Consider the following sentences:
nadija al-khawkh-u wa-al-ʿinab
— The peaches and the grapes ripened.
dakhala al-ustadh-u wa-al-mufattish-u al-fasl
— The teacher and the inspector entered the classroom.
al-tilmidh-u al-mujtahid-u yahtammu bi-durusi-hi hatta al-sahl-i min-ha
— The diligent pupil takes care of his lessons — even the easy ones.
ahdar-ta al-ʿard-a al-masrahiyy am al-sinimaʾi?
— Did you bring the theatrical performance, or the cinematic one?
If you reflect on the underlined words above, what do you notice about them?
You notice that they are preceded by particles. These particles are: waw, hatta, am — so what is the role of these particles in the speech?
Their role is to link two things. For this reason they are called huruf al-ʿatf (conjunction particles) or huruf al-rabt (linking particles). The expression before them is called al-maʿtuf ʿalayh (the one conjoined onto), and the one after them is called al-maʿtuf (the conjoined).
Notice that both al-maʿtuf and al-maʿtuf ʿalayh — these particles have made them share in one thing: iʿrab (case-marking). For this reason al-ʿatf is considered one of the tawabiʿ (followers/dependents).
al-waw — al-faʾ — thumma — aw — am — lakin — la — bal — hatta.
Conjunction Particles: Their Meanings and Examples
Al-waw ('and'): joins al-maʿtuf and al-maʿtuf ʿalayh in a single ruling, e.g.:
zara-ni Muhammad-un wa-Khalid
— Muhammad and Khalid visited me.
Al-faʾ ('and so / then'): conveys ordering, immediate succession, and sequence, e.g.:
jaʾa Khalid fa-ʿAliyy fa-Tariq
— Khalid came, then ʿAli, then Tariq.
Thumma ('then'): conveys ordering with a longer interval, e.g.:
badaʾ-tu al-qiraʾat-a thumma al-kitaba
— I started reading, then writing.
Aw ('or'): conveys choice or doubt, e.g.:
khudh hadha al-kitab-a aw dhaka
— Take this book or that one.
Am ('or — interrogative'): specifies one of two things, or equates them, e.g.:
a-tusafir am tajlis?
— Are you traveling, or staying?
La ('not'): affirms al-maʿtuf ʿalayh and negates al-maʿtuf, e.g.:
yafuz-u al-shujaʿ-u la al-jaban
— The brave one wins, not the coward.
Lakin ('but'): conveys correction; preceded by negation or interrogative, e.g.:
ma akal-tu ʿinaban lakin tuffahan
— I did not eat grapes — but apples.
Bal ('rather, but'): affirms what comes after it and negates what came before, e.g.:
lam akul lahman bal baydan
— I did not eat meat — but rather eggs.
Hatta ('even, until'): conveys an end-point (i.e., reaching the limit), e.g.:
sahir-tu hatta al-fajr
— I stayed up until dawn.
Types of Al-ʿAtf
Al-ʿatf is of two types: ʿatf al-nasaq (ordinary conjunction) and ʿatf al-bayan (explanatory apposition).
ʿAtf al-Nasaq
It is a follower-noun separated from its followed by a conjunction particle. This is the focus of today's topic, for which we have provided many examples.
ʿAtf al-Bayan
It is an underived (jamid) follower-noun resembling an attribute or descriptive adjective in clarifying its followed; no conjunction particle is needed for it. E.g.:
jaʾa Abu Hafs ʿUmar
— Abu Hafs ʿUmar came.
Here 'ʿUmar' is ʿatf al-bayan because it clarifies its followed ('Abu Hafs').
shakar-tu li-l-sadiq-i ʿAmir
— I thanked the friend ʿAmir.
Here 'ʿAmir' is ʿatf al-bayan because it clarifies its followed ('al-sadiq').
Question: What is the difference between al-naʿt (adjective) and ʿatf al-bayan?
Answer: ʿAtf al-bayan is jamid (underived); al-naʿt is mushtaqq (derived). E.g.:
jaʾat Hind-un ukht-u-ka
— Hind, your sister, came.
jaʾat Hind-un al-fadilat-u
— Hind, the virtuous one, came.
'Ukht' is a jamid noun, so it serves as ʿatf al-bayan; 'al-fadila' is a derived noun (from 'fadl' — virtue), so it serves as a naʿt.
Examples of Iʿrab for Al-ʿAtf
intasara Khalid-un wa-Yusuf
— Khalid and Yusuf were victorious.
intasara: a past-tense verb fixed on the manifest fatha at its end.
Khalid: the subject in the nominative, marked by the manifest damma at its end.
wa-Yusuf: the waw — a conjunction particle; Yusuf — a noun conjoined onto 'Khalid', in the nominative, marked by the manifest damma at its end.
raʾay-tu al-tullab-a hatta Zaydan
— I saw the students — even Zayd.
raʾaytu: a past-tense verb fixed on sukun; the taʾ is a connected pronoun fixed on damma, in the position of nominative as the subject.
al-tullab: a direct object in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha at its end.
hatta: a conjunction particle fixed on sukun.
Zaydan: conjoined onto 'al-tullab', in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha at its end.
taʿallam-i al-tibb-a aw al-handasata
— Learn medicine or engineering.
taʿallam: an imperative verb fixed on sukun, given a kasra here to avoid two sukuns meeting; the subject is an obligatorily concealed pronoun, implied as 'anta'.
al-tibb: a direct object in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha at its end.
aw: a conjunction particle fixed on sukun, with no place in iʿrab; given a kasra to avoid two sukuns meeting.
al-handasa: conjoined onto 'al-tibb', in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha at its end.
ma jaʾa-ni Zayd-un bal ʿAliyy
— Zayd did not come to me — but rather ʿAli.
ma: a particle of negation.
jaʾa-ni: a past-tense verb fixed on the manifest fatha at its end; the nun is the protective nun (nun al-wiqaya); the yaʾ is a connected pronoun fixed on sukun, in the position of accusative as the direct object.
Zayd: the subject in the nominative, marked by the manifest damma at its end.
bal: a conjunction particle.
ʿAliyy: conjoined onto 'Zayd', in the nominative, marked by the manifest damma at its end.
Examples of Al-ʿAtf from the Noble Quran
Allah Most High said:
"So We saved him and those with him in the laden ship." — Quran 26:119 (Sahih International)
wa-: a conjunction particle.
man: conjoined onto the connected pronoun 'haʾ' in 'anjayna-hu' — a relative pronoun fixed on sukun, in the position of accusative as a direct object.
"And Allah created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop..." — Quran 35:11 (Sahih International)
thumma: a conjunction particle.
min nutfa: conjoined onto 'min turab'.
"Say, 'Is the blind equivalent to the seeing? Or is darkness equivalent to light?'" — Quran 13:16 (Sahih International)
al-basir: conjoined onto 'al-aʿma'.
al-nur: conjoined onto 'al-zulumat'.
"They will say, 'We remained a day or part of a day...'" — Quran 23:113 (Sahih International)
aw: a conjunction particle.
baʿda: conjoined onto 'yawman' in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha at its end; a mudaf.