Indeclinable In Arabic Language (المبنيات فى العربية)

 

Indeclinable In Arabic Language (المبنيات فى العربية)

By: Yusuf Basirat Bolanle

DISCUSSION

Indeclinable (المبني) In Arabic Language is when the end of a word remain with the same parsing mark in all the positions in a sentence. For instance, when the end of a particular word takes either Al-fatha, or Al-Kasrah or Al-Dammah in any where it is found, either in the subjective, objective or prepositional position. Indeclinable words stay in only one position, even if there are clear preceded elements that warrant their changes.

Indeclinable Arabic words can be built on four major signs (حركات), which are the root signs anyway. These are:

1-  Al-fatha (الفتحة) 

2- Al-kasrah (الكسرة) 

3- Ad-dammah (الضمة) 

4- As-sukun (السكون) 

Any indeclinable word that ends with any of the aforementioned signs, it is surely indeclined or built on the same sign on it.

Indeclinable can be found in the following Arabic words in a sentence:

1- The Nouns (الأسماء)

2-  The verbs (الأفعال)

3-  The Letters (الحروف)

 

1-  The Nouns (الأسماء)

Normally, nouns are to be declinable (المعرب). But, there are very few ones which are indeclinable (المبني). The prominent among them are:

1-  (الضمائر)  (The  Pronouns)

2- (أسماء الإشارة) (The Demonstrative Nouns)

3-  (أسماء الموصولة) (The Relative Nouns)

4- (أسماء الاستفهامية)  (The Question Nouns)

5-  (أسماء الشرط)  (The Conditional Nouns)

6-  (أسماء الأفعال)  (The Verbal Nouns)

7-  (بعض الظروف)  (Some Adverbial Nouns)

1-  The pronoun (الضمائر) – All Pronouns are indeclinable. Pronouns are words used in place of nouns. Examples are: He (هو), She (هي), They (هم), We (نحن), I (أنا), You (أنت) and so on

2-  The Demonstitrave Nouns (أسماء لاشارة) -  These are Nouns used to point to items or objects. They are also indeclinable as they remain the same in the sentence. Examples are: This (هذا), That (ذلك), Those (أولئك), These (هؤلاء) and so on.

3- The Relative Nouns (أسماء الموصولة) – The relative nouns are used to explain more about the words before or after them. They are also indeclinable because they remain in the same position in any sentence.  Examples are:  (الذى), (التى), (اللذان), (اللتان), (الذين), (اللائى) and so on

4-  Question Nouns (أسماء الاستفهام) -  These are Nouns used in asking questions. They are indeclinable because they also remain in the same position in sentences. Examples are: who (من), what (ما), where (أين), when (متى), How (كيف) and so on.

5-  Conditional Nouns (أسماء الشرط) -  These are nouns used in conditional statements. They are also indeclinable as they don’t change in any sentence they are used. Examples are: whenever (حيثما), whoever (من), whichever (أيما), however (كيفما) and so on.

6-  Verbal Nouns (أسماء الأفعال) – These are nouns used in form of verbs. They are also indeclinable since they do remain the same in all positions in sentences. Examples are: (شتان), (هيهات), (أف), (وي), (صه), (ايه) and so on.

7- Some Adverbial Nouns (بعض الظروف) – These are Nouns but used in form of adverb of place or time. They are also indeclinable due to the fact that they do remain the same in any sentence. Examples are: Now (الان), When (إذْ), Where (حيث), Yesterday (أأمس), Never (قط) and so on.

2-  (الأفعال) The Verbs

The verbs are known as (الأفعال). They are the actions or doings words in any given sentence. Some of these verbs are indeclinable. It is generally known that verbs are divided into 3 types in Arabic language. Which are:

1- The Past tense (فعل الماضى)

2- The present tense (فعل المضارع)

3- The Command tense (فعل الأمر)

Both the Past (فعل الماصى) and The Command Tenses (فعل الأمر) are Indeclinable. However, in the present tense (فعل المضارع), there  are some that are declinable while others are not.

A-  (فعل الماضى) The Past Tense

This is indeclinable in the following positions:

1- It takes Al-fatha when:

-  Nothing like pronoun is attached to it at the end e,g (كتبَ), (جلسَ), (فتحَ), (قرأَ) and so on

- When Feminine Taa (تاء التأنيث الساكنة) is attached to it at the end. Examples are: (كتبَتْ), (جلسَتْ), (فتحَتْ), (قرأَتْ) and so on

- When The Dual Alif (ألف الاثنين) is attached to it at the end. Examples: (كنبا), (جلسا), (فتحا), and so on

- When The Nazb Pronoun (ضمير النصب) is attached to its end. E.g (ضربنى), (ضربك), (ضربه), (ضربنا) and so on.

2- It takes As-Sukun parsing mark when:

- When any of the subjective pronoun Taa (تاء الفاعل) is attached to it. E.g (جلسْتَ), (جلسْتُ), (جلسْتِ), (جلسْتما), (جلسْتن), (جلسْتم) and so on

- When the plural subject pronoun Naa (نا الفاعلين)  is attached to it. E.g (جلسْنا), (فتحْنا), (كتبْنا), (ضربْنا), (سمعْنا) and so on

- When feminine plural pronoun (نون النسوة) is attached to it. E.g (جلسْن), (كتبْن), (فتحْن), (ضربْن) and do on

3- It takes Ad-dammah sign:

- When the plural masculine pronoun waw (واو الجماعة) is attached to it. E.g (جلسُوا), (فتحُوا), (ضربُوا), (جمعُوا) and so on

B- The Present Tense (فعل المضارع)

Among the present tense are Indeclinable (المبني) and some are Declinable (المعرب). The present tense is indeclinable in the following two conditions:

- It is built on As-sukun when feminine plural pronoun is attached to it (نون النسوة). E.g (يذهبْن), (يجلسْن), (يُرضعْن), and so on

- It is built on Al-fatha sign if An-nun Tawkeed (نون التوكيد) is attached to it. E.g (يذهبَن), (يجلسَن), (يفتحَن), and so on. 

- Any other condition aside the aforementioned twos, the present tense is declinable (المعرب)

C-  The Command Tense (فعل الأمر)

The Command Tense like The Present Tense is always indeclinable (مبني). This can come in four different conditions:

1- It is built on As-sukun:

- When feminine plural pronoun (نون النسوة) is attached to it. E.g (اكتبْن), (اجلسْن), (افتحْن), (اضربْن) and so on

2- It is built on Al-fatha:

 when An-nun Tawkeed (نون التوكيد) is attached to it. Examples: (اكتبَن), (اجلسَن), (اضربَن), (افتحَن), and so on

3- It is built on removal of sick alphabets (حذف حرف العلة):

-  if it ends with one of them Examples: (أُدْعُ), (اِسْعَ), (اِرْمِ) and so on

- or objective pronouns (ضمير النصب)  are attached to it at the end. Examples: (اهدِنا), (ادعُنى), (ارمهم), and so on

4- It is built on removal of An-nun:

 when the dual alif (لف الاثنينا), or the plural masculine waw (واو الجماعة), or second person singular feminine yaa (ياء المخاطبة) are attached to its end. Examples are: (اذهبا), (اذهبوا), (اذهبى), and so on

3- The Letters (الحروف)  

These are mostly words that can not give a reasonable meaning while standing alone without being used in sentences. All Letters are indclinables. Examples of letters are:

1-  The Preposition (حروف الجر) – These are words used to show relationship between objects or nouns. Examples are; from (من), to (إلى), in (فى), on (على) and so on.

2-  The Conjunction (حروف العطف) -  These are words used to join two or more other words or sentences together. Examples are: and (و), after that (ثم), or (أو), but (بل) and so on.

3-  The Calling Words (حروف النداء)  – These are words that are used in calling nouns. They are all indeclinable because they do remain in the same position in any sentence. Examples are: (يا), (يأيها), (أيا) (هبا) and so on.

4-  The Answering Words (حروف الجواب) -  These are words used in answering the call or to respond when our attention is needed. Examples are: (نعم), (أجل), (بلى), all for positive response, and No (لا), for negative response.

5- Present tense Nazb Letters (حروف النصب) – These are words that are used to give the present tense that comes after it An-nazb parsing mark which is Al-fatha. Examples are: (أن), (لن), (إذن), (كى).

6- Present Tense Jam Letters (حروف الجزم) -  These are words that give The Present Tense that comes after them Jazm sign which is As-sukun. Examples are: (لم), (لما), (لام الأمر), (لا الناهية).