Al- (Arabic:ٱلْـ, alsoromanized asel-,il-, andl- as pronounced in somevarieties of Arabic), is thedefinite article in theArabic language: aparticle (ḥarf) whose function is to render thenoun on which it isprefixed definite. For example, the wordكتابkitāb "book" can be made definite by prefixing it withal-, resulting inالكتابal-kitāb "the book". Consequently,al- is typically translated as "the" in English.
Unlike most other Arabic particles,al- is always prefixed to another word and never stands alone. Consequently, many dictionaries do not list it, and it is almost invariably ignored incollation, as it is not an intrinsic part of the word.
Al- does not inflect forgender,number orgrammatical case. The sound of the final-l consonant, however, can vary; when followed by asun letter such ast,d,r,s,n and a few others, itassimilates to that sound, thus doubling it. For example: for "the Nile", one does not say*al-Nīl, butan-Nīl. When followed by amoon letter, likem-, there is no assimilation:al-masjid ("the mosque"). This affects only the pronunciation and not the spelling of the article.
This article deals with the use of the definite article inLiterary Arabic, which slightly differs amongvarieties of Arabic.
To putal- into perspective, there are many ways in which Arabic words can be madedefinite. These include the use ofpersonal pronouns like "me", the use ofproper nouns like "Saudi Arabia",demonstrative pronouns like "this man",relative pronouns like "the man who ...",vocation like "O man",possession like "my man", and of course the definite article like "the man".[1] Apart from possession, prefixing a noun withal- is the weakest form of definiteness.[1] That is, saying "the man" does not define the man being referred to as clearly as saying "this man", for example.
Arabic has an indefinite article indicated bynunation (tanwīn) which is declined for three cases.
There are several major opinions in regards to the origins of the Arabic definite article. The earliest evidence of the article, besides a 1st-century BC inscription inQaryat al-Faw (formerly Qaryat Dhat Kahil, nearSulayyil,Saudi Arabia),[2][3][4] occurs in the 5th century BC, in the epithet of a goddess whichHerodotus (Histories I: 131, III: 8) quotes in its preclassical Arabic form asAlilat (Ἀλιλάτ, i. e.,ʼal-ʼilat), which means "the goddess".[5]
While theProto-Semitic language did not have any articles,[6][7] the most likely theory is that the articleal- comes from the sameproto-Semitic source as theHebrew definite articleה־ha-.[8] That theory is based primarily on the fact that the two share many similarities. Both particles are prefixed to nouns, and bothgeminate with certain following letters.[8] Moreover, neither particle is prefixed to non-final nouns in agenitival construction.[8] Finally, both are prefixed to relative clauses.[8] According to David Testen, many northern and southwesternSemitic languages have particles that bear similarities toal-.[8] With this fact, he posits thatal- has aproto-Semitic antecedent.
There are three major possibilities regarding the form of the proto-Semitic particle that is the putative antecedent ofal-:[9]
David Testen andJacob Weingreen state thatهل۔/הל־hal is the correct antecedent.
Often cited is the Arabic word for 'this',هذاhādhā, which, when combined with a definite phrase, has been known to become shortened fromهذا البيتhādhā al-bayt (this house) toهلبيتhal-bayt. However,hal-baytmay merely be a shortening of the demonstrative pronoun.
Weingreen also states that the original form of the Hebrewha- was in facthal.[10] Hebrew, then, dropped the finall to achieveha- while Arabic softened theh- to a hamza, resulting inal-.[9] However, there is no evidence supporting the existence ofhal from ancient Hebrew texts. In fact, as early as the 6th century BC bothhan andal were being used simultaneously in different Arabic dialects, namely Northern and Central.
The Arabic wordhādhā is equivalent to the Hebrew word זהzé. It appears that over time Hebrew shortened the demonstrative pronoun hazé (eikh korím layéledhazé? or What'sthisboy's name?) to simplyzé. That indicates[citation needed][to whom?] that the Hebrewha- was the accurate retention of the original proto-Semitic source, as opposed toal-, which cannot conclusively be linked to the ancient cognate demonstrative pronounhādhā/hazé.
According to Jacob Barth, who was lecturer inHebrew at theHildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary,al- comes directly from the Arabic negating particle,لاlā.[11] He conjectures thatlā becameal- through a process ofmetathesis. That is to say, thelām and thealif swapped positions. It is noteworthy that the negation denoted bylā and the definiteness denoted byal- are in stark contrast to each other.
Barth also asserts thatlā could have resulted inal- through a process ofsyncope so the alif inlā and the vowel over thelām were dropped, resulting in asukūn (an Arabic diacritic) over thelām, and a volatile or elidablehamza was added to compensate for that.
David Testen argues against both of these explanations. He says that there is no corroboratory evidence for either metathesis or syncope.
It is possible thatal- comes from the same root as the asseverative-cum-precative particle,لـَla-; it is thela- used at the beginning ofnominal sentences for emphasis.[12]
A classical (and largely one-sided) debate in regards toal- is whether thehamza isvolatile or not. The majority opinion is that ofSibawayh (d. ca. 797), who considers the hamza volatile.[13][14][15] In his opinion, the hamza neither is part ofal- nor contributes to the definiteness of the following word.
Khalīl, Ibn Keisān and Akhfash, on the other hand, consider the hamza not to be volatile.[13][15] There is a further debate among the proponents of the second theory. Some do not consider the hamza volatile and assert that it contributes to the definiteness of the following word. Others assert that the hamza contributes to the definiteness of the following word but is still volatile.[13]
In his defence, Khalīl argues that when a word prefixed withal- is preceded by the interrogative hamza, the two hamzas mix.[16] For example, when the wordالآنal-āna (now) is prefixed with it, the result isآلآنāl-āna. Clearly, the hamza ofal- does not drop in this case even though there is no further purpose for it.
Khalīl further argues that the only reason the hamza inal- is ever dropped is not that it is volatile but that it is used too much. When asked why the lām inal- was not simply given a vowel if it is so heavily used and it needs to be easier to pronounce, followers of Khalīl said that if the lām had been given afatḥa, it would have been confused with the asseverative-cum-precative particle.[17] Had it been given akasra, it would have been confused with the genitival particle.[17] It could not have been given aḍamma for fear of the following vowel being a kasra or ḍamma (which would result in awkward pronunciations as inلإبل *lu-ibil orلعنق *lu-‘unuq).[18]
Despite the myriad of proofs for the argument, in most classical grammars and in modern Arabic, the opinion of Sibawayh is often taken as an axiomatic fact.[19] There are many proofs and counterproofs, but the overarching argument in favour of this opinion is as follows:
The lām inal- is the only lām particle in the language with a sukūn (to avoid confusion, as mentioned). Thus, it requires a volatile hamza.[19] Moreover,al- is a particle, and Arabic particles do not drop letters (without losing their meanings or connotations). Yet the hamza inal- drops all the time. Therefore, it must be volatile, oral- would lose its ability to render the following word definite.[18]
Consequently, it turns out that the hamza inal- is considered the only volatile hamza in the language that has afatḥa vowel.
In very early Semitic languages, definiteness was achieved throughgemination of the first letter in a word.[20] For example, the wordkitāb would be made definite byak-kitāb. An additional benefit of this construction was to connote "determination".[21] Thelām in the Arabical- was thus a result of a dissimilation process.[22]
In Arabic, this gemination occurs when the word to whichal- is prefixed begins with one of the fourteensun letters.[23] Twelve of these letters (including lām) are originally designed to geminate. Ḍād and shīn have been included due to their similarities in pronunciation with lām and ţā, respectively.[24] For example, the wordالرجلal-rajul 'the man' is actually pronounced "ar-rajul". Notice that the lām is written but not pronounced.
In more modern dialects, the sun letters have been extended to include the velars gīm and kāf.[25]
The ancient people ofHimyar replace the lām inal- with mīm. The Islamic prophet Muhammad is recorded to have uttered the following words in that dialect:[26]
لَيْسَ مِن امْبِرِّ امْصِيامُ في امْسَفَرِ
Laysa minam-birr-iam-ṣiyām-u fīam-safar-i
In some Semitic languages like Hebrew, words that include the letter lāmed have Arabic cognates that replace it with a Mīm as opposed to Lām, the equivalent letter. For example,skull in Hebrew is גֻּלְגֹּלֶת (gulgolet). Its Arabic cognate isجمجمة (jumjúmah). This gives plausibility to the case of Banū Ḥimiar and indicates that lām is frequently equated with Mīm.
Regardless of whether the hamza inal- is volatile or not, it is read with a fatḥa when beginning speech with the definite article. For example, if one vocalizes the wordالبيت 'the house' after a pause, it will be pronounced "al-bayt". In fact, the hamza inal- is largely considered to be the only volatile hamza that has afatḥa vowel.
If, however,al- is vocalized in the middle of speech, the hamza will be dropped in pronunciation. As a result, the vowel preceding the definite article will be linked to the lām ofal-. For example,بابُ البيت (vocalized without any pauses) is pronounced "bābu l-bayt",بابَ البيت is pronounced "bāba l-bayt", andبابِ البيت is pronounced "bābi l-bayt".
If the word onto whichal- is prefixed starts with a hamza, the vowel from that hamza may transfer to the lām ofal- after which the hamza not be pronounced.[27] SeeAllah in "Arabic definite article" for an example. If this hamza is volatile, that is required. An example is in the phraseبِئْسَ الإسْمُbi’sa al-ismu. The phrase is read asبِئْسَ الاِسْمُ "bi’sa lismu" (Qur'an 49:11). The rule relates to hamza and is not in direct relation toal-. Moreover, it is a rare occurrence and is almost never applied in spoken varieties of modern or classical Arabic.
Al- has been recorded to separate from its host word as in the following couplet:[28]
Theal- inبذال has been recorded both with and without the alif. It has been stripped from its host wordشحم because of the meter of the couplet. It has then been repeated in the second half of the couplet reattached to its host.[28] This happened very rarely and, even then, has been recorded only in poetry.
The primary and most profuse function ofal- is to render the following word definite. This is known asتعريف العهد taʿrīf al-ʿahd. This function is of two types:[29]
There is also a special type ofḏihniyy known as "theal- forغلبة ḡalabah”. The noun on which theal- is prefixed, in this case, is never explicitly mentioned but the listener knows what is being referred to.[30] For example, the wordالكتابal-kitāb (the book) may actually refer to the classical book of Arabic grammar written by Sibawayh. Whenever grammarians talk about "the book", this is what they mean and it is always understood without explanation.
One of the functions ofal- is to render the noun onto which it is prefixed a class noun (Arabic:اِسْم جِنس,romanized: ism jins).[31][32] For example, the wordالأسد “al-asad” can mean ‘the lion’, referring to a specific lion, or ‘the lion’ in the sense ‘the lion is a dangerous animal’.
Notice that the meaning connoted by this function ofal- is indefinite, which is in stark contrast with the primary function of the definite article. Because of this meaning, the noun followingal- can be grammatically indefinite and one may, for example, modify the noun without the use of a relative pronoun.[31][32] An example of this is seen in the following couplet of poetry:
Al- may be used to encompass all the individuals of agenus (Arabic:استغراق الجِنس).[32] For example,الأسد “al-asad” can be used to mean ‘all lions’. This function is calledاستغراقistighrāq. One is encouraged to use caution when employing this form ofal- as it may be confused with its other meanings.
In order foral- to be in this capacity, it is necessary that it be interchangeable with the wordكلkull 'all, every'.[31] Some classical grammarians assert that thiskull may be figurative, in which caseal-, in this capacity, would be a form ofexaggeration.[33]
The most well known use ofal- in this meaning occurs twice in the Qur'anic verse 1:1,الحمد لله رب العالمين (all praise is due to Allah, lord of all the worlds).
Al- is often used in words to indicate the presence of something.[34] For example,اليوم “al-yawm” means ‘this day’ i.e. ‘today’. In modern Arabic, this function is largelyidiomatic and does not carry over to new words.
Al- may be prefixed to names that are derived from Arabic nouns. This function is known asلمح الصفةlamḥ aṣ-ṣifah. The purpose of doing this is to point toward the meaning of the one named.[35] For example, the nameعادل‘Adil (meaning 'just') may be readالعادل "al-‘Adil" to allude to the fact that ‘Adil is a just person.
In modern Arabic, however, this type ofal- is largely idiomatic. That is to say, names traditionally prefixed withal- are kept as such and names withoutal- are also kept as such; the connotation of thisal- is ignored.
When it comes toalphabetic ordering, some sources will list names according to theal- while others will ignore it.
Al- is sometimes prefixed to words without giving any grammatical benefit. This may occur in poetry, in which case the purpose may be to maintain metre, rhythm, or rhyme.
It may also occur elsewhere to give a rhetorical benefit. For example, theal- attached to the relative pronounالذيal-ladhī (that/which/etc) is considered to be extra (Arabic:زائدة,romanized: zāʾidah), because relative pronouns are already definite and there is no use for theal-.[36]Al- is perpetually and necessarily attached to this word in most Arabic dialects.[37] Thus its purpose is not a lexical or grammatical one, but a rhetorical one.
In the above example, the extraal- is necessary. There are other cases where it is extra but not necessary. An example is in the following phrase:[38]
The wordأول “awwal” (first) is consideredحال “ḥāl” (a type of object in grammar) in the above phrase. This type of object is typically indefinite according to most classical and modern grammarians.[38] So theal- attached to it is unnecessarily extra.
Al- is a particle (ḥarf)[33][40][41] in the Arabic language. Like most (but not all) particles, it is not prefixed to other particles. That is because particles are never in need of any of the lexical meanings or grammatical inflections provided byal-.
Similarly,al- is not prefixed to verbs. However, it has been seen on verbs in poetry, as in the following couplets[42] by Dhu al-Kharq al-Tahawi (ذو الخرق الطهوي):
Several opinions exist to explain this aberrantal-. The following is a precis of different Arabic scholars' views as given inKhizanat al-Adab.One view is thatal- is a relative pronoun here, similar toalladhī (الذي),allatī (التي), etc. in Arabic. This is the view of Ibn Hisham andAl-Akhfash al-Akbar.[43]This opinion is in harmony with the form of the general relative pronoun (alli,illi,al) in most Arabic dialects nowadays. If this view is correct, this aberrantal- does not follow thesun and moon letters rule.
Al- may also be used to turn verbs in the imperfect, passive state into adjectives in a limited set of circumstances.[44] This is employed to show ability/possibility, or with the use of another particle ("-la-"), inability/impossibility as is related to the definite word the resulting adjective modifies. Examples:Al-yurā : the see-able;al-yu'kal : the edible;al-la-yurā : the un-see-able;al-la-silkī : the wire-less [device]; etc.
Whenal- occurs in places where we would not normally expect it, it is considered extra as far as grammar and lexicology are concerned. This is the view ofal-Kisā’ī.[43]
Al- is used by poets to complete the meter of the verse under poetic license. This is the view ofIbn Malik, the author of theAlfiyyah; it is rejected by the author of theKhizānat al-Adab.[43]
Because nouns require the functions provided byal- (namely definiteness),al- is prefixed to them.Ism, as defined in classical Arabic grammar, includes all parts of speech save particles and verbs: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc.
As a general rule,al- may be prefixed to anyism, regardless of gender, plurality, grammatical case, etc. However, this rule has some pathological caveats. That is, there are some nouns thatal- may never be prefixed to, and there are others thatal- must always be prefixed to.
The definite articleal- is not typically prefixed to nouns that do not inflect for definiteness. Examples include the interrogativeمَنman 'who'.
The definite articleal- is not typically prefixed to nouns that are already definite.[45] Examples include personal pronouns, relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, nouns already prefixed withal-, etc.
Exceptions to this include the prefixation ofal- to the relative pronounالذي (see#Extra) and to proper nouns (see#At the beginning of names). As a concrete example,al- has been recorded at the beginning of a demonstrative pronoun, as in the following poetic verse:[46]
Al- is not prefixed to non-final nouns in a genitival construction (Iḍāfa).[47] For example, inشوارع المدينةshawāri‘ al-madīna (the city’s streets), the wordشوارع is a non-final noun in the genitival construction. Hence, it cannot be prefixed withal- (it is already definite by virtue of the construction).
Exceptions to this include genitival constructions where the first noun is aparticiple and the second noun is its object.[48] This can be done if one of the following conditions is met.[48]
Al- has also been seen in poetic verses prefixed to non-final nouns in a genitival construction. An example is in the following couplet:[39]
Furthermore, the grammatical school of Kufa allowsal- on the first noun in a genitival construction if it is a number.[49] For example, the phraseثلاثة اقلام “thalāthat aqlām” (three pens) may be readالثلاثة اقلام “al-thalāthat aqlām”.
According to the Basra school of classical grammar,al- does not typically follow the particles of vocation.[50] For example, one will not sayيا الرجل “yā ar-rajul” (O the man).
The proponents of the Basra camp give two exceptions.
However, the Kufa camp of classical grammar, as well as many modern grammarians, allowal- to be prefixed to the object of vocation almost unconditionally.[51] An example is given in the following couplet of poetry:[52]
Under this scheme, if the object of vocation is a single word and it is feminine, the particle of vocation will be followed by the particleايتهاayyatuhā. And if it is masculine, it will be followed by the particleايهاayyuhā.[52]
According to the classical grammarians Farrā and Kasā’ī, the overarching purpose ofnunation is to differentiate between nouns and verbs.[53] Thus a noun is given nunation so that it won’t be confused with a verb; for example the nameجعفر would have been confused with a quadriliteral verb had it not been for nunation. Additionally, we know thatal- is not prefixed to verbs. Therefore, whenal- is prefixed to a noun, there is no longer any danger of the noun being confused with a verb, and so the nunation is no longer needed. Hence, no noun has bothal- and nunation simultaneously.[53]
However, there are some types of nunation whose purpose is not to differentiate between nouns and verbs. Such types includeتنوين ترنمtanwīn tarannum (a type of nunation converted from an alif at the end of poetic couplets) andتنوين غاليtanwīn ḡālī (a type of nunation used to maintain the metre of a poem).
An example of the first type in conjunction withal- is found in the following couplet of poetry:[54]
And an example of the second type in conjunction withal- is found in the verse below:[55]
There are some nouns that are invariably seen withal-. Examples include the relative pronounالذيal-ladhī (that/which/etc).[36]
Al- may be prefixed to the first part of a number between 11 and 19.[56] For example,احد عشرaḥada ‘ashar (eleven) may be read asالاحد عشر "al-aḥada ‘ashar".
In the case of a compound number (21-29, 31-39, ..., 91-99),al- may be prefixed to both parts. For example,واحد وعشرونwāḥid wa-‘ishrūn (twenty-one) may be read asالواحد والعشرون "al-wāḥid wa-al-‘ishrūn".[56]
Whenal- is prefixed to a participle, it acts like a relative pronoun.[57] For the purposes of this rule, participles includeاسم فاعل ism fāʿil (the active participle),اسم مفعول ism mafʿūl (the passive participle),الصفة المشبهة aṣ-ṣifah al-mušabbahah (another participle in Arabic), etc. For example,مررت بالراكب خيله marartu bi-r-rākibi ḵaylahu. This is translated as “I passed by the man who was riding his steed” as opposed to something like “I passed by the rider of his steed.” Consequently, all the rules of Arabic relative pronouns and their clauses will apply here.
It is widely accepted in Arabic grammar that a participle can carrytense. This tense, however, is typically limited to the present and future. But when we use the above construction, the past can be connoted by the participle as well due to the nature of relative clauses. For example, one may sayمررت بالراكب خيله أمسmarartu bi-r-rākibi ḵaylahu ʾamsi (I passed by the man who was riding his steed yesterday).
Some grammarians, however, say that it is only the past that can be connoted in this construction; the option of connoting the present and future is no longer available. And others say that no tense at all can be connoted.[58]
Al- has very few contributions to the grammatical case of a noun. However, it is worth mentioning that it turns second-declension nouns (ghayr munṣarif) into first declension nouns by allowing the kasra vowel.[59][60]
Moreover,al- brings back theي letter in anism manqūṣ that is in the nominative or genitive case. Without theal-, theي in such nouns is omitted and replaced by nunation.
The article was borrowed along with a large number of Arabic nouns into theIberian Romance languages. (SeeAl-Andalus.) Portuguese, for example, acquired some 1,200 Arabic words between the 9th and 13th centuries, such asaldeia "village" (fromالضيعةalḍaiʿa),alface "lettuce" (fromالخسalxas),armazém "warehouse" (fromالمخزنalmaxzan), andazeite "olive oil" (fromالزيتazzait). It even appears on non-Arabic vocabulary, such asenxofre "sulfur" (alsoxofre, from late classical Latinsulfur; the prefix nasalizes beforex).[61]Spanish has a similar inventory, such asalfombra "carpet" andalgodón "cotton", including such Arabic–Latinate doublets asaceituna andoliva "olive",alacrán andescorpión "scorpion",alcancía andhucha "piggy bank", as well asazufre ~ zufre "sulfur".
Whether through the Iberian languages or by other routes, such as the technical vocabulary borrowed by various European languages during the adoption of Arab mathematics and science, a number of English words contain the Arabic definite article. These includealcove, alcohol, albatross, alfalfa, algebra, algorithm, alchemy,alkaline,alembic, elixir, artichoke,acequia,adobe,aniline, apricot, aubergine,azimuth, and the names of stars such asAlgol.
Inazure, fromلازوردlāzūard, the initiall of the word was lost due to being mistaken as the Arabic article; it is retained inlazurite and in the compoundlapis lazuli. Inlute, fromالعودal-ʿūd, thea of the article was dropped, but thel retained; compareoud.
The al- article is also used inUrdu mostly relating to personal names of Arabic origin and in words which are imported fromArabic mostly related to religious, administrative and scientific vocabulary. The most common al- words inUrdu areبالکل (bil-kul) meaning "exactly" andفی الحال (fil-hal) meaning "currently".
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)