I got an interesting question from Juan about the word (لمّا) which means ‘when’, and he asked whether it involves a combination of (ما) with another word, the answer is ‘possibly’! I do not know for sure because I do not know the etymology, i.e. origin of the word, but it is likely for a very interesting reason (لمّا) has two sisters that mean the same thing and that involve (ما) as well, i.e. (عندما) and (حينما). So, (لمّا), (عندما) and (حينما) mean ‘when’, and we can use them interchangeably. The three words are conditionals in Arabic. Consider the following examples:
عندما تأتي صديقتي، سنسافر معاً إلى الريف.
حينما تأتي صديقتي، سنسافر معاً إلى الريف.
لما تأتي صديقتي، سنسافر معاً إلى الريف.
When my friend arrives, we will travel to the countryside together.
Now, I will tell the difference between two words that involve (ما), but not in combination with anything. These are two words that are often confused because they look very similar, i.e. (أمّا) and (إمّا).
(أمّا) is a linking word that joins two sentences with contrasting meaning, it means ‘as for’.
ماجد طالب، أما علي فهو موظف.
Maguid is a student. As for Ali, he is an employee.
(إمّا) means ‘either’ as in ‘either …or’, and it is used to give choices, e.g.
– ماذا ستطلب؟
– إما الشاي أو القهوة.
– What will you order?
– tea or coffee.
Comments:
Juan:
Thank you,
I appreciate your help.
Juan
aziza:
@Juan You are most welcome Juan!
aziza:
@Juan Hello Juan,
Please see Josef’s comment on your question and my post. It has very useful explanation.
Salaam,
Aziza
Scheich Josef:
مرحبا يا عزيزة
ما is often added to adverbial nouns to give them a conditional and general meaning, as the Latin ending cumque, for example in أينما “wherever” and in حيثما “wherever” or “whenever” (see Lane’s Lexicon).
As to the question of Juan about the word لمّا you can find in the grammar of W. Wright the information that لَمَّا “not yet” used in front of a jussive is the compound of لَمْ “not” and the ما الديمومة .
Thus the conjecture is true!
مع السلامة
يوس
Scheich Josef:
مرحبا يا عزيزة
ما is often added to adverbial nouns to give them a conditional and general meaning, as the Latin ending cumque, for example in أينما “wherever” and in حيثما “wherever” or “whenever” (see Lane’s Lexicon).
As to the question of Juan about the word لمّا you can find in the grammar of W. Wright the information that لَمَّا “not yet” used in front of a jussive is the compound of لَمْ “not” and the ما الديمومة .
Thus the conjecture is true!
مع السلامة
يوسف
aziza:
@Scheich Josef شكراً جزيلاً يا عزيزي يوسف.