الاسْم وَالفِعْل وَالحَرْفThe three parts of speech

al-ism wa-l-fiʿl wa-l-ḥarf

Ibn Ājurrūm opens: speech (kalām) is composed of three kinds of word, a noun, a verb, and a particle that comes for a meaning. A noun is known by the genitive, by tanwīn, by the article al-, and by the prepositions. A verb is known by qad, sa-, sawfa and the feminine -t. A particle is whatever takes the signs of neither. AI

The words behind the terms

اسْمnoun (and adjective)ism
Root س م و · to be high, raised
The Basran grammarians derived ism from s-m-w: the name raises its object into view. The Kufans derived it from w-s-m, 'a mark, a brand'. The dispute is famous; both roots are in the reader.
فِعْلverbfiʿl
Root ف ع ل · doing, a deed
The verb names a deed tied to a time. The same root f-ʿ-l gives the model letters of every pattern (see Patterns).
حَرْفparticle; also 'letter'ḥarf
Root ح ر ف · an edge, a border
The particle stands at the edge of meaning: it only means something when joined to a noun or verb.

Reference

What Ibn Ājurrūm saysIntroduction

مَدْخَلٌ

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

أَنْوَاعُ الْكَلَامِ

The Types of Speech (kalām).

الْكَلَامُ: هُوَ اللَّفْظُ الْمُرَكَّبُ الْمُفِيدُ بِالْوَضْعِ. وَأَقْسَامُهُ ثَلَاثَةٌ: اسْمٌ، وَفِعْلٌ، وَحَرْفٌ جَاءَ لِمَعْنًى.

Speech (kalām) is the composed utterance (lafẓ) that conveys a complete meaning, by [linguistic] convention. Its divisions are three: the noun (ism), the verb (fiʿl), and the particle (ḥarf) that comes for a meaning.

فَالِاسْمُ يُعْرَفُ: بِالْخَفْضِ، وَالتَّنْوِينِ، وَدُخُولِ الْأَلِفِ وَاللَّامِ، وَحُرُوفِ الْخَفْضِ، وَهِيَ: مِنْ، وَإِلَى، وَعَنْ، وَعَلَى، وَفِي، وَرُبَّ، وَالْبَاءُ، وَالْكَافُ، وَاللَّامُ، وَحُرُوفِ الْقَسَمِ وَهِيَ: الْوَاوُ، وَالْبَاءُ، وَالتَّاءُ.

The noun (ism) is known by: the genitive (khafḍ), nunation (tanwīn), the entry of the alif and the lām, and the genitive-governing particles (ḥurūf al-khafḍ), which are: min, ilā, ʿan, ʿalā, fī, rubba, the bāʾ, the kāf, and the lām, and the particles of oath (ḥurūf al-qasam), which are: the wāw, the bāʾ, and the tāʾ.

Vowelling and English: AIWhole chapter and text →

In the classics4 books · why the rule holds · disputed · definitions

The ĀjurrūmiyyaIbn ĀjurrūmIntroduction
Qaṭr al-nadāIbn HishāmThe Word and Its Divisions
The AlfiyyaIbn MālikSpeech (al-kalām) and What It Is Composed Of (vv. 8–14)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
Sībawayh, al-KitābSībawayhKnowledge of the parts of speech in Arabic
Why?al-Zajjājī, al-ĪḍāḥWhy three and no fourth: what is spoken about is named by a noun, what is said of it is a verb, and the two need a tie, the particle. There is nothing else to say.
فالخبر إذا هو غير المخبر والمخبر عنه وهما داخلان تحت قسم الاسم, والخبر هو الفعل وما اشتق منه أو تضمن معناه
So what is told is other than the teller and the one told about, and those two come under the noun; what is told is the verb, and what is derived from it or carries its sense. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 107–109 (vol. 1, p. 42) ↗
ولابد من رباط بينهما وهو الحرف, ولن يوجد إلى معنى رابع سبيل فيكون للكلام قسم رابع
And there must be a tie between them, which is the particle; there is no way to a fourth meaning that would give speech a fourth part. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 109–110 (vol. 1, p. 42) ↗
English: AI translation AI The summary lines are ours.
al-Zajjājī (d. 337/949), al-Īḍāḥ fī ʿilal al-naḥw, ed. Māzin al-Mubārak (Beirut: Dār al-Nafāʾis, 5th ed., 1406/1986). Digital text: 0337IbnIshaqZajjaji.IdahCilalNahw.Sham19Y0143170-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.
DisputedIbn al-Anbārī, al-Inṣāf
- Is ism (‘noun’) derived from wasm (‘mark’) or from sumūw (‘height’)?Kufa: from wasm, a mark · Basra: from sumūw, height · he sides with Basra
  Question 1: مسألة الاختلاف في أصل اشتقاق الإسم
  ذهب الكوفيون إلى أن الأسم مشتق من الوسم وهو العلامة
  KufaThe Kufans held that ism is derived from wasm, which is the mark. al-Inṣāf, line 60 (vol. 1, p. 6) ↗
  The digital text reads الأسم for الاسم; quoted as it stands.
  وذهب البصريون إلى أنه مشتق من السمو وهو العلو
  BasraThe Basrans held that it is derived from sumūw, which is height. al-Inṣāf, lines 60–61 (vol. 1, p. 6) ↗
  VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:
  وأما الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين
  As for the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, line 86 (vol. 1, p. 8) ↗
  English: AI translation AI The summary lines are ours.
  Ibn al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil al-khilāf bayna al-naḥwiyyīn al-Baṣriyyīn wa-l-Kūfiyyīn, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr; year not recorded by OpenITI). Digital text: 0577AbuBarakatAnbari.InsafFiMasail.JK001424-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.
al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt · 5 definitions
- الاسم: ما دل على معنى في نفسه غير مقترن بأحد الأزمنة الثلاثة، وهو ينقسم إلى: اسم عين، وهو الدال على معنى يقوم بذاته، كزيد وعمرو، وإلى اسم معنى، وهو ما لا يقوم بذاته، سواء كان معناه وجوديا كالعلم أو عدميا كالجهل.
  The noun [al-ism]: that which indicates a meaning in itself, unconnected with any of the three times. It divides into the concrete noun [ism ʿayn], which indicates a meaning that subsists by itself, such as Zayd and ʿAmr, and the abstract noun [ism maʿnā], which is that which does not subsist by itself, whether its meaning is existential [wujūdī], such as knowledge [al-ʿilm], or privative [ʿadamī], such as ignorance [al-jahl]. AI
  OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 438
- الفعل: هو الهيئة العارضة للمؤثر في غيره بسبب التأثير، أولا كالهيئة الحاصلة للقاطع بسبب كونه قاطعا، وفي اصطلاح النحاة: ما دل على معنى في نفسه مقترن بأحد الأزمنة الثلاثة، وقيل: الفعل كون الشيء مؤثرا في غيره، كالقاطع ما دام قاطعا.
  Action [al-fiʿl]: the state accidental to that which affects another, by reason of the affecting, primarily [awwalan], like the state that arises in the cutter by reason of his being a cutter. In the terminology of the grammarians [the verb]: that which indicates a meaning in itself, connected with one of the three times. It is also said: action [al-fiʿl] is a thing's being an affecter of another, like the cutter as long as he is cutting. AI
  OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3338
- الحرف: ما دل على معنى في غيره.
  The particle [al-ḥarf]: that which indicates a meaning in something other than itself. AI
  OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 1738
- الكلمة: هو اللفظ الموضوع لمعنى مفرد، وهي عند أهل الحق: ما يكنى به عن كل واحدة من الماهيات والأعيان بالكلمة المعنوية، والغيبية، والخارجية بالكلمة الوجودية، والمجردات بالمفارقات.
  The word [al-kalima]: the utterance [al-lafẓ] coined for a single meaning. Among the people of truth [ahl al-ḥaqq] it is that by which each one of the quiddities [al-māhiyyāt] and the entities [al-aʿyān] is alluded to: the conceptual and the unseen ones [al-ghaybiyya] by 'the conceptual word' [al-kalima al-maʿnawiyya], the external ones [al-khārijiyya] by 'the existential word' [al-kalima al-wujūdiyya], and the immaterial ones [al-mujarradāt] by 'the separate ones' [al-mufāraqāt]. AI
  OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3699
- الكلام: ما تضمن كلمتين بالإسناد.
  Speech [al-kalām]: that which comprises two words through predication [isnād]. AI
  OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3692

Arabic texts from OpenITI (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); English titles and translations are AI. All the classics →