Al-
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- For other uses, see AL.
Al- (Arabic: ال۔, also transliterated as el-) is a prefix in the Arabic language which functions as a definite article, equivalent to the English word 'the'. However, al- never stands as a word by itself, but is always joined to the beginning of the word it modifies — for example, 'the book' is al-kitāb, which is written الكتاب. Like the English word 'the', al- is not a permanent component of words it is attached to; it is only prefixed to a word to make the word definite — continuing the example, 'a book', or simply 'book', is kitāb, which is written كتاب, as Arabic does not have an indefinite article. Unlike English usage, Arabic grammar requires al- to be used with adjectives modifying the definite noun. For example, 'the big book' in English requires only one instance of 'the', but in Arabic it is al-kitāb al-kabīr, written الكتاب الكبير, with two instances of al- (DEF-book-DEF-big, literally, 'the book the big'). Hebrew, another language in the Semitic family, has similar rules for the use of its definite article.
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[edit] Phonology
Arabic phonology also heavily influences the way al- is pronounced by native speakers. When the article is prefixed to words that start with certain consonants, known as ḥuruf šamsiyyat, or 'solar letters', the l of the article disappears as gemination of the consonant occurs. For example, 'sun' is shams (šams), and 'the sun' is written الشمس, or al-shams, but is pronounced as if it were ash-shams. There are fourteen sun letters; the remaining consonants, which do not geminate, are known as ḥuruf qamariyyat, 'moon letters'. For example, in the transliteration of ‘Izz ad-Dīn al-Qassām (عزّ الدين القسّام), the sun letter dal is geminated, while the moon letter qaf is not. In both cases, al- is written the same way, but where the following consonant is a sun letter it is marked with shadda to show that it is geminated in pronunciation and that the l should not be pronounced.
The vowel of al- (fatḥa) is sometimes written as u or e (giving ul- or el-). This is often because this rather neutral, short vowel is often pronounced with a vowel that is perceived to be closer to u or e in other languages. However, it is also possible for the Arabic vowel of al- to assimilate with a preceding vowel. Al- begins with a type of hamza called hamzatu l-waṣl (همزة الوصل) that is sounded as a glottal stop at the beginning of a sentence or after a consonant, but indicates elision with a preceding vowel. This feature is important in Classical Arabic, where the vowels of the case endings for the nominative, accusative and genitive cases are still used. It is of less importance in Modern Standard Arabic or colloquial Arabic, as these vowelled endings are not used. Thus, in Modern Standard Arabic, البيت الكبير is al-bait al-kabīr ('the big book'), but classically it is al-baitu l-kabīru, with the two final u vowels marking the nominative case. The classical pronunciation is often retained in proper names, particularly for case endings in the middle of a genitive compound. Most notably, عبد الله without case endings would be ‘Abd Allah (the name meaning 'servant of (the) God'); with case endings, it is ‘Abdu llahi (with the u marking the nominative, and i for the genitive), but the final case ending is usually omitted, giving ‘Abdu llah. This occurs in many Muslim religious names. For example, عبد الرحمن is ‘Abdu r-Raḥmān ('servant of the Merciful'), where the vowel of al- is elided with the preceding case ending, and the consonant l geminates with the following r, being a solar letter.
[edit] Nisbah
In a similar way, al- can be attached to nouns or adjectives within the name of a person. A major component of Arabic names is the nisba, or place-of-origin identifier. Maṣr (مصر), for instance, is the Arabic word for Egypt. Adding the suffix -ī produces the nisba Maṣrī, 'Egyptian'. When al- is added, the nisba becomes definite: 'the Egyptian'. Definite nisbas are often found at the end of Arabic names, following kunyas and other elements. Even though al- is a removable prefix, when it is used as part of a nisba to refer to a specific person it is retained even if other elements of the name are omitted. For instance, on second reference ’Abū Muṣ‘ab az-Zarqāwī (أبومصعب الزرقاوي) would be referred to as az-Zarqāwī, meaning 'the man from Zarqā’'.
In the Qur'an, the prefix al- is represented in different ways according to the harakat. For example, if the damma is present and comes after kitāb (making its classical pronunciation kitābu), then the phrase al-kitāb al-kabīr becomes al-kitābu 'l-kabīru, with the initial vowel of the second al- elided with the previous vowel. Moreover, if the kasra is present and comes after kitāb (making it kitābi), then the phrase becomes al-kitābi 'l-kabīri. This rule is only performed when reading the Qur'an or when speaking in eloquent Arabic.
[edit] Semitic etymology
Some earlier Semiticists (e.g. Davidson, Weingreen) have hypothesised that the Arabic definite article al- (ال۔) and the Hebrew definite article ha- (ה־) have origins in a proto-Semitic definite article *hal- (هل۔/הל־; without an alif/alef, since the definite articles lack long vowels). Supporters of this theory sometimes cite the Arabic word 'this': hadhā (هذا), which, when combined with a definite phrase, often shortens from hadhā al-bayt (this house) to hal-bayt (هذا البيت becomes هلبيت).
Another view is that:
- l or al is in origin a demonstrative pronoun, forming the root of Arabic ula'i and Hebrew eleh (these).
- The Hebrew article ha- is derived from a separate demonstrative, found in Aramaic as hā (that) and represented in Arabic by the (optional) first syllable of (ha)dhā (this) and (ha)'ula'i (these).
- The form hal-bayt is simply a shortening of hā al bayt or hadhā al bayt and not evidence for an original form *hal underlying both Hebrew and Arabic articles.
[edit] References
- Alosh, Mahdi (2000). Ahlan wa Sahlan: Functional Modern Standard Arabic for Beginners. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Haywood, JA, HM Nahmad [1962] (2005). A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language, 2nd edition, Aldershot, Hampshire, UK: Lund Humphries. ISBN 0-85331-585-X.
- Weingreen, J [1939] (1952). “The Article”, A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew. Oxford University Press, 23–24. “The definite article 'the' is said to have been originally הל (like the Arabic 'al'). When attached to a word it defined (e.g. הלמלך 'the king'), the vowelless ל was assimilated and the following letter was consequently doubled, with Dagheš Forte (p. 15) המלך.”
- Explanation of the Arabic prefix 'AL-'
