The Diminutive Noun (Ism al-Tasgheer) – Beginners Grammar 13.7

Arabic Grammar for Beginners · Lesson 13.7

قَوَاعِدُ اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ لِلْمُبْتَدِئِينَ

Section 13.7 – Derivative 7 Diminutive Noun اِسْمُ التَّصْغِيْرِ Ismu t-Tas-ghee-ri

This Noun implies minimizing, that is, a reduction in size, number or importance. For example, the Noun عُصَيْفِيْرٌ ‘usai-fee-run means a small bird. It is the Tas-gheer (diminutive) of عُصْفُوْرٌ ‘us-foo-run a bird. The word تَصْغِيْرٌ tas-ghee-run itself is the Source (Masdar) of Form II and means “making small”, from the same root as صَغِيْرٌ sa-ghee-run small.

English has only a few diminutives (duck → duckling, book → booklet, John → Johnny). Arabic can make one from almost any Noun by changing its vowels to a fixed scale, so a learner who knows the scale can recognise a diminutive at once even in a word he has never seen before.

1. What the diminutive is used for

Although its name means “making small”, the diminutive carries five related shades of meaning. The context decides which one is intended.

Meaning	Base Noun	Diminutive	Sense
Small size	جَبَلٌ ja-ba-lun mountain	جُبَيْلٌ ju-bai-lun	a small mountain, a hill
Small number or quantity	قَلِيْلٌ qa-lee-lun a little	قُلَيِّلٌ qu-lai-yi-lun	a very little, a tiny amount
Endearment, affection	اِبْنٌ ib-nun son	بُنَيٌّ bu-nai-yun	dear little son (see the Qur’an below)
Belittling, contempt	شَاعِرٌ shaa-‘i-run poet	شُوَيْعِرٌ shu-wai-‘i-run	a would-be poet, a poetaster
Nearness in time or place	قَبْلَ qab-la before	قُبَيْلَ qu-bai-la	shortly before, just before

In the same way بَعْدَ ba‘-da after becomes بُعَيْدَ bu-‘ai-da shortly after, and فَوْقَ faw-qa above becomes فُوَيْقَ fu-wai-qa a little above.

2. How the diminutive is formed – the three scales

Whatever vowels the Noun had before, the diminutive replaces them with a fixed pattern. Three steps are always the same:

1. Put a Dammah ـُ on the first letter.
2. Put a Fathah ـَ on the second letter.
3. Insert a silent Ya يْ (Ya with Sukoon) after the second letter. This Ya is the sign of the diminutive and is called يَاءُ التَّصْغِيْرِ yaa-u t-tas-gheer.

What happens after the Ya depends on how many letters the Noun has. This gives the three scales of the diminutive:

Noun of	Scale	Example	Diminutive
3 letters	فُعَيْلٌ fu-‘ai-lun	رَجُلٌ ra-ju-lun man	رُجَيْلٌ ru-jai-lun little man
4 letters	فُعَيْعِلٌ fu-‘ai-‘i-lun	دِرْهَمٌ dir-ha-mun dirham	دُرَيْهِمٌ du-rai-hi-mun small dirham
5 letters, with a long vowel before the last letter	فُعَيْعِيْلٌ fu-‘ai-‘ee-lun	عُصْفُوْرٌ ‘us-foo-run bird	عُصَيْفِيْرٌ ‘u-sai-fee-run small bird

Notice that in the four-letter and five-letter scales the letter after the Ya takes a Kasrah, and in the five-letter scale the long vowel of the original word (here the و of عُصْفُوْر) is turned into a long ي.

3. More examples

Meaning	Noun	Diminutive	Scale
slave, servant → little servant	عَبْدٌ ‘ab-dun	عُبَيْدٌ ‘u-bai-dun	فُعَيْلٌ
dog → puppy, little dog	كَلْبٌ kal-bun	كُلَيْبٌ ku-lai-bun	فُعَيْلٌ
house → small house	بَيْتٌ bai-tun	بُيَيْتٌ bu-yai-tun	فُعَيْلٌ
river → stream, small river	نَهْرٌ nah-run	نُهَيْرٌ nu-hai-run	فُعَيْلٌ
sea → lake (literally “little sea”)	بَحْرٌ bah-run	بُحَيْرَةٌ bu-hai-ra-tun	فُعَيْلَةٌ
mosque → small mosque	مَسْجِدٌ mas-ji-dun	مُسَيْجِدٌ mu-sai-ji-dun	فُعَيْعِلٌ
star, planet → little star	كَوْكَبٌ kaw-ka-bun	كُوَيْكِبٌ ku-wai-ki-bun	فُعَيْعِلٌ
key → small key	مِفْتَاحٌ mif-taa-hun	مُفَيْتِيْحٌ mu-fai-tee-hun	فُعَيْعِيْلٌ
lamp → small lamp	مِصْبَاحٌ mis-baa-hun	مُصَيْبِيْحٌ mu-sai-bee-hun	فُعَيْعِيْلٌ

4. Special cases to remember

(a) The feminine Ta is kept. شَجَرَةٌ sha-ja-ra-tun a tree becomes شُجَيْرَةٌ shu-jai-ra-tun a shrub, and وَرْدَةٌ war-da-tun a rose becomes وُرَيْدَةٌ wu-rai-da-tun a little rose.

(b) Three-letter Nouns that are feminine without a Ta gain one. شَمْسٌ sham-sun sun → شُمَيْسَةٌ shu-mai-sa-tun; أَرْضٌ ar-dun earth, land → أُرَيْضَةٌ u-rai-da-tun; عَيْنٌ ‘ai-nun eye → عُيَيْنَةٌ ‘u-yai-na-tun. This is one of the ways grammarians prove that such Nouns are feminine (see Section 3.4 on gender).

(c) A long Alif after the second letter turns into Ya and merges with the diminutive Ya. The result is a Ya with Shaddah. كِتَابٌ ki-taa-bun a book → كُتَيِّبٌ ku-tai-yi-bun a booklet; غُلَامٌ ghu-laa-mun a boy → غُلَيِّمٌ ghu-lai-yi-mun a little boy.

(d) A hollow Noun shows its original middle letter. The Alif in the middle of بَابٌ baa-bun door is really a و (root ب و ب), so the diminutive is بُوَيْبٌ bu-wai-bun a small door. Likewise مَالٌ maa-lun wealth → مُوَيْلٌ mu-wai-lun, دَارٌ daa-run house → دُوَيْرَةٌ du-wai-ra-tun, but نَابٌ naa-bun a fang (root ن ي ب) → نُيَيْبٌ nu-yai-bun. Compare Section 11.1 on irregular Nouns.

(e) A Noun that has lost a root letter gets it back. اِبْنٌ ib-nun son (root ب ن و) → بُنَيٌّ bu-nai-yun; بِنْتٌ bin-tun daughter → بُنَيَّةٌ bu-nai-ya-tun; أَبٌ a-bun father → أُبَيٌّ u-bai-yun (the name of the Companion Ubayy ibn Ka‘b); أَخٌ a-khun brother → أُخَيٌّ u-khai-yun.

(f) What cannot be made diminutive. The diminutive is made only from Nouns. Verbs and Particles never take it. Out of respect, the Names of Allah are never made diminutive, and Nouns whose very meaning is greatness, such as كَبِيْرٌ ka-bee-run big and عَظِيْمٌ ‘a-zee-mun mighty, are not made diminutive because the two meanings contradict each other.

5. The diminutive in the Qur’an

The Qur’an uses the diminutive sparingly, and its best-known example expresses tenderness, not smallness. Whenever a father addresses his son with love, the Qur’an uses يَا بُنَيَّ yaa bu-nai-ya “O my dear son”. This is the diminutive بُنَيٌّ joined to the pronoun ي “my” (see Section 4.1C1 on pronouns with the genitive compound).

Verse	Meaning	Who is speaking
يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ (Luqman 31:13)	O my dear son, do not associate anything with Allah	Luqman to his son
يَا بُنَيَّ ارْكَبْ مَعَنَا (Hud 11:42)	O my dear son, come aboard with us	Nuh (peace be upon him) to his son
يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ (Yusuf 12:5)	O my dear son, do not relate your dream	Ya‘qub to Yusuf (peace be upon them)
يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَىٰ فِي الْمَنَامِ (As-Saffat 37:102)	O my dear son, indeed I see in a dream	Ibrahim to Isma‘il (peace be upon them)

Do not confuse يَا بُنَيَّ yaa bu-nai-ya “O my dear son” (singular, diminutive) with يَا بَنِيَّ yaa ba-nee-ya “O my sons” (plural of اِبْنٌ), which Ya‘qub uses when he addresses all his sons together in Al-Baqarah 2:132. The two look alike but differ in the vowel of the first letter: Dammah for the diminutive, Fathah for the plural.

Many Arabic personal names are also diminutives on the scale فُعَيْلٌ: the Prophet شُعَيْب Shu-‘aib (from شَعْبٌ a people), حُسَيْن Hu-sain (from حَسَنٌ good, beautiful), عُبَيْد ‘U-baid (from عَبْدٌ servant), سُهَيْل Su-hail (from سَهْلٌ easy, level ground) and زُبَيْر Zu-bair. Recognising the scale tells you at once that these names are diminutives, given out of affection.

6. Practice

Make the diminutive of each Noun, then check your answer in the table.

Noun	Diminutive	Meaning
قَمَرٌ qa-ma-run	قُمَيْرٌ qu-mai-run	little moon
نَجْمٌ naj-mun	نُجَيْمٌ nu-jai-mun	little star
وَلَدٌ wa-la-dun	وُلَيْدٌ wu-lai-dun	little child, newborn
مَدْرَسَةٌ mad-ra-sa-tun	مُدَيْرِسَةٌ mu-dai-ri-sa-tun	small school
قِنْدِيْلٌ qin-dee-lun	قُنَيْدِيْلٌ qu-nai-dee-lun	small lantern
سَاعَةٌ saa-‘a-tun	سُوَيْعَةٌ su-wai-‘a-tun	a short while (hollow Noun, root س و ع)

Summary. The Diminutive Noun اِسْمُ التَّصْغِيْرِ shrinks a Noun in size, number or importance, or shows affection or nearness. It is formed by putting Dammah on the first letter, Fathah on the second and a silent Ya after it, giving the scales فُعَيْلٌ, فُعَيْعِلٌ and فُعَيْعِيْلٌ for Nouns of three, four and five letters. Its most loved example in the Qur’an is يَا بُنَيَّ “O my dear son”.