الرَّفْعThe nominative
al-rafʿ
The nominative marks the subject of a verb (fāʿil), the topic and predicate of a nominal sentence (mubtadaʾ, khabar), and the imperfect verb when nothing governs it. Its main sign is the ḍamma; the sound masculine plural and the 'five nouns' take wāw, the dual alif, and the five verbs nūn. In the reader's colour mode the nominative ending is shown in its own colour. AI
The words behind the terms
رَفْعnominative (verbs: indicative)rafʿ
Root ر ف ع · raising, lifting up
The grammarians linked the name to the ḍamma, the vowel said with the lips raised and rounded; the 'raised' word is the one that stands on its own: the subject, the topic, the predicate.
In the texts (343 occurrences; 24 distinct shown)
- ٱلْحَمْدُفَعْلحمدQuran 1:2:1
- الحَقُّحققFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- أَسْمَاؤُهُسموFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- الإِحْصَاءُFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- مُتَّصِفًامُفْتَعِلوصفFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · active participle · Form VIII
- سِرُّهُسررFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
18 more
- هِيَFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- مِثْلُفِعْلمثلFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- نَفْسُهُفَعْلنفسFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- المَحَلُّحللFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- المَنْظُورُمَفْعُولنظرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · passive participle · Form I
- مَجْلُوَّةٍFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2
- الإِلَهِيفِعٰلِيّألهFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · relative adjective (nisba)
- مَحَلًّاحللFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2
- إِلَهِيًّافِعٰلِيّألهFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · relative adjective (nisba)
- هُوَFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2
- حُصُوُلُفُعُولحصلFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2
- قابِلٌفاعِلقبلFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · active participle · Form I
- وَالقَابِلُفاعِلقبلFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · active participle · Form I
- فَالأَمْرُفَعْلأمرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶3
- كُلُّهُكللFaṣṣ Ādam ¶3
- ابْتِدَاؤُهُاِفْتِعَالبدأFaṣṣ Ādam ¶3 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
- وَانْتِهَاؤُهُاِفْتِعَالنهأFaṣṣ Ādam ¶3 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
- ٱلْأَمْرُفَعْلأمرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶3
Reference
What Ibn Ājurrūm saysChapter of the Nominative Nouns
بَابُ مَرْفُوعَاتِ الْأَسْمَاءِ
الْمَرْفُوعَاتُ سَبْعَةٌ، وَهِيَ:
The nominatives (marfūʿāt) are seven, and they are:
الْفَاعِلُ، وَالْمَفْعُولُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُسَمَّ فَاعِلُهُ، وَالْمُبْتَدَأُ وَخَبَرُهُ، وَاسْمُ كَانَ وَأَخَوَاتِهَا، وَخَبَرُ إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتِهَا، وَالتَّابِعُ لِلْمَرْفُوعِ، وَهُوَ أَرْبَعَةُ أَشْيَاءَ: النَّعْتُ، وَالْعَطْفُ، وَالتَّوْكِيدُ، وَالْبَدَلُ.
The agent (fāʿil), and the object whose agent is not named, that is, the deputy agent (nāʾib al-fāʿil), and the inchoative (mubtadaʾ) and its predicate (khabar), and the noun of kāna and its sisters, and the predicate of inna and its sisters, and the follower of the nominative (al-tābiʿ), which is four things: the adjective (naʿt), the conjunct (ʿaṭf), the corroborative (tawkīd), and the substitute (badal).
Vowelling and English: AIWhole chapter and text →
In the classics5 books · why the rule holds · disputed · definitions
- The ĀjurrūmiyyaIbn ĀjurrūmChapter on Knowing the Signs of Declension (iʿrāb)Chapter of the Nominative NounsThe Chapter of the Agent (Fāʿil)Chapter on the Object Whose Agent Is Not Named (the passive subject)Chapter of the Inchoative (mubtadaʾ) and the Predicate (khabar)
- Qaṭr al-nadāIbn HishāmSection: The kinds of inflection (iʿrāb) are fourChapter: The subject (mubtadaʾ) and the predicate (khabar) are both nominative (marfūʿ)Chapter: The Agent Is in the NominativeChapter on the Agent's Deputy (nāʾib ʿan al-fāʿil)
- The AlfiyyaIbn MālikThe Declinable and the Indeclinable (vv. 15–51)The Nominal Sentence: the Mubtadaʾ (Subject) and the Khabar (Predicate) (vv. 113–142)The Agent (al-Fāʿil) (vv. 225–241)The Deputy of the Agent (the Subject of a Passive Verb) (vv. 242–254)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
- Shudhūr al-dhahabIbn HishāmInflection: its definition and what it affectsNominative cases: the ten, beginning with the agent
- Sībawayh, al-KitābSībawayhThe agent of an intransitive verbThe topic (inchoative)
Why?al-Zajjājī, al-ĪḍāḥWhy “raising”: whoever pronounces the ḍamma raises the lower jaw towards the upper and brings the lips together.
فنسبوا الرفع كله إلى حركة الرفع لأن المتكلم بالكلمة المضمومة يرفع حنكه الأسفل إلى الأعلى ويجمع بين شفتيه
They referred all rafʿ to the vowel of rafʿ, because one who speaks a word with ḍamma raises the lower jaw to the upper and brings the lips together. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 992–993 (vol. 1, p. 93) ↗
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
What makes the imperfect verb nominative (yaqūmu)?Kufa: being free of the words that make it accusative or jussive · Basra: its standing in the place of a noun · he sides with Basra
Question 74: مسالة القول في رفع الفعل المضارع
فذهب الأكثرون إلى أنه يرتفع لتعريه من العوامل الناصبة والجازمة
KufaMost [of the Kufans] held that it is nominative because it is free of the governors of the accusative and the jussive. al-Inṣāf, lines 5890–5891 (vol. 2, p. 550) ↗
وذهب البصريون إلى أنه يرتفع لقيامه مقام الاسم
BasraThe Basrans held that it is nominative because it stands in the place of a noun. al-Inṣāf, lines 5891–5892 (vol. 2, p. 551) ↗
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 5929 (vol. 2, p. 553) ↗
al-Kisāʾī, a Kufan, said: the prefix.
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.
What makes the noun after lawlā nominative (lawlā Zaydun la-akramtuka)?Kufa: lawlā itself · Basra: its being a topic (ibtidāʾ) · he sides with Kufa
Question 10: مسألة القول في العامل في الاسم المرفوع بعد لولا
ذهب الكوفيون إلى أن لولا ترفع الاسم بعدها نحو لولا زيد لأكرمتك
KufaThe Kufans held that lawlā makes the noun after it nominative, as in lawlā Zaydun la-akramtuka, ‘were it not for Zayd, I would honour you’. al-Inṣāf, line 958 (vol. 1, p. 70) ↗
وذهب البصريون إلى أنه يرتفع بالابتداء
BasraThe Basrans held that it is nominative as a topic. al-Inṣāf, lines 958–959 (vol. 1, p. 70) ↗
VerdictHe names the Kufan view as right:
والصحيح ما ذهب إليه الكوفيون
And what is right is what the Kufans held. al-Inṣāf, line 1010 (vol. 1, p. 75) ↗
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 · 2 definitions
الفاعل: ما أسند إليه الفعل أو شبهه على جهة قيامه به، أي على جهة قيام الفعل؛ ليخرج عنه مفعول ما لم يسم فاعله.
The agent [al-fāʿil]: that to which the verb or something like it is attributed [usnida] in the manner of its subsisting in it, that is, in the manner of the action subsisting in it; this excludes the object of the verb whose agent is unnamed [mafʿūl mā lam yusamma fāʿiluhu]. AI
OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3267المبتدأ: هو الاسم المجرد عن العوامل اللفظية مسندا إليه، أو الصفة الواقعة بعد ألف الاستفهام، أو حرف النفي رافعة لظاهر، نحو: زيد قائم، وأقائم الزيدان، وما قائم الزيدان.
The subject [al-mubtadaʾ]: the noun stripped of verbal governing agents [al-ʿawāmil al-lafẓiyya], being that of which something is predicated [musnadan ilayhi]; or the adjective occurring after the interrogative alif or a negative particle, putting an overt noun in the nominative [rāfiʿa li-ẓāhir]; as zaydun qāʾimun 'Zayd is standing', a-qāʾimun al-zaydāni 'Are the two Zayds standing?', and mā qāʾimun al-zaydāni 'The two Zayds are not standing'. AI
OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3941
Arabic texts from OpenITI (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); English titles and translations are AI. All the classics →