Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "And it is anomalous to omit [the ta] without ambiguity, and it is rare for the ta to attach to what is a three-letter [word] that is numerous."
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : He said: "And it is anomalous to omit [the ta] without ambiguity"
"It is anomalous to omit" means: it is anomalous to omit the ta for the feminine of a three-letter word when there is no ambiguity. As is well known, the anomalous is memorized and not used as a basis for analogy. Sometimes Ibn Malik expresses this by saying: "it is rare," which is the same thing:
"And it is rare *** for the ta to attach to what is a three-letter [word] that is numerous"
"What is a three-letter [word]"—what is its grammatical case? It is the object of "numerous," placed before it, because "numerous" means: increased, meaning increased, and it is not from the category of the intransitive verb "kathara." That is to say, in what exceeds three letters, it is rare for the ta to attach to it. And what is an example of omission without ambiguity? Do you have it in the explanation?
The student: Qaws.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: Qaws.
The Shaykh : Qaws?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is Qaws not a three-letter word?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is it feminine?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Or not feminine?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : "Give the bow to its archer," so it is feminine. If we were to diminutivize Qaws and say Quwayyisah, it would be contrary to the Arabic language, which is the standard of analogy. But in the language, it came as Quwayyisah, not Quwayys without the ta. Now, what is the meaning of "anomalous" and "rare"? The anomalous is that which contradicts the rules of the grammarians, but its occurrence is frequent in the language. The rare is that which is little used in the language, because "rare" means "little," and "anomalous" means "contradictory." So among the grammarians, what contradicts the rules is anomalous, even if its usage is frequent in the Arabic language. And what is rare, meaning little used in the language of the Arabs, is called rare, meaning little.
"And it is rare *** for the ta to attach to what is a three-letter [word] that is numerous"
The example?
The student: Qadam.
The Shaykh : Qadam, what? Is Qadam a noun?
The student: No, an adverb of place.
The Shaykh : Is it a feminine noun or not? They say that in Qaddam, if you want to diminutivize it, it is Qudayyidimah, even though it is more than three letters. How many letters is Qaddam?
The student: Four.
The Shaykh : Or five?
The student: Five, five.
The Shaykh : Qaddam has a Qaf and a doubled Dal, followed by an Alif and a Mim, so is it?
The student: Five.
The Shaykh : Five. Now, he says in it Qudayyidimah. If we said Maryam, how do we diminutivize it?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh? Maryam is four letters.
The student: Murayyim.
The Shaykh : Murayyim. We do not say Maryyimah, why? Because it is more than three letters, even though it is feminine. Do we say Zayyinab for Zaynab or not?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : Zayyinab. How many letters is Zaynab? Four. If the feminine is four letters, we do not bring the ta, so we say for Zaynab: Zayyinab. Yes. Now, the author says:
"And it is rare *** for the ta to attach to what is a three-letter [word] that is numerous".
"It is anomalous to omit" means: it is anomalous to omit the ta for the feminine of a three-letter word when there is no ambiguity. As is well known, the anomalous is memorized and not used as a basis for analogy. Sometimes Ibn Malik expresses this by saying: "it is rare," which is the same thing:
"And it is rare *** for the ta to attach to what is a three-letter [word] that is numerous"
"What is a three-letter [word]"—what is its grammatical case? It is the object of "numerous," placed before it, because "numerous" means: increased, meaning increased, and it is not from the category of the intransitive verb "kathara." That is to say, in what exceeds three letters, it is rare for the ta to attach to it. And what is an example of omission without ambiguity? Do you have it in the explanation?
The student: Qaws.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: Qaws.
The Shaykh : Qaws?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is Qaws not a three-letter word?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is it feminine?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Or not feminine?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : "Give the bow to its archer," so it is feminine. If we were to diminutivize Qaws and say Quwayyisah, it would be contrary to the Arabic language, which is the standard of analogy. But in the language, it came as Quwayyisah, not Quwayys without the ta. Now, what is the meaning of "anomalous" and "rare"? The anomalous is that which contradicts the rules of the grammarians, but its occurrence is frequent in the language. The rare is that which is little used in the language, because "rare" means "little," and "anomalous" means "contradictory." So among the grammarians, what contradicts the rules is anomalous, even if its usage is frequent in the Arabic language. And what is rare, meaning little used in the language of the Arabs, is called rare, meaning little.
"And it is rare *** for the ta to attach to what is a three-letter [word] that is numerous"
The example?
The student: Qadam.
The Shaykh : Qadam, what? Is Qadam a noun?
The student: No, an adverb of place.
The Shaykh : Is it a feminine noun or not? They say that in Qaddam, if you want to diminutivize it, it is Qudayyidimah, even though it is more than three letters. How many letters is Qaddam?
The student: Four.
The Shaykh : Or five?
The student: Five, five.
The Shaykh : Qaddam has a Qaf and a doubled Dal, followed by an Alif and a Mim, so is it?
The student: Five.
The Shaykh : Five. Now, he says in it Qudayyidimah. If we said Maryam, how do we diminutivize it?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh? Maryam is four letters.
The student: Murayyim.
The Shaykh : Murayyim. We do not say Maryyimah, why? Because it is more than three letters, even though it is feminine. Do we say Zayyinab for Zaynab or not?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : Zayyinab. How many letters is Zaynab? Four. If the feminine is four letters, we do not bring the ta, so we say for Zaynab: Zayyinab. Yes. Now, the author says:
"And it is rare *** for the ta to attach to what is a three-letter [word] that is numerous".