The Vocative Noun Annexed to the Yāʾ of the Speaker
الْمُنَادَى الْمُضَافُ إِلَى يَاءِ الْمُتَكَلِّمِ
Verses 592–594 · chapter 47 of 78
This chapter lists the permitted forms of a vocative noun with a sound ending that is annexed to the first-person pronoun -ī, as in yā ʿabdī 'O my servant'. It then treats two special cases: yā bna umm / yā bna ʿamm, where the yāʾ is dropped, and yā abati / yā ummati, where a tāʾ replaces the yāʾ. AI
- 592
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ
Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”
وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن
It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗
Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).
Scanned by rule English: AI translation AI
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.
Treat a vocative noun with a sound ending [ṣaḥīḥ al-ākhir, i.e. one that does not end in a long vowel], when it is annexed to the yāʾ [of the speaker], like ʿabd 'servant', [which may take any of five forms]: yā ʿabdi [yāʾ dropped, kasra left to indicate it], yā ʿabdī [yāʾ kept with sukūn], yā ʿabda [yāʾ turned into alif and then dropped, fatḥa left to indicate it], yā ʿabdā [yāʾ turned into alif], yā ʿabdiya [yāʾ kept and given fatḥa].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 592Arabic
إذا أضيف المنادى إلى ياء المتكلم فإما أن يكون صحيحا أو معتلا
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6022 · vol. 3, p. 273 ↗فإن كان معتلا فحكمه كحكمه غير منادى وقد سبق حكمه في المضاف إلى ياء المتكلم
وإن كان صحيحا جاز فيه خمسة أوجه
أحدها حذف الياء والاستغناء بالكسرة نحو يا عبد وهذا هو الأكثر
الثاني إثبات الياء ساكنة نحو يا عبدي وهو دون الأول في الكثرة
الثالث قلب الياء ألفا وحذفها والاستغناء عنها بالفتحة نحو يا عبد
الرابع قلبها ألفا وإبقاؤها وقلب الكسرة فتحة نحو يا عبدا
الخامس إثبات الياء محركة بالفتح نحو يا عبدي
- 593
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ
Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”
وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن
It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗
Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).
Scanned by rule English: AI translation AI
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.
Fatḥa or kasra, together with dropping the yāʾ, is the established usage in yā bna umm 'O son of my mother' and yā bna ʿamm 'O son of my paternal uncle' [so one says yā bna umma / yā bna ummi and yā bna ʿamma / yā bna ʿammi; here the yāʾ belongs to the second noun of the annexation, umm or ʿamm]. There is no avoiding this [lā mafarr: this is the normal usage; keeping the yāʾ is rare].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 593Arabic
إذا أضيف المنادى إلى مضاف إلى ياء المتكلم وجب إثبات الياء إلا في ابن أم وابن عم فتحذف الياء منهما لكثرة الاستعمال وتكسر الميم أو تفتح فتقول يا ابن أم أقبل ويا ابن عم لا مفر بفتح الميم وكسرها
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6033 · vol. 3, p. 274 ↗ - 594
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ
Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”
وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن
It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗
Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).
Scanned by rule English: AI translation AI
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.
In the vocative, abati 'my father' and ummati 'my mother' occur [as in yā abati, yā ummati]. Give [the tāʾ] kasra or fatḥa [yā abati / yā abata, yā ummati / yā ummata]. The tāʾ is a substitute for the yāʾ [so the two are not combined].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 594Arabic
يقال في النداء يا أبت ويا أمت بفتح التاء وكسرها ولا يجوز إثبات الياء فلا تقول يا أبتي ويا أمتي لأن التاء عوض من الياء فلا يجمع بين العوض والمعوض منه
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6037 · vol. 3, p. 275 ↗
- الْمُنَادَى al-munādā · the vocative noun; the person or thing called · ندو
- الْمُضَاف al-muḍāf · the annexed noun; the first term of a genitive construct · ضيف
- يَاءُ الْمُتَكَلِّمِ yāʾ al-mutakallim · the yāʾ of the speaker; the first-person singular suffix -ī · كلم
- صَحِيحُ الْآخِرِ ṣaḥīḥ al-ākhir · a noun with a sound ending, i.e. one that does not end in a weak letter or long vowel · صحح
- عِوَض ʿiwaḍ · substitute; a letter that takes the place of a dropped letter · عوض