Lesson 11

Article

In many languages there are special distinguishing particles, called articles, which usually accompany nouns and play the role of an emphatic means, specifying, concretizing the meaning of the word in speech. Articles can be indefinite and definite. They are present, in particular, in English, German and French.

Tanween and Article in Arabic

A. There is no indefinite article in Arabic. Its function in most cases is performed by the ending /-n/, which we have seen in all the nouns and adjectives that we have learned (/kitа̄bun/, /kabīrun/ etc.). This ending indicates the indefiniteness of the object denoted by the noun. The adjective receives this ending by agreeing with the indefinite noun. We will call the ending /-n/ tanween (Arabic تَنْوِينٌ means the addition of the n sound).

B. Arabic has a definite article. It is represented by the particle أَلْـ (’al-) which has no stress, which is placed in front of a word and is written together with it. In transcription, the article is separated by a hyphen.

The Arabic definite article can accompany nouns of any gender and number, as well as adjectives that refer to nouns that have the article.

The definite article and tanween in one word are incompatible, as the former indicates definiteness and the latter indefiniteness of the subject. Therefore, the addition of the article to a word entails the dropping of the tanween (the ending /-n/) and, accordingly, the replacement of the final vowel ـٌ by the vowel ـُ The vowel /-u/ remaining after the dropping of the tanween is pronounced as pure Arabic /u/ with no traces of the sound /o/.

We will call a word with a tanween and without the article a word in an indefinite state, and a word with the article and without the tanween a word in a definite state. Here are some examples:

Exercise 1. Read the examples given observing the difference in pronunciation of the final /u/ with and without tanween.

Exercise 2. Write down the following words with vowel marks in the indefinite and definite states, give the transcription. Read them observing the difference in the pronunciation of the vowel /u/ with and without tanween. You can check your answer by hovering over the word or by clicking it.

باب برد وداد بارد باردة وزير بيت وثير كتاب كتب بلبل ولد كبير وردة وزارة بدلة كوب بهو باهر كاتبة مدينة مدن كلب مكتبة منزل جريدة جميل بستان مدرّس هرّة أسد مجلات أستاذ مرأة

Agreement of attribute and state

The attribute expressed by an adjective agrees with the noun being modified not only in gender and number, but also in state. This means that if an adjective refers to a noun in the indefinite state, it is also put in the indefinite state; if the noun is in the definite state, the adjective referring to it is also put in the definite state, for example:

The connecting hamza

If a word with the article is preceded by a word ending with a vowel sound, and if these two words are not separated by a pause (pronounced in one word), then the article of the second word loses its hamza along with its vowel and is pronounced not /’al-/, but /-l-/. Practically, this means, for example, that /’al-kitа̄bу ’al-kabīru/ turns into /’al-kitа̄bu-l-kabīru/, /’al-ʤarīdatu ’al-ʤadīdatu/ turns into /’al-ʤarīdatu-l-ʤadīdatu/.

This type of hamza is called the connecting hamza (hamzatul wasl, from the Arabic word /waslatun/ — an instance of connection). In this case, in writing with vowels, hamza is replaced by the wasla sign, which is written above alif of the article – ٱ (alif of the article is retained in writing in all cases). Thus, the above word combinations are written with vowel marks as follows:

أَلْكِتَابُ ٱلْكَبِيرُ
أَلْجَرِيدَةُ ٱلْجَدِيدَةُ

In a text that does not have vowel marks, the placement of hamza and wasla marks above alif at the beginning of a word (including the article) is not obligatory.

In the transcription we will put a hyphen in the place of the disappeared hamza and its vowel marks. It should be borne in mind that the sound /l/ remaining in the article goes to the last syllable of the preceding word. Thus, the given word combinations are divided into syllables as follows:

/’al- / ki / tа̄ / bu-l- / ka / bī / ru/
/’al- / ʤa / rī / da / tu-l- / ʤa / dī / da / tu/

Exercise 3. Write the following word combinations with vowel marks in the definite state, give the transcription.

Arabic Sun and Moon Letters

The consonants of the Arabic language are divided into what are known as ‘sun’ and ‘moon’ consonants. The consonants that are pronounced with the tip of the tongue (i.e. front) are called sun consonants; the other consonants are called moon consonants. Of the 28 Arabic consonants, 14 are sun consonants and 14 are moon consonants. The consonants we have studied are divided into sun and moon consonants as follows:

Sun

ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ل ن

Moon

ء ب ج ك م ه و ي

Assimilation of the /l/ article

If the article is attached to a word beginning with a sun consonant, the /l/ sound in the article is completely assimilated to that sun consonant sound. Thus:

instead of /’al-darsу/ they pronounce /’ad-darsu/
instead of /’al-raʤulu/ they pronounce /’ar-raʤulu/
instead of /’al-sajjа̄ratu/ they pronounce /’as-sajjа̄ratu/ etc.

In a practical manner, the consonant /l/ in the article disappears, and the first sound of the word is doubled. In writing, the letter laam is retained but without vowels (since it is not pronounced), and the first letter of the word receives a doubling mark (tashdeed), for example:

Note. The same happens when the first letter of a word is laam (/l/ - sun consonant), such as, أَللَّبَنُ, for example. Here the /l/ of the article is assimilated as if to itself.

Exercise 4. Identify sun and moon consonants by the way they are pronounced (write down and mark them with ‘s’ and ‘m’).

ش و ج د ث ب س م ن ت ك ل ذ أ ر ز ه ي

Exercise 5. Write down the words with vowel marks in the definite state, transcribe them assimilating the /l/ article where necessary. Check the answer by hovering over the word or clicking them.

نبات ديوان بيت ثور نادر وزير كتاب ديك لبن كوب زبدة لذيذة أستاذ تلميذ منزل شارة رجل جريدة ريشة سهلة سلام مسرور دجاجة شباك سؤال مجلة أسود

The connecting hamza when assimilating the /l/ article

Hamza of the article in words with initial sun consonant is used according to the general rule. However, in this case it is not /l/ that remains in the article, but the ‘duplicate’ of the first sound of the given word, for example:

In other respects, the rules of writing, pronunciation, transcription and syllable division here are the same as those outlined above in ‘the connecting hamza’.

Exercise 6. Write down the following word combinations with vowel marks in the definite state and give transcription.