اسم Nahw - Methods of reflection of an Up until now we have learned that an ا سم which is مـ عر ب will show its grammatical states using a However, there.(تـ نو ين (or the corresponding جر for كـ سـ ر ة, or a نصب for فـ تـ حة a,رفع for ضـ مـ ة are situations in Arabic Language where it is not possible to show the grammatical states using either of these three methods. As an example take a look at : Musa came جـ اء مـ وسى 1. I saw Musa ر اي يت مـ وسى 2. I passed by Musa مـ ر ر ت بـ مـ وسى 3. In the first sentence مـ وسى is the subject (i.e. in the state of,(رفع in the second it is the object (i.e the state of (نصب, and in the third it is in the state of جر because of the حـ ر ف, i.e. بـ, in front of it. Yet, in none of the examples the grammatical states are shown using the usual signs of a ضـ مـ ة, or a is incapable of showing these signs. This leads مـ وسى This is because the noun.كـ سـ ر ة, or a فـ تـ حة us to the fact that variations can occur in the way grammatical states are reflected on an ا سم. For our purposes we will divide ا سم in 16 different categories and will see how each category will show its grammatical state in its own unique way. These 16 categories and their corresponding methods of reflection are listed in the table below and each category is then further explained in detail with examples. You can also click on any category to jump to its explanation:
# ا سم Type of رفع نصب جر 1 مـ فـ ر د مـ نـ صـ ر ف صحيح ضـ مـ ة فـ تـ حة كـ سـ ر ة 2 مـ فـ ر د قـ اي م مقـ ام صحيح ضـ مـ ة فـ تـ حة كـ سـ ر ة 3 جـ مـ ع مـ كسـ ر مـ نـ صـ ر ف ضـ مـ ة فـ تـ حة كـ سـ ر ة 4 جـ مع مـ ونـ ث سـ الـ م ضـ مـ ة كـ سـ ر ة كـ سـ ر ة 5 غـ ير مـ نـ صـ ر ف ضـ مـ ة فـ تـ حة فـ تـ حة 6 6 Special Nouns و ا ى 7 الـ مـ ثـ نـ ى ا ى ى 8 كـ لا و كـ لـ تا ا ى ى 9 ا ثـ نـ ان و ا ثـ نـ تـ ان ا ى ى جـ مع مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م 10 و ى ى 11 جـ مع All exceptions which do not fall in under the definition of but are reflected in the same manner مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م ى ى و ى ى و i.e. multiple of 10 up to 90 تـ سـ عـ ون to عـ شـ ر ون 12 Assumed Assumed Assumed ا سم مـ قـ صـ ور 13 14 مضاف which is جـ مع مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م other than ا سم Any ى towards Assumed Assumed Assumed Assumed Explicit Assumed ا سم مـ نـ قـ وص 15 ى towards مضاف which is جـ مع مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م 16 Assumed و ى Explicit ى Explicit Category 1: مـ نـ صـ ر ف صحيح) (مـ فـ ر د This category can be titled in English as Singular-Fully Declinable - No Weak Letters. This is the category which we had discussed earlier as the one which shows its grammatical states in the usual manner. Examples:
came) (Zaid جـ اء ز يد Zaid) (I saw ر اي يت ز يدا Zaid) (I passed by مـ ر ر ت بـ ز يد ى or و which ends in a ا سم This category consists of any (مـ فـ ر د قـ اي م مقـ ام صحيح) 2: Category preceded by a,سـ كـ ون e.g. د لـ و (a bucket) or ظـ بـ ي (a deer). Examples: came) (a deer جـ اء ظـ بـ ي deer) (I saw a ر اي يت ظـ بـ ي deer) (I passed by a مـ ر ر ت بـ ظـ بـ ي Category 3: مـ كسـ ر مـ نـ صـ ر ف) (جـ مـ ع or the Fully Declinable Broken Plural. As the name implies, this category consists of the declinable broken plural. Examples: came) (A man جـ اء ر جـ ال man) (I saw a ر اي يت ر جـ الا man) (I passed by a مـ ر ر ت بـ ر جـ ال Category 4: مـ ونـ ث سـ الـ م) (جـ مع or The Sound Feminine Plural. This has already been taken care of here. I will repeat the examples, though: came) (The Muslim women جاء ت المـ سلـ مات
) women (I saw the Muslim ر ايت المـ سلـ مات women) (I passed by the Muslim مـ ر ر ت بالـ مـ سلـ مات Category 5: مـ نـ صـ ر ف).(غـ ير This is an ا سم which contains either 2 of the 9 causes of changerestriction or 1 powerful cause which stands in the place of 2 causes. Some of the salient points regarding this category are: كـ سـ ر ة or a تـ نو ين This category never gets a All feminine names fall into this category ة Most masculine names are not in this category, except those ending in a Names rhyming with ا فـ عـ ل fall in this category Adjectives rhyming with ا فـ عـ ل (e.g. the colors) fall in this category Below, I list the 9 reasons, the presence of which (either two reasons or one powerful one) can cause an :غـ ير مـ نـ صـ ر ف to become ا سم 1. Transgression: A word leaves it original pattern and adopts a new one because of excessive usage. An example of this is the name عـ مـ ر which used to be عـ امـ ر but left its pattern to عـ مـ ر become 2. Be an adjective: This is a property which needs to exist within the medium of a body and cannot exist without it. Thus, this has to be a quality like beautiful or lazy. Examples will include colors like ا حمـ ر (red) or ا سـ و د (black)
3. Be feminine: The following four reasons cause am ا سم to be feminine: if there is a ة at the end. Note that even though طـ لـ حة is a man s name, yet the word is feminine since it has a ة at its end حـ بـ لى example:, for ء not followed by a ا لـ ف i.e. final ا لـ ف مـ قـ صـ ورة 4. if there is an (pregnant) or the )كـ برى small one). This is a powerful reason so it alone will cause an ا سم to غـ ير مـ نـ صـ ر ف become 5. if there is an ا لـ ف مـ مـ د ودة i.e. final ا لـ ف followed by a ء, for example: عـ لـ مـ ا (men of ا سم (the white one). This is a powerful reason so it alone will cause an بـ يـ ضا knowledge) or غـ ير مـ نـ صـ ر ف to become 6. if it is an understood feminine for example, ز ينـ ب,which is the name of a girl 7. Be a name 8. Be plural يـ عـ قـ وب or ا سـ حـ اق or ا بـ راهـ يم 9. Be of foreign origin like 10.Be compound (two words linking together to become a name) like حـ ضـ ر مـ وت, which is a place in Yemen, or سـ بـ و يه who was an Arabic grammarian 11.Be on the pattern of a verb. For example, ا كـ بـ ر or ا حـ مـ د, both of which are on the pattern ا فـ عـ ل of
12.Extra ا and ن at the end. Examples are عـ ثـ مـ ان or.نـ عـ مـ ان Thus, in Hadith literature we عـ ن preposition, although there is a عـ ثـ مـ ان on فـ تـ حة with a عـ ن عـ ثـ مـ ان ابـ ن will see, in front of it Category 6: This category is composed of 6 special nouns father) (a ا ب 1. brother) (a ا خ 2. father-in-law) (a حـ م 3. mouth) (a فـ م 4. thing) (a هـ ن 5. (a possessor). This is always followed by a noun ذ و 6. These will show their grammatical states according to type 6 under the conditions that they have to be singular (dual will be dealt with in category 7 and plural has already been dealt with in category 3) and they cannot be مضاف towards ى (which case will be dealt with in category 16). Some examples are: ذ هـ ب ا خـ و مـ اجـ د (Majid s brother went) or ر اي يت ا خـ ا مـ اجـ د (I saw ذ و (I went with Majid s brother). Examples using ذ هـ بـ ت مـ ع ا خي مـ اجـ د Majid s brother) or would جـ اء ذ و مـ ال : be (a possessor of wealth came) or ر اي يت ذا مـ ال (I saw a possessor of wealth)
or مـ ر ر ت بـ ذى مـ ال (I passed by a possessor of wealth) or و فـ وق كـ ل ذ ى عـ لـ م عـ ليم (above every possessor of knowledge is the All Knowing) Category 7: This deals with الـ مـ ثـ نـ ى or the dual. This is an ا سم to the end of which is attached كـ تـ ب to indicate that with it is another like it. An example would be ن and a ي or a ن and a ا either an women) the )الـ ر جـ لا ن two men wrote two letters to the two مـ كـ تـ وبـ ين ا لى الـ مـ ر ا تـ ين There are some other words in the Arabic Language which are treated like duals e.g. ا بـ وان meaning father and mother or قـ مـ ر ان meaning moon and sun (and not two fathers or two moons) which follow the same method of reflection as this category Category 8: This includes two words كـ لا and كـ لـ تا meaning both (masculine and feminine, ر اي يت (both men came) or جـ اء ر جـ لا ن كـ لا هـ ما : are respectively). Examples men) (I passed by both مـ ر ر ت بـ رجـ لـ ين كـ ليـ هـ مـ ا (I saw both men) or ر جـ لـ ين كـ ليـ هـ مـ ا Category 9: This includes ا ثـ نـ ان and ا ثـ نـ تـ ان which means two (masculine and feminine, respectively). For جـ اء ا ثـ نـ ان : example (two [masculine objects] came) or ر اي يت ا ثـ نيـ ن (I saw two [masculine objects]) or مـ ر ر ت بـ اثـ نيـ ن (I passed by two [masculine objects]) Category 10: The Sound Masculine Plural or جـ مع مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م has already been dealt with here. I ر ايت (The Muslim men came) or جاء الـ مـ سلـ مـ ون though: will give the usual examples,
men) (I passed by the Muslim مـ ر ر ت بـ االـ مـ سلـ مـ ين (I saw the Muslim men) or الـ مـ سلـ مـ ين Category 11: This category consists of those ا سم which are reflected the same way as Category 10 but do not fall under the جـ مع مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م category. Examples of such ا سم are ا ولـ و and its sisters. The reflection of this category is shown by the following هـ م ا ولـ و الا لـ بـ اب : examples (They are people of intelligence) or ر اي يت ا ولـ ي الا لـ بـ اب عـ نـ د ا ولـ ي الا لـ بـ اب (I saw the people of intelligence by the people of intelligence). Other words which fall in this category are اهـ ل (people of) and عـ لـ يين (the highest places) عـ شـ ر ون ) Category 12: This category constitutes multiples of 10 starting from 20 and going up to 90 جاء : Examples ) and are reflected using the same method as Categroy 10 and 11. تـ سـ عـ ون to مـ ر ر ت (I saw twenty men) or ر اي يت عـ شـ ر ين ر جـ لا (twenty men came) or عـ شـ ر ون ر جـ لا men) (I passed by twenty بـ عـ شـ ر ين ر جـ لا ا لـ ف having an ا سم i.e. an عـ يسى or مـ وسى of the form ا سم Category 13: This category consists of and thus they are categorized ا عـ ر اب are incapable of showing any ا سم at its end. Such مـ قـ صـ ور ة as having assumed reflection. Examples are: Musa). (I passed by مـ ر ر ت بـ مـ وسى (I saw Musa) or ر اي يت مـ وسى (Musa came) or جـ اء مـ وسى Antoher set of examples would be: جـ اء عـ صا (a staff came) or ر اي يت عـ صا (I saw a staff) or
staff) (I passed by a مـ ر ر ت بـ عـ صا Category 14: This category consists of ا سم other than جـ مع مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م i.e. sound masculine plural, which is مضاف towards ى of first person, for example, غـ لا مـ ي (my servant) or بـ يـ تـ ي (my house). Examples in this categories will جـ اء غـ لا مـ ي : be (my servant came) or ر اي يت غـ لا مـ ي (I saw my servant) or مـ ر ر ت بـ غـ لا مـ ي (I passed by my servant) ي i.e. they have a ا سم مـ نـ قـ وص which are called ا سم Category 15: This category consists of preceded by a كـ سـ ر ة at their end. Only the state of نصب is reflected on them; the other two are assumed. Examples are: جـ اء الـ قـ اضـ ي (The Judge came) or ر اي يت الـ قـ اضـ ي (I saw the Judge) or Judge) (I passed by the مـ ر ر ت بـ الـ قـ اضـ ي ى towards مضاف and are جـ مع مـ ذ كـ ر سـ الـ م which are ا سم Category 16: This category consists of of first person. An example would be مـ سـ لـ مـ ي (my muslims). For the رفع case this was originally is و In the second step the.ى since it is appearing with a سـ اكـ ن becomes و but the مـ سـ لـ مو ى changed to a ى giving us مـ سـ لـ مـ يى and the ضـ مـ ة is changed to كـ سـ ر ة ( for pronunciation reasons) to give us.مـ سـ لـ مـ ي However, the originals for the نصب and جر case were already (my Muslims جـ اء مـ سـ لـ مـ ي : be The set of examples in this category, then, would.مـ سـ لـ مـ ي
came) or ر اي يت مـ سـ لـ مـ ي (I saw my Muslims) or مـ ر ر ت بـ مـ سـ لـ مـ ي (I passed by my Muslims) I hope this detailed introduction to methods of reflection for an ا سم will go a long way towards understanding this key concept in Arabic Language, Insha Allah.