The three Parts of Speech in the Arabic Language .Noun اسم , Verb فعل and particle حرف
Unlike English which has eight parts of speech, in Arabic there are only three. This inconsistency will become clear only after precise definitions are given to the three types…
The Types of Word (أَنْوَاع الْكَلِمَاتِ)
| وَتَنْقَسِمُ إِلَى ثَلاَثَةِ أَنْوَاعٍ: نَوْعٍ يُقَالُ لَهُ “فِعْلٌ“، مِثْلُ: “كَتَبَ”، وَ”يَكْتُبُ”، وَ”اُكْتُبْ”، وَنَوْعٍ يُقَالُ لَهُ “اسْمٌ”، مِثْلُ: “مُحَمَّدٍ”، وَ”عُصْفُوْرٍ”، وَ”تُفَّاحَةٍ”، وَنَوْعٍ يُقَالُ لَهُ “حَرْفٌ”، مِثْلُ: “هَلْ”، وَ”فِيْ”، وَ”لَمْ” They (i.e. the الْكَلِمَات ) are divided into three types: a typed called “فِعْل” (verb), like: “كَتَبَ” (wrote), “يَكْتُبُ” (write/will write), and “اُكْتُبْ” (Write!),a type called “اسْم” (noun), like: “مُحَمَّد” (Muhammad), “عُصْفُوْر” (sparrow), and “تُفَّاحَة” (apple), anda type called “حَرْف” (particle), like: “هَلْ” (question article), “فِيْ” (in) and “لَمْ” (did not) |
Explanation:
All the الْكَلِمَات that are formed from the Letters of the (Arabic) Alphabet are confined to three types only:
- a type called “فِعْل” (verb),
- a type called “اسْم” (noun) and
- a type called “حَرْف” (particle).
The الْفِعْل is like:
كَتَبَ (wrote) يَكْتُبُ (write/will write) اُكْتُبْ (Write!)
دَحْرَجَ (rolled) يُدَحْرِجُ (roll/will roll) دَحْرِجْ (Roll!)
اِنْطَلَقَ (went) يَنْطَلِقُ (go/will go) اِنْطَلِقْ (Go!)
اِسْتَخْرَجَ (extracted) يَسْتَخْرِجُ (extract/will extract) اِسْتَخْرِجْ (Extract!)
and every other word that denotes the occurrence of an action in a particular time.
The الاسْم (which includes nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc.) is like:
“مُحَمَّد” (Muhammad), “عُصْفُوْر” (sparrow), “تُفَّاحَة” (apple), “أَرْض” (earth), “سَمَاء” (heaven, sky), “شَمْس” (sun), “قَمَر” (moon), and other examples which we use to refer to people and things. Of these are: the names of people, the names of mountains, rivers and countries, and every other word that denotes animals, plants or inanimate objects.
The الْحَرْف (which includes prepositions, interrogative particles, negative particles, future particles, conjunctions), is like:
“هَلْ” (question article), “فِيْ” (in, at), “لَمْ” (did not), “مِنْ” (from, of), “إِلَى” (to, towards), “ثُمَّ” (then, thereafter, after awhile), and every other word that denotes a meaning that does not become apparent except when used with other words.