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ARABIC ONLINE اللّغة العربيّة |
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Sound Masculine Plural Nouns Irregular Perfective Conjugation Irregular Imperfective Conjugation Inactive Particles Vocative Particles Praise & Disparagement Participle-like Adjectives Place-nouns Tool-nouns Diminutives
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Negation (continued) Negation + Exclusion Style
Arabs did not like talking much, and this is why they had the saying: خَيْرُ الْكَلامِ مَاْ قَلَّ وَدَلَّ which means "the best of talking is what would be little and significant." This is why they liked very much omitting parts of their speech, even if they were important for the structure of sentences. This was common in Arabic, and Arab grammarians called such omitted parts "estimated" parts of speech. Now here we are going to see an example of this that is very common in Arabic, which is the negation + exclusion emphatic style. Example: أَنْتَ مَلَكٌ 'ant(a) malak(un) = you (are) an angel Translation: you are an angel
This is a normal nominal sentence. To make an emphatic version of this sentence using the negation + exclusion style, we will need to negate the first part (the subject) and exclude the second part (the predicate). إِنْ أَنْتَ إِلاَّ مَلَكٌ 'in 'ant(a) 'illaa malak(un) = not you (are) (anything) except an angel Translation: you are nothing but an angel = definitely, you are an angel The omitted word here was "anything" or "anyone." It was colored in purple.
Another example: تَقُوْلُ الْحَقَّ taqool(u) ('a)l-haqq(a) = (you) say the truth Translation: you are telling the truth
لا تَقُوْلُ إِلاَّ الْحَقَّ laa taqool(u) 'illaa ('a)l-haqq(a) = not (you) say (anything) except the truth Translation: you are telling nothing but the truth = definitely, you are telling the truth
Another way of understanding this sentence would be:
لا تَقُوْلُ إِلاَّ الْحَقَّ laa taqool(u) 'illaa ('a)l-haqq(a) = not (you) will say (anything) except the truth Translation: you don't say anything but the truth = you always tell the truth
A more complicated sentence: لَقَدْ أَبَىْ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَذْهَبَ laqad 'abaa 'illaa 'an yathhab(a) = (he) has refused (everything) except that (he) go Translation: he insisted on going
This is a common formula in formal Arabic. It is similar to what we have been talking about; there is an omitted part, a negation, and a following exception. Note that infinitival 'an is a subjunctive particle, and the imperfective verb following it must be in the subjunctive mood. The usual formula is:
Infinitives in Arabic can be either infinitival phrases like the one in the aforementioned example (with infinitival 'an), or verbal nouns, like: لَقَدْ أَبَىْ إِلاَّ الذَّهَاْبَ laqad 'abaa 'illaa ('a)th-thahaab(a) = (he) has refused (everything) except the going Translation: he insisted on going
Another common formula: إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ إِلاَّ أَحْمَقًاْ 'inna-h(u) lays(a) 'illaa 'ahmaqa(n) = truthfully him is/exists not (as anything) except (as) a fool Translation: he is nothing but a fool Lays(a) is an incomplete verb. It requires an adverb (accusative case) to complete its meaning instead of a nominative noun predicate. The usual formula is:
An emphatic phrase has evolved from this formula: إِنَّهُ أَحْمَقٌ لَيْسَ إِلاَّ 'inna-h(u) 'ahmaqu(n) lays(a) 'illaa = truthfully him (is) fool ..(emphatic phrase).. Translation: he is nothing but a fool
This two-word-phrase comes at the end of the sentence, but it means nothing and it is just a meaningless alteration of the previous formula.
Finally on this subject, the following famous Islamic phrase is also a negation + exclusion styled phrase: لا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ الْلَّهُ laa 'ilaah(a) 'illaa ('a)l-laah(u) = not a god (exists) except God Translation: there is no god but God
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