{"id":15076,"date":"2017-10-30T15:37:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T15:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/?p=15076"},"modified":"2017-10-30T15:37:26","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T15:37:26","slug":"genitive-construction-in-arabic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/genitive-construction-in-arabic\/","title":{"rendered":"Genitive Construction in Arabic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genitive<\/strong> Construction (GC)<\/strong>, known as iDHaafah<\/em> \u0625\u0650\u0636\u064e\u0627\u0641\u064e\u0629<\/strong>, is usually encountered at the early stages of learning Arabic. The main reason for this is that a genitive construction, which is a phrasal (i.e. more than one word) structure can be used as a faa\u2018il <\/em>\u0641\u064e\u0627\u0639\u0650\u0644<\/strong> \u2018subject\u2019 or a maf\u2018uul <\/em>\u0645\u064e\u0641\u0652\u0639\u064f\u0648\u0644<\/strong> \u2018object\u2019 of the sentence in lieu of a single word. In this post, you will get to know the essentials of GC<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Image by Mohamed Khatab on flickr.com<\/p><\/div>\n

What is GC?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a construction of two nouns (or more, in the case of complex constructions, in which you have multiple GSs inside each other, but for now let\u2019s stick to the simple GS), in which one noun is attributed \/ annexed to the another. The purpose of this annexation is to delimit the added noun or to indicate its type. To delimit the annexed noun, it is added to a definite noun. In indicating its type\/sort, it is added to an indefinite noun. Here are some examples (MSA rules observed):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u2018the biology department\u2019<\/td>\nqism ul-aHya\u2019a<\/em><\/td>\n\u0642\u0650\u0633\u0652\u0645\u064f<\/span> \u0627\u0644\u0623\u064e\u062d\u0652\u064a\u064e\u0627\u0621<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2018John\u2019s book\u2019<\/td>\nkitaabu john<\/em><\/td>\n\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064f<\/span> \u062c\u064f\u0648\u0652\u0646<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2018a language teacher\u2019<\/td>\nmudarrisu lughatin<\/em><\/td>\n\u0645\u064f\u062f\u064e\u0631\u0651\u0650\u0633\u064f<\/span> \u0644\u064f\u063a\u064e\u0629\u064d<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2018olive oil\u2019<\/td>\nzaytu zaytuunin<\/em><\/td>\n\u0632\u064e\u064a\u0652\u062a\u064f<\/span> \u0632\u064e\u064a\u0652\u062a\u064f\u0648\u0646\u064d <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In the first two examples, annexed nouns (i.e. qism <\/em>and kitaab<\/em>) are defined\/delimited by adding them to the definite nouns (al-aHya\u2019a <\/em>and john<\/em>). In the latter, the type\/sort of the annexed nouns (i.e. mudarris <\/em>and zayt<\/em>) is indicated by adding them to the indefinite nouns (lughah <\/em>and zaytuun<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Parts of GC:<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Grammatically, the first part of the GC is called \u0645\u064f\u0636\u064e\u0627\u0641<\/strong> muDHaaf <\/em>\u2018the added\/annexed\u2019 and the second part is called \u0645\u064f\u0636\u064e\u0627\u0641 \u0625\u0650\u0644\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0647<\/strong> muDHaaf iilayh <\/em>\u2018the added-to\/the annexed-to\u2019. In terms of parsing and final diacritics assignment (i.e. case assignment), the first part is normally parsed (assigned a final diacritical mark) according to its position in the sentence, that is it could be a subject, an object, a topic, a predicate, or an object of a preposition. The second part is always assigned a genitive case, i.e. \u0643\u064e\u0633\u0652\u0631\u064e\u0629<\/strong> kasrah<\/em> in the case of singular nouns (and gets \u064a\u0646<\/strong> in the case of dual and plural nouns). Let\u2019s put this into practice and use the above examples in meaningful sentences and assign the appropriate cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u0627\u0644\u0633\u0651\u064e\u0628\u064e\u0628<\/strong> reason<\/td>\n\u062d\u064e\u0631\u064e\u0643\u064e\u0629\u064f \u0622\u062e\u0650\u0631\u0650 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u064f\u0636\u064e\u0627\u0641<\/strong> case of muDHaaf<\/em><\/td>\n\u0627\u0644\u062c\u064f\u0645\u0652\u0644\u064e\u0629<\/strong> sentence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It is a predicate \u00a0\u062e\u064e\u0628\u064e\u0631<\/strong><\/td>\n\u0636\u064e\u0645\u0651\u064e\u0629 \u2013 \u0645\u064e\u0631\u0652\u0641\u064f\u0648\u0652\u0639<\/strong> (nominative)<\/td>\n\u0647\u064e\u0630\u064e\u0627 \u0642\u0650\u0633\u0652\u0645\u064f<\/span> \u0627\u0644\u0623\u064e\u062d\u0652\u064a\u064e\u0627\u0621\u0650. <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It is an object \u0645\u064e\u0641\u0652\u0639\u064f\u0648\u0644<\/strong><\/td>\n\u0641\u064e\u062a\u0652\u062d\u064e\u0629 \u2013 \u0645\u064e\u0646\u0652\u0635\u064f\u0648\u0628<\/strong> (accusative)<\/td>\n\u0642\u064e\u0631\u064e\u0623\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0645\u064f\u062f\u0651\u0650\u0633\u064f \u0643\u064e\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e<\/span> \u062c\u064f\u0648\u0652\u0646.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
It is an object of a preposition \u00a0\u0627\u0650\u0633\u0652\u0645\u064f \u0645\u064e\u062c\u0652\u0631\u064f\u0648\u0631<\/strong><\/td>\n\u0643\u064e\u0633\u0652\u0631\u064e\u0629 \u2013 \u0645\u064e\u062c\u0652\u0631\u064f\u0648\u0631<\/strong> (genitive)<\/td>\n\u0637\u064e\u0628\u064e\u062e\u064e\u062a\u0652 \u0633\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0648\u064e\u0649 \u0628\u0650\u0640\u0632\u064e\u064a\u0652\u062a\u0650<\/span> \u0632\u064e\u064a\u0652\u062a\u064f\u0648\u0646\u064d. <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

What if the \u0645\u064f\u0636\u064e\u0627\u0641<\/strong> \u00a0muDHaaf<\/em> \u2018the annexed\u2019 is dual or plural? If it is dual or plural, the rule is to drop its final \u0646<\/strong> nuun<\/em> in both cases. In (1), the \u0646<\/strong> of \u0644\u0627\u0639\u0650\u0628\u064e\u0627\u0646<\/strong> is dropped. Similarly, in (2), the \u0646<\/strong> of \u0644\u0627\u0639\u0650\u0628\u064f\u0648\u0646<\/strong> is dropped. So is the case with (3) and (4), that is \u0641\u0650\u064a\u0652\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0646<\/strong> becomes \u0641\u0650\u064a\u0652\u0644\u0652\u0645\u064e\u064a<\/strong> and \u0645\u064f\u0639\u064e\u0644\u0651\u0650\u0645\u064f\u0648\u0646<\/strong> becomes \u0645\u064f\u0639\u064e\u0644\u0651\u0650\u0645\u064f\u0648<\/strong>.<\/p>\n