Chapter 1

Phrases
1.3   
(Demonstration)

Phrases such as ‘this student and ‘that book’ contain 
  (demonstration). In Arabic we produce such
phrases by placing a  
  (demonstrative pronoun lit. noun of demonstration) before a   (noun). In
English, the words ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’ and ‘those’ are demonstrative pronouns.

(a) 
      (demonstration of something close)

To demonstrate something close in English we say ‘this’. The masculine singular   
(demonstrative pronoun) meaning ‘this’ in Arabic is  (dhaa), from which variations of the feminine and
plural are derived.

Feminine Masculine

   / 
 /


Singular
(haadhihi) (haadhii) (haadhaa) (dhaa)
This This

  
Plural
(haa’ulaa’i)
These

Note that the  prefixes above are pronounced with an unwritten alif after them.

i
• The
Morphology

 prefix is actually not part of the    (demonstrative

pronoun). It is a truncation of the particle  (haa) which is called  !"$#  % &
(particle of alerting) and we might think of it as an interjection in English.

The actual masculine singular     (demonstrative pronoun) is
 .

When  is prefixed to  (' )
 & (demonstrative pronouns) the alif of 
is pronounced but not written rendering,

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 * 
 This (m. sing.) (dhhaa  haadhaa)

+
 *
+
 This (f. sing.) (dhii  haadhii)

,*
, This (f. sing.) (dhihi  haadhihi)

(-. 
(-/ & These (m. & f. pl.) (‘ulaa’i  haa’ulaa’i)

(There are in fact ten derivations for the feminine singular but the two given above are by far
the most common. (1) +
  , (2) 0 1 , (3) , , (4) 1 , (5) , with a lengthening of the 
 2
 3 on the
haa’, (6) 1 with a lengthening of the 
 2
 3 on the haa’, (7) ,  , (8)  1 , (9) 4
  , (10) 1 )

•  is used on its own to mean ‘ha! look!’.

 5   / 5   ‘look, there he is!’.

(b) 7 8!    (demonstration of something far)

To demonstrate something far in English we say ‘that’. The masculine singular    (demonstrative

pronoun) meaning ‘that’ in Arabic is produced from  (this) by suffixing 9 , rendering 9  (that). This 9 is
called :
 ;< =
 3 (the kaf of address).

Feminine Masculine

! "  / #


Singular
(Tilka) (dhaalika) (dhaaka)
That That

$% &
Plural
(‘ulaa’ika)
Those

The / in >
 ?/ & is not pronounced and an alif is pronounced but not written after the .

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 i Morphology

The feminine 

  (demonstrative pronoun) is actually >  1
produced by adding the :  ;< =
 3 (the kaf of address) to 0 1 which is
one of the feminine variations of  given in the grey box above.

It is very common with the singular to insert a @ (lam carrying sukuun)

before the :
 ;< =
 3 (the kaf of address), rendering,

(for >
   ) >
  That (m. sing.) (dhaalika)

(for >
 A 1) >
 A 1 That (f. sing.) (tilka)

This @ is called 78! B - (the lam of distance) and is inserted to

demonstrate something farther away than 9  and >

 1 . In common

parlance today, this distinction is not unfortunately given due attention

and >
  and >
 A 1 are used loosely.

The  (' ) & (demonstrative pronouns) given above are 0D "!E (indeclinable) and do not ever change in
ending.

1.3.1 When a   (noun) is demonstrated, it must always be F
G 8 E (definite). The    (demonstrative

pronoun) is placed before the    HE (demonstrated) noun.


 I; *  This student
(haadhaa aT-Taalibu)

:
 $J >
  That book
(dhaalika al-kitaabu)

As we know, the demonstrative pronoun is called    . The demonstrated noun is called    HE
(lit. ‘pointed to’).

In Arabic, we say that the    HE (demonstrated noun) is a K
7 L (substitute) for the   
(demonstrative pronoun). Suppose I point to a book and say, ‘I read that’. I can express the same meaning
by saying, ‘I read the book’. Effectively, I have substituted ‘the book’ for the demonstrative pronoun

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 ‘that’. When the two are combined in the expression ‘I read that book’, the    HE (demonstrated noun)
‘book’ is the K

7 L (substitute) of the    (demonstrative pronoun) ‘that’. We call the   
(demonstrative pronoun) the  " E K
7 ! E (substituted-for). In English, the K
7 L (substitute) is called ‘apposition’
or ‘the permutative’.

M The general rule is that a K
7 L (substitute) must always agree with its  "E K
7 ! E (substituted-for) in four
respects:

1. Definition: F
G 8 E (definite) or 
 JN (indefinite) ?

2. Gender:  3I * E (masculine) or O
N#. E (feminine) ?
3. Word ending: F
)# P , 
 2
 3 or F
Q
 $ G ?
4. Number: %  R E (singular), VU "STE (dual) or W ) X (plural) ?

(a) (' ) & (demonstrative pronouns) are always F
G 8 E (definite). This is because they involve pointing
to something and once pointed to, things are identifiable and therefore F
G 8 E (definite). If we point to a

house and say ‘this house’ or ‘that house’, we are referring to this or that particular house, not ‘a’ house or

‘any’ house. Since the    HE (demonstrated noun) must agree with the    (demonstrative

pronoun) it must always be F
G  8 E (definite).


 I; *  / 
 I;  This student
(dhaa aT-Taalibu / haadhaa aT-Taalibu)

(b) The    HE (demonstrated) noun must agree with the gender of the    (demonstrative
pronoun).

F !I; >
 A 1 That student (f)
(tilka aT-Taalibatu)

F ) AJ ,* / +* This word (f)

(haadhii / haadhihi al-kalimatu)

F ) AJ >
 A 1 That word (f)
(tilka al-kalimatu)

(c) Since   (' ) & (demonstrative pronouns) are 0D "! E (indeclinable), their endings never change. In
ordinary circumstances as in the examples above, the    HE (demonstrated) noun takes the default

ending, which is F
)
#P . If the 
  is preceded by a Y X =
  Z (preposition), the    (demonstrative
pronoun) becomes the ‘object’ of the Y X =
  Z (preposition). Being 0D "!E (indeclinable), the   

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 (demonstrative pronoun) is not visibly affected. However, the effect of the Y X =
  Z (preposition) passes
over to the    HE (demonstrated) noun.

:
 $J *  0G In this book
(fii haadhaa al-kitaabi)

F)AJ >
 A 1 VA[ Upon that word
(⊂alaa tilka al-kalimati)

We will introduce F
Q
 $G endings in chapters two and three.

(d) The    HE (demonstrated) noun must agree with the number of the    (demonstrative
pronoun).

K X\  (-.  These men

(haa’ulaa’i ar-rijaalu)

(' 2"\ >

 ?/& Those women
(‘ulaa’ika an-niasaa’u)

K X\  (-.  ] E From these men

(min haa’ulaa’i ar-rijaali)

(2"\ >
 ?/& V To those women
(ilaa ‘ulaa’ika an-niasaa’i)

1.3.2 '  () (Demonstration) in the *' + ,)( construction

 (' ) & (Demonstrative pronouns) can only be used to demonstrate the =
 ^E (possessed noun) and
  =
 ^E F
GP construction.
(possessor) in a definite This is because, as we know, the    HE
(demonstrated noun) must always be F
G 8 E (definite).

(a) Demonstrating a   =

 ^E (possessor)

This is the only instance when the ‘integrity’ of the F
R P

  construction is ‘broken’. A   
(demonstrative pronoun) may be placed before the last, and only the last   =
 ^E (possessor).


 I; *  :
 $3 The book of this student / This student’s book
(kitaabu haadhaa aT-Taalibi)


 I; *  :
 $3 0G In the book of this student / In this student’s book
(fii kitaabi haadhaa aT-Taalibi)

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 _"! ,*   The name of this girl / This girl’s name
(ismu haadhihi al-binti)

:
 `
I ;a  (-.  (' ) & The names of these students / These students’ names
(asmaa’u haa’ulaa’i aT-Tullaabi)

(b) Demonstrating a =
 ^E (possessed noun)
To demonstrate the =
 ^E (possessed noun), we place the    (demonstrative pronoun) after the

F
GP construction.

*  
 I; :
 $3 This book of the student
(kitaabu aT-Taalibi haadhaa)

*   L$3 This book of his

(kitaabuhu haadhaa)

*  
 I; :
 $3 0G In this book of the student
(fii kitaabi aT-Taalibi haadhaa)

>
  L$3 0G In that book of his
(fii kitaabihi dhaalika)

*  _"!   This name of the girl

(ismu al-binti haadhaa)

,* ]b 2
 Z B\ & _
 "L This daughter of Hasan’s mother
(bintu ‘ummi Hasanin haadhihi)

>
 A 1 c$"L That daughter of hers
(bintuhaa tilka)

(-.  K X\  4
 "L These daughters of the men
(banaatu ar-rijaali haa’ulaa’i)

>
 ?/ &  c 1"L Those daughters of theirs
(banaatuhum ‘ulaa’ika)

>
 A 1 >
 $R d That attribute of yours
(Sifatuka tilka)

*  0 $L This house of mine

(baytii haadhaa)

,* "Ee & This mother of ours

(‘ummunaa haadhihi)

If there is more than one =

 ^E (possessed noun), there is an ambiguity.

*  
 ;I  :
 $3   This name of the book of the student or
The name of this book of the student
(ismu kitaabi aT-Taalibi haadhaa)

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 -
./01

Vocabulary


  Demonstration ishaaratun

   demonstrative pronoun ismu al-ishaarati

   H
 E demonstrated noun mushaarun ilayhi

K
7 L substitute badalun

Exercise 1.3.2 Exercise 1.3.1

Express in Arabic Express in English

1. On this edge :
 $J >   .f
2. Until that meeting h
 ) H#  ,* ] E .g
3. Until this meeting of ours
0\"E F ) AJ ,* .i
4. That movement in the skies
k
  l ,* 0G B `   .j
5. The movement in these skies
k
  l 0G B ` 2 #  *  .m
6. Appropriate in this writing
+
 % 5  *  0G _   L .n
7. A word to all these people
+
 % 5  0G *   $ L .o
8. This word to all people
q
 #" V ,* r F s .p
9. This meeting of Muhammad
,* 7u )# Q  E _
 " L .t
10. This book of Allah and those signs of His
 <
  0G q  #" (-.  K /# & .fv

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