مَوْصُوف (mawṣūf : described noun) and صِفَة (ṣifah : adjective): Adjectives and Descriptions in Classical Arabic
Session focuses on the grammatical structure of adjectives (صِفَة (ṣifah : adjective)) and their described nouns (مَوْصُوف (mawṣūf : described noun)) in Modern Standard Arabic. The teacher emphasizes that adjectives follow the noun they describe, unlike English. Key examples include اِمْرَأَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ (imraʾah ḥasanah : good woman) and terms from religious texts. Students practice constructing sentences with proper case endings (حَرَكَات (ḥarakāt : vowel marks)) and gender agreement.
Original Recording
Original class recording
Key Points
- 1Adjectives in Arabic follow the noun they describe (e.g., اِمْرَأَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ — imraʾatun ḥasanah : good woman).
- 2Both the noun (مَوْصُوف (mawṣūf : described noun)) and adjective (صِفَة (ṣifah : adjective)) must agree in gender, number, and case.
- 3The adjective (صِفَة (ṣifah : adjective)) comes after the noun (مَوْصُوف (mawṣūf : described noun)), as seen in examples like صَلَاةُ الضُّحَى (ṣalātu ḍ-ḍuḥā : midmorning prayer).
- 4Case endings (حَرَكَات (ḥarakāt : vowel marks)) on adjectives must match the preceding noun’s grammatical state.
- 5Practice sentences included describing people and objects with proper agreement: e.g., الدُّكْتُورَةُ الجَدِيدَةُ (al-duktūrah al-jadīdah : the new female doctor).
Quiz
What does the grammatical term صِفَة (ṣifa) mean?
Discussion Questions
- [00:23:56] Q: How does 'mawsoof' relate to 'sifah'? — A: The adjective describes the noun, which is its direct object grammatically.
Quranic Examples
وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهَا رِزْقًا كَرِيمًا
Wa-aʿtadnā lahā rizqan karīmā
And We have prepared for her a generous provision.
Surah al-Aḥzāb 33:31 ↗ — Illustrates the ṣifa–mawṣūf construction: رِزْقًا (rizqan — provision) is the mawṣūf, and كَرِيمًا (karīman — generous) is the ṣifa following it. Both are indefinite (tanwīn) and in the accusative case (fatḥa), demonstrating the agreement in case and definiteness that the teacher introduced.