Incomplete Compounds (Murakkab Naqis) – Beginners Grammar 4.0

Arabic Grammar for Beginners · Lesson 4.0

قَوَاعِدُ اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ لِلْمُبْتَدِئِينَ

Section 4.0 – Compound مُرَكَّبٌ mu-rak-ka-bun Definition

 

A compound is made up of 2 or more words. Compounds are divided into two categories. Either it is an incomplete compound (a phrase) or a complete compound (a sentence). An incomplete compound is something that does not convey a message completely and leaves a listener unsure about what was said. For example, if I say the Book of philosophy, one may ask the question: what about it? A complete compound conveys a message and the listener understands what is being meant. For example, if I say this is a book of philosophy, this would be a complete sentence.

An incomplete compound is calledالْمُرَكّبُ الْغَيْرُ مُفِيْدُ  mu-rak-ka-bul ghai-ri-mu-fee-dinwhich means non-useful compound and a complete compound is called مُرَكَّبُ الْمُفِيْدِ mu-rak-ka-bul mu-fee-di which means useful compound. It is also called المُرَكَّبُ التَّامِّ mu-rak-kabu-tam-mi or a complete compound/ sentence.

An incomplete compound is used as a part of a complete compound or sentence.

 

Section 4.1 - Incomplete Compounds المُرَكّبُ الْغَيْرُ الْمُفِيْدُ al-mu-rak-ka-bul ghai-rul mu-fee-di

 

There are four commonly incomplete compounds:

A. Descriptive Compound الْمُرَكَّبُ التَّوصِيْفِيْ (al-mu-rak-kab-ut tausifi)

B. Demonstrative Compound  الْمُرَكَّبُ الْاِشَارِيْ (al-mu-rak-kab-ul ishari)

C. Possessive Compound الْمُرَكَّبُ الْإِضَافِيْ (al-mu-rak-kab-ul idaafi)

D. Genitive Compound الْمُرَكَّبُ الجَّارِيْ  (al-mu-rak-kab-ul jaari) and Particles حُرُوْفُ الْجَرِّ (huroof-ul-jarri) 

 

Each of these will be described in detail in the following sections.

 

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The four incomplete compounds, each with a Qur'anic example

An incomplete compound is a phrase: it names something but says nothing about it. Each type below fills a single slot in a sentence, such as its subject or object. These examples all come from the first pages of the Qur'an.

Type	Example	Meaning	What to notice
Descriptive	الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ (1:6)	the straight path	the adjective follows its noun in case, gender, number and definiteness
Demonstrative	ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ (2:2)	that Book	the pointing word comes first; the noun after it has ال
Possessive (idaafah)	رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (1:2)	Lord of the worlds	the first word loses ال and tanween; the second is genitive
Possessive (idaafah)	مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ (1:4)	Master of the Day of Judgement	a chain of two: مَالِكِ is annexed to يَوْمِ, and يَوْمِ to الدِّينِ
Prepositional	بِسْمِ اللَّهِ (1:1)	in the name of Allah	the preposition makes its noun genitive
Prepositional	فِي قُلُوبِهِم (2:10)	in their hearts	preposition + noun + attached pronoun

How a compound sits inside a sentence

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ (Al-Faatihah 1:6)
Guide us to the straight path.

اهْدِنَا is a complete verb with its subject (you) and object (us). The descriptive compound الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ then fills one slot, the second object, so both its words are accusative together. Take it away and the sentence is still a sentence; take away the verb and the compound alone says nothing. That is exactly the difference between an incomplete and a complete compound.

A quick test

Ask whether you could answer "yes" or "no" to it. "The straight path": there is nothing to agree or disagree with, so it is incomplete. "The path is straight": you can agree or disagree, so it is a complete sentence.

Check yourself

Name the type of each phrase: هَٰذَا الْبَيْتُ, رَسُولُ اللَّهِ, عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ, مِنَ النَّاسِ.

Answers: demonstrative, possessive, descriptive, prepositional.