different emphasis)] OVS

[Zaid hit Khalid (with different emphasis)] SVOCompare this with the English:

Zaid hit KhalidKhalid hit Zaid

In the examples:

(The teacher came)

(I asked the teacher) (I greeted the teacher)

we indicated the , the and the in separate sentences. However, it is possible for them to occur all inone sentence, e.g.

" " (The student asked the teacher about

the problem / issue)

Here, " " is the ," " the , and" " the .

We mentioned earlier that Arabic has a flexible word-order and that in sentences

comprising the , the , the and the combination: the , the and the

are determined by how their endings are marked.

Thus, the following are some of the word-orders.

" " (V O S

PP)

" " (V PP S

O)

" " (V O PP

S)

" " (O V S

PP)

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" " (PP V S O)

V = Verb

S = Subject

O = Object

PP = Prepositional Phrase

In all of the above sentences: " " is the " , " the

, and "

" the

.

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Is the application of the theory of confined to the ?

The previous examples illustrate the application of the theory of to an (noun), namely: " " . However, its application is not confined to the only but extends to the (verb) as well as illustrated in the following set ofexamples:

(I write / will write) (I will not write) (I did not write)

Here the is the , the and the at the end of theverb "

" , which makes "

" the

. While the

in the

second and third sentence viz. " " and " " , is a clearly expressibleword namely " " and " " respectively, the in the first sentence is not aclearly expressible word but rather an abstract idea. This idea is the fact that " " isdivested of " " , " " or any other word that performs the same function. It is thisidea (i.e. the absence of " " , " " and their likes) that produces the at theend of " ". If we did not assume the to be this idea we would have beenleft with a situation of an effect (in the form of a ) without a cause, which isunacceptable in the theory of

. The

in the form of an abstract idea is

called " " (abstract governor) as opposed to the in the form ofa concrete word which is called " " (concrete governor).

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What are the specific types of , and called?

Moreover, the by means of the (which applies to both the and the ) is called . The by means of the (whichapplies to both the and the ) is called . The bymeans of the (which applies to the only ) is called or . The by means of the (which applies to the only ) is called . From this it becomes apparent that:

is synonymous with (declension) or is not applicable to the , and is notapplicable to the .

The word at whose end is produced is called " " , the word at whoseend is produced is called " " , the word at whose end or is produced is called " " or " " and the word at whose end is produced is called " " .

The word (or idea) producing is called " " or " " , the wordproducing is called " " or " " , the word producing or is called " " or " " or " " or " andfinally the word producing is called " " or " " .Hence, in the sentences " " and " " :

is the at the end of " " and " " , the of " " " is the verb " and the of " " is the absence of a (like " " ) and a (like " " ) and the is " " and " " .

In the sentences "

" and " " : is the at the end of " " and " " , the of " " is the verb " " and the of " " is the particle " "and the is " " and " " .

In the sentence " " : or is the at the end of " , " the or of " " " is the preposition " and the or is " . "

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In the sentence " " : is the at the end of " " , the of "

" is the particle " "and

the

is "

" .

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In the case of the words ending being (a) or (b) only the on them is explicit ( ) as for the and the they are too heavy (though notimpossible) to be pronounced on (a) and (b) and are therefore implicit or assumed (

) only, e.g.

(The judge came) (I asked the judge) (I greeted the judge)

Observe that in " " , the that is meant to be on the of " " is not pronounced but dropped instead (and replaced by a instead), thus becoming

(implicit and assumed) due to being heavy on the

(i.e. or simply ). Likewise in thesentence " " , the that is meant to be on the of " " is not pronounced but dropped instead (and replaced by a instead), thus becoming (implicit and assumed) due to being heavyon the (i.e. or simply ).

However, in the second sentence " " , the on the of" " proves easy to pronounced and is therefore not dropped like the and , thus remaining (explicit and apparent) (i.e. or simply ).

In the case of the words ending being (c) i.e. an preceded by a , all threevowel-markings (i.e. the , the and the ) are all implied orassumed ( ) on the (whether written as as (- ) or (- ) ] due to theimpossibility of an being vowelled (i.e. or simply

) because it always carries an unwritten which does not allow for the to be vowelled e.g.

(The young lad came) (I asked the young lad) (I greeted the young lad)

Observe in all three sentences the , the and the that aremeant to be on the

of "

" are not pronounced, thus becoming

(implicit and assumed) due to the fact that the is always unvowelled, i.e. it

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In all three instances the weak ending has been dropped in the case of in placeof the normal . This, however, is not a case of the being and, therefore, does not concern us here. The reason for mentioning it, though, is merely

to see how the weak-ending verbs are declined in all three cases.

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Do all Arabic words take the effect of the whether explicitly or implicitly?

Not all Arabic words when preceded by an necessarily change or take aneffect at their endings whether explicitly like in the case of " " , or implicitly likein the case of " " as seen in the previous examples. In fact, some words do notchange at all but remain fixed and stable at their endings despite the action of different on them, like " " in the following sentences:

(These / they came) (I asked these / them) (I greeted these / them)

Note that " " does not change at its ending but instead remains fixed and stablewith a at its ending. This is despite the fact that " " occupies the sameposition as " " and " " previously. This does not mean, however, thatno is been exercised by the but rather that this getsdistributed over the place that " " occupies such that this place is charged withthe action or power of the . However, " " itself is indifferent andimpervious to the action of the and is said to be firmly based or built on the that it terminates in ( ) .

Another example of a word that remains unchanged at its ending despite being governedby an is " " (You f. p. write / will write):

Observe in these sentences that verb " " remains unchanged at its ending despitethe fact that it occupies the same position occupied by "

" previously. Again, as was

the case with " " , the of the gets distributed over the placethat " " occupies rather than affecting " " in any way. Because the gets distributed over the place as a whole instead of causing the ending to change we

refer to it as (i.e. that is place-related rather than end-related).

Words like " " and " " are called (indeclinable, literally built)because they are firmly built on the sign in which they end in never changing from it.

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On the other hand, words like " " and " " which do change at theirendings on account of the action of the , are called (declinable).

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Is the declension the only possible declensionin the ?

The declension that we have observed in "

" is one of six possible declensions in the and it is referred to as thedeclension of the (fully-declinable) and applies to both the singular ( ) ) and the broken plural ), e.g.

(The teacher came) (I asked the teacher) (I greeted the teacher)

(The students came) (I asked the students)

(I greeted the students)

The other five declensions are:

(a) the declension of the / (semi-declinable) which has the combination: , and appliesalso to the singular ( ) ) and the broken plural ), e.g.

(Ahmad came) (I asked Ahmad) (I greeted Ahmad)

(Scholars came) (I asked scholars) (I greeted scholars)

(b) the declension of the sound feminine plural ( ) , which hasthe combination: , e.g.

(The female teachers came) (I asked the female teachers) (I greeted the femaleteachers)

(c) the declension of the dual ( ) whether masculine or female, which has the

combination: , e.g.

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(The two male teachers came)

(I asked the two maleteachers)

(I greeted the two maleteachers)

(The two female teachers came)

(I asked the two female teachers) (I greeted the two femaleteachers)

(d) the declension of the sound masculine plural (

) , whichhas the combination: , e.g.

(The male teachers came) (I asked the male teachers) (I greeted the maleteachers)

(e) the declension of the five nouns ( :) , which has the combination , e.g. (Your father came) (I asked your father) (I greeted your father)

The following table sums up the six declensions in the :

Type of

1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

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6.

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Is the declension the only possible declensionin the ?

The declension is one of three possibledeclensions in the and applies to the sound-ending whenit is free from the following suffixes:

the (Alifdenoting the dual),

the (Wawdenoting masculine plural), the (Yadenoting 2nd person feminine singular), the (Nun denoting feminine plural) and the (Nun of Intensification suffixed directly to theverb):

e.g.

(I write / will write) (I will not write) (I did not write)

This category can also be called the sound-ending four verbs referring to the

when it has only one of the four letters of " , , ] " and ]prefixed to it (and nothing-else):

,

,

and

.

The other two declensions are:

(a) the declension of the weak-ending when it is freefrom the abovementioned suffixes, which has the combination: (dropping of the weak-ending) e.g.

)I call / will

call( )I throw / willthrow(

)I forget / willforget(

)I willnot call(

)I will notthrow(

)I will notforget(

)I did notcall(

)I did not

throw( )I did not

forget(

This category can also be called the weak-ending four verbs referring to the when it has only one of the four letters of " , , ] " and ] prefixed to it(and nothing-else):

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, , and , , and , , and

(b) the declension of the five verbs ( ) , that is, the when it has the , the and

suffixed to it: , , , and , and has thecombination:

(dropping of the Nun) e.g.

)You dwrite / will

write( )You m.p. write / will

write( )You f.s. write / will

write(

)You dwillnot write(

)You m.p. willnot write(

)You f.s. willnot write(

)You ddidnot write(

)You m.p. willnot write(

)You f.s. didnot write(

The following table sums up the three declensions in the :

Type of :

1.

2.

( (

/ ((

3.

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Is the the only place in which the is made ,the the only place in which it is made and the

the only place in which it is made ?

The is not the only place in which the is made , nor the the only place in which it is made nor the the only place in which it is made . There is a total of sixplaces in which the is made and are referred to as the , a total of eleven places in which it is made and are referredto as the and a total of two places in which it is made and arereferred to as the . Besides these nineteen places there are also foursecondary places called the (followers) in that they merely follow the preceding

in its specific declension or . In other words, they have nodeclension of their own and are dependent on the declension of the preceding for their declension.

The following is a general treatment of the , the and the as well as the which focuses on a basic definition andillustration of each of the nineteen places of and the four :

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The

1. The is an that is preceded by a (active verb)and denotes the one doing the action indicated by that verb, e.g.

(The student read the book)

2. The is an that is preceded by a (passive verb) and takes the place of the after the latter has been dropped,e.g.

(The book was read)

3. The (subject of nominal sentence) is an that normally occurs atthe beginning of the sentence and denotes that about which information is given by

what follows it (i.e. by the ), e.g.

(The student is present)

4. The (predicate) is that which normally follows the and givesinformation about the , e.g.

(The student is present)

5. The " " (or the of one of its sisters) is the after itand its have been acted upon by " " (or one of its sisters) which causesthe to be and the to be , e.g.

(The student was present)

6. The " " (or the of one its sisters) is the after it and its have been acted upon by " " (or one of its sisters) which causes the to be and the to be , e.g.

(Indeed, the student is present)

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The

1. The (direct object) is an on which the action of the occurs or to which it is applied, e.g.

(The student read the book)

2. The (adverbial object) is an denoting the time or placein which the action of the occurs, e.g.

(The student read this morning in front ofthe teacher)

3. The / (object of purpose / reason / motive) is an (usually a mental action) that denotes the purpose or motive for doing the action of the , e.g.

(The student read out of desire for knowledge)

4. The (object of accompaniment) is an that occurs afterthe having the meaning of " " to denote that in whose company (orpresence) or with which the action of the is done, e.g.

(The student read with Khalid or in his company)

5. The (absolute / unrestricted object) is an (morespecifically the infinitive or of the verb) that is mentioned after a sharing in the same root or stem to either reinforce the meaning of the action that isperformed or to clarify the manner in which or number of times the action isperformed, e.g.

(The student really read) (The student read fast)

(The student read two readings)

6. The (state or condition) is an that denotes the state or condition ofthe or at the time the action takes place, e.g.

(The student read sitting or while sitting) (the student read the book raised in front

of him)

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7. The (specification or specifier) is an that specifies what isactually meant or intended by a preceding vague , e.g.

(The student read twenty pages)

8. The " " " (excepted / excluded by means of " ) is an mentioned after " " to denote that is excluded from what is mentioned before " " ,e.g.

(The student read the book exceptone page)

9. The (vocative / addressee) is an mentioned after " " or one ofthe other particles used for addressing to denote that the bearer of that name orreference or title is being addressed, e.g.

(O Principal / Headmaster of the school)

10.The " " (or the of one of its sisters) is the is the after itand its have been acted upon by " " (or one of its sisters) which causesthe to be and the to be , e.g.

(The student was present)

11.The " " (or the of one of its sisters) is the after it andits have been acted upon by " " (or one of its sisters) which causes the to be and the to be , e.g.

(Indeed, the student is present)

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The

1. The is an that is governed by one ofapproximately seventeen , e.g.

(The student read in the classroom)

2. The (the noun annexed to) is an to which a preceding called the is annexed such that the former is always in astate of and at the same time the gains specificity from the if the latter is indefinite or definiteness if the latter is definite, e.g.

(A director of a school / a school director) (The director of the school / the school director)

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The

All (followers) follow the preceding word called the (the word that isfollowed) in its declension or place of declension, and are four in number: the

/ (descriptive / qualifying adjective), the (substitute), the (corroborative) and the (conjoined by means ofconjunction)

1. The / is a (follower) in the form of a descriptive nounwhich describes a quality in the noun which it follows (called the or ), and apart from following it in declension it also follows it in gender,number and definiteness and indefiniteness, e.g.

2. The is a that replaces the (called the )in meaning by either being the whole of the , or a part of it, or aquality in it, or rectification of it, etc. e.g.

(The student, Zaid, came)

(I asked the student, Zaid) (I greeted the student, Zaid)

(The student, his hand, was hit i.e. the students hand was hit)) (I hit the student, his hand i.e. I hit the hand of the student) (I saw the student, his hand i.e. I saw the students

hand)

(The student increased, his knowledge i.e. the studentsknowledge increased)

(I love the student, his knowledge i.e. I love the studentsknowledge)

(I was amazed at the student, his knowledge i.e. Iwas amazed at the students knowledge)

[Khalid (I mean) Zaid, came] [I asked Khalid (I mean) Zaid]

[I greeted Khalid (I mean) Zaid]

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Basic Intro to Arabic Gramm

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