Explanation of the statement of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): Names that are bound to the vocative.

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Names that are bound to the vocative": "Names" is the subject (mubtada') and "bound" is its predicate (khabar). It is also permissible for "Names" to be the predicate of the subject, meaning "these are names." With this interpretation, we are saved from the objection: Why is it permissible to begin a sentence with an indefinite noun? And his saying: "bound" means that they have become attached, attached to the vocative, meaning they are not used [in other contexts].