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The Six Nouns

The Six Nouns الأَسْمَاْءُ الْسِّتَةُ in Arabic are six singular masculine nouns that take different case-signs from the regular case-signs for singular nouns when they are the first part of a genitive construction, or in what is called the "construct state."

The six nouns are the following, they are in the indefinite state:

The Six Nouns الأَسْمَاْءُ الْسِّتَةُ
A father	'ab(un)	أَبٌ
A brother	'akh(un)	أَخٌ
A father-in-law	ham(un)	حَمٌ
A mouth	fam(un)	فَمٌ
A thing	han(un)	هَنٌ
(The) possessor (of)	thoo	ذُوْ

The last noun, thoo, was not in the indefinite state but rather in the construct state. This noun cannot exist in other state than this one.

The six nouns will take regular case-signs (apparent short U, apparent short A, and apparent short I) except when they are the first part of a genitive construction, or in Arabic, when they are in the state of "addition" الإِضَاْفَةُ .

When the Six Nouns form the first part of a genitive construction, or are in the construct state, they will have the following irregular case signs:

Case-Signs for the Six Nouns in the Construct State
Case	Case-Sign
Nominative 'ar-raf"(u) الرَّفْعُ	ـُوْ	الْوَاوُ
Nominative 'ar-raf"(u) الرَّفْعُ	-oo	'al-waaw(u)
Accusative 'an-nasb(u) الْنَّصْبُ	ـَاْ	الأَلِفُ
Accusative 'an-nasb(u) الْنَّصْبُ	-aa	'al-'alif(u)
Genitive 'al-jarr(u) الْجَرُّ	ـِيْ	الْيَاْءُ
Genitive 'al-jarr(u) الْجَرُّ	-ee	'al-yaa'(u)

1. 'ar-raf"(u) الرَّفْعُ = Nominative (subject)

The Six Nouns in the Nominative Construct State
(The) father (of)	'aboo	أَبُوْ
(The) brother (of)	'akhoo	أَخُوْ
(The) father-in-law (of)	hamoo	حَمُوْ
(The) mouth (of)	foo	فُوْ
(The) thing (of)	hanoo	هَنُوْ
(The) possessor (of)	thoo	ذُوْ

2. 'an-nasb(u) النَّصْبُ = Accusative

The Six Nouns in the Accusative Construct State
(The) father (of)	'abaa	أَبَاْ
(The) brother (of)	'akhaa	أَخَاْ
(The) father-in-law (of)	hamaa	حَمَاْ
(The) mouth (of)	faa	فَاْ
(The) thing (of)	hanaa	هَنَاْ
(The) possessor (of)	thaa	ذَاْ

3.'al-jarr(u) الْجَرُّ = Genitive

The Six Nouns in the Genitive Construct State
(The) father (of)	'abee	أَبِيْ
(The) brother (of)	'akhee	أَخِيْ
(The) father-in-law (of)	hamee	حَمِيْ
(The) mouth (of)	fee	فِيْ
(The) thing (of)	hanee	هَنِيْ
(The) possessor (of)	thee	ذِيْ

Notes

The irregular case signs of the six nouns should not be confused with regular case signs in the following cases:

If the nouns were not singular.

Examples:

Meaning	Case	Case-Sign	Word
(The) two fathers (of)	Nominative	ـَاْ	أَبَوَاْ
(The) two fathers (of)	Nominative	-aa	'abawaa
(The) two brothers (of)	Accusative Genitive	ـَيْ	أَخَوَيْ
(The) two brothers (of)	Accusative Genitive	-ay	'akhaway
(The) possessors (of)	Nominative	ـُوْ	ذَوُوْا
(The) possessors (of)	Nominative	-oo	thawoo

The case signs here were those of dual and masculine plural nouns. They were NOT case signs of the six nouns, because those only appear with singular nouns.

If the nouns were "added" to the first person singular object pronoun -ee ـِيْ .

Examples:

Meaning	Case	Case-Sign	Word
(The) fathers (of) me My father	Nominative	Estimated short U	أَبِيْ
(The) fathers (of) me My father	Nominative	---	'ab-ee
(The) brothers (of) me My brother	Accusative	Estimated short A	أَخِيْ
(The) brothers (of) me My brother	Accusative	---	'akh-ee
(The) father-in-law (of) me My father-in-law	Genitive	Estimated short I	حَمِيْ
(The) father-in-law (of) me My father-in-law	Genitive	---	ham-ee

The case-signs are estimated or assumed between the attached pronoun and the letter preceding it.

If the noun fam(un) فَمٌ = "a mouth" retained the letter meem م , it will not have the irregular case-signs of the six nouns.

Meaning	Case	Case-Sign	Word
(The) mouth (of)	Nominative	Apparent short U	فَمُ
(The) mouth (of)	Nominative	-u	fam(u)
(The) mouth (of)	Accusative	Apparent short A	فَمَ
(The) mouth (of)	Accusative	-a	fam(a)
(The) mouth (of)	Genitive	Apparent short I	فَمِ
(The) mouth (of)	Genitive	-i	fam(i)

The word thoo ذُوْ = "(the) possessor (of)" can exist only as a first part of a genitive construction but not as an independent word. Or, it can only exist in the construct state but not in the absolute or indefinite state.

The word han(un) هَنٌ = "a thing" is an obsolete classical word that often referred to the genitalia. This word can take regular case signs or case signs of the Six Nouns. The better ones to use with this word are the regular case signs and not the Six Noun ones.