Going high with رفع, Part 1: ضمة

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

We know that there are four types of status, each with a default indicator and substitutes for it.  Here, we’re going to look at the first status, رَفْع (raf’), along with when the ضَمَّة (dhammah) will be its indicator.

From the Ajurroomiyyah:

لِلرَّفْعِ أَرْبَعُ عَلاماتٍ: الضَّمَّةُ والْواوُ وَالْأَلِفُ وَالنُّوْنُ

Raf’ has 4 indicators: The ضمة (dhammah), the letter و, the letter ا and the letter ن.

You can figure out that a word is in raf’ by one of these four indicators, one being the default and the others sometimes substituting for it:

1. Dhammah
2. و
3. ا
4. ن

This section covers when dhammah is used to show raf’.

فَأمَّا الضَمَّةُ فَتَكُونُ عَلامَةً لِلرَّفْعِ فِي أرْبَعَةِ مَوَاضِعَ: الاسْمِ المُفْرَدِ وَجَمْعِ التَكْسِيْرِ وَجَمْعِ المُؤَنَّثِ السَّالِمِ وَالْفِعْلِ المُضَارِعِ الَّذِيْ لَمْ يَتَّصِلْ بِآخِرِهِ شَيْءٌ

As for dhammah, it is a sign of raf’ in 4 situations: The اسم of the singular, the broken plural, the sound feminine plural, and the فعل of the present tense with nothing attached to its end.

The dhammah is a sign of raf’ in four situations (explanation of each to follow):

1. The اسم of the singular
2. The broken plural
3. The sound feminine plural
4. The فِعل of the present tense which has nothing attached to its end (no ا of the dual, no و of the plural, no ي of addressing 2nd person, no ن of light or heavy emphasis, and no ن of the feminine plural)

الاسم المُفْرَد (The اسم of the singular)

This is the singular noun, which means:

• excluding dual or plural nouns or other nouns grouped with them
• excluding special nouns called “The Five Nouns” (more on them in the section where و substitutes for dhammah)
• can be masculine, such as: مُحمدٌ (Muhammad), عَلِيٌّ (Ali), ُحَمزَة (Hamzah)
• can be feminine, such as فاطِمَةُ (Fatimah), عائشَةُ (Aishah), or زَيْيَبُ (Zaynab)
• can have an apparent dhammah at the end, as in حَضَرَ مُحمدٌ (“Muhammad came”) and سافَرَتْ فاطِمَةُ (“Fatimah traveled”)
• can have an implied dhammah at the end, as in حَضَرَالفَتَى وَالقاضِي وَأخِي (“The judge, the youth and my brother came”) and in تَزَوَّجَتْ لَيْلى وَنُعْمى (“Laylaa and Nu’maa both got married”)

The words ٌمُحَمَّد and فاطِمَةُ are in the state of raf’, and the indicator of raf’ is the apparent dhammah.

The words فَتَى ,لَيْلَى, and نُعْمى are also in raf’, but the indicator is an implied dhammah on the ى at their ends, because it’s impossible to place a vowel on a ى.

The word قاضِيْ is in raf’, but its indicator is an implied dhammah upon its ending ي, due to the difficulty in pronouncing it.

The word أخِي is in raf’, and its indicator is an implied dhammah on the letter (خ) before the ي of the speaker. The kasrah on the خ is associated with the ي used for the speaker, and it prevents another vowel from being placed on the خ.

جَمْعُ الْتَّكْسِيْرِ (The broken plural)

The broken plural is: Whatever indicates the plural (more than one or two) along with changing the form of its singular. There are six kinds of changes found in the broken plural:

1. Changes in vowelization only

As in:

• أَسَدٌ (“a lion”) and أُسُدٌ (“lions”)
• نَمِرٌ (“tiger”) and نُمُرٌ (“tigers”)

The letters of the singular and the plural are the same in both examples. The difference between them is only in the vowels on them.

2. Change by shortening only

As in:

• تُهَمَةٌ (“an accusation”) and تُهَمٌ (“accusations”)
• تُخَمَةٌ (“indigestion”) and its plural تُخَمٌ

The plural has decreased by a letter in these two examples, which is ة, and the rest of the letters stay as they were.

3. Change by addition only

As in:

• صِنْوٌ and its plural صِنْوانٌ (“date palms that comes out from a single root”)

4. Change in vowelization and by shortening

As in:

• سَرِيْرٌ (“bed”) and its plural سُرُرٌ
• كِتابٌ (“book”) and its plural كُتُبٌ
• أَحْمَرُ (“red”) and its plural حُمُرٌ
• أَبْيَضُ (“white”) and its plural بِيضٌ

5. Change in vowelization and by adding letters

As in:

• سَبَبٌ (“cause”) and its plural أسْبابٌ
• بَطَلٌ (“hero”) and its plural أَبْطال
• هِنْدٌ (A woman’s name) and its plural هُنُود (women named “Hind”)
• سَبُعٌ (“predatory animal”) and its plural سِباعٌ
• ذِئْبٌ (“wolf”) and its plural ذِئابٌ
• شُجاعٌ (“a brave one”) and its plural شُجْعان

6. Change in vowelization, removing letters and adding letters

As in:

• كَرِيمٌ (“a generous one”) and its plural ُكُرَماء
• رَغِيفٌ (“loaf”) and its plural رُغْفان
• كاتِبٌ (“writer”) and its plural كُتّابٌ
• أَمِيرٌ (“leader”) and its plural ُأُمَراء

All of these kinds of broken plurals are in raf’ using dhammah, regardless if:

• the word for the plural is masculine as in رِجالٌ (“men”) and كُتَابٌ (“writers”),
• or if the feminine is intended, as in هُنُودُ (women named “Hind”) or زَيانِبُ (women named “Zaynab”),
• or if the dhammah is apparent, as in the previous examples,
• or implied as in سُكارى (“intoxicated ones”), جَرْحى (“wounded ones”), عذارى (“virgins”) and حَبالى (“pregnant ones”).

One says قام الرِجالُ والزَيانِبُ (“The men and the Zaynabs stood”) and finds that both of these words are in raf’ using the apparent dhammah.

One says حَضَرَ الجَرْحى والعَذارى (“The wounded ones and virgins attended”). الجرحى and العذارى are both in raf’ using the implied dhammah on the final ى at their ends. What prevents the dhammah from showing is the impossibility of placing a vowel on ى.

ُحَمْعُ المُؤَنَّثِ السالِم (The sound feminine plural)

The sound feminine plural is when we make a noun into a plural by adding ا and ت to its ending.  It’s called “sound”, because the original structure of the word remains intact (i.e. safe and sound).  All we did was pop an ending (ات) on to make it plural.  If you mess with that structure, then you’ve broken it and it becomes a broken plural that we just mentioned.  Examples:

• زَيْنَباتٌ (“Zaynabs”), the plural of ُزَيْنَب
• فاطِماتٌ (“Fatimahs”), the plural of فَاطِمَةُ
• حَمّاماتٌ (“doves”), the plural of حَمّامَةٌ

One would say جاءَ الْزَيْنَباتُ وَسافَرَ الفاطِماتُ (“The Zaynabs came and the Fatimahs traveled”). The words الزينابتُ and الفاطماتُ are both in raf’, and the sign is the apparent dhammah.

The dhammah is never implied on the sound feminine plural, except when the plural is added to the ي of the speaker, as in هَذِه شَجَراتِيْ وبَقَراتِي (“These are my trees and cows”).

Note:

If either the ا or the ت is found in the singular instead of being added to it for the plural, you’re not looking at a sound feminine plural; you’re looking at a broken plural.

If the ا is not an addition to the word, but is actually found in its singular, as in the following, it’s a broken plural, not a sound feminine plural:

• ْالقاضِي (“the judge”) and its plural القُضاةُ
• ْالداعِي (“the caller”) and its plural الدُعاةُ

Likewise, if the ت is not an addition to word, but is actually found in its singular, as in the following, it’s a broken plural and not a sound feminine plural:

• مَيّت (“one who dies”) and its plural أمْوات
• بَيْت (“line of a poem”) and its plural أبْيات
• صَوْت (“voice”) and its plural أْصْوات

The فِعل مُضارِع with nothing attached to the end

The فعل مضارع (present tense verb) is like يَضْرِبُ (“he hits”) and يَكْتُبُ (“he writes”). Each of these is in raf’, and the sign is the apparent dhammah.

Likewise, ْيَدْعُو (“he calls”) and ْيَرْجُو (“he hopes”) are in raf’ using the implied dhammah upon the و, due to heaviness of pronunciation.

Likewise are يَقْضِيْ (“he judges”) and يُرْضِيْ (“he pleases”). They are in raf’ using the implied dhammah upon the ي, due to the heaviness of pronunciation.

Likewise are يَرْضَى (“He is satisfied”) and يَقْوَى (“he becomes strong”). Each is in raf’, using the implied dhammah upon the ى, due to impossibility of placing a vowel on ى.

The words “which has nothing attached to its end (no ا of the dual, no و of the plural, no ي of addressing 2nd person” excludes verbs that have the following things attached to them.  Taking يَكْتُبُ (“he writes”) and يَنْصُرُ (“he helps”) as example verbs:

• the ا of the dual, such as يَكْتُبانِ (“They [2] write”) and يَنْصُرانِ (“They [2] help”)
• the و of the plural, such as يَكْتُبُونَ (“They all write”) and يَنْصُرُونَ (“They all help”)
• the ي of addressing the feminine 2nd person, such as تَكْتُبِينَ (“You [single female] write”) and تَنْصُرِينَ (“You [s.f.] help”)

These are not showing raf’ using dhammah, but instead using the presence of the final ن at their ends. The ا (alif), و or the ي would be the known as the فاعِل (doer) of the action, and the explanation of that comes later in the section where ن substitutes for dhammah in the “five verbs”.

The words “and no ن of light or heavy emphasis” excludes the فعل مضارع that has one of the two ن’s of emphasis at the end, such as His saying: لَيُسْجَنَنَّ ولَيَكُنًا مِن الصاغِرِيْن (“He shall certainly be imprisoned and certainly be disgraced” [12:32]). The فعل مضارع would be then be fixed upon فتحة.

Finally, “and no ن of the feminine plural” excludes the فعل مضارع with the ن of the feminine plural at the end, such as His saying: وَوالِداتُ يُرْضِعْنَ (“and the mothers breastfeed…” [2:233]). The فعل مضارع would then be fixed upon sukoon.

From the Quran

This page of the Quran (31:20-28) has examples for all four of these situations:

Some notes:

• The word ليَقُولُنَّ in the 6th last row is an example of a verb with the heavy ن of emphasis.  The light ن would have sukoon instead of a شّدّة (doubled vowel) on it.
• The words يُجادلُ, نَتّبعُ, يَدْعُوْ, نُنَبِّئُ, نُمَتِّعُ, نَضْطرُّ, يَمُدُّ are present tense verbs
• The words الشيطانُ, مُحسنٌ, عاقبةُ, كُفرُ, مَرجعُ,عليمٌ, اللهُ, الحمدُ, أكثَرُ, الغَنِيُّ, الحَميدُ, البحرُ, سبعةُ, عزيزٌ, حكيم, خلقُ, بَعثُ, سَمِيعٌ, بَصِيرٌ are all singular nouns
• أقلامٌ is the broken plural for قَلَمٌ (pen)
• كََلِمات is the sound feminine plural for كَلِمَة (word).  Notice the ات ending.
• The word يَدْعُوْ has an implied dhammah

Exercise

Detail the words that are in raf’ status using dhammah and the types of these words, along with whether the dhammah is explicit or implicit and the reason for it being implicit in the following sentences:

• قالتْ أعرابِيّةٌ لِرَجُلٍ: ما لَكَ تُعْطِيْ وَلا تَعِدُ؟ قالَ ما لَكِ وَالْوَعْدَ ؟ قالَتْ يَنْفَسِحُ بِهِ البَصَرُ, وَيَنتَشِرُ فِيهِ الأمَلُ, وَتَطِيبُ بِذِكْرِهِ النُفُوسُ وَيَرْخى بِه العَيشُ وَتُكتَسَبُ به المَواداتُ, وَيُربَحُ به المَدحُ وَالوَفاءُ – An Arab woman said to a man, What’s the matter with you that you give but you don’t give promises? He said, “What have you got to do with promises?” She replied, “By it, the sight opens up, hope spreads, the spirits become happy, life becomes relaxed, love is earned and praise is gained”
• الخَلْقُ عِيالُ اللهِ فأحَبُّهُمْ لِلهِ أنْفَعُهُمْ لِعِيالِهِ – The creation are Allah’s dependents (عِيال), so the most beloved of them to Allah are the most beneficial of them to His dependents
• أولى الناسِ بِالعَفوِ أقْدَرُهُمْ على العُقُوبةِ – The most people most suited to pardon are those who have the most ability to punish
• عِنْدَ الشدائدِ تُعْرَُفُ الإخْوانُ – During hardships are when brothers are known
• تَهُوْنُ البَلايا بِالصَبْرِ – ِAfflictions become insignificant with patience
• الخَطايا تُظْلِمُ القَلْبَ – Sins darken the heart
• القِرى إكرامُ الضَيفِ – Hospitality is honoring the guest
• الداعِيْ إلى الخَيرِ كَفاعِلِهِ – The caller to good is like its doer
• الظُلمُ ظُلُماتٌ يَومَ القِيامةِ – Oppression is darkness on the Day of Judgment

Questions

1. In how many situations is the dhammah the sign of raf’?
2. What is meant by “singular noun”?
3. Bring 4 examples of the singular nouns:
   1. Male with an explicit dhammah at its end
   2. Male with an implied dhammah at its end
   3. Female with an explicit dhammah at its end
   4. Female with an implied dhammah at its end
4. What is a “broken plural”?
5. How many kinds are changes are there for the broken plural, with 2 examples of each?
6. Give an example of a broken masculine plural with an implied dhammah.
7. Give an example of a broken feminine plural with an explicit dhammah.
8. What is the sound feminine plural?
9. Is the dhammah implied for the sound feminine plural?
10. If the ا in a plural that ends with ات is not an added one, what kind of plural is it?
    1. With an example?
    2. How does it show its status in the ending?
11. When does the present tense action take raf’ using means of dhammah?
12. Give three different examples for فعل مضارع with an implied dhammah.

Until next time, السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

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