Definite: definiteness or state
Definiteness is typically a feature of nouns, adjectives and articles. Its value distinguishes whether we are talking about something known and concrete, or something general or unknown. It can be marked on definite and indefinite articles, or directly on nouns, adjectives etc. In Arabic, definiteness is also called the “state”.
Ind: indefinite
Examples
- [en] a dog
Def: definite
Examples
- [en] the dog
Red: reduced
Used in construct state in Arabic. If two nouns are in genitive relation, the first one (the “nomen regens”) has “reduced definiteness,” the second is the genitive and can be either definite or indefinite. Reduced form has neither the definite morpheme (article), nor the indefinite morpheme (nunation).
Examples
- [ar] indefinite state: حلوَةٌ_ḥulwatun_ “a sweet”; definite state: الحلوَةُ al-ḥulwatu “the sweet”; حلوَةُ ḥulwatu “sweet of”.
Com: complex
Used in improper annexation in Arabic. The genitive construction described above normally consists of two nouns (first reduced, second genitive). That is called proper annexation or iḍāfa. If the first member is an adjective or adjectivally used participle and the second member is a definite noun, the construction is called improper annexation or false iḍāfa. The result is a compound adjective that is usually used as an attributive adjunct and thus must agree in definiteness with the noun it modifies. Its first part (the adjective or participle) may get again the definite article. Although it may look the same as the form for the definite state, it is assigned a special value of complex state to reflect the different origin. See also Hajič et al. page 3.
Examples:
- [ar] مُخْتَلِفٌ muxtalifun “different/various” (active participle, Form VIII); نَوْعٌ ج أنْوَاعٌ nawˀun ja anwāˀun “kind”; مُخْتَلِفُ الأنْوَاعِ muxtalifu al-anwāˀi “of various kinds” (false iḍāfa); مَشَاكِلُ مُخْتَلِفَةُ الأنْوَاعِ mašākilu muxtalifatu al-anwāˀi “problems of various kinds”; اَلْمَشَاكِلُ الْمُخْتَلِفَةُ الأنْوَاعِ al-mašākilu al-muxtalifatu al-anwāˀi “the problems of various kinds”.
Definite in other languages: [bg] [cs] [de] [el] [en] [es] [eu] [fa] [fr] [ga] [he] [hu] [it] [ja] [ko] [sv] [u]