Understanding Possessive Constructions in Arabic: اِبْن (ibn : son) and كِتَابٌ (kitābun : a book)
This session covers the مُضَاف (muḍāf : possessed noun) and مُضَافٌ إِلَيْهِ (muḍāf ilayhi : possessor) possessive construction with examples like اِبْنُ الْمُدَرِّسِ (ibnu l-mudarrisi : the son of the teacher). The teacher also explains حَمْزَةُ الْوَصْل (hamzat al-waṣl : connecting hamza) as it appears in اِبْن (ibn) and similar words, and reviews how the مُضَاف (muḍāf) loses its اَلْ and تَنْوِين (tanwīn).
Original Recording
Original class recording
Key Points
- 1اِبْن (ibn : son) is an example of مُضَاف (muḍāf : possessed noun); it begins with حَمْزَةُ الْوَصْل (hamzat al-waṣl : connecting hamza) that is silent in connected speech.
- 2حَمْزَةُ الْوَصْل (hamzat al-waṣl : connecting hamza) appears at the start of certain words like اِبْن (ibn), اِسْم (ism), and اَلْ (al-); it is pronounced only at the beginning of speech.
- 3The مُضَاف (muḍāf : possessed noun) loses its اَلْ (al-) and تَنْوِين (tanwīn) when preceding the مُضَافٌ إِلَيْهِ (muḍāf ilayhi : possessor).
- 4The مُضَافٌ إِلَيْهِ (muḍāf ilayhi : possessor) generally takes كَسْرَة (kasrah), making it مَجْرُور (majrūr : genitive).
Quiz
What is مُضَافٌ وَمُضَافٌ إِلَيْهِ in English grammar terms?
Discussion Questions
- [00:10:00] Q: Why does اِبْن (ibn : son) sometimes appear without its initial alif in writing? — A: Because اِبْن starts with حَمْزَةُ الْوَصْل (hamzat al-waṣl : connecting hamza) which is dropped in connected speech and sometimes omitted in writing when the word is not at the start.
- [00:20:00] Q: Why does the مُضَاف (muḍāf : possessed noun) lose its تَنْوِين (tanwīn)? — A: Because the مُضَافٌ إِلَيْهِ (muḍāf ilayhi : possessor) that follows it already specifies the noun, making تَنْوِين (tanwīn) redundant.
Quranic Examples
مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
Māliki yawmi l-dīn
Master of the Day of Recompense
Surah Al-Fatihah 1:4 ↗ — A textbook example of double (chained) muḍāf: مَالِكِ is muḍāf to يَوْمِ, and يَوْمِ is itself muḍāf to الدِّينِ. Both مَالِكِ and يَوْمِ take kasra without tanwīn because they are in the muḍāf position.