Root · 12 in the Quran · 2 in 2 texts of the library
حنف (root hnf)
الحاء والنون والفاء أصل مستقيم وهو الميل
Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha
The family of the root
Patterns computed · our dataThe words of ح ن ف that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.
13 words3 verbs3 verbal nouns3 intensives and elatives1 other noun1 plural2 relatives and abstracts
- حَنِيفinclining to a right state or tendency
- حُنَفَاء—
- حَنَفَhe, or it, inclined, or declined
- حَنَفِيَّةthe persons called in relation to the Imám Aboo-Haneefeh because they hold …
- حَنَّفَ—
The whole family6 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs3حَنَفَ · حَنَّفَ · تَحَنَّفَ
The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →
Form I vowels: فَعَلَ يَفْعِلُ (a – i; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)
Verbal nouns3حَنَف · حَنْف · تَحْنِيف
The action itself, named as a noun (maṣdar).grammar →
Intensives, qualities and the elative3حَنِيف · أَحْنَف · حُنَيْف
The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →
- حَنِيفinclining to a right state or tendencyLanequality (faʿīl)Qurʾān ×12library ×1LaneIbn Fāris
- أَحْنَفelative or colour adjective (afʿal)LaneIbn Fāris
- حُنَيْفquality (faʿīl)LaneIbn Fāris
Other nouns1أَحْنَاف
Nouns on other patterns; their meaning is learned word by word.grammar →
- أَحْنَافnounLane
Plurals1حُنَفَاء
Broken plurals rebuild the word on a new pattern; sound plurals add an ending.grammar →
Reference
Why this shape?What each of the 10 patterns does
What each pattern does. The pattern gives a tendency, not a rule: many words have drifted into meanings of their own.
The pattern machinePour the root into a pattern; see whether the word exists
Choose a pattern; the root's letters pour into it. Then see whether the word exists in our sources. The machine makes shapes; only usage makes words.
Not in our sources. A possible shape, not a word we can show: the Quran, the library and Lane do not have it for this root.
Place noun with -a. The place noun with the feminine -a. Sometimes it is only a variant of mafʿal; often it names the place where a thing is found in abundance (maʾsada, 'a place full of lions'). So maktab is the place of writing, and maktaba, where writings are gathered: a library, a bookshop. Our summary AI
But: maktaba is not in our classical dictionaries for k-t-b: Lane and al-Jawharī give maktab ('a school'), none gives maktaba. Its sense of 'library, bookshop' fits the pattern of abundance, but that is our reading of the pattern, not a classical entry. Many mafʿala words are single items of usage (maqbara 'cemetery'), which the grammarians call heard, not formed by rule.
The grammarians on this pattern (4)
ما يكون مفعلة لازمة لها الهاء والفتحة … وذلك إذا أردت أن تكثر الشيء بالمكان، وذلك قولك: أرض مسبعة، ومأسدة
Chapter on what is mafʿala, with the -a and the a-vowel always: that is when you mean that a thing abounds in a place, as you say 'a land of many beasts of prey (masbaʿa), of many lions (maʾsada)' AI
Sībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 3rd ed. (Cairo: al-Khānjī, 1988), 4:94 · OpenITI line 21027–21028 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
و نحو المظنة و المقبرة فتحا و ضما ليس بقياس
and words like maẓinna and maqbara (with a or u) are not by rule AI
Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646/1249), al-Shāfiya fī ʿilm al-taṣrīf, ed. Ḥasan Aḥmad al-ʿUthmān (Mecca: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1995), 1:30 · OpenITI line 223 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- “designate the place where the object signified by the noun from which they are formed, is found in large numbers or quantities” Wright, Grammar I, §247, p. 148 ↗ · on nouns of abundance, maf'ala · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
- “Nouns of time and place not unfrequently take the feminine form” Wright, Grammar I, §225, p. 128 ↗ · on maf'ala as a variant of maf'al · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
About thisWhat “attested” means here; the sources
Attested means found in our data: the Quranic Arabic Corpus (lemmas, verb Forms, participles, verbal nouns, plurals), the library's words (automatic analysis), Lane's Lexicon (his headwords, the Forms he numbers, the verbal nouns and plurals he names) and Ibn Fāris's entry. Nothing is generated for this list. Meanings are Lane's first gloss in his entry, or else the analyser's gloss (“auto”). Vowelling follows the corpus, then Lane, then the analyser; verbs are given in the regular perfect. Lane's Lexicon thins out after qāf, and a few of his entries cover several roots at once: those roots show no Lane. The patterns, written with ف ع ل, are computed by us.
The dictionaries
Ibn Fāris · 395الحاء والنون والفاء أصل مستقيم وهو الميل يقال للذي يمشي على ظهور قدميه أحنف وقال قوم وأراه الأصح إن الحنف اعوجاج في الرجل إلى داخل ورجل أحنف أي مائل الرجلين وذلك يكون بأن تتدانى صدور قدميه ويتباعد عقباه والحنيف المائل إل
Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), Maqāyīs al-Lugha. Seeks each root's original sense (aṣl).
The same letters, turned
The same three letters in all six orders. Choose one.
ح ن ف
الحاء والنون والفاء أصل مستقيم وهو الميل
ḥ-n-f: a straightforward root, which is inclination. AI
an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them
Do these six share one core meaning?
Reference
About thisal-Khalīl, Ibn Jinnī, Ibn Fāris; the counts across the dictionary
al-Khalīl (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn, as transmitted by al-Layth: a two-letter word “turns in two ways”, a three-letter word “in six ways” (masdūsa), four letters in 24, five in 120; “its used forms are written down and its unused ones dropped” (line 975 ↗). The dictionary is built on this: each chapter takes a set of letters and names which orders are used (mustaʿmal) and which unused (muhmal). The ring shows that verdict, from the chapter heading as edited (documented in the text; how much of the book is al-Khalīl's own is disputed).
A reported total. al-Suyūṭī transmits, from Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī, that al-Khalīl put the possible forms, used and unused, of two to five letters at 12,305,412 (al-Muzhir, line 1347 ↗). It is reported, not found in the ʿAyn. It equals exactly the arrangements of 2 to 5 different letters out of 28 (756 + 19,656 + 491,400 + 11,793,600); the breakdown printed beside it is corrupt, and al-Zubaydī's count, given next, differs (6,659,400).
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), al-Khaṣāʾiṣ, names the greater derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar): bind a three-letter root and its six orders to one meaning, and bring stray members back “by the subtlety of the craft and interpretation” (line 7536 ↗). He says himself that it does not hold for every root (line 167 ↗; line 7603 ↗).
Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004) gives each root its own aṣl and treats a rearranged word as maqlūb, “turned round”, and so not a root of its own: “j-b-dh is not a root, because it is a single word, turned round” (Maqāyīs, line 6147 ↗). The ring sets his aṣl for each order side by side; whether they meet is the question.
Neighbours on the ring differ by one swap of two letters.
The critique. A source quoted by al-Suyūṭī calls the greater derivation Ibn Jinnī's innovation, “not relied on in the language” (al-Muzhir, line 6159 ↗).
The other axis. The root's letters also go into patterns that keep their order and change the frame: the patterns (awzān) and the verb Forms I–X.
Across Ibn Fāris's dictionary. Of the 2,300 possible sets of three different sound letters (no hamza, w or y), 1,021 have at least one order as an entry. How many of their six orders are entries:
- 1 of 6319
- 2 of 6218
- 3 of 6164
- 4 of 6155
- 5 of 6107
- 6 of 658
- 1 of 6148
- 2 of 6108
- 3 of 6157
- 4 of 6179
- 5 of 6111
- 6 of 643
Of the orders al-Khalīl calls used, 2,097 are entries in Ibn Fāris and 267 are not; 17 that he calls unused are entries in Ibn Fāris.
Attested here means found in our digital texts (Ibn Fāris, Lisān al-ʿArab, Lane, the Quranic Arabic Corpus), with w and y kept apart and hamza spellings merged; it is our data, not a classical verdict. English beside the Arabic is AI translation. Sources and grades: docs/research/root-permutations.md.
Letters & sound
- حḥāʾmiddle of the throat · voiceless, continuantSīb. · I. Jinnī
- نnūntip of the tongue · voiced, in betweenSīb. · I. Jinnī
- فfāʾlower lip and upper teeth · voiceless, continuantSīb. · I. Jinnī
How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.
Sharing two of its three letters (computed; kinship of form, not of meaning)
Reference
How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
ح
ومن أوسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء
From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Sībawayh, lines 26548–26549 ↗
ومن وسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء
From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 970 ↗
ن
ومن حافة اللسان من أدناها إلى منتهى طرف اللسان ما بينها وبين ما يليها من الحنك الأعلى وما فويق الثنايا مخرج النون
From the edge of the tongue, from its nearest part to the end of its tip, between it and the upper palate next to it and what is just above the front teeth, is the place of the nūn. Sībawayh, lines 26555–26556 ↗
ومن طرف اللسان بينه وبين ما فويق الثنايا، مخرج النون
From the tip of the tongue, between it and what is just above the front teeth, is the place of the nūn. Ibn Jinnī, line 979 ↗
ف
ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى مخرج الفاء
From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26562 ↗
ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى، مخرج الفاء
From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 985 ↗
Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.
In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
ح
Level of existence: الجوهر الهبابي · the dust-like substance (spelled الهبابي in the text)
Divine Name: الآخر · al-Ākhir, the Last
Lunar mansion: الدبران · al-Dabarān
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62076Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗
ن
Level of existence: السماء الرابعة · the fourth heaven
Divine Name: النور · the Light (al-Nūr)
Lunar mansion: السماك · al-Simāk
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64663Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 8 line 2571 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
الثمانية فحروفها حارة يابسة
The eightfold [rank]: its letters are hot and dry.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2580ف
Level of existence: الملائكة · the angels
Divine Name: القوى · the Strong (al-Qawī)
Lunar mansion: سعد الأخبية · Saʿd al-Akhbiya
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 65823Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة
The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
ح
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي تدل على الإحاطة والشمول للجميع.
It denotes encompassing and inclusion of everything.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي العدد الكثير الخارج عن بني آدم كالنجوم.
It is a great number external to the children of Adam, such as the stars.
With kasra ـِ
فهي العدد الداخل في الذات أو للذات عليه ولاية كملكية العبيد والدنانير والدراهم وغير ذلك.
It is a number contained within the self, or over which the self has authority, such as ownership of slaves, dinars, dirhams and the like.
ن
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي الخير الساكن في الذات الشاعل فيها.
It is the good that dwells in the self, kindling [al-shāʿil, as written] within it.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي إشارة إلى الخير الكامل أو النور الساطع.
It is an indication of perfect good or radiant light.
With kasra ـِ
فهي إشارة إلى شيء يدركه المتكلم أو هو له.
It is an indication of something that the speaker perceives or that belongs to him.
ف
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي لنفي الخبث بعد ما كان جنسه معلوما بالخبث، فهي إشارة إلى أنه طاهر وجنسه خبيث، والخبث مثل المعاصي وما أشبهها.
It is for negating foulness in something whose genus is known for foulness. It thus indicates that the thing is pure while its genus is foul; foulness being like sins and the like.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي لتزويل الخبث.
It is for removing foulness.
With kasra ـِ
فهي إشارة إلى الذات وما احتوت عليه، وفي بعض الأحيان قد يكون معها التقليل.
It is an indication of the self and what it contains; at times it may carry a sense of diminution.
Two-letter nucleus23 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterح ن
Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 7680 ↗
- حنوالحاء والنون والحرف المعتل أصل واحد يدل على تعطف وتعوجL7681
- حنثالحاء والنون والثاء أصل واحد وهو الإثم والحرجQ 2 · L7690
- حنجالحاء والنون والجيم أصل واحد يدل على الميل والاعوجاجL7698
- حنذالحاء والنون والذال أصل واحد وهو إنضاج الشيءQ 1 · L7702
- حنرالحاء والنون والراء كلمة واحدة لولا أنها جاءت في الحديث لما كان لذكرها وجه وذلك أن النون في كلام العرب لا تكاد تجيء بعدها راء والذي جاء في الحديث : ( L7708
- حنشالحاء والنون والشين أصل واحد صحيح وهو من باب الصيد إذا صدته وقال أبو عمرو الحنش كل شيء يصاد من الطير والهوام وقال آخرون الحنش الحية وهو ذلك القياس فأمL7713
- حنطالحاء والنون والطاء ليس بذلك الأصل الذي يقاس منه أو عليه وفيه أنه حب أو شبيه به فالحنطة معروفة ويقال للرمث إذا ابيض وأدرك قد حنط وذكر بعضهم أنهL7716
- حنقالحاء والنون والقاف أصل واحد وهو تضايق الشيءL7726
- حوىالحاء والواو وما بعده معتل أصل واحد وهو الجمعQ 2 · L7744
- حوبالحاء والواو والباء أصل واحد يتشعب إلى إثم أو حاجة أو مسكنة وكلها متقاربة فالحوب والحوب الإثمQ 1 · L7749
- حوتالحاء والواو والتاء أصل صحيح منقاس وهو من الاضطراب والروغان فالحوت العظيم من السمك وهو مضطرب أبدا غير مستقر والعرب تقول حاوتني فلان إذا راوغني وينشد هQ 5 · L7760
- حوجالحاء والواو والجيم أصل واحد وهو الاضطرار إلى الشيء فالحاجة واحدة الحاجات والحوجاء الحاجة ويقال أحوج الرجل احتاج ويقال أيضا حاج يحوج بمعنى احتاجQ 3 · L7770
- حوذالحاء والواو والذال أصل واحد وهو من الخفة والسرعة وانكماش في الأمر فالإحواذ السير السريع ويقال حاذ الحمار أتنه يحوذها إذا ساقها بعنفQ 2 · L7774
- حورالحاء والواو والراء ثلاثة أصول أحدها لون والآخر الرجوع والثالث أن يدور الشيء دورا فأما الأول فالحور شدة بياض العين في شدة سوادهاQ 13 · L7784
- حوزالحاء والواو والزاء أصل واحد وهو الجمع والتجمعQ 1 · L7809
- حوسالحاء والواو والسين أصل واحد مخالطة الشيء ووطؤهL7818
- حوشالحاء والواو والشين كلمة واحدة الحوش الوحشQ 2 · L7823
- حوضالحاء والواو والضاد كلمة واحدة وهو الهزم في الأرض فالحوض حوض الماء واستحوض الماء اتخذ لنفسه حوضا والمحوض كالحوض يجعل للنخلة تشرب منه ويقال فلان يحوض حL7841
- حوطالحاء والواو والطاء كلمة واحدة وهو الشيء يطيف بالشيء فالحوط من حاطه حوطا والحمار يحوط عانته يجمعها وحوطت حائطا ويقال إن الحواطة حظيرة تتخذ للطعام والحQ 28 · L7845
- حوقالحاء والواو والقاف أصل واحد يقرب من الذي قبله فالحوق ما استدار بالكمرة والحوق كنس البيت والمحوقة المكنسة والحواقة الكناسةL7848
- حوكالحاء والواو والكاف ضم الشيء إلى الشيء ومن ذلك حوك الثوب والشعرL7850
- حولالحاء والواو واللام أصل واحد وهو تحرك في دور فالحول العام وذلك أنه يحول أي يدور ويقال حالت الدار وأحالت وأحولت أتى عليها الحول وأحولت أنا بالمكان وأحلQ 25 · L7851
- حومالحاء والواو والميم كلمة واحدة تقرب من الذي قبلها وهو الدور بالشيءL7861
In the sister scriptsHebrew ח נ פSyriac ܚ ܢ ܦ
| Arabic | ح ن ف |
| Hebrew | ח נ פ |
| Syriac | ܚ ܢ ܦ |
| Ancient South Arabian (musnad) | 𐩢 𐩬 𐩰 |
| Phoenician | 𐤇 𐤍 𐤐 |
Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.
Reference