The Noun of Instrument (Ism al-Aalah) – Beginners Grammar 13.8

Arabic Grammar for Beginners · Lesson 13.8

قَوَاعِدُ اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ لِلْمُبْتَدِئِينَ

Section 13.8 – Derivative 8 Tool Noun اِسْمُ الْآلَةِ is-mul aa-la-ti

 

It is a Noun from which the source of the Verb is determined and it is mostly through transitive Verbs and is only comes from the three-letter root word as in مِبْرَدٌ mib-ra-dun from مِفعَلٌ mif-‘a-lun meaning “file”, مِطْرَقَةٌ mit-ra-qa-tun from مِفْعَلَةٌ mif-‘a-la-tun meaning “hammer” and مِفْتَاحٌmif-taa-hun from مِفْعَالٌ mif-‘aa-lun meaning a “key”.

 

 

 

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A closer look at the Noun of Instrument

The noun of instrument, اِسْمُ الْآلَةِ (ism al-aalah), names the tool with which an action is done. If the verb is to open, the instrument noun is the thing you open with: a key. It is formed from three-letter verbs, and nearly always from transitive ones, because a tool acts on something.

Note on the example above: مِبْرَدٌ (mibrad) means a file or rasp, the tool used to smooth metal or wood, from بَرَدَ (barada), to file. It does not mean sand.

The three standard patterns

Pattern	Example	Root	Meaning
مِفْعَلٌ mif'al	مِبْرَدٌ mibrad	ب ر د	file, rasp
مِفْعَلٌ mif'al	مِقَصٌّ miqass	ق ص ص	scissors
مِفْعَلَةٌ mif'alah	مِطْرَقَةٌ mitraqah	ط ر ق	hammer
مِفْعَلَةٌ mif'alah	مِكْنَسَةٌ miknasah	ك ن س	broom
مِفْعَلَةٌ mif'alah	مِلْعَقَةٌ mil'aqah	ل ع ق	spoon
مِفْعَالٌ mif'aal	مِفْتَاحٌ miftaah	ف ت ح	key
مِفْعَالٌ mif'aal	مِنْشَارٌ minshaar	ن ش ر	saw
مِفْعَالٌ mif'aal	مِصْبَاحٌ misbaah	ص ب ح	lamp
مِفْعَالٌ mif'aal	مِيزَانٌ meezaan	و ز ن	balance, scale

All three patterns begin with a mīm carrying a kasra. That kasra is the quickest way to tell a tool from a place: مَكْتَبٌ (maktab, with fatha) is the place where one writes, while a word on مِفْعَلٌ with kasra is something one works with.

مِيزَانٌ shows a sound change worth knowing. The root is و ز ن, so the pattern gives مِوْزَانٌ; a wāw with sukūn after a kasra turns into a yā', and the word becomes مِيزَانٌ. The same happens in مِيعَادٌ (an appointed time) from و ع د.

Instrument nouns in the Qur'an

وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ (Ar-Rahmaan 55:7)
And the heaven He raised, and He set up the balance.

اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ (An-Noor 24:35)
Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp.

وَعِندَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا هُوَ (Al-An'aam 6:59)
And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him.

Plurals

Instrument nouns on مِفْعَلٌ and مِفْعَلَةٌ take the broken plural مَفَاعِلُ: مِطْرَقَةٌ becomes مَطَارِقُ, and مِفْتَحٌ (another word for key) becomes مَفَاتِحُ, the word in Al-An'aam 6:59. Those on مِفْعَالٌ take مَفَاعِيلُ: مِصْبَاحٌ becomes مَصَابِيحُ.

وَلَقَدْ زَيَّنَّا السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا بِمَصَابِيحَ (Al-Mulk 67:5)
And We have certainly adorned the nearest heaven with lamps.

Tools that are not on these patterns

Many everyday tools have names that do not come from a verb at all, such as قَلَمٌ (pen), سِكِّينٌ (knife) and فَأْسٌ (axe). These are rigid nouns (جَامِدٌ), not instrument nouns in the grammatical sense. Modern Arabic also uses the pattern فَعَّالَةٌ for machines, as in ثَلَّاجَةٌ (refrigerator) and غَسَّالَةٌ (washing machine).

Check yourself

Form the instrument noun from each root, then check your answer below.

• ف ت ح on mif'aal
• ك ن س on mif'alah
• ن ش ر on mif'aal
• ق ص ص on mif'al

Answers: مِفْتَاحٌ (key), مِكْنَسَةٌ (broom), مِنْشَارٌ (saw), مِقَصٌّ (scissors).