The Diminutive
التَّصْغِيرُ
Verses 833–854 · chapter 69 of 78
The chapter gives the three diminutive patterns fuʿayl, fuʿayʿil and fuʿayʿīl and shows how longer nouns are reduced to fit them, in the same way as for the broken plural of the largest patterns. It then covers the fatḥa after the diminutive yā, the endings that are counted as separate from the stem, the restoration of weak letters to their origin, defective nouns, the diminutive by tarkhīm, and the tā' added to feminine triliterals. It closes with the irregular diminutives of the relative and demonstrative pronouns. AI
- 833
Metre: not scanned
As vowelled here, this verse does not fit al-rajaz, the metre of the poem; it is left unscanned rather than forced.
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.
When you form the diminutive of a triliteral [noun], put it on the pattern fuʿayl, as quḏayy for qaḏā ('mote').
- 834
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Fuʿayʿil, together with fuʿayʿīl, is used for a noun that exceeds [three letters], as when you make dirham into durayhim.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 833–834Arabic
إذا صغر الاسم المتمكن ضم أوله وفتح ثانيه وزيد بعد ثانيه ياء ساكنة ويقتصر على ذلك إن كان الاسم ثلاثيا فتقول في فلس فليس وفي قذى قذى
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7585 · vol. 4, p. 138 ↗وإن كان رباعيا فأكثر فعل به ذلك وكسر ما بعد الياء فتقول في درهم دريهم وفي عصفور عصيفير
فأمثلة التصغير ثلاثة فعيل وفعيعل وفعيعيل
- 835
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ–∪∪–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.
The means by which [a long noun] is brought to the 'furthest plural' [patterns mafāʿil and mafāʿīl], use it to bring [the noun] to the diminutive patterns [by deleting the same letters]: safarjal → safārij, sufayrij.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 835Arabic
أي إذا كان الاسم مما يصغر على فعيعل أو على فعيعيل توصل إلى تصغيره بما سبق أنه يتوصل به إلى تكسيره على فعالل أو فعاليل من حذف حرف أصلى أو زائد فتقول في سفرجل وسفيرج كما تقول سفارج وفي مستدع مديع كما تقول مداع فتحذف في التصغير ما حذفت في الجمع وتقول في علندى عليند وإن شئت قلت عليد كماتقول في الجمع علاند وعلاد
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7592 · vol. 4, p. 139 ↗ - 836
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.
It is permitted to add a yā' before the final letter as compensation, if part of the noun has been deleted in both [the broken plural and the diminutive]: safārīj, sufayrīj.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 836Arabic
أي يجوز أن يعوض مما حذف في التصغير أو التكسير ياء قبل الآخر فتقول في سفرجل سفيريج وسفاريج وفي حبنطى حبينيط وحبانيط
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7597 · vol. 4, p. 140 ↗ - 837
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ
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.
Everything that departs in the two chapters [broken plural and diminutive] from a rule laid down deviates from analogy [and is not a model for other words]: e.g. uġaylima from ġilma, ʿušayšiya from ʿašiyya, and the plural abāṭīl from bāṭil.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 837Arabic
أي قد يجيء كل من التصغير والتكسير على غير لفظ واحده فيحفظ ولا يقاس عليه كقولهم في تصغير مغرب مغيربان وفي عشية عشيشية وقولهم في جمع رهط أراهط وفي باطل أباطيل
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7601 · vol. 4, p. 141 ↗ - 838
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
The letter that follows the diminutive yā' must take fatḥa when it stands before a feminine sign [tā'] or before its long vowel [the feminine alif]: tamra → tumayra, ḥublā → ḥubaylā, ḥamrā' → ḥumayrā'.
- 839
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
The same holds for the letter that precedes the long vowel of the plural pattern afʿāl, or the long vowel of sakrān and nouns counted with it: ajmāl → ujaymāl, sakrān → sukayrān, ʿuṯmān → ʿuṯaymān.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 838–839Arabic
أي يجب فتح ما ولى ياء التصغير إن وليته تاء التأنيث أو ألفه المقصورة أو الممدودة أو ألف أفعال جمعا أو ألف فعلان الذي مؤنثه فعلى فتقول في تمرة تميرة وفي حبلى وحبيلى وفي حمراء حميراء وفي أجمال أجيمال وفي سكران سكيران
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7606 · vol. 4, p. 142 ↗فإن كان فعلان من غير باب سكران لم يفتح ما قبل ألفه بل يكسر فتقلب الألف ياء فتقول في سرحان سريحين كما تقول في الجمع سراحين
ويكسر ما بعد ياء التصغير في غير ما ذكر إن لم يكن حرف إعراب فتقول في درهم دريهم وفي عصفور عصيفير
فإن كان حرف إعراب حركته بحركة الإعراب نحو هذا فليس ورأيت فليسا ومررت يفليس
- 840
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ
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.
The feminine alif, when it is lengthened [-ā'], and the feminine tā' are counted as separate [from the stem, so the diminutive is built on what precedes them and they are not deleted]: ḥanẓala → ḥunayẓila, qurfuṣā' → qurayfiṣā'.
- 841
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–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.
Likewise [counted as separate] is the ending added for the relative adjective, and the second part of an annexation and of a compound: ʿabqariyy → ʿubayqiriyy, ʿabd allāh → ʿubayd allāh, baʿlabakk → buʿaylabakk.
- 842
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–––مَفْعُولُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ
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 same way the two added letters of faʿlān [-ān] are counted as separate when they come after four letters, as in zaʿfarān → zuʿayfirān.
OpenITI line 1085 · vol. 1, p. 68 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: وَهٰكَذَا زِيَادَتَا فَعْلَانَا — the transcription has زيادتنا, which is an extra nūn. The dual construct زِيَادَتَا ('the two additions of') gives the sense and the metre.
- 843
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Regard as separate whatever [ending] marks the dual or the sound plural, which is plain [to see]: muslimān → musaylimān, muslimūn → musaylimūn, muslimāt → musaylimāt.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 840–843Arabic
لا يعتقد في التصغير بألف التأنيث الممدودة ولا بتاء التأنيث ولا بزيادة ياء النسب ولا بعجز المضاف ولا بعجز المركب ولا بالألف والنون المزيدتين بعد أربعة أحرف فصاعدا ولا بعلامة التثنية ولا بعلامة جمع التصحيح
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7619 · vol. 4, p. 144 ↗ومعنى كون هذه لا يعتد بها أنه لا يضر بقاؤها مفصولة عن ياء التصغير بحرفين أصليين فيقال في جخد باء جخيد باء وفي حنظلة وحنيظلة وفي عبقري عبيقري وفي بعلبك وبعيلبك وفي عبد الله عبيد الله وفي زعفران زعيفران وفي مسلمين مسيلمين وفي مسلمين مسيلمين وفي مسلمات مسيلمات
- 844
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
The short feminine alif [-ā] does not remain when it comes after four letters [that is, when it is the fifth letter or later]: qarqarā → qurayqir, luġayzā → luġayġiz.
- 845
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
In the diminutive of ḥubārā ('bustard') allow a choice between ḥubayrā [deleting the first alif] and ḥubayyir [deleting the final alif], so take note.
OpenITI line 1089 · vol. 1, p. 68 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: بَيْنَ الْحُبَيْرَى فَادْرِ وَالْحُبَيِّرِ — the transcription has فاد, with the rā' dropped. The imperative فَادْرِ ('so know it') is needed for the sense and the metre.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 844–845Arabic
أي إذا كانت ألف التأنيث المقصورة خامسة فصاعدا وجب حذفها في التصغير لأن بقاءها يخرج البناء عن مثال فعيعل وفعيعيل فتقول في قرقرى قريقر وفي لغيزى لغيغيز
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7628 · vol. 4, p. 145 ↗فإن كانت خامسة وقبلها مدة زائدة جاز حذف المدة المزيدة وإبقاء ألف التأنيث فتقول في حبارى حبيرى وجاز أيضا حذف ألف التأنيث وإبقاء المدة فتقول حبير
- 846
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Restore to its original letter a second radical that is a weak letter and has been changed: make qīma into quwayma [from the root q-w-m], and you will be right.
- 847
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
The form ʿuyayd for ʿīd ('feast', root ʿ-w-d) is irregular. For the [broken] plural of such nouns, what is known for the diminutive is obligatory [the original letter is restored]: bāb → abwāb, mīzān → mawāzīn.
- 848
الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
An added alif in second position becomes wāw, as does an alif whose origin is unknown: ḍārib → ḍuwayrib, ʿāj ('ivory') → ʿuwayj.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 846–848Arabic
أي إذا كان ثاني الاسم المصغر من حروف اللين وجب رده إلى أصله
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7637 · vol. 4, p. 146 ↗فإن كان أصله الواو قلب واوا فتقول في قيمة قويمة وفي باب بويب
وإن كان أصله الياء قلب ياء فتقول في موقن مييقن وفي ناب نييب
وشذ قولهم في عيد عييد والقياس عويد بقلب الياء واوا لأنها أصله لأنه من عاد يعود
فإن كان ثاني الاسم المصغر ألفا مزيدة أو مجهولة الأصل وجب قلبها واوا فتقول في ضارب ضويرب وفي عاج عويج
والتكسير فيما ذكرناه كالتصغير فتقول في باب أبواب وفي ناب أنياب وفي ضاربة ضوارب
- 849
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
In the diminutive, restore the missing letter of a noun that has lost one, as long as it has no third letter other than the tā': yad → yudayya, šafa → šufayha, and like mā [used as a name] → muwayy.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 849Arabic
المراد بالمنقوص هنا ما نقص منه حرف فإذا صغر هذا النوع من الأسماء فلا يخلو إما أن يكون ثنائيا مجردا عن التاء أو ثنائيا ملتبسا بها أو ثلاثيا مجردا عنها
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7647 · vol. 4, p. 147 ↗فإن كان ثنائيا مجردا عن التاء أو ملتبسا بها رد إليه في التصغير ما نقص منه فيقال في دم دمى وفي شفة شفيهة وفي عدة وعيدة وفي ماء مسمى به موي
وإن كان على ثلاثة أحرف وثالثة غير تاء التأنيث صغر على لفظه ولم يرد إليه شيء فتقول في شاك السلاح شويك
- 850
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Whoever forms the diminutive by tarkhīm [dropping the added letters] keeps only the root letters, as ʿuṭayf, meaning [the diminutive of] miʿṭaf ('cloak').
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 850Arabic
من التصغير نوع يسمى تصغير الترخيم وهو عبارة عن تصغير الاسم بعد تجريده من الزوائد التي هي فيه
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7655 · vol. 4, p. 148 ↗فإن كانت أصوله ثلاثة صغر على فعيل ثم إن كان المسمى به مذكرا جرد عن التاء وإن كان مؤنثا ألحق تاء التأنيث فيقال في المعطف عطيف وفي حامد حميد وفي حبلى حبيلة وفي سوداء سويدة
وإن كانت أصوله أربعة صغر على فعيعل فتقول في قرطاس قريطس وفي عصفور عصيفر
- 851
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
End with the feminine tā' the diminutive you form of a triliteral feminine noun that lacks it, like sinn ('tooth') → sunayna.
OpenITI line 1095 · vol. 1, p. 68 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: Sadr: اِخْتِمْ بِتَا التَّأْنِيثِ مَا صَغَّرْتَ مِنْ; ʿajuz: مُؤَنَّثٍ عَارٍ ثُلَاثِيٍّ كَسِنّْ. The transcription reads غار, a dotted ghayn in place of ʿayn. عَارٍ ('bare of [the tā']') is the word required. The transcription also places من at the start of the ʿajuz. The metre needs it at the end of the ṣadr, so the hemistich division has been moved.
- 852
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–––مَفْعُولُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ
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.
[This applies] as long as the tā' would not cause ambiguity, as with šajar → šujayr, baqar → buqayr, and ḫams → ḫumays [because a tā' would make them look like the singulars šajara, baqara, or the number ḫamsa used with masculine nouns].
- 853
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Omitting [the tā'] where there is no ambiguity is irregular, as ḥarb → ḥurayb. Adding the tā' to a feminine that has more than three letters is rare, as warā' → wurayyi'a, quddām → qudaydima.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 851–853Arabic
إذا صغر الثلاثي المؤنث الخالي من علامة التأنيث لحقته التاء عند أمن اللبس وشذ حذفها حينئذ فتقول في سن سنينة وفي دار دويرة وفي يد يدية
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7665 · vol. 4, p. 149 ↗فإن خيف اللبس لم تلحقه التاء فتقول في شجر وبقر وخمس شجير وبقير وخميس بلا تاء إذ لو قلت شجيرة وبقيرة وخميسة لالتبس بتصغير شجرة وبقرة وخمسة المعدود به مذكر
وما شذ فيه الحذف عند أمن اللبس قولهم في ذود وحرب وقوس ونعل ذويد وحريب وقويس ونعيل
وشذ أيضا لحاق التاء فيما زاد على ثلاثة أحرف كقولهم في قدام قديديمة
- 854
Metre: not scanned
As vowelled here, this verse does not fit al-rajaz, the metre of the poem; it is left unscanned rather than forced.
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.
Irregularly, [the Arabs] formed diminutives of allaḏī and allatī (→ allaḏayyā, allatayyā) and of ḏā (→ ḏayyā), together with its derived forms, among them tā and tī (→ tayyā) [and the duals and plurals, e.g. ḏayyāni, ulayyā].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 854Arabic
التصغير من خواص الأسماء المتمكنة فلا تصغر المبنيات وشذ تصغير الذي وفروعه وذا وفروعه قالوا في الذي اللذيا وفي التي اللتيا وفي ذا وتا ذيا وتيا
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7674 · vol. 4, p. 150 ↗
- التَّصْغِيرُ at-taṣġīr · diminutive formation · صغر
- مُنْتَهَى الْجُمُوعِ muntahā l-jumūʿ · the 'furthest plural' patterns (mafāʿil, mafāʿīl) · نهي
- التَّعْوِيضُ at-taʿwīḍ · compensation (adding a letter in place of one deleted) · عوض
- القِيَاسُ al-qiyās · analogy; the regular rule · قيس
- الشُّذُوذُ aš-šuḏūḏ · irregularity · شذذ
- المَدَّةُ al-madda · long vowel (a lengthening letter) · مدد
- أَلِفُ التَّأْنِيثِ المَقْصُورَةُ alif at-ta'nīṯ al-maqṣūra · the short feminine alif (-ā) · قصر
- المُؤَنَّثُ al-mu'annaṯ · the feminine · أنث
- النَّسَبُ an-nasab · the relative adjective (nisba) · نسب
- المُرَكَّبُ al-murakkab · compound (two words made into one name) · ركب
- المَنْقُوصُ al-manqūṣ · (here) a noun that has lost a root letter, e.g. yad, šafa · نقص
- التَّرْخِيمُ at-tarḫīm · shortening (diminutive formed from the root letters only) · رخم
- اللَّبْسُ al-labs · ambiguity · لبس
- حَرْفُ اللِّينِ ḥarf al-līn · weak (soft) letter: alif, wāw, yā' · لين