THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN NOMINAL AND VERBAL SENTENCES ACCORDING TO THE

ARAB GRAMMARIANS
Author(s): Aryeh Levin
Source: Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik , 1985, No. 15, Studies in the History of
Arabic Grammar — Proceedings of the First Symposium on the History of Arabic
Grammar, held at Nijmegen, 16–19th April 1984 (1985), pp. 118-127
Published by: Harrassowitz Verlag

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 THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN NOMINAL AND VERBAL SENTENCES

ACCORDING TO THE ARAB GRAMMARIANS

By Aryeh Levin , Jerusalem*

1 . In the Arab sources of the 10th century and later, the term al-
musnad 'ilayhi denotes the subject, and the term al-musnad denotes the
predicate, in all types of sentences.1 These terms are evide
the grammarians1 view the syntactic function of the mubtada' in the no-
minal sentence is the same as that of the fāc il in the verbal sentence,
since each of them is a musnad ' ilayhi (= subject) . Similarly, the syn-
tactic function of the habar in the nominal sentence is the same as that

of the fi°l in the verbal sentence, since each of them is a musnad

(= predicate) . Evidence that the grammarians were aware of the similari-
ty in function between these parts of the nominal and the verbal senten-
ce is also provided by some other terms corresponding to al-musnad 'ilayhi
2
and al-musnad , as well as by the fact that this similarity is even dis-
3
cussed by some of them. Nevertheless, the grammarians continue to dis-
tinguish between al-mubtada' and al-facil, as well as between al-habar
and al- fi c 1 . This distinction is based on grammatical considerations,
and it derives from two of the Arab grammarians' main theories: the
theory of °amal, and the theory of the pronouns of the 3rd person. Some
of the notions contained in these theories led the grammarians to infer
that in sentences of the type zaydun qama "Zayd got up", zaydun is a mub-
tada' , in contrast to zaydun in sentences of the type qama zaydun, where
zaydun is conceived of as a fācil . This view was upheld although the
sentences zaydun qama and qama zaydun include an identical musnad 'ilayhi
- zaydun, and an identical musnad - qama, and hence these two sentences

* The Hebrew University - Institute of Asian and African Studies - Jeru-

salem - Israel

1 See LEVIN (1981) §IV.

2 The subject is called al-muhaddat c anhu and the predicate is called
al-hadit or hadlt °anhu in all types of sentences since the 3rd/9th
century. Similarly, the term al-muhbar canhu denotes the subject and
the term al-habar denotes the predicate in all types of sentences
(see Levin (1981) §VI) .
3 See I BN AS-SARRÄÖ, 'Uçul I, 63.7-13; ZAČČĀSĪ, čumal 48.5-9; IBN AL-'AN-
BĀRĪ , 'Asr-ār 30.22-23? 34.22-23; ZAMAHŠARI , Mufassal 13.4; IBN YACĪŠ,
Šarh I, 85.4-6 (= JAHN I, 102.20-22)."

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 Nominal and Verbal Sentences 1 1 9

4
are identical in meaning. In the following discussion I will attempt .to
clarify the considerations that led the grammarians to classify zaydun
in zaydun qãma as a mubtada' , and hence to hold that a sentence of the
type zaydun qãma is a nominal sentence, in opposition to a sentence of
the type qama zaydun , which is a verbal sentence.

2. The Arab grammarians believe that some nominative 3rd person pro-
nouns are denoted by suffixes appended to verbal forms, while others
are unexpressed, but are implicit in the verb form. E.g. in the sentence
' ihwatuka qãmu , "Your brothers got up" (MUBA.RRAD, Muqtadab I 262, 10),
the ū in qamu is the nominative 3rd person suffix in the masculine plu-
ral, while in the sentence zaydun qama "Zayd got up" (MUBARRAD, Muqtadab
I 270, 7-8) the 3rd person singular masculine nominative pronoun is im-
plicit in the verb form qama . ^ The grammarians also hold that in m
syntactic constructions a 3rd person pronoun must be preceded by its an-
tecedent, irrespective of whether the pronoun is denoted by a suffix or
is implicit in the verb.** Hence, the grammarians believe that in se
ces beginning with a verb which precedes its subject, the verb form does
not contain any pronoun of the 3rd person, as in this construction the
preceding antecedent indispensable to the occurrence of the pronoun is
not found. In the following examples the verb forms do not, according to
the grammarians, contain any nominative pronoun: qãma zaydun "Zayd got
up" (IBN SlNNĪ, LumaC 13, 10); qãmat hindun "Hind got up" (IBN ČINNĪ,
Lumac 13, 14); qama z-zaydãni "The two men named Zayd got up" (IBN CAQĪL,

4 It is inferred from IBN AL-'ANBARI's text that he believes there is

no difference in meaning between the utterances zaydun daraba and
daraba zaydun, both = "Zayd hit", as he says: fa-1 in qila li-mã zacam-
tum ' anna qawla 1-qã'ili zaydun qama marfucun bi-1-ibtidã ' i dūna 1-
ficli wa-la fasla bayna qawlinã zaydun daraba wa-daraba zaydun ... -
"If somebody says: why do you say that [ zaydun in the] utterance zay-
dun qama takes the nominative because of the camal of the ibtidā' and
not [because of the camal of the] verb [qama] although there is no
difference between our [two] utterance[s] zaydun daraba and daraba
zaydun...?" ( IBN AL- ' ANBĀRĪ , ' Asrãr 36.17-19).
5 For the 3rd person nominative pronouns which, according to the gram-
marians, are appended to verbal forms, or are implicit in verb forms
see SÎBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 330.11-19; MUBARRAD, Muqtadab I, 262.7=263,2;
270.7- 271.4; IBN AS-SARRĀČ, 'Usui II. 118.6 - 119.6; Z AMAH Š ARĪ , Mu-
fassal 51.18 - 52.4; 53.11-14; IBN YACĪŠ, Šarh III, 87.13 - 88.14
( = * JAHN I, 409.11 - 410.14).
6 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb II, 331.20-21; MUBARRAD, Muqtadab III, 186.6-7;
IBN AS-SARRĀČ, ' Usui I, 134.15-16; AS-SĪRĀFĪ, as quoted bv JAHN 1/2
88.20-22; IBN YACIŠ, Šarķ III, 109.2-5 (= JAHN I, 428.24 - 429.3). It
should be noted that most of the grammarians1 statements in this res-
pect appear to refer to the pronoun in general, and not only to the
3rd person pronoun. However, it is inferred from the data that these
statements necessarily refer only to 3rd person pronouns, as also in-
ferred from IBN YACĪŠ, Šarh III, 109.2-5 (= JAHN I, 428.24 - 429.3).

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 120 A. Levin

Šarh I 468, 11)? q

Sari} I 468, 11-12), and qumna l-hindatu "The women named Hind got up"
('IBN CAQĪL, šarh I 468, 12). The 3rd person suffixes in the above ex
ples are seen by the grammarians as particles (= huruf) , serving as mar-
7
kers denoting gender or numbers the -t in qãmat is a feminine marker
(= c alāmat at-ta'nTt).® The -ā in qama is a dual marker (= ° alamat
9 c
tatniya) . The -ū in qamu is a masculine plural marker (= alamat al-
gamc) 10 and the -na in qumna is a feminine plural marker.11
On the other hand, in constructions where a 3rd person verb form is
preceded by the subject, the grammarians hold that the verb contains a
pronoun. This pronoun refers to the preceding subject which is its an-
tecedent. E.g. in the example z ay dun qama "Zayd got up" (MUBARRAD, Muq-
tadab I 262, 7-8) the 3rd person masc. sing, pronoun is implicit in the
12
verb qama . Similarly, in the sentence hindun qãmat "Hind got up" (MU-
BARRAD, Muqtadab I 263, 1) the 3rd person fem. sing, pronoun is implicit
in the form qãmat . The -t in qamat is here also held to be a feminine
marker.13 In the example az-zaydani qama "The two men named Zay
(IBN SlNNĪ, Luma° 13, 11-12) , the -ā in qama is the 3rd person dual pro-
14
noun. In the example az-zayduna qamu "The men named Zayd got up" (IBN

7 See LEVIN forthcoming 2.2.

8 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 201.23-202.3? 202.23-203.2? IBN AS-SARRAČ,
'Usui II, 118.18-19? IBN ÖINNI, Lumac_ 13.13-15? IBN YACĪS, Šarh III,
88*. 7-12 (= JAHN I, 410.7-13)? IBN CAQIL, Šarh I, 468.9-15.
9 Inferred from SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 202.23 - 203.2? Cf. IBN YACIŠ, Šarh
III, 87.20-23 (= JAHN I, 409.18-22)? ^arh VII, 7_.14-16 (= JAHN II,
917.4-7)? IBN CAQĪL, Šarh I, 468.9-14? 'ABU HAYYÃN, Manhag 102.21-26,
where this notion is explicitly mentioned.
10 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I , 202.3 - 203.3. Cf. IBN YACIŠ, Šarh III, 87.
19-23 (= JAHN I, 409.18-22)? Šarh VII, 7.14-18 (= JAHN II, 917.4-8)?
IBN CAQĪL, Šarh I, 468 . 9-1 4 ? ' ABU* ÇAYYÃN , Manhag 102.21-26.
11 IBN YACĪŠ, šarh III, 88.13 - 89.2 (= JAHN I, 410.14-18)? Šarh VII, _
7.20-21 (= JAHN II, 917.11-12)? IBN CAQĪL , Šarh I, 468.9-14. Cf. 'ABU
HAYYÃN , Manhag 102.21-26.
12 See MUBARRAD, Muqtadab I, 262.7-8? IV, 279.13? IBN GINNI, Lumac 13.6-8?
IBN AL- ' ANBĀRĪ , 'Asrār 37.2-6? ZAMAHŠARĪ, Mufassal 11.11-14? IBN YACIS ,
Šarh III, 87.13-14 (= JAHN I, 409.11-12)? Šarh' ì II, 88.3-5 ( = JAHN
I¿ 410.3-5)? IBN CAQĪL, šarh I, 234.4-5? 465.1-5. On several occasions
SIBAWAYHI mentions al- ' idmāru llaďl fi facala - "the pronoun which is
L implicit] in [verbal forms such as] facalan, but he does not give
any sentence illustrating the occurrence of such an implicit pronoun
(see SIBAWAYHI , Kitāb I, 330^22? 331.3? 331.5-6? 331.12-13). For al-
mudmar lladT fl facala see SIBAWAYHI, Kitab I, 330.11.
13 See MUBARRAD, Muqtadab I, 263.1? IV 279.13? IBN YACĪŠ, Ša
7-12 ( = JAHN I, 410.7-13) ?
14 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 201.16-18? 201.21-202.3. MUBARRAD , Muqtadab
I, 261.1-262.10 (especially 262.9-10)? IBN SlNNĪ , Lumac 13.11-13?
IBN YACĪŠ, Šarh III, 87.13-16 (= JAHN I, 409.11-13)? Šarh III, 7.14-19
(= JAHN II, 917.4-10) ? 'ABU HAYYÃN, Manhag 102.16-17.

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 Nominal and Verbal Sentences 121

SlNNĪ, Lumac 13, 12) the -ū in qãmu is the 3rd person masc. plural pro*^
noun, and in the example al-hindatu qumna "The women named Hind got up"
( 'ABU HAYYÃN , Manhag 102, 17) the -na in qumna is the 3rd person fem.
plural pronoun. ^

3. The Arab grammarians believe that every verb, irrespective of its

c 16
position in the sentence, must govern a following nominative as a fa il.
17 _
This nominative may be either a noun or a pronoun. In the example qama _
zaydun, the nominative governed by the verb as a fa°il is the noun zay-
18
dun, but in the sentence zaydun qama, the nominative governed by the
verb as a fā°il is the 3rd person masc. sing, pronoun, which is implicit
19 c
in the verb. Similarly, in the sentence qamat hindun, the fa il is the
nominative hindun, while in the sentence hindun qãmat , the facil of the
verb is the 3rd person fem. sing, pronoun which is implicit in the form
20 c
qamat. In the sentence qamu z-zayduna the fa il is the nominative az-
zayduna, while in the sentence az-zayduna qamu the facil is the 3
21
son masc. plural pronoun -ū included in qamu.

15 See SÏBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 201.21-23? IBN YACĪŠ, šarh III, 88.13-14 (=

JAHN I, 410.14); šarh VII, 7.20-21 (= JAHN II, 917.11-12); 'ABU HAYYÃN,
Manhag 102.16-17.
16 For the notion that the fācil must follow its verbal predicate see
IBN AS-SARRÄÖ, 'Usui I, 81.7-11; IBN ČINNĪ, LumaC 13.2-3; IBN YACĪŠ,
Šarh I, 74.7-9 (='JAHN I, 88.24-89.2); IBN CAQĪL, Šarh I, 465.1-5.
For the notion that every verb must govern a fācil seê SÏBAWAYHI, Ki-
tāb, I, 30.17-21; 31.6-7; MUBARRAD, Muqtadab I, 19.13; III, 113.3-4;
113,. 11-12; IV 50.4-10; IBN AS-SARRĀČ, 'Usui I, 52.9; 83.12-13; AS-
SĪRĀFĪ, as quoted by JAHN 1/2 88-89, noté 2 to_Chapter 23; SÏBAWAYHI,
Kitāb, ed. HARUN, II, 38, note 1; Kitāb, ed. Bulaq, I, 235, häsiya ;
IBN YACĪŠ , Šarh I, 77.16-17 (= JAHN I, 93.6-7); Šarh III, 1oè.16 -
109.2 (= JAHN i, 428.21-24); Šarfy III, 87.13-19 (= JAHN I, 409.11-18);
Šarķ VII, 7.23-26 (= JAHN II, 917.14-17).
17 SÏBAWAYHI , Kitāb I, 31.6-7.

18 For the, verb as the cāmil which governs the facil see MUBARRAD, Muq-
tadab IV, 128.10-11; IBN AS-SARRÄÖ, 'Usui I, 83.10-84.10; IBN ČINNĪ,
Lumac 13.2-4; ZAMAHŠARĪ, Muf assai 11.7-9; IBN YACĪŠ, Šarh I, 74.24-25
(= JAHN I, 89.18-19); IBN CAQĪL, Šarh I, 462.6-464.10.
19 See MUBARRAD, Muqtadab IV, 128.7-11; IBN ÖINNI, LumaC 13.6-8; ZAMAH-
ŠARĪ, Muf assai 11 .11-14; IBN CAQĪL , Šarh I, 464.12 - 465.6.
20 See IBN YACĪŠ, Šarh III, 88.7 (= JAHN I, 410.7-8).
21 See 'ABU HAYYÃN, Manhag 102.14-26; IBN CAQĪL , Šarh I, 466.1 - 468.15.
Also inferred from IBN AS-SARRÄÖ, 'Uņūl I, 79.11-14 (quoted and trans-
lated in LEVIN forthcoming 2.3) and from IBN ČINNĪ, Lumac 13.6-13. It
should be noted that since the grammarians consider the ū in the qamu
of qãmu z-zayduna to be a particle (= harf) (see above §2; see LEVIN
fortcoming 2.1 - 2.4; 3.3), they cannot conceive of this ū as a facil
for they believe that a harf cannot occur as a fac il (see LEVIN forth-
coming 3.3; LEVIN, (1981) VI §2).

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 122 A. Levin

4 . The grammarians hold that a verb cannot simultaneously govern both

a noun and a pronoun referring to this noun. Since they believe that in
the sentence zaydun qãma the nominative governed by the verb as a fā°il
is the pronoun which is implicit in the form qãma (see above §3) , they
hold that qãma cannot also govern the preceding nominative zaydun which
is the antecedent of this pronoun (see below) . The same holds good with
respect to examples such as hindun qãmat and az-zayduna qãmui in the sen-
tence hindun qãmat the verb cannot govern hindun as a fãcil, for it go-
verns (as a fā°il) , the pronoun which is implicit in gāmat.22 Again, it
is inferred that in sentences such as az-zayduna qãmu , the verb cannot
govern az-zayduna as a fã°il, as it already governs the nominative pro-
noun -ū included in qãmu. This notion is explicitly expressed by AL-
MUBARRAD who says on this subject: fa-' ida quita °abdu llãhi qama fa -
cabdu 1 leih i rufi°a bi- 1-ibtidã ' i wa-qāma fi mawdi° i 1-habari, wa-damî-
ruhu lladi fi qãma fã°ilun. fa- 'in zaC ama zã° imun ' annahu ' inn ama yur-
fa°u C abdullãhi bi-fi° lihl fa-qad ' ahãla min gihãtin minhã ' anna qãma
fi°l un wa-lã yarfa°u l-fi°lu fã°ilayni ' illã °alã gihati 1- ' isrãki nah -
wa qãma ° abdu llãhi wa- zaydun fa-kayfa yarfa°u ° abda llãhi wa-damlrahu?
"And if you say: cabdu llãhi qãma (,,CAbdallah got up"), ° abdu llãhi
takes the nominative because of the ° amai of the iiptidā',23 and qãma
takes the place of the predicate, and [the] pronoun [which refers
to c abdu llãhi and] which is [implicit] in the [verb] qãma is
[the] fã°i 1 [of qãma]. And if someone claims that ° abdu llãhi takes
the nominative because [of the °amal of] its verb [qãma], he says some-
thing which is impossible, for several reasons: [one] of these [reasons]
is that qãma is a verb, and a verb cannot [simultaneously] govern two
fã°il s unless [in a construction where a second fācil] is [preceded] by
a conjunction, as in the example qãma cabdu llãhi wa-zaydun (="cAbdallah
24
and Zayd got up") , so how [is it possible for the verb] to govern in
the nominative [both] ° abdu llãhi and its pronoun?" (MUBARRAD
IV 128, 7-11) .

The notion that a verb cannot simultaneously govern both a noun and a
pronoun referring to this noun is also expressed by IBN YACĪŠ,
. .. li-'anna l-fi°la lã yarfa°u fã° ilayni ' afyaduhumã mudmarun wa-l-'äharu

22 Inferred from IBN YACĪŠ, šarh III, 88.7-9 (= JAHN I, 410.7-10). Cf.
IBN AS-SARRĀS, 'Usui II, 118*. 18-19.
23 For the sense of ibtidã' as an camil see below.

24 The sense of the term al-'išrāk is the same as al-catf (see the re-
ferences in TROUPEAU (1976) s.v. ' isrãk) . SÎBAWAYHI ànd AL-MUBARRAD
call huruf al-catf hurūf al-1 isrãk (SIBAV7AYHI, Kitãb I, 211.10; MU-
BARRAD, Muqtadab IV, 298.4). SIBAWAYHI also calls them hurūf al-iš-
tirãk (SIBAWAYHI, Kitãb I, 63.18).

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 Nominal and Verbal Sentences 123

zāhirun"... as the verb cannot [sim

the nominative [when] one of these fa° ils is a pronoun, and the other is
an explicit noun" (IBN YACĪŠ, šarh III 88f9 = JAHN I 410,9-10). 25
Since the grammarians believe that the noun in examples such as zaydun
qãma cannot take the nominative because of the °amal of the verb
assume the existence of some other cāmil which affects zaydun in such a
way that it takes the nominative. This cāmil, they say, is al-ibtidā ' . 26
Although the grammarians do not agree on the exact definition of al-ibti-
dā', it is possible to say, in general, that al-ibtidā ' is an abstract
°āmil consisting of two elements: (1) the occurrence of a
a syntactic construction where it is unaffected by the ° amai of any word;
27
(2) the fact that this noun is a subject which takes a predicate. The
combination of these two elements produces the cāmil which affects the
mubtada' in such a way that it takes the nominative. Thus, they hold
that zaydun in the example zaydun qama, like zaydun in zaydun ' ahūka
2ft
takes the nominative because of the amai of al-ibtidā ' . Hence, zaydun
in zaydun qama is seen as a mubtada', and the sentence zaydun qama is seen
as a nominal sentence.

It should be noted that other arguments are adduced by some grammarians

29
in order to prove that zaydun in zaydun qama is a mubtada '.

It is here inferred that the grammarians' distinction between qama

zaydun as a verbal sentence, and zaydun qama as a nominal sentence de-
rives from the assumption that zaydun in qama zaydun takes the nominative
because of the camal of the verb, while zaydun in zaydun qãma takes the
nominative because of the °amal of al-ibtidā'. As a result, zaydun in
qãma zaydun is considered to be a fā°il, while zaydun in zaydun qãma is
regarded as a mubtada'. This distinction is entirely grammatical.30

25 For the context where this statement appears see note 22 above.
26 See MUBARRAD, Muqtadab IV, 128.7; IBN ÖINNI, Lumac 13.7-8; IBN AL-'ANBĀ-
RI , ' Asrār 36.17.

27 For the various views on the ibtidā' as an cāmil see MUBARRAD L Muqta-
dab IV, 126.13-15; IBN AS-SARRĀČ, 'Usui ' I, 64.8-12; IBN AL- ' ANBARĪ , ' m-
sāf, mas'ala 5 (= IBN 'ANBĀRĪ, Insāf ' 2 1 -26 ) ; ZAÖÖAÖI, Gumal 48.5-9;
IBN YACĪŠ, Šarh I, 84 . 22-85 . 2 1 _ (= JAHN I, 102.8 - 103.13); IBN CAQĪL ,
Šarh I, 200.1 -201.6; 'ABŪ ĢAYYAN, _ Manhag 38.1-5; IBN HIŠĀM, ŠudTir 180.
4-8; IBN HIŠĀM, 'Awdah 179.1-3.
28 For the ibtidā' as the cāmil of the mubtada' see, for example, SĪBA-
WAYHI , Kitāb I, 239.5-9; MUBARRAD, Muqtadab IV, 126.13; IBN AS-SARRĀS,
' Usui 1 , 63 . 1 -2 ; IBN SlNNI , Lumac 10.2-5. For the ibtidā' as the cāmil
of the subject in sentences of the type zaydun qãma see note 26 above.
29 See MUBARRAD, Muqtadab IV, 128.11-19; IBN ' ANBĀRĪ , 'Asrār 36.17-37.2.
.30 The grammatical nature of the term fācil is emphasized by IBN YAcīš,
Šarh I, 74.7-24 (= JAHN I, 88.24 - 89.17), especially lines 13-17 in
JAHN's edition = lines 20-24 in the Cairo edition) .

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 124 A. Levin

It is possible to conclude that the grammarians regard a sentence as

nominal when its subject takes the nominative because of the camal of
the ibtidā'. On the other hand, a sentence is conceived of as verbal
when its subject takes the nominative because of the °amal of the verb,
or because of the °amal of words such as participles or adjectives which
31
in the grammarians1 view resemble the verb in some respects. Thus, the
classification of a sentence as either nominal or verbal is determined

by the cãmil which affects its subject, and not by the category of the
part of speech to which its predicate belongs .

Appendix

The distinction between a mubtada' and a fãcil according to SIBAWAYHI

SIBAWAYHI, unlike AL-MUBARRAD, does not discuss the considerations

leading to the classification of a subject that precedes its verbal pre-

c 32
dicate as a mubtada' , and not as a f I il. Nevertheless, there are some
indications in the Kitãb that SIBAWAYHI1 s considerations in this matter

were the same as AL-MUBARRAD 1 s .

1) SIBAWAYHI believes that in the sentence zaydun darabani

hit me" (Kitãb, ed. HARUN, I 92, 1) zaydun is a mubtada', while in the
34 - -
sentence darabani Zaydun {Kitãb, ed. HARUN, I 92, 3-4) , which means the
same thing, zaydun is not a mubtada , but a fã°il

31 On the view that the predicate of the fãcil may also be a participle
or an_adjective or even a word belonging to some other part of speech
see SIBAWAYHI, Kitãb I, 80.2-3 (with respect to the active participle
only); I BN AS-SARRĀČ, 'UsUl I, 84 . 1 3 - 85~. 1 7 ? I BN YACĪŠ, Šarh I,
24-28 (= JAHN I, 89.17-22)? IBN CAQĪL, šarh I, 462.6 - 464.7; 'ABU HAY-
YĀN, Manhag 102.3-13.
32 For AL-MUBARRAD 1 s discussion of this point see above §4.
33 The sentence zaydun darabani occurs in the text as part of the utter-
ance zaydun darabani wa-camrun marartu bihi - Zayd hit me and cAmr -
I passed him (SIBAWAYHI, Kitãb, ed. HĀRŪN I, 92.1).
34 The sentence darabani zaydun occurs in the text as part of the utter-
ance darabani zaydun wa-camran marartu bihi (SIBAWAYHI, Kitãb, ed.
HARUN I, 92.3-4) .

35 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitãb, ed. HĀRŪN I, 92.1-4. HARUN' s ed

here, as part of the text is omitted in DERENBOURG (see SIBAWAYHI,
Kitab I, 36.20-22). The part omitted is completed by JAHN (see JAHN
1/2 98, note 5) and also appears in HĀRŪN (see also SIBAWAYHI, ed.
HARŪN I, 92, note 2).
36 For the fãcn, according to SIBAWAYHI see SIBAWAYHI, Kitãb I, 10.10-
13; 10.21 -11.1. For zaydun in darabani zaydun as a fãcil see SIBA-
WAYHI, Kitãb I, 28.17-18.

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 Nominal and Verbal Sentences 125

2) SIBAWAYHI, like the later grammarians, believes that in most syn-

tactic constructions a 3rd person pronoun must be preceded by its ante-
cedent, irrespective of whether the pronoun is denoted by a suffix or is
37
implicit in the verb.

3) SIBAWAYHI, like the later grammarians, believes that every verb,

irrespective of its position in the sentence, must govern a following no-
c 38
minative as a fa il. This nominative may be either a noun or a pronoun.

4) It is inferred that SIBAWAYHI holds that a verb cannot simultaneous-

ly govern both a noun and a pronoun referring to this noun on the basis
of his contention that in the sentence zaydan darabtuhu "Zayd, I hit him"
(SIBAWAYHI, Ki tab I 31, 22), the accusative zaydan is governed by the
unexpressed verb darabtu. According to him, zaydan darabtuhu - darabtu
39
zaydan darabtuhū .
It seems that SIBAWAYHI assumes that the °āmil which governs zay
is the unexpressed verb darabtu and not the verb in darabtuhu which ac-
tually appears in the sentence, since he believes that the verb included
in darabtuhu cannot at the same time govern both the accusative pronoun
40
- hū and the noun zaydan to which this pronoun refers.
The data found in the Kitāb also provide evidence supporting our as-
sumption of SIBAWAYHI' s belief that a verb cannot at the same time govern
as a fā°il a noun and a pronoun referring to this noun.41
5) SIBAWAYHI holds that in the sentence hāda dāribun zaydan "This [man]
42
hits Zayd" (SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I 80,2) hādā is a mubtada'. Here, according
to SIBAWAYHI, the active participle contains an implicit pronoun which is
the fac il of dāribun . 43 SIBAWAYHI ' s view of the syntactic construction
the sentence hādā dāribun zaydan corresponds to AL-MUBARRAD ' s view of the
construction ° abdu llāhi qāma , where c abdu llāhi is considered a mubtada'

37 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb II, 331 .20-21 . For the later grammarians1 view in
this respect see above §2.
38 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 30.17-21; 31.6-7. For the later grammarians
see above §3.
39 SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 31.22-32.2.
40 Cf. I BN YAcĪŠ's view that the verb in zaydun darabtuhu cannot at the
same time govern two accusatives: the pronoun -hu and zaydan . Hence,
he declares, one must assume that the cāmil which governs zaydan is
the unexpressed verb Qarabtu ; see IBN YACIŠ, Šarh II, 30.15-24 (=
JAHN I, 198.24 - 199.10).
41 On this see LEVIN, forthcoming 2.4., 3.3.. For the later grammarians'
view in this respect see above §4.
42 See SIBAWAYHI, Kitāb I, 37.9-10 where SIBAWAYHI explicitly says that
hādā in the sentence hādā dāribun cabda llāhi is a mubtada'.

43 See SIBAWAYHI , Kitāb I, 80.2-3.

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 126 A. Levin

and the verb con

of qama (see above §4). Hence it appears safe to assume that SIBAWAYHI's
view of a syntactic construction of the type °abdu llāhi qama is the same
as AL-MUBARRAD ' s .

It seems that SÏBAWAYHI regards hada in the sentence hadā dāribun

zaydan as a mubtada' and not as a fācil, since he believes that an active
participle, just like a verb, cannot simultaneously govern a noun and a
pronoun referring to this noun. As he holds that dāribun governs as a
fāc il an implicit pronoun which refers to hādā, it cannot at the same
time govern hādā as a fā° il . Hence, hādā is considered to be a mubtada'
i.e. a subject which takes the nominative because of the °amal of the
ibtidā' (see above §4), and not a fā°il, i.e. a subject which takes the
nominative because of the ° amai of a verb or a participle.

These considerations combine to indicate that SÎBAV7AYHI 1 s views on the

distinction between a mubtada1 and a fa° il were the same as those of AL-
MUBARRAD .

Bibliographical References

A. Primary sources

'ABU HAYYÃN, Manha g = 'AT IR AD-DIN MUHAMMAD B. YUSUF 'ABU HAYYA

ÔARNATI AN-NAHWÏ : Manhag as-sālik fi 1-kalām calā 'Al fly at Ibn Mālik.
Ed. by SIDNEY GLAZER. New Haven Conn.: American Oriental Society (=
American Oriental Series, 31).
IBN AL-^AŅBARĪ, ' As rar = 'ABŪ L-BARAKĀT AB D AR- RAHMAN B.
' ANBARĪ : 'Asrār al-cArabiyya. Ed. by CHRISTIAN FRIEDRIC
Leiden: E.J.Brill 1886.

IBN AL ANBARĪ , 'Insāf = 'ABŪ L-BARAKĀT CABD AR-

'ANBARI: al- 'Insāf fi masā' il al-hilāf bayna n-nahwiyyin al-bas riyyin
wa- 1-kūf iyyln . Ěd. by GOTTHOLD WEIL. Leiden: E.J. 'Brill 1913.
IBN CAQĪL, Šarh = BAHÃ' AD-DĪN c AB D ALLAH IBN CAQĪL , Šarh al-'Alfiyya.
Ed. by MUHAMMAD MUHYÎ D-DĪN CABD AL-HAMID. 14 th. ed.* Cairo 1384/196
IBN SlNNÎ, Lumac = 'ABU L-FATH CUTMAN IBN ČINNĪ : Kitāb al-lumac fi n-
nahw. Ed. by HADI M. KECHRIDA. "Uppsala : Univ. of Uppsala 1976 (= Acta
Universitatis Upsaliensis, Studia Semitica Upsaliensia, 3) .
IBN HIŠĀM, ' Awdah = SAMAL AD-DĪN 'ABU MUHAMMAD C ABDALLAH
HIŠĀM: ' Awdah al-masālik ' ilā 'Alfiyat Ibn Mālik. Ed. by MUH
AL-CAZĪZ. 4 vols. Cairo 1968-69.
IBN HIŠĀM, Šudūr = ČAMAL AD-DĪN 'ABŪ MUHAMMAD c ABDALLAH B. YUSU
HIŠAM: Šarh Šudur ad-dahab fi mac ri fat kalām al-c Arab . Ed. by MUH
MUHYÎ D-DĪN CABD AL-HAMĪD. Cairo n.d.

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 Nominal and Verbal Sentences 127

IBN AS-SARRĀČ, 'Usui = 'ABU BAKR MU

al-'usul fi n-nahw. Ed. by CABD ÂL-HUSAYN AL-FATLĪ . Vol. I. an-Na§af
1973. *Vol. II. Baghdad 1973.
IBN YACĪŠ, Šarh = MUWAFFAQ AD-DIN 'ABU L-BAQÂ ' YACĪŠ B. YACĪŠ: Šarh al-
Mufasqal . 10 vols. Cairo n.d.
Šarh al-Muf assai . Ed. by GUSTAV JAHN : Ibn Ja'îs1 Kommentar zu Za-
machsari's Muf assai, herausgegeben und mit Registern und Erläuterungen
versehen . 2 vols! Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus 1882-86.
MUBARRAD, Muqtadab = 'ABU L-c ABBAS MUHAMMAD B. YAZID AL-MUBARRAD: Kitāb
al-Muqtadab . Ed. by MUHAMMAD CABD AL-HÃLIQ CUĢAYMA. 4 vols. Cairo: Dar
at-Tahrïr 1965-68.

SÎBAWAYHI , Kitāb = 'ABŪ BIŠR CAMR B. CUTMĀN SÎBAW

HARTWIG DERENBOURG: Le livre de Sîbawayhi: Traité de grammaire arabe .
2 Vols. Paris 1881-1889.

al-Ki tab . 2 vols. Ed. Bulãq 1316-17/1898-1900.

al-Ki tab. Ed. by CABD AS -S ALĀM HĀRŪN . 5 vols. Cairo: al-Hān§ī &
ar-Rifācī . 1966-1977

ZaSSĀSĪ, Gumal = 'ABŪ L-QÃSIM CABD AR- RAHMAN B. 'ISHÃQ A

Gumal . Ed. by MOHAMMED BEN CHENEB. Paris: Klincksieck 1957.
ZAMAHŠARĪ, Muf as sal = 'ABU L-QÃSIM MAHMUD B. CUMAR AZ-ZAMAHŠARĪ : al-Mu-
f assai . Ed. by JENS PETER BROCH. Christiania: Libraria P. T. Mallingii
1879.

B. Secondary sources

JAHN, GUSTAV: Sibawaihi's Buch über die Grammatik, übersetzt und erklärt.
2 Vols. Berlin 1895-1900.

LEVIN, ARYEH: The grammatical terms al-Musnad, al-Musnad ' ilayhi and al-
•isnld. In: JAOS 101 (1981) 145-165.

-.-: What is meant by 1 akalūnl 1-barāģītu? In: Jerusalem Studies in Ara-

bic and Islam (forthcoming) .
TROUPEAU, GERARD: Lexique- index du Kitab de Slbawayhi . Paris: Klincksieck
1976.

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