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3 Nouns
3.1 Introduction
A noun is a kind of word that is the name of something or someone.
Here are some examples of common nouns in Arabic:
| Arabic word | Transcription | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| رَجُل | rajul | man |
| کِتَاب | kitāb | book |
| بَيْت | bayt | house |
| شَجَرَة | s͡hajarah | tree |
| صَبْر | ṣabr | patience |
| وَقْت | waqt | time |
| طَعَام | ṭaɛām | food |
| ٱِبْن | ʾibn | son |
Note that the final letter in each word, above, does not have a vowel mark. This is because, the final vowel mark is actually variable, as we shall see later in this chapter.
When we discuss nouns outside of sentences we shall pronounce the ة as a h. Therefore, شَجَرَة “tree”, in isolation, is pronounced s͡hajarah, not s͡hajarat.
Some nouns begin with a connecting hamzah, for example: ٱِبْن ʾibn “son”. When in the beginning of a sentence, the connecting hamzah will be pronounced with an i-mark ◌ِ.
3.2 Definiteness
When talking about nouns it is necessary to introduce a topic called definiteness.
A noun is definite when the person or thing it refers to is known. For example, if you say, “The man arrived.” then the usage of the word “the” before “man” tells us that the man is known to us. Therefore the noun “man” is definite in this sentence.
Conversely, if we had said “A man arrived.” then the use of “a” before “man” tells us that the man is unknown to us. Therefore “man” is indefinite in this sentence.
“The” is called the definite article and “a” is called the indefinite article.
3.2.1 Definite nouns in Arabic
The definite article in Arabic is ٱَلْ ʾal. It corresponds to the English definite article “the”. In order to make a noun definite, we attach ٱَلْ ʾal to its beginning.
For example, the definite noun “the book” in Arabic is ٱَلْکِتَاب ʾalkitāb.
ٱَلْ ʾal begins with a connecting hamzah; the hamzah will be pronounced only in the beginning of a sentence. And when it occurs in the beginning of a sentence, the hamzah is pronounced with a ◌َ a-mark.
3.2.1.1 Sun letters and moon letters
The noun “man” in Arabic is رَجُل rajul. To make this noun definite, we add ٱَلْ ʾal to the beginning of the word. But instead of becoming ٱَلْرَجُل ʾalrajul the word becomes ٱَلرَّجُل ʾarrajul. The ل in ٱَلْ becomes silent and the ر gets doubled. This happens because the first letter ر in the word رَجُل rajul is from a group of letters called “sun letters”. For all nouns beginning with sun letters, when ٱَلْ ʾal is put in the beginning, the ل in ٱَلْ becomes silent and the sun letter becomes doubled.
The rest of the letters in the alphabet are called “moon letters” and for words that begin with moon letters, the ل in ٱَلْ does not become silent and the moon letter does not become doubled. For example, ک is a moon letter and we have already seen that کِتَاب kitāb “book” becomes ٱَلْکِتَاب ʾalkitāb “the book”.
The sun letters are ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن.
The moon letters are ء ب ج ح خ ع غ ف ق ک م ه و ي.
The names “sun letters” and “moon letters” were given because of the Arabic words for “sun” and “moon” respectively. “The sun” in Arabic is ٱَلشَّمْس ʾas͡hs͡hams which begins with ش which causes the ل in ٱَلْ to be silent. “The moon” is ٱَلْقَمَر ʾalqamar which begins with ق which does not cause the ل in ٱَلْ to be silent. Thus ش represents the sun letters and ق represents the moon letters.
Here are some examples of words that begin with sun letters:
| Noun | Definite noun |
|---|---|
| رَجُل rajul “man” | ٱَلرَّجُل ʾarrajul “the man” |
| تَاجِر tājir “trader” | ٱَلتَّاجِر ʾattājir “the trader” |
| لُعْبَة luɛbah “toy” | ٱَللُّعْبَة ʾalluɛbah “the toy” |
3.2.2 Indefinite nouns in Arabic
Arabic has no indefinite article corresponding to the English indefinite article “a”. In order to make a noun indefinite in Arabic, it is simply written or pronounced without the definite article ٱَلْ ʾal. For example, کِتَاب kitāb “a book”.
3.2.3 Differences in definiteness between Arabic and English
The articles “a” and “the” are types of words called determiners. Besides “a” and “the”, English has other determiners like “some”, “this”, “that”, etc. that can make a noun definite or indefinite. For example:
“This man gave that boy some food.”
In the above sentence “man” and “boy” are definite, and “food” is indefinite.
English can also have definite or indefinite nouns without determiners. The definiteness of the noun is then determined by the meaning of the sentence. Consider, for example, the sentence:
“Time is valuable.”
Here, we are not talking about some indefinite amount of time, but rather the general concept of time, which is known to us. Therefore, the noun “time” here is definite.
Consider now the sentence:
“We don’t have to leave just yet; we have time.”
Here, “time” has an indefinite meaning “[some] time”.
As opposed to this complicated situation in English, Arabic uses only the definite article ٱَلْ ʾal to make common nouns definite. So when translating sentences from English to Arabic, you must first determine whether the noun is definite or not in English, and then use ٱَلْ ʾal when the noun is definite.
Examples:
- “This man gave that boy some food.”
- man: definite; Arabic: ٱَلرَّجُل ʾarrujul
- boy: definite; Arabic: ٱَلْغُلَام ʾalg͡hulām
- water: indefinite; Arabic: طَعَام ṭaɛām
- “Time is valuable.”
- time: definite; Arabic: ٱَلْوَقْت ʾalwaqt
- “We don’t have to leave just yet; we have time.”
- time: indefinite; Arabic: وَقْت waqt
3.3 State
Nouns in Arabic have a property called state. The state of a noun is dependent on the function of the noun in a sentence. The state of a noun is indicated by the noun’s ending. There are three states that a noun can be in. They are:
- the u-state, indicated, for most nouns, by a ◌ُ on the final letter of the noun.
- the a-state, indicated, for most nouns, by a ◌َ on the final letter of the noun.
- the i-state, indicated, for most nouns, by a ◌ِ on the final letter of the noun.
When a noun is indefinite, then, for most nouns, it is also nūnated. Here, for example, is the noun کِتَاب kitāb “book” in its three states:
| State | Indefinite “a book” | Definite “the book” |
|---|---|---|
| u-state | کِتَابٌ kitābun | ٱَلْکِتَابُ ʾalkitābu |
| a-state | کِتَابًا kitāban | ٱَلْکِتَابَ ʾalkitāba |
| i-state | کِتَابٍ kitābin | ٱَلْکِتَابِ ʾalkitābi |
The u-state is a noun’s normal state in a sentence, and there needs to be a reason to take the noun out of this state into another state. We will begin to use state more in the next chapter if Allāh wills, where we learn how to form sentences.
3.4 Grammatical gender
Some nouns designate animate beings like “man”, “woman”, “boy”, “girl”, “dog”, “cow”, etc. Other nouns designate inanimate objects like “book”, “house”, “hand”, “tree”, “city”, “food”.
There are three grammatical genders in English:
- The masculine gender. This is used for nouns that designate male human beings and also some male animals. The pronouns used for the masculine gender are “he”, “him”, and “his”.
- The feminine gender. This is used for nouns that designate female human beings, and also some female animals. The pronouns used for the feminine gender are “she” and “her”.
- The neutral gender. This is used for nouns that designate inanimate objects and animals in general. The pronoun used for the neutral gender is “it”.
In Arabic, there are only two grammatical genders: the masculine gender and the feminine gender. All nouns in Arabic are either masculine or feminine in gender. Nouns that designate male human beings are assigned the masculine grammatical gender. And nouns that designate female human beings are assigned the feminine grammatical gender. As for nouns that designate inanimate objects and animals, these, too, are assigned either a masculine or a feminine gender. For example, کِتَاب kitāb “book” in Arabic is masculine. And شَجَرَة s͡hajarah “tree” in Arabic is feminine. We shall discuss this in more detail below.
3.4.1 Nouns that designate animate beings.
In Arabic, in terms of their form, nouns that designate animate beings are in three categories:
- There are separate nouns for the male and female animate being and the nouns match to each other.
- There are separate nouns for the male and female animate being but the nouns are unrelated.
- The same noun is used for both sexes.
We will discuss each of these categories below.
3.4.1.1 Matching nouns for male and female animate beings
In Arabic for some nouns that designate animate beings, the nouns for both sexes match each other. Here are some examples:
| Arabic word | Gender | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| ٱِبْن ʾibn | masc. | son |
| ٱِبْنَة ʾibnah | fem. | daughter |
| طِفْل ṭifl | masc. | child |
| طِفْلَة ṭiflah | fem. | (female) child |
| إِنْسَان ʾinsān | masc. | human being |
| إِنْسَانَة ʾinsānah | fem. | (female) human being |
| حُرّ ḥurr | masc. | free man |
| حُرَّة ḥurrah | fem. | free woman |
| کَلْب kalb | masc. | (male) dog |
| کَلْبَة kalbah | fem. | (female) dog |
| هِرّ hirr | masc. | (male) cat |
| هِرَّة hirrah | fem. | (female) cat |
| – | – | – |
| مُعَلِّم muɛallim | masc. | (male) teacher |
| مُعَلِّمَة muɛallimah | fem. | (female) teacher |
| طَالِب ṭālib | masc. | (male) student |
| طَالِبَة ṭālibah | fem. | (female) student |
| صَاحِب ṣāḥib | masc. | (male) companion |
| صَاحِبَة ṣāḥibah | fem. | (female) companion |
| صَدِيق ṣadīq | masc. | (male) friend |
| صَدِيقَة ṣadīqah | fem. | (female) friend |
In each of the words in the table above, the feminine noun is basically the same as the masculine noun but with the addition of a ة at the end. For example, طِفْل ṭifl (masc.) is a child, and its feminine is طِفْلَة ṭiflah (fem.).
As a matter of fact, the ة is called a feminine marker for singular nouns. There are a couple of other, less common, feminine markers besides ة that we will learn them later, if Allāh wills.
Note that the vowel-mark before the ة is always an a-mark.
Note also that we have divided the table above into two groups. The first group contains nouns that have a primitive meaning, without a primarily adjectival or verbal quality in the meaning, for example “human” “cat”, etc. The second group contains nouns that have an adjectival or verbal quality. For example, a “teacher” is someone who teaches. A “friend” is someone who is friendly. And so on.
This grouping will become important when, if Allāh wills, you study morphology, and the classification of nouns into primitive and derived nouns. But we can give a short preview here: Basically, for the second group (the one that has adjectival or verbal meanings), the formation of the feminine noun by adding a feminine marker (like ة) to the masculine noun is normal and expected. Whereas, for the first group (the one that refers to primitive nouns without a verbal or adjectival meaning), the fact that the feminine and masuline nouns match each other and differ only by the feminine marker ة is something that, although somewhat common, is more of a coincidence.
Another noteworthy point is that, for many primitive nouns (the first group), only one of the masculine/feminine pair may be used to refer to beings of either sex. What we mean by this is that, for example, کَلْب kalb, while remaining a masculine noun, can be used to refer to both “a (male) dog” and “a (female) dog”, especially if the animal’s physical gender is not particularly important to what is being said. And کَلْبَة kalbah (fem.) “a female dog” is typically only used when it is needed to specify the gender of the animal. Conversely, هِرَّة hirrah “a (female) cat” may be used to refer to cat of either physical gender, especially if it is not obvious whether it is a male or female cat.
This preference of the noun of one gender to refer to beings of either physical gender is arbitrary and case-by-case. For example, طِفْل ṭifl (masc.) is commonly used to say “a child”, regardless of whether the child is a boy or a girl. But طِفْلَة ṭiflah is fairly common too specifically for “a female child”.
As another example, the word إِنْسَانَة ʾinsānah (fem.) “a female human being” is rarely used at all. Instead, the word إِنْسَان ʾinsān, while remaining a masculine noun, is almost always used to refer to “a human being” in general, regardless of actual gender.
On the other hand, ٱِبْن ʾibn “son” and ٱِبْنَة ʾibnah “daughter” are only ever used for their respective gender. So ٱِبْن ʾibn (masc.) “a son” is never used to mean “a daughter”. And ٱِبْنَة ʾibnah (fem.) “a daughter” is never used to mean “a son”.
There aren’t very many of such nouns. And we have covered a few of the common ones above. A good dictionary will also provide guidance in this regard.
As for the second group of words (the one that has adjectival or verbal meanings), they are typically only ever used for their respective gender. So, for example, مُعَلِّم muɛallim (masc.) is only used for “a (male) teacher”. And مُعَلِّمَة muɛallimah (fem.) is only used for “a (female) teacher”.
3.4.1.3 Using the same noun for both sexes
There are other nouns for animate beings where the same word is used for both sexes. The word itself will still be either grammatically masculine or feminine. Here are some examples:
| Arabic word | Gender | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| شَخْص s͡hak͡hṣ | masc. | person |
| نَفْس nafs | fem. | self |
| عَدُوّ ɛaduww | masc. | enemy |
| حَيَوَان ḥayawān | masc. | animal |
| طَائِر ṭāʾir | masc. | bird |
| قِرْد qird | masc. | monkey |
| حَمَامَة ḥamāmah | fem. | dove |
| نَمْلَة namlah | fem. | ant |
So for example قِرْد qirdun “monkey” is grammatically masculine but it will be used for both a male and a female monkey. Similarly, شَخْص s͡hak͡hṣ is a masculine noun meaning “person”. While remaining grammatically masculine, it can be used to refer to persons of male or female persons.
Note also that نَفْس nafsun “self” is a feminine noun but it does not end in a ة. It is one of the small number of feminine nouns that don’t have a female marker, like أُمٌّ ʾummun (fem.) “mother”.
3.4.2 Nouns that designate inanimate objects
As mentioned earlier, nouns that designate inanimate objects are assigned a fixed grammatical gender. There is usually no discernable reason why some are assigned a masculine gender while others are assigned a feminine gender.
| Arabic word | Gender | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| کِتَاب kitāb | masc. | book |
| بَيْت bayt | masc. | house |
| قَلَم qalam | masc. | pen |
| طَعَام ṭaɛām | masc. | food |
| مَاء māʾ | masc. | water |
| مَدْرَسَة madrasah | fem. | school |
| مَدِينَة madīnah | fem. | city |
| غُرْفَة g͡hurfah | fem. | room |
| شَجَرَة s͡hajarah | fem. | tree |
| شَمْس s͡hams | fem. | sun |
| قَمَر qamar | masc. | moon |
| عِلْم ɛilm | masc. | knowledge |
| قُوَّة quwwah | fem. | strength |
| حَيَاة ḥayāh | fem. | life |
| مَوْت mawt | masc. | death |
In these nouns as well, we note that feminine nouns usually end with the feminine marker ة. But here too, we find another exception: شَمْسٌ s͡hamsun “sun” which is feminine but does not end with a feminine marker. These exceptions are not very many and, if Allāh wills, we will not find it hard to memorize them.
There is a sub-group of nouns that designate inanimate objects, but can also be used to refer to animate beings. Here are a couple of examples:
| Arabic word | Gender | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| رَهِينَة rahīnah | fem. | pledge |
| عُضْو ɛuḍw | masc. | member |
رَهِينَة rahīnah is a feminine noun meaning “pledge”. For inanimate objects it refers to something that is held as a security or a collateral. With its animate meaning, it is used to refer to a human hostage.
Similarly, عُضْو ɛuḍw is a masculine noun meaning “member”. For inanimate objects it refers to a limb which is the member of a body. With its animate meaning it refers to a person who is a member of a professional organization.
Just like we saw for the nouns in section 3.4.1.3, such nouns adhere to their fixed grammatical gender when used for either male or female persons.
3.4.3 Nouns with mismarked gender
We saw that there are some nouns that are feminine, but do not end with with a feminine marker like ة. These were:
- أُمّ ʾumm (fem.) “mother”
- نَفْس nafs (fem.) “self”
- شَمْس s͡hams (fem.) “sun”
There are a few more nouns that are like this. One special category among them is body parts. Many prominent body parts that come in pairs or more, are grammatically feminine, whether or not they end with a feminine marker like ة. Here are some examples:
- يَد yad (fem.) “hand” (sometimes “an arm”)
- عَيْن ɛayn (fem.) “eye”
- أُذُن ʾud͡hun (fem.) “ear”
- قَدَم qadam (fem.) “foot”
- رِجْل rijl (fem.) “leg” (sometimes “foot”)
- إِبْهَام ʾibhām (fem.) “thumb”
- إِصْبَع ʾiṣbaɛ (fem.) “finger, toe”
- سِنّ sinn (fem.) “tooth”
- رُکْبَة rukbah (fem.) “knee”
There are exceptions, however. The following body parts come in pairs yet are masculine.
- مَنْخَر mank͡har (masc.) “nostril”
- مِرْفَق mirfaq (masc.) “elbow”
There are other such exceptions as well.
Body parts that don’t come in pairs are typically more regular in their gender: they are feminine if they end in a feminine marker like ة, and masculine if they don’t. Examples:
- رَأْس raʾs (masc.) “head”
- أَنْف ʾanf (masc.) “nose”
- بَطْن baṭn (masc.) “belly”
- لِحْيَة liḥyah (fem.) “beard”
Conversely, nouns that end with a feminine marker like ة, yet are masculine are very rare. Some of the more common of them are:
- خَلِيفَة k͡halīfah (masc.) “caliph”
- عَلَّامَة ɛallāmah (masc.) “great scholar”
- دَاعِيَة dāɛiyah (masc.) “great preacher”
There are also a few words which can be optionally assigned a masculine or feminine gender. Among these are:
- سُوق sūq (masc. or fem.) “market”
- طَرِيق ṭarīq (masc. or fem.) “path”
A good dictionary should mention the gender of all these exceptional words. In addition, in appendix ?? as well, we have a compiled a list of feminine nouns that don’t end with a feminine marker. (TODO: get from Hava: pg. xi (fem) and xii (admitting either gender).)