Work in progress.
Not ready for study.

27  The government of the preposition

Warning

THIS BOOK IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. IT IS INCOMPLETE AND MAY HAVE TYPOGRAPHICAL AND OTHER ERRORS. IT IS NOT YET READY FOR STUDY.

27.1 The need for governing the preposition

In the Arabic grammatical model, prepositional phrases are dispensable elements. In order to bring a dispensable stateful element into a sentence, a suitable element of the original sentence must act as governor of the new dispensable element. For example, consider the sentence

  1. جَلَسَ زَيْدٌ
    “Zayd sat.”

We would like to add the prepositional phrase عَلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ “on the ground” to the sentence, thus:

  1. جَلَسَ زَيْدٌ عَلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ
    “Zayd sat on the ground.”

In order to do this, a suitable element in the original sentence (جَلَسَ زَيْدٌ) must act as the governor for the preposition عَلَىٰ. The verb جَلَسَ is this suitable element.

Now, you may be thinking: we introduced the concept of government for determining the state of an element. But prepositions don’t have state. So why should they need to be governed, and in what manner may they be governed?

This is a valid objection. “Governing” a preposition is definitively problematic.1 However, we can work around this problem with the following reasoning:

The noun ٱلْأَرْضِ is governed by the preposition عَلَىٰ and not directly by the verb جَلَسَ This is because it is the preposition which causes the noun following it to be in the i-state. In order to bring the dispensable (stateful) element ٱلْأَرْض in the sentence, we have to establish an unbroken chain of governor-governee dependencies that links back to a governing element in the original sentence. Saying that عَلَىٰ is governed by جَلَسَ allows us to accomplish this. So جَلَسَ will govern عَلَىٰ. And عَلَىٰ will govern ٱلْأَرْض.

ADD DIAGRAM

Another way to look at this is that a prepositional phrase may be parsed (virtually) as a direct doee.2 Consider the example:

  1. مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ
    “I passed by Zayd.”

In the above example, the prepositional phrase بِزَيْدٍ may be parsed (virtually) as in the a-state as a direct doee. So much so, that if we wish to add a second doee using a conjunction then it may be added in the a-state. For example:

  1. مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ وَعَمْرًا 3
    “I passed by Zayd and Ɛamr.”

Of course the more usual مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ وَعَمْرٍو is also permitted.

So we can consider the verb as governing the entire prepositional phrase in the a-state. And within the prepositional phrase, the preposition governs its following noun in the i-state.

ADD DIAGRAM

27.2 Prepositions not needing a governor

What we have just said regarding a preposition requiring a governor is true of essential prepositions. An essential preposition is that which, by its addition, gives a distinctly new meaning to the sentence. They are also used to connect an indirect doee to its governing verb. The preposition ب in (3) مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ is an example of an essential preposition.

There also exist non-essential prepositions. These merely give emphasis to an existing meaning in the sentence. Non-essential prepositions do not need a governor. Here is an example of a non-essential preposition:

  1. ما جاء من رجلٍ [استيفاء حالات تعلق الجار والمجرور و الظرف وأثره في المعنى لعلي هاني]
    “Not a man came.”

The preposition مِنْ only emphasizes the meaning of the sentence. If we drop if the basic meaning would remain the same:

  1. ما جاء رجلٌ [استيفاء حالات تعلق الجار والمجرور و الظرف وأثره في المعنى لعلي هاني]
    “Not a man came.”

By the way, مِنْ happens to be a non-essential preposition in the example above. But it may be an essential preposition in other sentences. For example:

  1. خَرَجَ زَيْدٌ مِنَ ٱلْبَيْتِ
    “Zayd came out from the house.”

27.3 Valid governors of the preposition

The verb is the typical governor of the preposition. We have already given an example of a verb governing a prepostion: (2) جَلَسَ زَيْدٌ عَلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ. Besides the verb, nouns that have the effect of a verb may also govern the preposition. Such nouns include:

The maṣdar

Also included are deverbal nouns like:

The doer participle
The doee participle
The participle-like adjective
The emphatic nouns
The comparative noun

Grammarians differ regarding whether the the noun of time and the noun of place are permitted to govern a preposition. Some grammarians allow them to govern prepositions.4 Others disagree.5 Here are examples (considering them permissible) as governors:

The noun of time
  1. انقضى مسعاك لتأييد الحق [النحو الوافي 2/440]
    “Your [period of] effort for aiding the truth has ended.”
The noun of place
  1. رأيت مدخلك إلى الدار [حاشية الصبان على شرح الأشمونى لألفية ابن مالك 2/443]
    “I saw your [place of] entrance to the house.”

Also permitted as governorns are underived nouns used with an adjectival meaning. For example:

27.4 One governor governing multiple prepositions

One governor can govern multiple different prepositions with no problems. For example:

But if the multiple governees are the same prepositon, then in general they may not be governed by the same governor.6 So we can’t say:

  1. ✗ مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ بِعَمْرٍو [شرح التصريح وحاشية ياسين 1/378]
    “I passed by Zayd by Ɛamr”
    (although, separting the second preposition with a conjunction is of course allowed: مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ وَبِعَمْرٍو.)

But if the same preposition is used with different meanings then it is permissible to have them being governed by the same governor. For example:

  1. مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ بِٱلْبَادِيَةِ [شرح التصريح وحاشية ياسين 1/378]
    “I passed by Zayd in the desert.”

If the first preposition restricts the verb, and the second preposition is applied after the verb has been restricted, then too may the multiple same prepositions be used.7 For example:

  1. كُلَّمَا رُزِقُوا مِنْهَا مِنْ ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقًا [سورة البقرة 2:25]
    (The first مِنْ restricts the governing verb رُزِقُوا to ٱلْجَنًّات “the gardens”. And the second مِنْ is restricted to “from the fruit from the gardens.”8)

27.5 A meaningful connection between the preposition and its governor

In order for a preposition to be governed by a governor, there needs to be a meaningful connection between the governor and the governed prepositional phrase.9

Consider the following example:

  1. شَبَّهْتُ خَالِدًا وَهُوَ يَجُودُ بِمَالِهِ بِٱلْبَحْرِ [معاني النحو 3/131]
    “I likened K͡hālid, while he (was) being generous with his wealth, with the sea.”
    (The و in وَهُوَ يَجُودُ is translated as “while.” See section (ref).)

In the above example, the prepositional phrase بِٱلبَحْرِ “with the sea” is meaningfully connected to the verb شَبَّهَ “to liken,” not with the verb يَجُودُ “to be generous.” Therefore, it is شَبَّهَ that governs the preposition in بِٱلبَحْرِ, not يَجُودُ.

Similarly, the prepositional phrase بِمَالِهِ “with his wealth” is meaningfully connected to the verb يَجُودُ “to be generous,” not with the verb شَبَّهَ “to liken.” Therefore, it is يَجُودُ that governs the preposition in بِمَالِهِ, not شَبَّهَ.

Here is another example:

  1. ٱلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ دِينِكُمْ [سورة المائدة 5:3 cited by معاني النحو 3/131]
    “This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion;”

In the above example, the prepositional phrase مِنْ دِينِكُمْ “of your religion is meaningfully connected to the verb يَئِسَ”to despair,” not with the verb كَفَرَ “to disbelieve” Therefore, it is يَئِسَ that governs the preposition in مِنْ دِينِكُمْ not كَفَرَ.10

27.6 The combination of verbs with prepostions: the indirect doee

In theory, prepositions impart their own meanings.11 And there is no restriction on which prepositions may be used with a given governing verb (or verbal noun), as long as the prepositional phrase be meaningfully connected with its governor.12

The following examples show a possible set of prepositions that are meaningfully governed by the verb ٱنْصَرَفَ “to turn around, leave”:

  1. ٱنْصَرَفَ إِلَىٰ مَصْنَعِهِ [النحو الوافي 2/161]
    “He left to his workplace.”

  2. ٱنْصَرَفَ مِنَ ٱلْمَصْنَعِ إِلَىٰ بَيْتِهِ [النحو الوافي 2/161]
    “He left from the workplace to his house.”

  3. ٱنْصَرَفَ ٱلْعَالِمُ عَنِ ٱلْهَزْلِ [النحو الوافي 2/161]13
    “The scholar left off joking.”

  4. ٱنْصَرَفَ فِي سَيَّارَتِهِ [النحو الوافي 2/161]
    “He left in his caravan.”

Having said that, in practice, certain verbs are more meaningfully connected with certain prepositions, sometimes almost to the exclusion of others.14 For example, the verb أَقْسَمَ “to swear” requires the preposition بِ in order to transit to what is being sworn by.15 For example,

  1. أقسم بالله [أسرار العربية للأنباري 203]
    “I swear by Allāh”

The combination of a verb and its governed preposition can even acquire a specific meaning. Consider, for example, the verb وَجَدَ. It’s basic meaning is “to find.” It may be used with prepositions like بِ, عَلَىٰ, فِي with this basic meaning. For example:

  1. وَجَدْتُ ٱلْكِتَابَ بِجَهْدٍ
    “I found the book with effort.”

  2. وَجَدْتُ ٱلْكِتَابَ فِي ٱلْبَيْتِ
    “I found the book in the house.”

  3. وَجَدْتُ ٱلْكِتَابَ عَلَى ٱلْخِزَانَةِ
    “I found the book on the cupboard.”

But this verb also has specific meanings when used with these prepositions and certain indirect doees (albeit possibly with different maṣdars). For example:

  1. وَجَدَ عَلَيْهِ [Lane: root وجد]
    “He was angry with him.”

  2. وَجَدَ بِهَا [Lane: root وجد]
    “He loved her.”

  3. قَدْ وَجَدَ فِي نَفْسِهِ عَلَىَّ [صحيح مسلم :1649b]
    “he may have some feelings against me”

In such cases, the preposition almost seems to lose some of its independent meaning. Instead, the meaning of the expression is obtained from the combination of the verb with the prepostion.

27.7 The implication of general beingness

Consider the sentence:

  1. زَيْدٌ فِي ٱلدَّارِ [شرح ابن عقيل على الألفية 2/211]
    “Zayd is in the house.”

We mentioned in section (ref) above, that the governor of a preposition must be a verb, or what has the effect of a verb. But we find no such word in the sentence above. So what then is the governor of the preposition فِي?

In order to remain consistent with the Arabic grammatical model, we implicate the involvement of an implied governor. This implied governor has the meaning given by the verb “is” or its verbal noun “being”. We will refer to it as general beingness.

In Arabic grammatical terminology, general beingness is represented by the verb ٱسْتَقَرَّ or its doer participle مُسْتَقِرّ, or by the word كَائِن, which is the doer participle of the verb كَانَ.

Using these representations of general beingness, we can explicate (one interpretation of) example (26) زَيْدٌ فِي ٱلدَّارِ as:

  1. زَيْدٌ [مُسْتَقِرٌّ] فِي ٱلدَّارِ
    “Zayd is [being] in the house.”

The word “being” is not really needed in the translation because the verb “is” conveys the same concept. But we have added it to explicate the involvement of general beingness in the grammar of the sentence.

Note that implicating general beingness in a sentence as we did in example (27) above is not same as if the words ٱسْتَقَرَّ “to settle”, مُسْتَقِرّ “settled”, or كَائِن “being” were actually expressed. When expressed, they impart their own meaning. For example

  1. زَيْدٌ مُسْتَقِرٌّ فِي ٱلدَّارِ
    “Zayd is settled in the house.”

When implicating general beingness we only use the words ٱسْتَقَرَّ, مُسْتَقِرّ, and كَائِن terminologically. In fact, according to the prevalent opinion among the grammarians, general beingness can only be implied.16 If one of these (or any other) words is actually expressed, then it will impart a specific meaning, not the meaning of general beingness. Having said that, some grammarians did permit general beingness to be expressed.17

27.8 Implied general beingness as the info of a sentence

The implication of generall beingness in the sentence in example (26) زَيْدٌ فِي ٱلدَّارِ solves another problem for us. Remember how we said that, in the Arabic grammatical model, the preposition is a dispensable element. So if we remove it (and the following i-state noun ٱلدَّار) from the sentence, we should still be left with a complete sentence. Let’s try doing that:

  1. زَيْدٌ [مُسْتَقِرٌّ]
    “Zayd is [being].”

See how the implied general beingness serves as the structural structure-completer: the info. If we were to not implicate general beingness, we would be left with a grammatically incomplete sentence.

We also take this opportunity to explain an apparent inconsistency. Back in chapter (ref), we had said that a prepositional phrase can be the info of a sentence. We now state that, strictly speaking, it is the (implied) governor of the prepostion which is the info. But because the actual info is implied and is not expressed, we can say, loosely speaking, that the prepositional phrase is the info.

This approach of applying a terminological label differently when loosely speaking vs when strictly speaking is common.18 We will see other examples of it in sections (refs) if Allāh wills.

27.9 Other implied governors besides general beingness

While general beingness is necessarily implied and never expressed (see section (ref) above), other governors of prepositions too may be optionally suppressed. This is done on the condition that that the overall meaning or context supplies the meaning of the suppressed governor.19 For example:

  1. ٱلْحُرُّ بٱلْحُرِّ [سورة البقرة 2:178 cited by النحو الوافي 2/447]
    “the free for the free”

In the above example, the info has been analyzed as the implied governor يَقْتَصُّ “is retributed against” or يُقْتَلُ “is killed”. So the sentence with the implicated meaning is الحُرُّ يَقْتَصُّ أوْ يُقْتَلُ بِالحُرِّ “the free is retributed against, or killed, for the free.”20

27.10 The prepositional phrase as a attribute

Consider the sentence

  1. رأيتُ طائرًا على الغصن [استيفاء حالات تعلق الجار والمجرور و الظرف وأثره في المعنى لعلي هاني]
    “I saw a bird on the branch.”

Now the logical assumption is that the bird was on the branch, not that my act of seeing was done on a branch. So this means that the preposition عَلَىٰ is not meaningfully connected with the verb رَأَىٰ. Therefore, رَأَىٰ is not the governor of the preposition عَلَىٰ.21 So what then is governing the preposition عَلَىٰ.

Here again, we implicate the governor of general beingness, as if to say:

  1. رأيتُ طائرًا [مُسْتَقِرًّا] على الغصن
    “I saw a bird [being] on the branch.”

General beingness [مُسْتَقِرًّا] is implicated as the governor of the preposition عَلَىٰ. The implicated general beingness is also a attribute to the direct doee طَائِرًا. But because the implied general beingness is not expressed, we may say, loosely speaking, that the prepositional phrase is the attribute.

In order for a prepositional phrase to be a attribute, its attributee will usually be an indefinite noun, like طَائِرًا is in example (31) above. In the case where the prepositional phrase occurs after a definite noun, (like in رأيتُ ٱلطائر على الغصن) it will typically be analyzed as a ḥāl. We will discuss this in more detail in chapter (ref) section (ref) if Allāh wills.

Here are some more examples of prepositional phrases as attributes:

  1. كَمَثَلِ جَنَّةٍ بِرَبْوَةٍ [سورة البقرة 2:265]
    “like a garden on high ground”
    (بِرَبْوَةٍ is analyzed as a attribute.22)

  2. رَبَّنَا وَٱبْعَثْ فِیهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْمْهُ [سورة البقرة 2:129]
    “Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves”
    (مِنْهُمْ is analyzed as a attribute.23)

When a prepositional phrase is, loosely speaking, a attribute, its governor is typically the implicated general beingness.24. However, it is conceivable that the implied governor of the preposition be interpreted, if not formally then at least in meaning, as some other verb (or verbal noun).25 For example:

  1. فِی تِسْعِ ءَایَاتٍ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَقَوْمِهِ [سورة النمل 27:12]
    “[These are] among the nine signs [you will take] to Pharaoh and his people.”

In one interpretation of the above āyah, the prepositional phrase إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ “to Pharoah” has been analyzed as attribute of ءَایَاتٍ “signs”. The meaning with the implicated governor has been explained as وَاصِلَةٌ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ “arriving to Pharoah”.26

Here is another example:

  1. فَزَادَتْهُمْ رِجْسًا إِلَىٰ رِجْسِهِمْ [سورة التوبة 9:125]
    “it has [only] increased them in evil [in addition] to their evil”

In the above āyah, the prepositional phrase إِلَىٰ رِجْسِهِمْ “to their evil” has been analyzed as attribute of رِجْسًا “evil”. The meaning with the implicated governor has been explained as كُفْرًاً مَضْمُومًا إِلَىٰ كُفْرِهِمْ “in disbelief in addition to their disbelief.”27

27.11 The word-order for different categories of attributes

TODO

When a attributee is described by more than one attribute and النحو الوافي 3/496

27.12 The prepositional phrase in other functions

Besides the info and the attribute a prepositional phrase may also occur as a ḥāl and a connecting sentence.28 We will cover these two remaining topics in their respective chapters in sections (ref) and (ref) respectively.

27.13 Word order of the preposition and its governor

A prepositional phrase may freely precede its governor.29 This may be done for a number of purposes:

To limit and particularize the effect of the governor to the noun following the preposition.30

For example:

  1. وَمِنْهُ تَفَجَّرُ أَنْهَارُ الْجَنَّةِ [صحيح البخاري :2790]
    “and from it originate the rivers of Paradise”

  2. وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ [سورة آل عمران 3:122 cited by معاني النحو 3/121]
    “and upon Allāh the believers should rely.”

For drawing attention to the noun following the preposition31

  1. وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ [سورة آل عمران 3:180 cited by معاني النحو 3/123]
    “And Allāh, of what you do, is [fully] Aware.”

  2. أَلِهَـٰذَا جَمَعْتَنَا [صحيح البخاري :4770]
    “Is it for this (that) you have gathered us?”

  3. وَبِٱلْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ [سورة الذاريات 51:18]
    “And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness”
    (The prepositional phrase بِٱلْأَسْحَارِ is placed not just before its governor in the info يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ, but also before the subject هُمْ.)

When governing the preposition (and also the adverbs of time and place (section ref)), the placement of the governee is especially flexible.32 Even when the placement of the governees of a governor might be restricted in general, a license is often given to prepositions. For example, we saw in section (ref), that when a doer participle is prefixed with ال, then its governees may not precede it. So for example, we cannot say ✗ هذا زيدا الضارب. We have to say instead ✓ هذا الضارب زيدا. But an exception is made for the preposition which is governed by the doer participle. So we can say:

  1. أنا لك المرافق [النحو الوافي 3/263]
    I am, for you, the travelling companion.

We will see, in sections (refs) if Allāh wills that the governee, in this case, are permitted to be placed where other types of governees are not.

TODO: Add content to:

  • إِنَّ and its sisters: ibn_aqil 1/278 fn; 1/349
  • كَانَ and its sisters كان زيد آكلا طعامك
  • Ḥijāzi مَا: sharh uthaymeen 22/4 (مكا بي أنت معينا)

27.13.1 Word-order of the direct doee and its governor

Consider example (43) again:

  1. ضَرَبَ زَيْدٌ عَمْرًا
    “Zayd beat Ɛamr.”

There are six possible permutations of word-order of the above example.

…

  1. عمرا زيد ضرب

In examples … the doee عمرا precedes its governor ضرب. This is generally permitted for stylistic (?) aspects, as we will discuss in chapter (ref).

Lets consider exaple … in more detail. This is because the doee is governed by ضرب in the info. But it precedes, not just its governor but also the subject of the outer sentence. This is normal for some types of governees (like the prep). But for the mafulb some grammarians consider it impermissible. Others allow it, but consider it rare or weak in its structure.

Peled, Sentence types considers this dubious or unattested. Search for OSV in the text. However, others consider it permissible (search sabban, batalyusi for this sentence).

27.14 عطف

  1. مررت بزيد وعمرو، وعمرً [https://shamela.ws/book/13301/1664]

  1. Owens, J., The foundations of grammar 177↩︎

  2. Kasher, A., “The term al-fiʿl al-mutaʿaddī bi-ḥarf jarr” §3.1 124 citing ابن جني; النحو الوافي 2/439; Owens, J., The foundations of grammar 176 citing المبرد, ابن جني, الزجاجي.↩︎

  3. Not all grammarians permit this. See استيفاء حالات تعلق الجار والمجرور و الظرف وأثره في المعنى لعلي هاني footnote 34 for details.↩︎

  4. النحو الوافي 2/440 citing حاشية الصبان على شرح الأشمونى لألفية ابن مالك 2/443↩︎

  5. الخصائص لابن جني 2/209↩︎

  6. النحو الوافي 2/444 footnote 3↩︎

  7. النحو الوافي 2/444 footnote 3↩︎

  8. الكشاف للزمخشري for سورة البقرة 2:25↩︎

  9. النحو الوافي 2/442D–445, معاني النحو 3/131–133↩︎

  10. الدر المصون للسمين الحلبي for سورة المائدة 5:3↩︎

  11. Kasher, A., “The term al-fiʿl al-mutaʿaddī bi-ḥarf jarr” §2.7 124↩︎

  12. النحو الوافي 2/161↩︎

  13. See also لَمَّا كَانَ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ انْهَزَمَ النَّاسُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم [صحيح البخاري :4064]↩︎

  14. Kasher, A., “The term al-fiʿl al-mutaʿaddī bi-ḥarf jarr” §3.3↩︎

  15. Kasher, A., “The term al-fiʿl al-mutaʿaddī bi-ḥarf jarr” §3.3 129 citing ابن الأنباري↩︎

  16. النحو الوافي 1/477↩︎

  17. شرح ابن عقيل على الألفية 2/211 footnote↩︎

  18. النحو الوافي 1/215, 2/118, 2/442↩︎

  19. النحو الوافي 2/447 footnote↩︎

  20. تفسير ابن عاشور for سورة البقرة 2:178↩︎

  21. استيفاء حالات تعلق الجار والمجرور و الظرف وأثره في المعنى لعلي هاني↩︎

  22. البحر المحيط لأبي حيان for سورة البقرة 2:265↩︎

  23. البحر المحيط لأبي حيان for سورة البقرة 2:129↩︎

  24. أوضح المسالك لابن هشام 2/285, شرح ابن عقيل على الألفية 1/213↩︎

  25. النحو الوافي 2/447 footnote↩︎

  26. التبيان في إعراب القرآن للعكبري 2/1005. But see also الدر المصون للسمين الحلبي for سورة النمل 27:12 where this interpretation is critiqued.↩︎

  27. الكشاف للزمخشري for سورة التوبة 9:125↩︎

  28. النحو الوافي 2/441–442↩︎

  29. النحو الوافي 2/444A↩︎

  30. معاني النحو 3/121↩︎

  31. معاني النحو 3/121↩︎

  32. شرح الرضي على الكافية 1/289D–290A↩︎