Qur'anic Arabic
Word and its three kinds
Word and its three kinds
Learning objective
Understand the basic identification of the noun, verb and particle and their use in Qur'anic examples.
1. Introduction
People express their thoughts, feelings and purposes through words. When words combine in a particular order, a sentence is formed and a complete meaning is obtained. In Arabic too speech is based on words, but every word, according to its semantic and grammatical features, falls into a particular type. In naḥw it is essential to understand these basic types, because later the doer, object, subject, predicate and other grammatical topics are understood on their basis.
2. Definition of the Word (Kalimah)
الْكَلِمَةُ لَفْظٌ وُضِعَ لِمَعْنًى مُفْرَدٍ.In this definition, "utterance" (lafẓ) means a sound made up of letters, while "meaning" means the sense that the word expresses. "A single meaning" means that the word is not in itself a compound statement giving complete information about something. For example, كِتَابٌ is a word that refers to the meaning "book". Likewise كَتَبَ is also a word, but it carries the sense of past time along with the act of writing.
3. The Three Types of Word
الْكَلِمَةُ ثَلَاثَةُ أَقْسَامٍ: اِسْمٌ، وَفِعْلٌ، وَحَرْفٌ.This division is the basic grammatical classification of all the words of Arabic.
4. Definition of the Noun (Ism)
الِاسْمُ كَلِمَةٌ دَلَّتْ عَلَى مَعْنًى فِي نَفْسِهَا غَيْرِ مُقْتَرِنٍ بِأَحَدِ الْأَزْمِنَةِ الثَّلَاثَةِ.A noun is a word that has an independent meaning in itself and whose meaning includes no time — past, present or future. A noun can refer to a person, thing, place, quality or concept. For example, عِلْمٌ expresses the idea of knowledge, but does not by itself tell when the knowledge was acquired.
Examples of Nouns
| عربی اسم | اردو معنی |
|---|---|
| اللّٰهُ | اللہ |
| كِتَابٌ | کتاب |
| رَجُلٌ | آدمی |
| عِلْمٌ | علم |
| رَحْمَةٌ | رحمت |
5. Definition of the Verb (Fiʿl)
الْفِعْلُ كَلِمَةٌ دَلَّتْ عَلَى مَعْنًى فِي نَفْسِهَا مُقْتَرِنٍ بِأَحَدِ الْأَزْمِنَةِ الثَّلَاثَةِ.A verb is a word that refers to an independent meaning and whose meaning is connected with one of the three times. A verb carries the sense of something happening, being done or a state occurring. The past-tense verb refers to past time; the present-tense verb, according to its form and context, to the present or future; and the imperative verb to a demand that something be done.
Examples of Verbs
| عربی فعل | اردو معنی | قسم |
|---|---|---|
| كَتَبَ | اس نے لکھا | ماضی |
| يَكْتُبُ | وہ لکھتا ہے | مضارع |
| اُكْتُبْ | لکھو | امر |