Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Elementary Arabic Syntax 2 Specificative What is a specificative? A specificative is a noun in the accusative state which explains the goal of an unclear word that comes before it. For example: إشتریتُ رَطلاً زیتاً (I bought a bucket of oil.) How many types of specificatives are there?
There are two types of specificatives: • essential specificatives, which clear up an unclear noun, for example: إشتریتُ رَطلاً عسلاً (I bought a bucket of honey.) • relative specificatves, which clear up an unclear sentence, for example: طابَ التلمیذُ نفساً (The student was clean, himself.) How many types of words precede a specificative in the accusative state?
The words that precede a specificative in the accusative state are: • words that denote weight, اشتریتُ رطلاً سمناً (I bought a bucket of lard.) • words that denote volume or weight of grains, اشتریتُ مُدّاً قَمحاً (I bought a mudd [^1] of wheat.) • Words that denote area, اشتریتُ ذراعاً أرضاً (I bought a *dhirā‛*15 of land.) • Numbers from 11 to 99, اشتریتُ عشرین کتاباً (I bought 20 books.) Is it permissible for a specificative to be in a state other than the accusative state?
It is permissible to put the specificative of a weight, volume, or area: • in the genitive case as a compliment to a prefixed noun, اشتریتُ رطلَ سمنٍ (I bought a bucket of lard.) • in the genitive case with the preposition min, اشتریتُ رطلاً مِن سمنٍ (I bought a bucket of lard.) [^1]: An ancient form of measurement. Previous Next