Nahw Meer English: 1.1/1.2/1.3 - Words and Sentences لَفْظٌ وَجُمْلَةٌ
Section 1.1 – Single Words/Compoundsفَصْلٌ ١. ١ – لَفْظٌ: اَلْمُفْرَدُ وَالْمُرَكَّبُ |
Words: Words used in the Arabic language are of two kinds: Single words مُفْرَدٌ and Compound words مُرَكَّبٌ.
Single-word مُفْرَدٌ: A word that points to a singular meaning. Another term for a single word is كَلِمَةٌ. These are three types:
1) Noun اِسْمٌ – As in رَجُلٌ meaning “a man.”
2) Verb فِعْلٌ – As in ضَرَبَ meaning “he hit.”
3) Particle حَرْفٌ – A single letter or a combination of letters, as in هَلْ meaning “Do you/Have you/Did you?”
Compound Word مُرَكَّبٌ: Compound is made with two or more words. There are two types: complete مُفِيْدٌ and incomplete غَيْرُمُفِيْدٍ.
Section 1.2 – Complete Compounds فَصلٌ ١. ٢ – اَلْمُرَكّبُ الْمُفِيْدُ |
A complete Compound, which can be called a sentence اَلْجُمْلَةُ or speech اَلْكَلَامُ, meaningfully expresses a statement, question, or other information.
Sentence اَلْجُمْلَةُ: These are divided into two types:
1) Informative خَبَرِيَّةٌ, in which it is possible to say that the speaker is factually right or wrong, as in when the sentence is a statement.
2) Non-Informative إِنْشَائِيَّةٌ, in which it is not possible to say that the speaker is factually right or wrong, as in when the sentence is a question.
Informative Sentence اَلْجُمْلَةُالْخَبَرِيَّةُ:
There are two kinds:
1) A Nominative Sentence الْاِسْمِيَّةُ اَلْجُمْلَةُ begins with a Noun اِسْمٌ as in زَيْدٌ عَالِمٌmeaning “Zaid is a scholar.”
The first part of the sentence is the Subject مُسْنَدٌإِلَيْهِ on which an action is performed and it is called. اَلْمُبْتَدَأُ The second part of the sentence is the Predicate مُسْنَدٌ, which specifies the action and it is called اَلْخَبَرُ.
2) A VerbalSentence اَلْجُمْلَةُ الْفِعْلِيَّةُ begins with a Verb فِعْلٌ as in ضَرَبَ زَيْدٌ meaning “Zaid hit”.
The first part of the sentence is the Object مُسْنَدٌ which specifies an action and it is called a Verb اَلْفِعْلُ. The second part is the Actor إِلَيْهِ مُسْنَدٌ who acts also called Subject اَلْفَاعِلُ.
Subject مُسْنَدٌإِلَيْهِ / Object مُسْنَدٌ:
The Object مُسْنَدٌ specifies the action performed on the Subject مُسْنَدٌإِلَيْهِ. Any Noun اِسْمٌ can be used in a sentence as a Subject مُسْنَدٌإِلَيْهِor an Object مُسْنَدٌ. A Verb فِعْلٌ can only be an Object مُسْنَدٌ, not a Subject مُسْنَدٌإِلَيْهِ. A Particle حَرْفٌ can be neither an Object مُسْنَدٌ nor a Subject مُسْنَدٌإِلَيْهِ.
Non-Informative Sentence اَلْجُمْلَةُ الْاِنْشَائِيَّةُ:
There are several kinds:
a)اَلْأَمْرُ Imperative or a command: As in اِضْرِبْmeaning “strike!”
b)النَّهْيُ Negative Imperative or command: As in لَاتَضْرِبْmeaning “do not strike!”
c)اَلْاِسْتِفْهَامُ Interrogative: As in هَلْ ضَرَبَ زيْدٌ meaning “did Zaid strike?”
d)اَلتَّمَنِّيْ Desire: As in لَيْتَ زَيْدًا حَاضِرٌmeaning “I wish Zaid was present.”
e)اَلتَّرَجِّيْ Possibility: As in عَمْرًوا غَائِبٌ لَعَلَّ meaning “maybe Amr will be absent.”
f)اَلْعُقُوْدُ Contract: As in بِعْتُ وَاشْتَرَيْتُ meaning “I sold and I bought.”
g)اَلنِّدَآءُ Vocative or call: As in يَا اَللهُ meaning “O Allah.”
h)اَلْعَرْضُ Request: as in اَلَا تَنْزِلُ بِنَا فَتُصِيْبَ خَيرًاmeaning “why don’t you come to us so that some good can come toyou?”
i)اَلْقَسَمُ Oath: as in وَاللهِ لَأَضْرِبَنَّ زَيْدًاmeaning “I swear by Allah, I will surely strike Zaid.”
j)اَلتَّعَجُّبُ Surprise: as in مَاأَحْسَنَهُ or أَحْسِنْ بِهٖ meaning “how handsome he is or what made him so handsome?”
Section 1.3 – Incomplete Compound فَصْلٌ ١. ٣ – اَلْمُرَكَّبُ الْغَيْرُ المُفِيْدُ |
An incomplete Compound is a fragment that does not completely convey a statement, question, or other information. These are divided into three types:
1. Possessive Compound اَلْمُرَكَّبُ الْإِضَافِيُّ: As in غُلَامُ زَيْدٍ meaning “servant of Zaid.” The first part of this Compound is called “Possessed of the Possessive Compound مُضَافٌ. The second part, i.e. the Possessor, is called مُضَافٌ إِلَيْهِ, which is always Genitive.مَجْرُوْرٌ[1]
2. Structural Compound اَلْمُرَكَّبُ الْبِنَائيْ: This is a Compound which is used for numbers between 11 and 19. In this, two Nouns are combined into one, where the second Noun follows immediately from the first Noun, without an intervening Conjunctive Particle الْعَاطِفَةُ اَلْحُرُوْفُsuch as the letter (وَ). For example, “number 11” originally would have been أَحَدٌ وَ عَشْرٌ but the letter (و) is dropped, so that “number 11” becomes أَحْدَعَشْرَ, “number 19” would have been تِسْعَةٌ وَ عَشَرٌ, but when (و) is dropped, “number 19” becomes تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَ. Both Nouns of a structural compound are Inflexible مَبْنِيٌّ, that is their last vowels are always the same. In the case of a structural compound, the last vowel is a Fathah (َ). An exception to this rule is اِثْنَا عَشْرَ in which the first word is Flexible [2]مُعْرَبٌ.
3. The compound of Declension مُرَكَّبُ الْمَنْعِ الصَّرْفِ[3] : This is a Compound where two Nouns are made into one Noun, andoriginally there was no Particle حَرْفٌ before the second Noun as in بَعْلَبَكَّ and حَضَرَمَوْتُ. For the latter case, the first Noun is Inflexible مَبْنِيٌّ with a Fathah (َ) on it, and the second Noun is flexible مُعْرَبٌ according to most scholars.
An incomplete compound is always a part of a sentence جُمْلَةٌ and is never a sentence by itself as in [4]غُلَامُ زَيْدٍ قَائِمٌmeaning “servant of Zaid is standing”; دِرْهَمًا عِنْدِي أَحَدَ عَشَرَ means “I have 11 dirhams”; and بَعْلَبَكَّ جَاءَ means “Balabakka (name of a king) came”.
[1] You will be introduced to Genitive state later in-sha-Allah Ta’ala.
[2] You will be introduced to meaning of flexible اَلْمُعْرَبُ and non-flexible مَبْنِيٌّNouns in Section number 2.1 in-sha-Allah Ta’ala.
[3] You will be introduced to the meaning of Prevention of Full Declension مَنْعُ الصَّرْفِ in Chapter 4.
[4] غُلَامُ زَيْدٍis the Subject (اَلْمُبْتَدَأُ) and قَائمٌ is the Predicate (اَلْخَبَرُ). You can guess others similarly.
