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 | ||
|
| I bought five books | /ishtaraytu khamsata kutubin/ | |
|
| I read five novels | /qara’tu khamsa qiŝaŝin/ | |
|
| I watched eleven films | شاهَدْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ فِيلْمًا /shāhadtu aħad ξashara filman/ | |
|
| I visited twelve countries | زُرْتُ اِثْنَيْ عَشَرَ بَلَدًا /zurtu ithnay ξashara baladan/ | |
|
| The shirt costs thirty pounds | القَمِيصُ بِثلاثِينَ جُنَيْهًا /al qamīsu bi thalāthīna ĵunayhan/ | |
|
| The coat costs one hundred pounds | /al miξŧafu bi mi’ati ĵunayhin/ | |
|
| The rent fee is one thousand pounds | /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!! | 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 | 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!! | Genitive by the preposition /min/ | |
| /kam min baytin ξindaka/ | How many houses do you have!! | Genitive by being annexed to /kam/ | |
| /kam min marratin akhŧa’ta/ | How many times you made a mistake!! | Genitive by the preposition | |
| Interrogative /kam/ | |||
| Declension of the distinctive | Distinctive | Example | |
| English | Arabic | ||
| Accusative | How many books do you have? | /kam kitāban ξindaka/ | |
| Accusative | How many notebooks do you have? | /kam kurrâsatan maξaka/ | |
| Accusative | How many newspapers are with you? | /kam ŝaħīfatan maξaka/ | |
| Accusative | How many brothers do you have Oh' Muhammad?
| /kam akhan laka yā muħammadu/ | |
| Accusative | 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/ | How many books have I bought!! | كَمْ مِنْ كِتابٍ اشْتَرَيْتُ!! /kam min kitābin ishtaraytu/ | |
| Genitive by the preposition /min/ | 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/ | 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/ | How many houses do you have!! | /kam min baytin ξindaka/ | |
| Genitive by the preposition | How many times you made a mistake!! | /kam min marratin akhŧa’ta/ | |
| Interrogative /kam/ | |||
| Declension of the distinctive | Distinctive | Example | |
| English | Arabic | ||
| Accusative | How many books do you have? | /kam kitāban ξindaka/ | |
| Accusative | How many notebooks do you have? | /kam kurrâsatan maξaki/ | |
| Accusative | How many newspapers are with you? | /kam ŝaħīfatan maξaka/ | |
| Accusative | How many brothers do you have Oh' Muhammad? | كَمْ أَخًا لَكَ يَا مُحَمَّدُ؟؟ /kam akhan laka yā muħammadu/ | |
| Accusative | 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 | |
| one bucket of honey | /ishtaraytu kaylan ξaslan / | |
| The Zakah of the fast breaking is one bucket of food | زَكاةُ الفِطْرِ صاعٌ مِنْ طَعامٍ /zakātu alfiŧri ŝâξun min ŧaξāmin/ | |
| I need one meter of cloth to patch my dress | أَحْتاجُ مِتْرًا مِنَ قُماشٍ لأُرَقِّعَ ثَوْبِي /aħtāĵu mitran min qumāain li arqaξa thawbī/ | |
| I bought one carat of wheat (land) | /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:
- The above mentioned containers need a distinctive to remove the ambiguity of the contained material as in the following examples:
| Distinctive | Example | |
| English | Arabic | |
| I bought a bottle of honey | اِشْتَرَيْتُ قَارُورَةً عَسَلاً /ishtaraytu qârūratan ξasalan/ | |
| I drank a bottle of cold water | شَرِبْتُ زَجَاجَةً مِن ماءٍ بارِدٍ /sharibtu zuĵāĵatan min mā’in bāridin/ | |
| I poured on the ground a vessel of oil | سَكَبْتُ عَلى الأَرْضِ إناءً مِنْ زَيْتٍ /sakabtu ξala al arađi inā’a zaytin/ | |
| The farmer found a jar of gold | عَثَرَ الفَلاحُ عَلى جَرَّةٍ ذَهَبًا /ξathara al fallāħu ξalā ĵarratin dhahaban/ | |
- In the above mentioned examples we notice that the distinctive can be accusative as (عَسلاً - ذَهَبًا), or genitive after a preposition as (ماءٍ) or genitive after annexing noun as (زَيْتٍ).
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 | /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 | |
| I have a pair of trousers made of cotton | /ladayya sirwālun quŧnan/ | |
| I bought a shirt made of silk | اِشْتَرَيْتُ قَمِيصًا حَرِيرًا /ishtaraytu qamiŝan ħarīran/ | |
| I gave my brother a dress of linen | أَعْطَيْتُ أَخِي ثَوْبًا مِنْ كِتَّانٍ /aξŧaytu akhī thawban min kittānin/ | |
| 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.