Morphology- Part 2

Personal pronouns ‫الضمائر‬

• Each personal pronoun represents a person category
combined with a number or gender category

• There are two main forms for each pronoun: (1) the
independent form ‫الضمائر المنفصلة‬and (2) the suffixed
form ‫الضمائر المتصلة‬

– The independent form is used nominatively

– The suffixed forms are attached to the (1) verbs, (2)

prepositions of which they are the objects, and (3) nouns
in a possessive function.
Independent pronouns
• The following are examples of the
independent pronouns ‫ الضمائر المنفصلة‬in the
colloquial Arabic

(Note that personal pronouns for the dual are not used in the
Gulf dialects)

• ‫ إنت – إنت – أنا – هم – إنتم – إحنا‬-‫هو – هي‬

Independent pronouns (Cont’d)
An independent personal pronoun is used:

1) as the subject ‫ مبتدأ‬in a nominal sentence

– (note: the independent personal pronoun has to agree with the
predicate ‫ الخبر‬in number and gender)

e.g. ‫ هو رج ٍل زين‬-- ‫رج ٍل زين‬

2) after demonstratives in a demonstrative phrase to make it a

complete sentence
e.g. ‫هذا مصنع – هذا هو المصنع‬

• (Note: the independent personal pronoun has to agree with the subject ‫ المبتدأ‬in
number and gender)
Independent pronouns (Cont’d)
3) The independent personal pronouns are often
omitted in verbal sentences (i.e. when verbs are
used). The reason is that the Arabic verb form clearly
specifies the person(s) functioning as the subject of
the verbal action. However, the independent personal
pronouns are usually used for emphasis;
e.g. ‫وش قالوا – وش قالوا هم؟‬
(what did they say?  what did they (in particular, or they
themselves) say?
Independent pronouns (Cont’d)
• Independent pronouns can be negated by adding the
negative particle ‘ ‫ ’ ما‬to them

• Examples: mahu, mahi, manta, manti, mahum, mantum,

mana

• Negated personal pronouns are usually used with

adjectives, e.g. mahu zeen ‫( ماهو زين‬He is not nice)

• Note that suffixing the phoneme /b/ to the negated

pronoun forms is very common in most Gulf dialects; e.g.
(mahuub), and it is often shortened to (muub)
Independent pronouns (Cont’d)
• The shortened form muub is used for both
genders; e.g. muub zeen, muub zeena (he is
not nice, she is not nice respectively)

• Negated pronouns are commonly used in

verbal sentences where they are normally
followed by participles (active participle- ‫اسم‬
‫ )الفاعل‬e.g. ‫منت رايح المزرعة؟‬
Suffixed pronouns ‫ضمائر متصلة‬
• Both MSA and all Arabic dialects have pronoun suffixes
‫ضمائر متصلة‬

• These suffixes may be added to most parts of speech,

with different meanings resulting in each case.

• Because personal pronouns are inherently definite, any

noun that has a suffixed pronoun becomes definite ;
e.g. ‫ سيارة‬a car  ‫ سيارتي‬my car
Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• There is pronoun suffix corresponding to each of the independent
pronouns

• The following is a list of the most common pronoun suffixes and their
variants in Gulf dialects

Singular Plural
-a, -ah, -ih,-uh (‫)ـه‬: him, his -ho(u, i)m (‫)ـهم‬: their, them (m.
and f.)
-ha (‫ )ـها‬: her -hi(e)n; -han (‫)ـهن‬: their, they
(f.)
-ak, -ok, -ik (‫)ك‬: your, you (m.) -ku(o, e)m (‫)كم‬: your, you (m.
and f. pl.)
-i (e), -i (e) , ik (‫)ك‬: your, you -k( e)in, (‫)ـكن‬: your, you (f. pl.)
(f.)
-i (i), nii (‫ ني‬،‫)ي‬: my, me (m. and -na (‫)نا‬: our, us (m. and f.)
f.)
Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• Most Gulf dialects have special possessive pronouns,
usually used to denote possession of inanimate objects
(i.e.agg- in Saudi Arabic), to which pronominal suffixes are
added;
e.g. ‫ هذا المكتب حقي‬This is my office

• However, personal pronoun suffixes are added to nouns to

perform the function in Arabic equivalent to possessive
adjectives in English

• Although there is no difference in meaning between the

structures (which are agg- VS pronoun suffixes –to
denote possession), syntactically they differ.
– (syntactically they differagg- is attributed to a definite noun
e.g. ‫ هذا المكتب حقي‬but the pronoun suffixes – which denote
possession- may only be added to indefinite nouns e.g. ‫هذا مكتبي‬
Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• Here are some examples that show pronoun
suffixes added to the noun ‘bint’(daughter/girl):
– bintuh (his daughter)
– bintha (her daughter)
– bintak (your [m.] daughter)
– -bintik (your [f.] daughter)

• When personal pronouns are suffixed to any

word ending with a vowel, that vowel is
lengthened,
– e.g. rama (he threw)  ramaa-ha (he threw it away)
– e.g. abu (father) abuu-ha (her father)
Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• Personal pronoun suffixes are also added to
verbs to perform the function in Arabic
equivalent to object pronouns in English.

• Here are some examples that show the

personal pronoun suffixes attached to the
verb ‘saaad’(he helped):
– saaad-ah/uh (he helped him)
– saaad-ha (he helped her)
– saaad-hum (he helped them)
– saaad-na (he helped us)
Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• Pronoun suffixes are added to the word ‘nafs’ (self) to
form what is equivalent to the English reflexive
pronouns

• Here are some examples:

– nafs-ah/uh (himself)
– nafs-ha (herself)
– nafs-hum (themselves)
– nafs-na (ourselves)

• Note that some speakers (educated speakers) use the

plural form ‘anfus’before the plural pronoun suffixes
(-hum, -hun, -kum, -na)
Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• Pronoun suffixes may also be added to some
interrogative particles; e.g. loon/keef (how), ween
(where)

– The interrogative particles loon and keef are usually used

with pronoun suffixes to denote an enquiry about
someone’s health/well being as in:

• loonak,keefak/loonik, keefik (how are you? (m.),(f.) ) respectively

• weenak/weenik (where are you? (m.), (f.)) respectively

Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• Pronoun suffixes can be added to all prepositions

• One must be aware that some of the prepositions

undergo certain changes when pronoun suffixes
are added to them
– e.g. the final vowel /-a/ of the preposition /ala/ (on),
changes to /-ee/ before the pronoun suffixes with the
exception of the first-person singular alay’ (on me)
– Here are some examples that show the pronoun
suffixes added to the preposition /ala/ :
• aleeh (on him)
• aleeki (on you (f.))
• aleena (on us (m. and f.))
Suffixed pronouns (Cont’d)
• Some prepositions, such as an (about) and
min (from), undergo the change of doubling a
consonant before some pronoun suffixes;
• e.g 
– first person (s. and pl.) pronoun suffix (i.e. anni,
anna)
– second person (s.) pronoun suffix (i.e. annak)
Demonstratives ‫أسماء إشارة‬
• Demonstratives are called in Arabic ‫أسماء إشارة‬
‘nouns of indication’

• Demonstratives are marked for number and

gender in Gulf dialects

• Some demonstratives designate persons or

objects which are close to the speaker in physical
space or time

• Some demonstratives designate persons or

objects which are remote in space or time from
the speaker
Demonstratives (Cont’d)
• The most common demonstratives and their variants are ‘ha-’ (this,
these), is a contraction of the proximal demonstrative /haa(d)a, haa(d)i,
haa(d)ool/

– The prefix ‘ha-’ (this, these) can be prefixed to singular and plural,
feminine and masculine definite nouns; e.g. ،‫هالشنط‬/‫هالشنطة‬
‫هالكراسي‬،‫هالكرسي‬

• Here are the demonstratives in the singular form:

Nearness (M. S.) Remoteness (M. S.) Nearness (F. S.) Remoteness (F. S.)

‫هدا‬/‫هذا‬ ‫هداك‬/‫هذاك‬ ‫هده‬/‫هذه‬ ‫هديك‬/‫هذيك‬

‫هاد‬/‫هاذ‬ ‫داك‬/‫ذاك‬ ‫ده‬/‫ذه‬ ‫ديك‬/‫ذيك‬
/
‫دا‬/‫ذا‬ ‫داك‬/‫ذاك‬ - ‫ديك‬/‫ذيك‬
Demonstratives (Cont’d)
• Here are the demonstratives in the plural
form:
(Note: Most Gulf dialects use the demonstrative
plural form for both masculine and feminine)

Nearness (Pl.) Remoteness (Pl.)

‫هدول‬/‫هذول‬ ‫هدوالك‬/‫هذوالك‬
‫هدول‬/‫هذول‬
‫دول‬/‫ذول‬ ‫دوالك‬/‫ذوالك‬
‫دول‬/‫ذول‬
‫هذيل‬ ‫هديالك‬/‫هذيالك‬
‫ذيل‬ ‫ذيالك‬
- ‫هذيالك‬
Demonstratives (Cont’d)
• Usually demonstratives agree in gender and in
number with the nouns they stand for (i.e. when
replace nouns, e.g. This is delicious ‫ هذه لذيذة‬, where
‘this’ ‫ هذه‬stands for ‘cake’ ‫ )كيكة‬or the noun they
modify; e.g. ‘This cake’ ‫ هذه الكيكة‬in ‘this cake is
delicious’ ‫هذه الكيكة لذيذة‬
Relative pronouns ‫اسم موصول‬
• In MSA, the relative pronoun ‫ االسم الموصول‬has
numerous forms ; e.g.
‫ الالتي‬،‫ الذين‬،‫ اللتان‬،‫ اللذان‬،‫ التي‬،‫الذي‬

• In Gulf dialects /illi/ ‫[ الّي‬who(m), that

which] is the most commonly used form, and
does not agree with number or gender; e.g.
‫ الولد الي طاح‬،‫البنت الي طاحت‬
Relative pronouns (Cont’d)
• The relative pronoun /illi/ introduces a relative clause which may modify a
noun or a pronoun.

– (The modified noun or pronoun is called the ‘antecedent’)

• The presence of the antecedent in the relative clause is usually taken up by a

personal pronoun which is called ‘the resumptive pronoun’(‫ الضمير العائد‬in
Arabic) and it agrees with the antecedent in gender and number.

– The resumptive pronoun may occur implicitly in the verb,

e.g. ‫الر ّجال الي دخل كان مريض‬, The resumptive pronoun is ‫ هو‬and it is implicit in the
verb ‫دخل‬

– But in this example ‫ الرجال الي شفته كان مريض‬, the resumptive pronoun is the pronominal suffix
/ah/ ‫ ـه‬added to the verb

– (The resumptive pronoun is either attached to a verb, a preposition, or a noun

e.g. ‫( هذا الكتاب الي قريته‬attached to a verb)
‫( هذا الكتاب الي قلت لك عنه‬attached to a preposition)
‫( هو الي وظيفته صعبة‬attached to a noun)
Indefiniteness and Definiteness
Indefiniteness:
• As in MSA, indefiniteness in Gulf dialects can
be expressed:
– simply by not using the definite article prefix /al/
e.g. ‫جامعة‬
– by using ‫واحدة‬/‫( واحد‬someone/one of) before a
noun or a relative (i.e.nisba) adjective
e.g. ‫ واحد سعودي‬،‫واحد ر ّجال‬
– by inserting the preposition /min/ (from) after
‫واحدة‬/‫ واحد‬followed by a definite noun
e.g. ‫ وحدة من المكتب‬،‫واحد من اخواني‬
Indefiniteness and Definiteness
(Cont’d)
Definiteness:
• Definiteness can be expressed in many
different ways:
– By prefixing the definite article /al/, e.g. ‫الباب‬
– By adding a pronoun suffix, e.g. ‫ هم‬ ‫بيتهم‬
– When the indefinite noun belongs to a proper
noun; e.g. ‫ أم محمد‬، ‫سكان مصر‬
– When the indefinite noun is in a noun-noun
construct, e.g. ‫ جامعة الملك سعود‬،‫سوق المعيقلية‬
Indefiniteness and Definiteness
(Cont’d)
The definite article:
• The definite article ‫الـ التعريف‬/‫ أداة التعريف‬may be prefixed to
nouns and adjectives

• In Gulf dialects the article is totally assimilated to dental

and front palatal consonants known as the sun letters
‫ الحروف الشمسية‬: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 
– e.g. ‫ طالب شاطر‬‫الطالب الشاطر‬

• It is worth noting that some speakers assimilate the definite

article to the consonant // , e.g. ‫جامعة‬
//

– (Note that some speakers may not abide by the rules of the
definite article assimilation to the sun letter)
Particles
Prepositions:
• A preposition precedes the noun it governs

• All prepositions can take pronoun suffixes

• Prepositions include: true prepositions ‫أحرف الجر‬, locative
prepositions/locative adverbs or semi-prepositions ‫ظروف مكان و ظروف زمان‬
(they function as prepositions. They give the time or place of occurrence
for an action)

• In most Gulf dialects, prepositions can be classified in two categories:

– Those that have no lexical meaning and cannot stand alone, e.g.
• ‫ لـ‬،‫ في‬،‫ على‬، ‫ بـ‬،)‫لـ (إلى‬
which mean, respectively, for, in, on, with/by means of, to

– Those that have lexical meaning, e.g. ‫ تحت‬،‫فوق‬

• The most common prepositions in most Gulf dialects are:

– ‫ بـ‬،‫ عند‬،‫ويّا‬/‫ مع‬،‫ بين‬،‫ إلى‬،‫ عن‬،‫ على‬،‫ من‬،‫في‬
Particles (Cont’d)
Prepositions (Cont’d):
Note that:
• ‫ بـ‬can not stand alone
• Usually it is prefixed to nouns to form adverbs
e.g. ‫ الضبط‬- ‫ بـ‬، ‫ األساس‬- ‫ بـ‬، ‫ سرعة‬- ‫بـ‬
exactly basically quickly
Particles (Cont’d)
Prepositions (Cont’d):
• There are a number of locative prepositions:
‫ وراء‬،‫ ق ّدام‬،‫ تحت‬،‫فوق‬

– All these prepositions may stand alone (they do

not require an object)

• And the preposition (which usually refers to

the action itself) and which also is considered
a common one in the dialects is: ‫بعد‬/‫عقب‬
Particles (Cont’d)
Adverbs and adverbial expressions:
• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other
adverbs.
• The following are the most common adverbs
and adverbial expressions used in Saudi-
Arabic:

(They are grouped according to place, time, manner, and

quantity)
‫)‪Particles (Cont’d‬‬
‫‪Adverbs of place:‬‬
‫هنا‪ ،‬هناك‪ ،‬جنب‪ ،‬وراء‪ ،‬قدام‪ ،‬تحت‪ ،‬فوق‪ ،‬بالنص‪ ،‬بعد‪ ،‬قبل‪ ،‬بعدين‪ ،‬عقب‬

‫‪Adverbs of time:‬‬
‫الحين‪ ،‬تو‪ ،‬لين‪ ،‬أمس‪ ،‬قبل أمس‪ ،‬قبل شوي‬

‫‪Adverbs of manner:‬‬
‫كذا‪ ،‬مثل‪ ،‬زي‬

‫‪Adverbs of quantity:‬‬
‫واجد‪ ،‬شوي‪ ،‬كثير‬

‫‪Adverbial expressions:‬‬
‫بسرعة‪ ،‬باألساس‪ ،‬بالقوة‪ ،‬بالساعات‪ ،‬بالضبط‬
Particles (Cont’d)
Interrogatives:
• The emphasis or intonation by itself can change a statement
into a question in Arabic,
e.g. ‫( تبغى تروح السوق؟‬Do you want to go to the market?)

(No special particle is needed to show the interrogative character of this

sentence?)

• However, usually a question is introduced by a grammatically

appropriate interrogative particle ‫اسم استفهام‬

• The most common interrogative particles in Gulf dialects are:

‫ أي‬،‫بكم‬/‫ كم‬،‫ قد إيش‬،‫ليش‬/‫ ليه‬،‫إيش لون‬/‫ كيف‬،‫ مين‬،‫إيش‬/‫ وش‬،‫فين‬/‫ وين‬،‫متى‬
Particles (Cont’d)
Conjunctions:
• Conjunctions are called ‫ حروف العطف‬in Arabic

• They connect words or sentence parts of more or

less equal importance

• Conjunctions are usually classified into two

categories:

– ‘coordinating conjunctions’ and

– ‘subordinating conjunctions’
Particles (Cont’d)
Conjunctions (Cont’d):

• ‘Coordinating conjunctions’: link together items

of equal rank, e.g. the conjunction ‫و‬

• ‫ و‬is the most frequently used conjunctive particle

to connect words/clauses/sentences

• It is used in multiple coordinations which are in

English converted into commas, when listing
items, e.g. ...‫( أنا و سالم و مراد‬Salim, Murad, and I
…)
Particles (Cont’d)
Conjunctions (Cont’d):
• ‫ و‬may function as a temporal conjunction when
connecting sentences to show that one action
happened while the other was taking place, (In this
case, it must precede a personal pronoun), e.g. ‫و هو‬
‫رايح الشغل صار معه حادث‬

• It also used after certain temporal expressions of

duration to express the simultaneity of two actions,
e.g. ‫من سنين و أنا أحاول أشتري بيت‬

• It is also used to show the natural succession of events,

e.g. ‫اليوم رايح الرياض و بكرة بروح مكة‬

• Other conjunctions are: ‫ فـ‬،‫ لكن‬،‫ إما‬،‫أو‬/‫يا‬

Particles (Cont’d)
Conjunctions (Cont’d):
• The particle ‫ ف‬is a conjunction that can not
stand alone (i.e. it is attached to words)
Particles (Cont’d)
Conjunctions (Cont’d):
• ‘Subordinating conjunctions’: introduce or join a subordinate clause
to a main clause.

• Some of these subordinating conjunctions are:

• Compounding some prepositions with the relative ‫;ما‬

examples:
• temporal conjunctions: ‫ عبال ما‬،‫ عقب ما‬،‫ قبل ما‬،‫كل ما‬
• Conjunctions that express manner: ‫ آخر ما‬،‫ أول ما‬،‫ مثل ما‬،‫زي ما‬

• Other temporal conjunctions: ‫ لين‬،‫إلين‬, e.g. ‫إلين جاء المكتب‬

• Conditional conjunctions: e.g. compounding the verb ‫ كان‬with ‫إن كان( إن‬, which
usually occur with pronoun suffixes), e.g. ‫إسأله إن كانه يبي ياكل‬

• The conjunction ‫ ألن‬which are used to express reason

– (it usually takes pronoun suffixes)
– shows that the reason for one action to take place is dependent on a specific situation,
e.g. ‫أنا ما أقدر أشتغل ألني مريض‬
Particles (Cont’d)
Conjunctions (Cont’d):
• The compounded conjunction ‫مع إن‬
(introduces a clause which has an adversative
meaning), e.g. ‫سواها غلط مع إني وريته كيف‬

• The conjunction ‫( كأن‬usually occurs with

pronoun suffixes), e.g. ‫كأنه مدير المحل‬
Particles (Cont’d)
Negative particles:
• The main negative particles ‫ أدوات النفي‬in most Gulf
dialects are:
)‫ مش‬،‫ مو (موب‬،‫ ال‬،‫ما‬
• The particle ‫ ما‬is used mainly to negate:
– perfect and imperfect verbs (e.g.‫هو ما يحب المدرسة‬/‫ )ما شفته‬and
– Pseu do-verbs(‫ ما عليك منه‬/‫ما في وقت‬/‫)ما معه فلوس‬

• The particle ‫ ال‬is used to negate imperative verbs to

form negative commands
e.g. ‫ال تروح برة‬
Particles (Cont’d)
Negative particles:
• The particles ‫مش‬/‫موب‬/‫ مو‬are used to negate
non-verbal predicates (such as nouns and
adjectives, prepositions);
e.g. ‫ هو موب فوق‬،‫إحنا مو أغنياء‬

• The negative particles occur immediately

before the negated term