Lesson 72 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّاني والسَّبْعونَ

The distinctive - الـتَّـمْيِـيِزُ

The types of the distinctive:The distinctive of the isolated (concrete) noun

أَنْوَاعُ التَّمْيِيِزِ (أ- تَمْيِيِزُ الذَّاتِ)

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  • The Arabic distinctive is divided into two types as follows:

a-    The distinctive of the isolated (concrete) Arabic noun: this type removes the ambiguity of a single noun, i.e. the distinguished here is an isolated Arabic noun.

b-    The distinctive of the Arabic sentence (or the relation), this type is used to remove the ambiguity of an entire sentence, i.e. the distinguished here is the relation between the parts of the Arabic sentence.

  • In this part we will study the first type of the distinctive, which is the distinctive of the isolated noun.
  • The distinctive of the isolated noun is divided into four types as follows:

1-    The distinctive of numbers:

  • In this type the distinguished isolated noun is a number, and the distinctive removes its ambiguity, by indicating the numbered item.
  • In this type the distinctive can be in the accusative or in the genitive case.
  • The following table shows some examples of the distinctive of numbers:

Picture

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

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كُتُبٍ

I bought five books

اِشْتَرَيْتُ خَمْسَةَ كُتُبٍ

/ishtaraytu khamsata kutubin/

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قِصَصٍ

I read five novels

قَرَأْتُ خَمْسَ قِصَصٍ

/qara’tu khamsa qiŝaŝin/

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فِيلْمًا

I watched eleven films

شاهَدْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ فِيلْمًا

/shāhadtu aħad ξashara filman/

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بَلَدًا

I visited twelve countries

زُرْتُ اِثْنَيْ عَشَرَ بَلَدًا

/zurtu ithnay ξashara baladan/

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جُنَيْهًا

The shirt costs thirty pounds

القَمِيصُ بِثلاثِينَ جُنَيْهًا

/al qamīsu bi thalāthīna ĵunayhan/

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جُنَيْهٍ

The coat costs one hundred pounds

الْمِعْطَفُ بِمائةِ جُنَيْهٍ

/al miξŧafu bi mi’ati ĵunayhin/

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جُنَيْهٍ

The rent fee is one thousand pounds

الإيجارُ أَلْفُ جُنَيْهٍ

/al iĵāru alfu ĵunayhin/

  • We notice from the above mentioned examples that the distinctive of the number can be in the accusative or in the genitive case.
  • It is worth mentioning here that the number can be expressed by some allusive nouns as (كمْ - كَأيِّنْ - كَذَا) meaning how much or how many. In such case the noun after these allusive nouns is a distinctive, which can be accusative or genitive.
  • We learnt in lesson 42 that (كَمْ / kam)  is a questioning (interrogative) noun, and it also can be a predictive noun meaning (too much) and it is used for exclamation purpose. Either the interrogative (questioning) or the predicative /kam/ needs a distinctive noun after it. If /kam/ is an interrogative noun, the distinctive after it has to be in the accusative case. If it is a predicative noun the distinctive after it has to be in the genitive case (with or without the preposition /min/). Consider carefully the following examples:

Predicative /kam/

Example

English

Example

Arabic

English

كَمْ مِنْ كِتابٍ اشْتَرَيْتُ!!

/kam min kitābin ishtaraytu/

How many books have I bought!!

كِتابٍ

Genitive by being annexed to /kam/

"كَمْ مِنْ فِئةٍ قليلةٍ غلَبَتْ فِئةً كَثِيرَةً بِإذنِ الله"

How often a small group overcame a big group by Allah’s Permission

فِئةٍ

Genitive by the preposition /min/

كَم مِنْ سَعِيدٍ في الدنيا حَزِينٌ في الآخِرَةِ!!

/kam min saξīdin fī ad dunyā ħazīnun fī al ākhirati/

How many people who are happy in the life but unhappy in the other life!!

سَعِيدٍ

Genitive by the preposition /min/

كَمْ مِنْ بَيتٍ عِندَكَ!!

/kam min baytin ξindaka/

How many houses do you have!!

بَيتٍ

Genitive by being annexed to /kam/

كم من مَرَّةٍ أخْطأتَ!!

/kam min marratin akhŧa’ta/

How many times you made a mistake!!

مَرَّةٍ

Genitive by the preposition

 

Interrogative /kam/

Declension of the distinctive

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

Accusative

كِتَابًا

How many books do you have?

كَمْ كِتابًا عِنْدَكَ؟

/kam kitāban ξindaka/

Accusative

كُرَّاسَةً

How many notebooks do you have?

كَمْ كُرَّاسَةً مَعَكَ؟

/kam kurrâsatan maξaka/

Accusative

صَحِيفَةً

How many newspapers are with you?

كِمْ صَحِيفَةً مَعَكَ؟

/kam ŝaħīfatan maξaka/

Accusative

أَخًا

How many brothers do you have Oh' Muhammad?

 

كَمْ أخًا لَكَ يا مُحَمَّدُ؟

/kam akhan laka yā muħammadu/

Accusative

عَجَلَةً

How many wheels does a bicycle have, Oh' Hamid?

 

كَمْ عَجَلَةً للدَّرَّاجَةِ يا حامِدُ؟

/kam ξaĵalatan liddarrâĵati yā ħāmidu/

 

Predicative /kam/

Declension of the distinctive

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

Genitive by being annexed to /kam/

كِتابٍ

How many books have I bought!!

كَمْ مِنْ كِتابٍ اشْتَرَيْتُ!!

/kam min kitābin ishtaraytu/

Genitive by the preposition /min/

فِئةٍ

How often a small group overcame a big group by Allah’s Permission

"كَمْ مِنْ فِئةٍ قليلةٍ غلَبَتْ فِئةً كَثِيرَةً بِإذنِ الله"

Genitive by the preposition /min/

سَعِيدٍ

How many people who are happy in the life but unhappy in the other life!!

كَم مِنْ سَعِيدٍ في الدنيا حَزِينٍ في الآخِرَةِ!!

/kam min saξīdin fī ad dunyā ħazīnun fī al ākhirati/

Genitive by being annexed to /kam/

بَيتٍ

How many houses do you have!!

كَمْ مِنْ بَيتٍ عِندَكَ!!

/kam min baytin ξindaka/

Genitive by the preposition

مَرَّةٍ

How many times you made a mistake!!

كم من مَرَّةٍ أخْطأتَ!!

/kam min marratin akhŧa’ta/

 

Interrogative /kam/

Declension of the distinctive

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

Accusative

كِتَابًا

How many books do you have?

كَمْ كِتَابًا عِنْدَك؟

/kam kitāban ξindaka/

Accusative

كُرَّاسَةً

How many notebooks do you have?

كَمْ كُرَّاسَةً مَعَكِ؟

/kam kurrâsatan maξaki/

Accusative

صَحِيفَةً

How many newspapers are with you?

كِمْ صَحِيفَةً مَعَكَ؟

/kam ŝaħīfatan maξaka/

Accusative

أَخًا

How many brothers do you have Oh' Muhammad?

كَمْ أَخًا لَكَ يَا مُحَمَّدُ؟؟

/kam akhan laka yā muħammadu/

Accusative

عَجَلَةً

How many wheels does a bicycle have, Oh' Hamid?

 

كَمْ عَجَلَةً لِلْدَّرَّاجَةِ يَا حَامِدُ؟

/kam ξaĵalatan liddarrâĵati yā ħāmidu/

 

2-    The second type of the distinctive of the isolated noun is the distinctive of quantities. The quantity is that we know it by the use of a tool of measurement as surface, weight, capacity etc. Consider the following examples:

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

عَسَلاً

one bucket of honey

اِشْتَرَيْتُ كِيلاً عَسَلاً

/ishtaraytu kaylan ξaslan /

طَعامٍ

The Zakah of the fast breaking is one bucket of food

زَكاةُ الفِطْرِ صاعٌ مِنْ طَعامٍ

/zakātu alfiŧri ŝâξun min ŧaξāmin/

قُماشٍ

I need one meter of cloth to patch my dress

أَحْتاجُ مِتْرًا مِنَ قُماشٍ لأُرَقِّعَ ثَوْبِي

/aħtāĵu mitran min qumāain li arqaξa thawbī/

قَمْحًا

I bought one carat of wheat (land)

اِشْتَرَيْتُ قِيراطًا قَمْحًا

/ishtaraytu qīrâŧan qamħan/

  • We notice from the above mentioned examples that this type of distinctive can be in the accusative case or in the genitive case by the annexation or by a preposition.

3-    The third type of the distinctive of isolated noun is the distinctive of objects similar to quantities. These objects have no fixed measurement as (meter, kilo, etc.), rather they refer to a certain unknown quantity as the following containers:

وِعَاء

جَـرَّة

إناء

زُجَاجَة

Container

Container

Jar

Vessel

Bottle

English meaning

  • The above mentioned containers need a distinctive to remove the ambiguity of the contained material as in the following examples:

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

عَسَلاً

I bought a bottle of honey

اِشْتَرَيْتُ قَارُورَةً عَسَلاً

/ishtaraytu qârūratan ξasalan/

ماءٍ

I drank a bottle of cold water

شَرِبْتُ زَجَاجَةً مِن ماءٍ بارِدٍ

/sharibtu zuĵāĵatan min mā’in bāridin/

زَيْتٍ

I  poured on the ground a vessel of oil

سَكَبْتُ عَلى الأَرْضِ إناءً مِنْ زَيْتٍ

/sakabtu ξala al arađi inā’a zaytin/

ذَهَبًا

The farmer found a jar of gold

عَثَرَ الفَلاحُ عَلى جَرَّةٍ ذَهَبًا

/ξathara al fallāħu ξalā ĵarratin dhahaban/

4-         The fourth type of the distinctive of the isolated noun is used to indicate the material of which the distinguished is made, e.g. when we say:

I have a ring (made) of gold

لَدَيَّ خَاتَمٌ ذَهَبًا

/ladayya khâtamun dhahaban/

  • This means that the ring is made of gold. Therefore the distinctive (ذَهَبًا) removes the ambiguity of the word (خَاتَمٌ) by showing its material.
  • The following table shows more examples of this type:

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

قُطْنًا

I have a pair of trousers made of cotton

لَدَيَّ سِرْوَالٌ قُطْنًا

/ladayya sirwālun quŧnan/

حَرِيرًا

I bought a shirt made of silk

اِشْتَرَيْتُ قَمِيصًا حَرِيرًا

/ishtaraytu qamiŝan ħarīran/

كِتَّانٍ

I gave my brother a dress of linen

أَعْطَيْتُ أَخِي ثَوْبًا مِنْ كِتَّانٍ

/aξŧaytu akhī thawban min kittānin/

صُّوفٍ

I bought a coat of wool

اِشْتَرَيْتُ مِعْطَفًا مِنَ صُّوفٍ

Ishtaraytu miξŧafan min ŝūfin/

  • We notice in the above mentioned example that the distinctive of this type can be in the accusative or in the genitive case.