Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Elementary Arabic Morphology 3 The Diminutive Form What is the diminutive form? What is the ruling of the diminutive form? What happens in the diminutive form of quadriliteral nouns? How is a word whose second letter is weak put into the diminutive form? How is a word whose third letter is weak put into the diminutive form? How is a word whose fourth letter is a wāw or an alif put into the diminutive form?
If the word has four letters or more the letter after the yā' is given a kasrah, for example: دِرهَم becomes دُرَیهِم, unless it is connected to a feminine tā', for example: مهرة becomes مُهَیرَة or if it is a proper noun or an adjective that ends in an added alif and nūn, for example: سَلمان becomes سُلَیمان. If the second letter of the word is weak and has been changed it will be changed back to its original form, for example: باب becomes بُوَیب.
If the weak letter is an alif or a wāw it will be changed into a doubled yā' in the diminutive form, for example: عَصا becomes عُصَيٌّ. If it is a yā' it is doubled in the diminutive form, for example: جمیل becomes جُمَیِّل. If a word whose fourth letter is a wāw or alif is put into the diminutive form they will be changed into a yā', for example: عُصفور becomes عُصَیفیر. Previous Next