Category: الدرس الثامن: التعليم في البلدان العربية

GRAMMAR NOTE الضمير العائد‘The resumptive/referential pronoun’

In discussing relative clauses we referred to two types.  One modified a definite head noun and is introduced by the relative pronoun الذي , which as we know agrees with it in gender and number and is a definite relative clause referred to in Arabic as اسم موصول وصلته. The other modified an indefinite noun and occurred immediately after  it, referred to in Arabic as جملة  وصفية . Both clauses are internally identical in their inner construction  and contain a pronoun that refers to the head noun, called resumptive  or referential pronouns, known  in Arabic as العائد ; i.e. they are complete sentences (verbal or nominal/equational) linked to their head noun by العائد that agrees with it in gender, number, and case .                         

العائد occurs in a variety of places in the clause and its function depends entirely on its position in that clause:

1. It occurs as  subject in a verb-initial clause and is to be found within  the verb itself . Try to locate it in the following sentences.

رئيس يدعى الشيخ                                  a leader who is called “The Sheik”

كانوا وثنيين يعبدون …                             They were pagans who worshiped …

بعث فيهم شعوراً جديداً يقوم على مبادئ           It evoked in them a new spirit that rested on principles.

• It occurs as object of a verb; note that this pronoun object is not translated into English:

من الأحداث التي عرفها العرب    among the events that the Arabs experienced

جريدة الاهرام التي أنشأها صحافيّان               the Ahram newspaper which two journalists established

With a doubly transitive verb having one object as a pronoun, العائد is attached to the word إيّا

 تلك مساعدة وهبته إيّاها االحكومة.                 That is assistance which the government  gave him

3. It occurs as subject of an equational sentence.

وصف المرض الذي هو عدوّنا وعدوّكم            He described the malady which is our enemy and                                                                              yours.

برز عملان رئيسيان هما قاموسه … و …         Two works stand out which are his dictionary and …

ذكر اسم امرأة ساعدته هي اخته. He mentioned the name of a woman who helped him that is his sister.

Note in this last sentence the presence of two relative clauses where العائد  in both cases is subject .

• It occurs as  object of a preposition. Here it is normally rendered in English by the preposition and a relative pronoun:

كتاتيب يُعلَّم فيها القرآن               kuttabs in which the Qur’an was taught
المدارس التي  أُنشئ عدد منها         the schools, a number of which were established

صوتاً فيه قوّة الرحمة      a voice in which there was the power of mercy

سوق تدعى عكاظ  يبيعون فيها  a market known as :Ukaz” in which they sold …

ألقى نحوي نظرة خاطفة  فيها الحبّ والحنان       He gave me a quick look in which there was love and tenderness.

5. It occurs as the last term of an  اضافة. Here it is usually rendered as “whose” in English:

رئيس يخضع … افراد القبيلة لإدارته             a leader to whose authority the members of the tribe submitted

قُدّمت اقتراحات … هدفها  تيسير الكتابة      Recommendations were presented whose goals were  to facilitate writing.                                                                    .

المنظمة التي زرنا فروعها      the organization whose branches we visited

Note the difference between the following two constructions:

المناسبات التي تتطلّب استعمالَـَها        the occasions that require its (الفصحى ) use (that it be used)

المناسبات التي يتطلـّب استعمالـُها الفصحى                  the occasions whose use requires Standard Arabic.

6. العائد  also occurs in these same positions in clauses (though with less frequency)  with the indefinite pronouns ما و مَن (See Lesson 2 Grammar Note 2).  It  occurs in the clause  after  فـ  in an        امّا … فـ   construction (See Lesson 3 Grammar Note 4) and   in the comment of a topic-comment sentence , though in these two cases the referent is called رابط .  It also occurs in and is attached to the subject in a نعت سببي and is attached to the noun that follows the participle, which is invariably is its subject (See Lesson 7 Grammar Note 1 ).

• There are cases where العائد is not used and is dropped:

1. when  it is subject  and the predicate is a prepositional phrase:

شخّص المرض الذي(هو) فينا وحولنا            He diagnosed the disease which is in us and around us.

الأصدقاء والمعارف الذين (هم) بجانبنا كثيرون    Our friends and acquaintances who are at our side are many.

خذ كل الأشياء التي (هي) على الطاولة    Take all the things that are on the table.

2. when it is the object of a preposition in a phrase  whose antecedent is a time expression:

أُلاحظ ذلك في اوقات تكون ( فيها ) الاوضاع صعبة . I notice that at times during which  circumstances are hard.                                                   

هو بانتظار اللحظة التي سيعمل (فيها) معها.       He is awaiting the moment   on which  he will work with her.

c.  frequently with the indefinite pronouns        ‘that which’  and       ‘he who’

لم اكن عل علم بمَن  (هم) في الصف.     I was not in the know of who was in class.           

هذا ما كنت اتوقّع( ه ).                                       That is what I expected.
Lesson 8.   GRAMMAR NOTE 8  العائد  ‘The resumptive pronoun’

This pronoun appears mostly in جملة  وصفية/صلة اسم الموصول   indefinite/definite relative clauses. It occurs in a variety of places in the clause as:

1. subject marker in a sentence headed by  verb .

رئيس يدعى الشيخ                                  a head who is called Sheik

كانوا وثنيين يعبدون …                             they were pagans who worshiped …

بعث فيهم شعوراً جديداً يقوم على مبادئ           it evoked in them a new spirit that rested on principles

2. object of a verb:

من الأحداث التي عرفها العرب   among the events the Arabs experienced

جريدة الاهرام التي أنشأها صحافيّان               the Ahram newspaper which two journalists established

3. subject of an equational sentence.

شخـّص الداء الذي هو عدوّنا وعدوّكم

برز عملان رئيسيان هما قاموسه … و …         Two works stand out which are his dictionary and …

It is dropped in this case, if the predicate is a prepositional phrase:

شخّص المرض الذي (هو)  فينا وحولنا            He diagnosed the disease which is in us and around us.

الأصدقاء والمعارف الذين (هم) بجانبنا كثيرون    The friends who are by our side are many.

خذ كل الأشياء التي (هي) على الطاولة            Take the things which are on the table.

4. object of a preposition.

Here it is normally rendered by preposition + relative pronoun in English, if the English construction requires it:

كتاتيب يُعلَّم فيها القرآن         “kuttabs” in which the Qur’an was taught
المدارس التي  أُنشئ عدد منها                      the schools, a number of which were established

صوتاً فيه قوّة الرحمة      a voice in which there was the power of mercy

سوق تدعى عكاظ  يبيعون فيها …   (     a market known as ‘UkaZ’ in which thy sold …

Note that in the following sentence, English does not require a preposition:

السيارة التي وعدني بها                             the car which he promised me

This is not a function of relative clauses or resumptine pronouns but of two-word verbal phrases. If there is no prep. the rule does not apply here.

ألقى نحوي نظرة خاطفة  فيها الحبّ والحنان       He gave me a quick look in which there was love and tenderness.

5. the last term of an  اضافة .

Here it is usually rendered as ‘whose’ in English:

رئيس يخضع … افراد القبيلة لإدارته  (2, 2:4)           a leader to whose authority every member submitted

قدّمتْ اقتراحات … هدفها  تيسير الكتابة   (3, 5:3)        it presented recommendation whose goals were to facilitate writing     

المنظمة التي زرنا فروعها    the organization whose branches we visited

Note the difference between the following two constructions:

المناسبات التي تتطلّب استعمالَََـَها…   the occasions that require its (الفصحى ) use

المناسبات التي يتطلـّب استعمالـُها الفصحى      the occasions whose use requires  الفصحى

As you will remember this pronoun also occurs in these same positions in a topic-comment sentence and is attached to the subject in a نعت سببي .

It is important that you apply these rules when you compose in Arabic.

 GRAMMAR  NOTE 2 . الـ  ‘The Particle al-‘ 

This particle has the following three uses in Arabic:

1. التعريف ال ‘the definite article’

The basic meaning of the definite article in Arabic, as in English, is specified referent: the noun so defined has either been mentioned previously or is a specific item in the mind of the speaker and can be identified by the hearer, where it is the ‘article of the expected’ as in:

ماذا قال الرئيس في خطابه                What did the president say in his speech?

ذهبت الى البيت وفتحت النوافذ واستمعت الى الراديو ثمّ استخدمت الهاتف.

I went home, opened the windows, listened to the radio, and then used the phone.

It is also used by convention with many groups of nouns, contrary to English usage, such as:

a. Kinship terms when talking about close relations,  instead of using a personal pronoun, but whether it refers to the speaker’s or hearer’s relations would depend on the context:

إهدِ سلامي للوالد                                    Give my greetings to (your) father.

سأذهب لزيارة الجَدّة عند عودتي.    I’ll visit (my) grand mother upon my return.

زواجي منها لم يعجب الأسرة.   My marriage to her displeased the (=my/her) family.

استقبله كلّ الأقارب والجيران.   All (his) relatives and neighbors welcomed him.

b. Time and times, with days of the week, time of day, part of a day, seasons, routine daily activities:

يوم الخميس في الساعة الثانية والنصف            on Thursday at 3:30

c. Geographical names,  It is used  in some place names and geographical features:

اليابان، العراق، اليمن، القدس، الرياض، الفرات، الصحارى

d. Adverbial expressions of place and time:

الآنَ، اليومَ، الاسبوع القادم،                         now, today, next week

الى الأمام، الى الوراء، في الداخل والخارج        up front, to your back, inside, outside

e. With titles and names, except in direct address

الملك عبدالله     King Abdallah       الدكتورة نوال السعداوي   Dr. Nawal Al-Saadaawi

الرئيس اوباما    President Obama                     الشيخ محمد عبده         Shaikh Muhammad Abdo

البابا شنودة      Pope Shunudah     الاستاذ نهاد الموسى Prof. Nihad Al-Musa         

But: كيف حالك، يا استاذ أحمد  How are you, Professor Ahmad?

f. Expressions of quantity with adjectives expressing quantity or amount , such as  كثير، عديد، قليل،   , followed by مِنْ ,  which mean many/much, various, a few,

لا اعرف الكثير من امور السياسة.    I don’t know much about things political.   
واجه العديد من المشاكل.                           He encountered a lot of problems.

يعرفون العديدَ من الأمثال العربية.   They know many Arabic proverbs.

2. ال الجنسية او ال التي للجنس  ‘Generic ‘the’ in Arabic’     

1. Note the following sentences in the Basic Text of Lesson  7:

 ففيها الافتتاحيّاتُ التي تناقش … ، وفيها الأنباء العالمية والمحلّيّة، وفيها ايضا التعليقات …

In it there are leading articles which discuss.. , world and local news, and also commentaries.

We have here verbless sentences whose predicates are ‘existential’ and placed first, and we are accustomed to the subject of such sentences being indefinite as in  في المكتب طاولة كبيرة. Here, however, the subject has ال. On closer examination, it is clear that the particle is not the definite article, it is the generic article, known in Arabic as  ال الجنسية او ال التي للجنس , which indicates the general or ‘generic’ class (جِنس genus, class) of nouns, singular or plural, such as ‘news’, commentaries’, ‘editorials’, etc. , a class for which English does not use the article

.Another case where the particle is used in this way occurs in this lesson  in the third paragraph:

غير ان هناك بعض المدارس والمعاهد ِ الخاصّة الأهْليّة

but there are privately  owned schools and institutions

This could be ambiguous. If the context had  المدارس  refer to previously mentioned schools as in    هذه المدارس  or  مدارسها , the construction with   هناك  could not be used. In this lesson, however, the article is generic and the sentence means ‘there are some schools’; with هذه المدارس  or  مدارسها , the meaning is ‘some of these schools’ and ‘some of its schools’.

Here is another example (taken from the last paragraph of lesson 12):

… فـَعـُقـِدت المؤتمرات ووضعت الخطط المشتركة …

Conferences were held, and shared plans were laid, …

English generic nouns may be singular definite, like ‘the lion’ in:

 The lion is the king of the beasts.      الأسد ملك الحيوانات.

or indefinite plural as in:

Libraries are (The library is) the heart of the university

where no specific library or university is referred to, but all libraries in general

b. Several other examples of  ال الجنسية have occurred in this book  (see for example lessons 1 and 2, where we have items such as  اللحم، البصل ، الصناعة، الشِعر etc.. Once again, it is to be noted that English does not use the article in these cases.   In English the singular concrete noun is usually defined by the definite article, whereas plural concrete nouns are indefinite, as in “Today books are available in incredibly many forms.

•  In Arabic ال الجنسية  is used with nouns referring to institutions, customs, routine activities and predictable activities and objects It is thus used with these items:

abstract  nouns:  القراءة والكتابة    ‘reading and writing’, التعليم ‘education’ ,  

الديموقراطية   ‘democracy’  ,  الحب  ‘love’ ,        التقدّم  ‘progress’    الغضب   ‘anger’

food items:  الشاي   ‘tea’,   الحليب (اللبن)  ‘milk’,    القهوة   ‘coffee’

academic subjects: التاريخ  ‘history’   الجغرافيا،  ‘geography’,  الهندسة   ‘engenering’

names of languages: (Chinese) العربية، الفرنسية، الصينية

It may be useful to compare the use of the article in the two languages in the following:

 في المدرسة  in/at school                                     

بعد العشاء after supper       من الشروق الى الغروب from sunrise to sunset    

في الربيع in spring        الغداء في الساعة الثانية والنصف Dinner is at 1:30.

يتناولون ثلاث وجبات: الفطور والغداء العشاء     They take three meals: breakfast, dinner and supper.

• Another case where the article is used in this way occurs in this lesson 8 in the third paragraph:

غير ان هناك المدارس والمعاهد ِ الخاصّة الأهْليّة

but there are privately  owned schools and institutions

This could be ambiguous. If the context had  المدارس  refer to previously mentioned school as in    هذه المدارس  or  مدارسها , the construction with   هناك  could not be used. In this lesson, however, the article is generic and the sentence means ‘there are some schools’; with هذه المدارس  or  مدارسها , the meaning is ‘some of these schools’ and ‘some of its schools’.

These nuances are important to distinguish and ought to be in full control of students seeking the “Superior” level of proficiency, especially when it comes to productive skills.

3. الاسم الموصول الـ  ‘The Relative Pronoun “al-” ’

We encounter this usage mostly with participles and adjectives, used with verbal force singly, in an  ‘ اضافة غير حقيقيّة  ‘adjectival idafa’, and in  نعت سببيّ  (for these see notes in the previous lesson). Here are examples

.

كان الطلاب المتفوّقون الراغبون في التخصّص في الفِقـْه …  ينتقلون …

Advanced students who wished to specialize in Fiqh transferred to …

مُؤيـّدوه القائمون به والعاملون على إنجاحه

those who support it and are taking charge of it and those who are working to make it successful

الكتّاب الواسعي الشهرة          well known writers (“whose reputation is widespread”)

القواعد المعمول بها        the rules in force (“that are worked with’)

 الاحزاب السياسية المسموح بها قانونيّا            the parties that are officially recognized

المجلاّت المتميّزة المحتوى   magazines that have specialized content

You know of course that some of these adjectives and participles have come to be used strictly as nouns; in this case the “al-”  is the definite article. Some are used  with verbal force. Still others can be used with both meanings and can be treated as either. Here are other examples.

العارفون منكم يخبرون الجاهلين                   Those who know should inform those who don’t.

الصالح والطالح                                     The good and the bad.

المعروف عنه أنه …                                What is known about him is that …

الغريب أننا مكثنا في مكاننا      What is strange is that we stayed put.

من الصعب ان نفهم هذه السياسة   It is difficult to understand that policy.

من الجدير بالذكر…                                 It is worth mentioning …

الأحسن أنْ …                                       It is best to … (“the best to do is …”)

الأنكى من كلّ ذلك أنه …  What is worse (lit. the worst thing of all), is that he …

GRAMMAR  NOTE 3  Coordinated Noun Phrase as مضاف معطوف

Let us examine the expression   تشجيع وتيسير التعليم  .

According to the strict rule, the مضاف  in an إضافة  should consist of one single noun only, not a coordinated noun phrase of two or more items , and hence the example should read  تشجيع التعليم وتيسيره   . This rule still applies; however the rendering with the coordinated noun phrase as  مضاف   is widely used today and seems to be gaining ground.