Lesson 82 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّاني والثَّمانون
The vocative - الـنِّــدَاءُ
Vocative Particles and types of called noun – أَدَوَاتُ النِّدَاءِ وَأَقْسَامُ المُنَادَى
- We are still in lesson eighty two of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
- We learnt in the introduction that the vocative in Arabic is a special linguistic style, which has special particles, special forms, and a special way of declension.
- The vocative structure consists of two essential parts as follows:
1- The vocative article.
2- The called noun which falls after the vocative article.
- There is also another part of the vocative structure, but it is not evident in the structure; it is the supposed verb of call. The reason why we suppose this verb is that the called noun is originally a direct object of the virtual verb of call.
- The vocative article:
- There are seven vocative articles in Arabic, Three of them are used to call the near persons (يا – أَ - أَي), and three are used to call the far persons (أَيا – آ - هَيَا), and one of them is used only for lamentation (النَّدْبَةُ) which is the article (وَا).
- The following table shows all the seven articles:
- The most commonly used article in these is the article (يا), and it is also used for the style of asking help (الاسْتِغاثَة).
- All vocative particles replace the supposed verb of call, which is obligatorily eliminated from the structure, i.e. (يا مُحَمَّد) means (I call Muhammad أُنادِي مُحَمَّد).
- Consider the following examples:
English | Arabic |
Oh Muhammad, be perfect in your work | |
Oh Fatima, do not irritate your husband | |
Oh Ali, why are you sad? | |
Oh my son, I’ve become old | |
Oh the one who lives in Hejaz land | |
Oh Khalid, will you come back soon? | |
Oh my friend, come back quickly | |
Oh my Grief (alas)! | |
Oh my Grief (alas)! |
- From the above mentioned examples we notice that there are two essential parts in the vocative style (the article and the called noun).
- We also notice that each of the vocative particles means (I call) except (wā) in the last two examples; it is rather meaning (I regret).
- Types of Called Noun:
The called noun is divided into five types as follows:
- The called proper noun (الْمُنادَى الْعَلَمُ):
- The proper noun, as (مُحَمَّدُ – خالِدُ - مِصْرُ), is the noun which indicates a specific person, country, animal etc. When a proper noun falls in the place of called noun, it will be indeclinable on the sign of nominative case, i.e. without tanwīn as the indeclinable nouns. It will also be considered in place of accusative because it is a direct object of the eliminated verb of call. Consider the following examples:
Reason of the indeclension sign | Indeclension of the called noun | English | Arabic |
Because it is singular noun | Indeclinable on đammah | Oh Muhammad, help your father | |
Dual | Indeclinable on the Alif | Oh two Muhammads, be generous with the poor people | |
Sound masculine plural | Indeclinable on wāw | Oh Muhammads, help yourselves |
- From the above mentioned examples we clearly understand that the proper called noun is always indeclinable (signed without tanwīn) on the đammah for the singular, on the alif for the dual, and on the wāw for the sound masculine plural. For the sound feminine plural and the broken plural we naturally use the đammah without tanwīn (as the singular).
- The intentional indefinite called nou(الْمُنادَى النَّكِرة المَقْصُودَة)
- The intentional indefinite means that you call a certain person without using his proper noun, rather you use an indefinite genus (collective) noun as (يا رَجُلُ - يا مُسْلِمُ).
- The indefinite noun is originally used to indicate an unknown or vague object. When we address our call to an indefinite noun, its vagueness (incertitude) disappears because of the call. Therefore it will be treated as the proper noun, i.e. it will be indeclinable on the sign of the nominative case (đammah for the singular, alif for the dual, and wāw for the sound masculine plural).
Reason | Indeclension sign | English | Arabic |
Singular | Đammah | Oh Muslim, perform the prayer | |
Dual | Alif | Oh two Muslims, go to the mosque | |
Sound masculine plural | Wāw | Oh Muslims, defend your territories |
- From the above mentioned examples we understand that when we read a sentence containing an indefinite called noun signed with the nominative sign without tanwīn, it means that the call is addressed to a certain person (intentional).
- The non-intentional indefinite called noun(الْمُنَادى النَّكِرَة غَير المَقْصُودَة)
- We use this type when we want to address the call to an indeterminate person (not to a certain person), i.e. to all the genus expressed by the collective noun, as (يا مُسْلِمًا) a call addressed to any Muslim.
- This type has to be in the accusative case (i.e. signed originally with fatħah and tanwīn).
- Consider the following examples:
Picture | English | Arabic |
| Oh doctor, don’t let patients feel pain | |
| Oh merchant, fear (and obey) Allah, then your commerce will increase | |
| Oh student, you have to respect your teachers |
- To understand this type more clearly, consider attentively the difference between the two following sentences:
Explanation | Example | Type of called noun | |
English | Arabic | ||
The call here is addressed to a certain doctor | Oh doctor, treat me. | Intentional definite | |
The call here is addressed to any doctor | Oh doctor, treat me | Non-intentional definite |
- The annexing called noun (الْمُنادَى الْمُضافُ), i.e. the definite by Iđâfah:
- We learnt in lesson 5 the annexation (the possession) structure. We knew that it consists of two nouns; the first noun is the annexing noun (الْمُضافُ), and the second is the annexed noun (الْمُضافُ إِلَيْهِ).
- The annexing called noun is always followed by a genitive noun (الْمُضافُ إليهِ).
- The annexing called noun is always declinable in the accusative case (it is also without tanwīn because of the annexation, not because of the indeclension)
Picture | English | Arabic |
| Oh teacher of the class, organize your class | |
| Oh the two engineers of the company, execute the project | |
| Oh the citizens of Iraq, unify | |
| Oh the slave of Allah do not eat much | |
| Oh the mother of Ahmed, how are you? | |
| Oh the father of Ahmed, I am fine, thanks to Allah |
- From the above mentioned examples we clearly understand that the annexing called noun is always in the accusative case. In the examples no 1, 4, an 5 it is signed with fatħah (the original accusative sign), and in the examples no. 2 and 3 it is signed with yaa’ because it is dual or sound masculine plural, and in the example no. 6 it is signed with alif, because it is of the five nouns.
- We also notice that the annexed noun (which follows the called noun) is always in the genitive case because it is (مُضاف إليه) which is respectively (الفَصْلِ - الشَّرِكَةِ - اللَّهِ – العِراقَ - أَحْمَدَ).
- You may also notice that the annexing called noun can form together with the annexed noun an Arabic proper name as (عَبْد الله - أُمَّ أَحْمَدَ - أبا أحمد) in the examples above. The first part is treated separately as an annexing called noun (in the accusative case), and the second part is in the genitive case.
- The similar to the annexing called noun(الْمُنَادَى الشَّبِيه بالْمُضاف)
- The similar to the annexing noun is not followed by Muđâf ilaih, but it also needs a kind of complement to its meaning. Although it is noun, it makes the function of a verb, and can be followed by a doer, a pro-agent, or a direct object. This is called in the Arabic morphology (the similar quality الصِّفَة المُشَبَّهة). We will study this topic in lesson 100 In-Shaa’-Allaah (God willing).
- If the called noun is similar quality it has to be in the accusative case with the tanwīn. There is no real annexation here to prevent the tanwīn. Consider the following examples:
Picture | English | Arabic |
| Oh the one who fears the war, do not burn it | |
| Oh (Allah) Who knows the secrets, uncover not me (my sins) | |
| Oh the one who drinks wines, you kill yourself |
- You may notice from the above mentioned examples that the similar to the annexed noun is different from the non-intentional indefinite noun. The non-intentional indefinite called noun does not need any complement to clarify its meaning, while the similar to the annexing noun need another noun to clear its meaning. Consider the following examples paying attention to the difference between the non-intentional indefinite and the similar to the annexing called noun:
Type of called noun | Example | |
English | Arabic | |
Non-intentional indefinite | Oh Muslim, do not disobey Allah | |
Non-intentional indefinite | Oh student, do not neglect (disregard) your lessons | |
Similar to the annexing noun | Oh the one who resigns himself (his face) to Allah. | |
Similar to the annexing noun | Oh the one who seeks money, seeking knowledge is more useful |
- From the above mentioned examples you may notice that the same noun can be non-intentional indefinite and similar to the annexing noun according to the meaning. If it is non-intentional indefinite it will not be followed by another clarifying noun, and it will indicate an indeterminate person in the entire genus. If it is similar to the annexing noun it has to be followed by a complement, and it will make a function of a verb, and it will indicate an indeterminate person who makes the action of the virtual verb.
- The following table summarizes all the types of the called nouns with examples:
Example | Declension | Type of called noun | |
English | Arabic | ||
Oh Muhammad | Indeclinable on the nominative sign | Proper noun | |
Oh Khalid | |||
Oh Mecca | |||
Oh London | |||
Oh man (certain one) | Indeclinable on the nominative sign | Intentional indefinite noun | |
Oh doctor (certain one) | |||
Oh Imam (certain one) | |||
Oh man (any man) | Declinable in the accusative case, with tanwīn | Non-intentional indefinite | |
Oh doctor (any doctor) | |||
Oh imam (any Imam) | |||
Oh Abdullah (oh slave of Allah) | Declinable in the accusative case, without tanwīn | Annexing noun | |
Oh the driver of the car | |||
Oh the one who drinks wine | Declinable in the accusative case, with tanwīn | Similar to the annexing noun |