3.4 D/ E/ F/ G/ H Property 2 Continued - Definite by Demonstrative /Relative Pronoun/alif laam/ association/ Vocative Call
D. Definite by Demonstrative pronouns اَسْمَاءُالْإِشَارَةِ (as-ma-ul ishaa-ra)
This is a pronoun that points out the one referred to and distinguishing it from others of the same class (as in that in "that house"). In other words, these pronouns that point to specific things: this, that, these, and those, as in “This is an apple”, “Those are boys” or “Take these to the clerk.”
Table 5 below describes the demonstrative pronouns in Arabic. Note that these are also different depending upon the gender, position, and singular/dual/ plural status.
Table 5 - Demonstrative pronouns
اَسْمَاءُالْإِشَارَةِ (as-ma-ul ishaa-ra)
| Single | Dual | Plural
| ||
Nominative | Accusative نَصْبٌ (nas-bun) / Genitive | ||||
قَرِيْبٌ Qa-reeb (Near) | Masculine | هٰذَا
(haa-dha) This (male single) | هٰذَانِ
(ha-dhaa-ni) These (two males) | هٰذَيْنِ
(haa-Dhai-ni) These (two males) | هٰؤُلآءِ
(haa-u-laai)
These (males/females plural) |
Feminine | هٰذِهِ
(haa-dhi-hi)
This (female single) | هَاتَانِ
(haa-ta-ni)
These (two females) | هَاتَيْنِ
(haa-tai-ni)
These (two females) | ||
بَعِيْدٌ Ba-yeed (Far) | Masculine | ذٰالِكَ
(dhaa-li-ka)
That (male single) | ذَانِكَ
(dhaa-ni-ka)
Those (two males) | ذَيْنِكَ
(DHai-ni-ka)
Those (two males) | اُوْلٰئِكَ
(u-laai-ka)
Those (males/females plural) |
Feminine | تِلْكَ
(til-ka)
That (female single) | تَانِكَ
(taa-ni-ka)
Those (two females) | تَيْنِكَ
(taiy-ni-ka)
Those (two females) |
An example of a demonstrative pronoun use would be هٰذَا زَيْدٌ meaning This is Zaid and تِلْك زَيْنَبُ meaning That is Zainab. Note Zainab is a feminine name and single, therefore, the pronoun used is تِلْكَ.
A relative pronoun is used to connect a clause or phrase to a Noun or pronoun. The clause modifies or describes, the Noun. The most common relative pronouns in the English Language are who, whom, whose, which, and that.
In the Arabic language, again, unlike English, the pronounce differ by state, the gender, and the number of people/things being referred to. The Relative pronouns اَسْمَاءُالْموصُوْلَةِ (as-maa-ul mau-soo-la-ti) in Arabic are as follows. Again, it is recommended that these be memorized in the order they are written below, starting with male single absent and going across the rows in the table from left to right shown in a column form below.
اَلَّذَيْ al-la-dhi The one who (male) Nominative
اَللَّذَانِ al-la-dhaani Those two who (male) Accusative
اَللَّذَيْنِ al-la-dhaini Those two who (male) Genitive
اَللَّذِيْنَ al-la-dheena Those all who (male) Nominative
اَللَّتِيْ al-la-ti The one who (female) Nominative
اَللَّتَانِ al-la-taani Those two who (female) Accusative
اَللَّتَيْنِ al-la-tai-ni Those two who (female) Genitive
اَللَّاتِيْ/ اَللَّوَاتِيْ al-laa-ti/al-lawa-ti Those all who (female) Nominative
Examples:
1) هُوَ الَّذِي (meaning he is the one who): Note that both هُوَ and الَّذِي are Nominative, single and male here.
2) اَلَّذِيْنَ هُم (meaning they are the ones who): Here both are Nominative, male and plural.
3) جَهَنَّمُ الَّتِي (meaning Hell, which is): Here both are Nominative, single and feminine.
Table 6 below provides more details for these pronouns:
Table 6 - Relative pronouns
| Single مُفْرَدٌ | Dual مُثَنّٰى | Plural جمْعٌ | |
Nominative رَفْعٌ
raf-un | Accusative نَصْبٌ nas-bun / جَرٌّ Genitive/ jar-run | |||
Male مُذَكَّرٌ
Mu-dhak-kar-un |
اَلَّذَيْ
(al-la-dhi)
The one who |
اَللَّذَانِ
(al-la-dha-ni)
Those two who |
اَللَّذَيْنِ
(al-la-dhaini)
Those two who |
اَلَّذِيْنَ
(al-la-dhi-na)
Those who |
Female مَؤَنَّثٌ
Mu-an-nath-un |
اَلَّتِيْ
(al-la-ti)
The one who |
اَللَّتَانِ
(al-la-ta--ni)
Those two who |
اَللَّتَيْنِ
(al-la-tai-ni)
Those two who |
اَللَّاتِيْ، اَللَّوَاتِيْ
(al-laa-ti/ Al-la-waa-ti)
Those who |
F. Definite by Alif Laam (اَلْ)
When alif (ا) and lam (ل) is added in front of an indefinite noun, it becomes a definite Noun. This is called مُعَرَّفُ بِالَّامِ (mu-ar-rafu bil-lami)
This is equivalent to adding the word “the” in the English language before a Noun. For example, “a man” versus “the man”. This translates in Arabic to (رَجُلٌ) raju-lun and (اَلرَّجُلُ) ar-raju-lu. Notice the change in harakah on the last alphabet.
When اَلْ is added to a Noun, it does not accept a Tanween (double harakah) and tanween is reduced to a single harakah. Thus, (رَجُلٌ) raju-lun became (اَلرَّجُلُ) ar-raju-lu, (رَجُلً) raju-lan becomes (اَلرَّجُلَ) ar-raju-la and (رَجُلٍ) ra-ju-lin becomes (اَلرَّجُلِ) ar-ra-ju-li.
G. Definite by Association مُضَافٌ اِلَي الْمَعَارِفَةِ mu-daaf il-al-ma’arifa
Mu-daaf literally means added, annexed, appended, attached, joined, subjoined, supplemented. When an indefinite Noun is joined/associated with a definite Noun in a possessive compound, it becomes a definite Noun. This is called مُضَافٌ اِلَي الْمَعَارِفَةِ (mu-daaf il-al ma’arifa-ti). Possessive compounds will be described later in detail. An example of this would be كِتَابُ زَيْدٍ ki-ta-bu Zaidin (Zaid’s book). Here indefinite Noun “book” is being associated with a definite Noun “Zaid” and is therefore considered to be a definite Noun.
When an indefinite Noun is used in a vocative compound, then it is considered to be a definite Noun. The one who is called is مُنَادَىٰ (mu-na-daa). An example for this would be addressing a man as يَا رَجُلٌ (yaa raju-lun) meaning O man. رَجُلٌ is the مُنَادٰى mu-na-daa which is an indefinite noun. It is now a definite Noun and يَا Yaa is called a حَرْفُ النِّدَاءِ (Harf-un nidaai).
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