Lesson 20

In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful.

Assalamu'alaikum and greetings to all.


LESSON 20 ADVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS

1. An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Examples are quickly, slowly, very, loudly, terribly, surprisingly, etc.
2. In traditional Arabic grammar, there are many types of adverbial expressions, as can be seen below. The case ending of a noun in these adverbial expressions will change depending on the type of adverbial expressions.
3. The cognate accusative, مَفْعُوْلٌ مُطْلَقٌ ( maf’ulun mutlaq )
1. The cognate accusative is used to add emphasis by using a verbal noun, إِسْمٌ اَلْمَصْدَرُ ( ism almasdar ), derived from the main verb or predicate that it depends on.
2. Both the accusative and the verb will resonate phonetically as they will share the same root.
3. In this syntactic role, a noun will be found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
4. For example, in the Quranic verse إِذَا رُجَّتِ الْأَرْضُ رَجًّا ( iza rujjati l-ardhu rajjan ) which means ‘ when the earth is shaken ( rujjati ) with a shaking ( rajjan ) ’, the verbal noun رَجًّا ( rajjan ) is a cognate accusative for the verb رُجَّتِ ( rujjati ) .
4. The accusative of purpose, مَفْعُوْلٌ لِأَجْلِهٍ ( maf’ulun li-ajlih )
1. The accusative of purpose is used to specify the purpose, motive or reason behind an action.
2. The indefinite noun in this adverbial expression will be found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
3. In أَصَبِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِمْ مِّنَ الصَّوَاعِقِحَذَرَالْمَوْتِ يَجْعَلُونَ (yaj’aluuna asaabi’ahum fii aazaanihim minas sawaa’iqi hazara l-mauti), which means ‘ they put their fingers in their ears from the thunderclaps (in) fear (of) death ‘ , حَذَرَ ( hazara ), ‘fear’ is the accusative of purpose. Fear is the reason why they put their fingers in their ears.
5. The comitative object, مَفْعُوْلٌ مَعَهٌ ( maf’ulun maʿahu )
1. The comitative object is a noun which is found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ) and follows the comitative usage of the particle وَ ( wa ) which means "with".
2. In ) فَأَجْمِعُوْا أَمْرَكُمْ وَشُرَكَاءَكُمْfa-ajmi’uu amrakum washurakaa-akum ) which means ‘so you all resolve your plan and your partners’, شُرَكَاءَ (shurakaa-a ), ‘patners’ is the comitative object.
6. Adverb of time or place , مَفْعُوْلٌ فِهٍ ( maf’ulun fihi ),
1. Adverb of time or place is also called ظَرْفٌ ( zarf ) and answers the question of when or where the action takes place.
2. The adverb of time or place is found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
3. In رَجَعْتُ لَيْلاً ( raja’tu lailan ) which means ‘I returned at night’, لَيْلاً ( lailan ), ‘at night’ is the adverb of time.
7. The circumstantial accusative, حَالٌ ( hal )
1. The circumstantial accusative describes the circumstances under which an action takes place (answers the question how).
2. The dependent word in the hal relation will be found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
3. Often the circumstantial word will be an active participle that depends on a verb, although other non-derived nouns may also be used.
4. In دَخَلَ الطَّالِبُ الْفَصْلَ ضَاحِكًا ( dakhala l-talibu l-fasla dhahikan ), which means ‘the student entered the class laughing’ , ضَاحِكًا (dhahikan ) is the circumstantial accusative.
8. The specification relation, تَمْيِيْزٌ ( tamyiz )
1. The specification relation places a dependent noun into the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ) and is used to specify the intensity or degree of the head word.
2. In شَرِبْتُ لِتْرًا عَصِيْرًا ( sharibtu litran ‘asiran ), which means ‘ I drank a litre of juice’, عَصِيْرًا ( asiran ) is the specification accusative. It specifies the action of the subject and completes the meaning without any ambiguity, i.e. I drank a litre of ‘juice’, not water or milk.

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