In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful.
Assalamu'alaikum and greetings to all.
LESSON 20
ADVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS
- An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Examples are quickly, slowly, very, loudly, terribly, surprisingly, etc.
- 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.
- The cognate accusative, مَفْعُوْلٌ مُطْلَقٌ ( maf’ulun mutlaq )
- 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.
- Both the accusative and the verb will resonate phonetically as they will share the same root.
- In this syntactic role, a noun will be found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
- 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 ) .
- The accusative of purpose, مَفْعُوْلٌ لِأَجْلِهٍ ( maf’ulun li-ajlih )
- The accusative of purpose is used to specify the purpose, motive or reason behind an action.
- The indefinite noun in this adverbial expression will be found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
- 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.
- The comitative object, مَفْعُوْلٌ مَعَهٌ ( maf’ulun maʿahu )
- 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".
- 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.
- Adverb of time or place , مَفْعُوْلٌ فِهٍ ( maf’ulun fihi ),
- Adverb of time or place is also called ظَرْفٌ ( zarf ) and answers the question of when or where the action takes place.
- The adverb of time or place is found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
- In رَجَعْتُ لَيْلاً ( raja’tu lailan ) which means ‘I returned at night’, لَيْلاً ( lailan ), ‘at night’ is the adverb of time.
- The circumstantial accusative, حَالٌ ( hal )
- The circumstantial accusative describes the circumstances under which an action takes place (answers the question how).
- The dependent word in the hal relation will be found in the accusative case, مَنْصُوْبٌ ( manṣub ).
- Often the circumstantial word will be an active participle that depends on a verb, although other non-derived nouns may also be used.
- 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.
- The specification relation, تَمْيِيْزٌ ( tamyiz )
- 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.
- 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.
