This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
أَىٌّ ذ is a noun, used in five different manners. (Mughnee.) One of its meanings is that of an interrogative, (T, S, M, Mughnee, K,) relating to intellectual beings and to non-intellectual things; [meaning Who? which? and what?] (S, M, K;) and as such, it is a decl. noun: (S:) it is said in the K to be a particle; (MF;) and so in the M; (TA;) but this is wrong: (MF:) and it is added in the K that it is indecl.; (MF;) and it is said to be so in the M, accord. to Sb, in an instance to be explained below; (TA;) but this is only when it is a conjunct noun [like الَّذِى], or denotes the object of a vocative: (MF:) or, accord. to some, it is decl. as a conjunct noun also. (Mughnee.) You say, أَيُّهُمْ أَخُوكَ [Who, or which, of them, is thy brother?]. (S.) Another ex. is the saying [in the Kur vii. 184, and last verse of lxxvii.], فَبِأَىِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ [And in what announcement, after it, will they believe?]. (Mughnee.) Sometimes it is without teshdeed; as in the saying (of El-Farezdak, M), “ ↓ تَنَظَّرْتُ نَصْرًا وَالسِّمَاكَيْنِ أَيْهُمَا
عَلَىَّ مِنَ الغَيْثِ ا@سْتَهَلَّتْ مَوَاطِرُهْ
” [I looked for rain, or aid from the clouds, and the two Simáks (stars so called). Of which of them two did the rains pour vehemently upon me from the clouds?]: (M, Mughnee, K: * [in the last of which, only the former hemistich is given, with نَسْرًا (meaning the star or asterism so called) instead of نَصْرًا:]) so by poetic licence: (M:) IJ says that for this reason the poet has elided the second ى, but should have restored the first ى to و, because it is originally و. (TA. [But this assertion, respecting the first ى, I regard as improbable.]) ↓ أَيْمَ , also, is a contraction of أَىُّ مَا, meaning أَىُّ شَىْءٍ: so in the saying, أَيْمَ هُوَ يَا فُلَانُ [What thing is it, O such a one?]: and أَيْمَ تَقُولُ [What thing sayest thou?]. (TA in art. ايم.) In like manner, also, ↓ أَيْشَ is used as a contraction of أَىُّ شَىْءٍ. (Ks, TA in art. جرم.) A poet speaks of his companions as being بِأَىَ وَأَيْنَمَا; making أَىّ the name of the quarter (جِهَة); so that, being determinate and of the feminine gender, it is imperfectly declinable. (M. [See أَينٌ; under which head two other readings are given; and where it is said that the verse in which this occurs is by Homeyd Ibn-Thowr.]) أَىّ is never without a noun or pronoun to which it is prefixed, except in a vocative expression and when it is made to conform with a word to which it refers, as in cases to be exemplified hereafter. (Mughnee.) Being so prefixed, it is determinate; but sometimes, [as in the latter of the cases just mentioned,] it is not so prefixed, yet has the meaning of a prefixed noun. (S.) When used as an interrogative, it is not governed, as to the letter, though it is as to the meaning, by the verb that precedes it, but by what follows it; as in the saying in the Kur [xviii. 11], لِنَعْلَمَ أَىُّ الحِزْبَيْنِ أَحْصَى [That we might know which of the two parties was able to compute]; and in the same [xxvi. last verse], وَسَيَعْلَمُ ا@لَّذَينَ ظَلَمُوا أَىَ مُنْقَلَبٍ يَنْقَلِبُونَ [And they who have acted wrongly shall know with what a translating they shall be translated]: (Fr, * Th, Mbr, T, S: *) when it is governed by the verb before it, it has not the interrogative meaning, as will be shown hereafter. (Fr, T.) In the saying of the poet, “ تَصِيحُ بِنَا حَنِيفَةُ إِذْ رَأَتْنَا
وَأَىَّ الأَرْضِ تَذْهَبُ لِلصِّيَاحِ
” [Haneefeh (the tribe so named) shout to us when they see us. And to what place of the earth, or land, will they go for the shouting?], أَىّ is in the accus. case because the prep. إِِلَى is suppressed before it. (S.) When they separate it [from what follows it, not prefixing it to another noun], the Arabs say أَىٌ, and in the dual أَيَّانِ, and in the pl. أَيُّونَ; and they make it fem., saying أَيَّةٌ, and [in the dual] أَيَّتَانِ, and [in the pl.] أَيَّاتٌ: but when they prefix it to a noun, properly so called, not a pronoun, they make it sing. and masc., saying أَىُ الرَّجُلَيْنِ [Who, or which, of the two men?], and أَىُ المَرْأَتَيْنِ [Who, or which, of the two women?], and أَىُّ الّرِجَالِ [Who, or which, of the men?], and أَىُّ النِّسَآءِ [Who, or which, of the women?]: and when they prefix it to a fem. pronoun, they make it masc. [as when they prefix it to a masc. pronoun] and fem., saying أَيُّهُمَا and أَيَّتُهُمَا [Who, or which, of them two?], meaning women; (Fr, T;) [the latter of which seems to be the more common; for ISd says,] sometimes they said أَيُّهُنَّ [Who, or which, of them? referring to women], meaning أَيَّتُهُنَّ. (M.) It is said in the Kur [xxxi. last verse], وَمَا تَدْرِى نَفْسٌ بِأَىِّ أَرضٍ تَمُوتُ [And a person knoweth not in what land he will die]: (S:) but some read بِأَيَّةِ أَرْضٍ; and Sb compares this fem. form to كُلَّتُهُنَّ. (Bd.) When it is used as an interrogative relating to an indeterminate noun in a preceding phrase, أَىّ is made to conform with that indeterminate noun in case-ending and in gender and in number; and this is done [alike, accord. to some,] in the case of its connexion with a following word and in the case of a pause; so that, [in the case of a pause,] to him who says, جَآءَنِى رَجُلٌ [A man came to me], you say, [accord. to the authorities alluded to above,] أَىٌّ [Who?]; and to him who says, رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا [I saw a man], أَيَّا [Whom?]; and to him who says, مَرَرْتُ بِرَجلٍ [I passed by a man], أَىٍّ [Whom?]: and in like manner, [accord. to all authorities,] in the case of its connexion with a following word; as أَىُّ يَا فَتَى [Who, O young man?], and أَيَّا يَا فَتَى [Whom, O young man?], and أَىٍ يَا فَتَى [Whom, O young man?]: and in the case of the fem. you say, أَيَّةٌ and أَيَّةً and أَيَّةٍ [in the nom. and accus. and gen. respectively]; and in the dual, أَيَّانِ and أَيَّتَانِ in the nom. case [masc. and fem. respectively], and أَيَّيْنِ and أَيَّتَيْنِ in the accus. and gen. cases [masc. and fem. respectively]; and in the pl., [with the like distinction of genders,] أَيُّونَ and أَيَّاتٌ in the nom. case, and أَيِّينَ and أَيَّاتٍ in the accus. and gen. cases. (I' Ak p. 319.) [Exs. in cases of pause, agreeing with the foregoing rules, are given in the T; and exs. in cases of connexion with following words, agreeing with the foregoing, are given in the Mughnee: but J gives rules differing from the foregoing in some respects; and IB gives rules differing in some points both from the foregoing and from those of J.] It is said in the S, أَىّ is made to conform with indeterminate nouns significant of intellectual beings and of nonintellectual things, and is used as an interrogative; and when it is thus used in reference to an indeterminate noun, you make it to have a caseending like that of the noun respecting which it demands positive information; so that when it is said to you, مَرَّبِى رَجُلٌ [A man passed by me], you say, أَىٌّ يَا فَتَى [Who, O young man?], thus giving it a case-ending [like that of رَجُلٌ] when it is in connexion with a following word; and you indicate the case-ending [by the pronunciation termed الرَّوْمُ, saying أَىُّ, with a somewhat obscure utterance of the final vowel,] in pausing; and if one says, رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا [I saw a man], you say, أَيَّا يَافَتَى [Whom, O young man?], giving it a case-ending [like that of رَجُلًا], with tenween, when it is [thus] in connexion with a following word; and you pause upon the ا, saying أَيَّا; and when one says, مَرَرْتُ بِرَجُلٍ [I passed by a man], you say, أَىٍّ يَافَتَى [Whom, O young man? in a case of connexion with a following word; and أَىِّ in a case of pausing]: you conform with what the other has said, in the nom. and accus. and gen. cases, in the case of connexion with a following word and in that of pausing: but IB says that this is correct only in the case of connexion with a following word; for in the case of a pause, you say only أَىّْ, in the nom. and gen., with sukoon; and you imitate in both of these cases only when you use the dual form or the pl.: it is added in the S, you say in the cases of the dual and pl. and fem. like as we have said respecting مَنْ: when one says, جَآءَنِى رِجَالٌ [Men came to me], you say, أَيُّونْ [Who?], with the ن quiescent; and أَيِينْ in the accus. and gen.: but IB says, the correct mode is to say, أَيُّونَ and أَيِّنَ, with fet-h to the ن in both; [meaning that this is the only allowable mode in the case of connexion with a following word, and app. that it is the preferable mode in the case of a pause;] the quiescent ن being allowable only in the case of a pause, and with respect to مَنْ, for you say مَنُونْ and مَنِينْ with the quiescent ن only: it is then added in the S, you say, also, أَيَّهْ [Who? and whom?] in using the fem. [in a case of pause]; but in a case of connexion with a following word, [when referring to a noun in the accus.,] you say, أَيَّةً يَا هٰذَا [Whom, O thou? in the sing.], and أَيَّاتٍ [in the pl.; and in like manner, أَيَّةٌ in the nom. sing., and أَيَّةٍ in the gen. sing.; and أَيَّاتٌ in the nom. pl., and أَيَّاتٍ in the gen. pl.]: but when the interrogation refers to a determinate noun, أَىّ is in the nom. case (with refa) only. (TA.) [See also أَيَّانَ, below.] ― -b2- [In other cases, now to be mentioned, it is used alike as sing., dual, and pl.] ― -b3- It also denotes a condition; (T, S, M, Mughnee;) in which case, also, it is a decl. noun, applied to an intellectual being and to a non-intellectual thing. (S.) So in the saying, أَيُّهُمْ يُكْرِمْنِى أُكْرِمْهُ [Whichever of them treats me with honour, I will treat him with honour]. (S.) So, too, in the saying [in the Kur xvii. 110], أَيًّا مَا تَدْعُوا فَلَهُ الأَسْمَآءُ الحُسْنَى [Whichever ye call Him, He hath the best names]. (T, * Mughnee.) And in the saying [in the same, xxviii. 28], أَيَّمَا ا@لْأَجَلَيْنِ قَضَيْتُ فَلَا عُدْوَانَ عَلَىَّ [Whichever of the two terms I fulfil, there shall be no wrongdoing to me]. (Mughnee.) One says also, صَحِبَهُ ا@للّٰهُ أَيَّا مَا تَوَجَّهَ, meaning أَيْنَمَاتَوَجَّهَ [May God accompany him wherever he goeth]. (AZ, T.) And Zuheyr uses the expression أَيَّةً سَلَكُوا for أَيَّةَ وِجْهَةٍ سَلَكُوا [Whatever tract they travelled, or travel]. (T.) The saying, أَيِّى وَأَيُّكَ كَانَ شَرَّا فَأَخْزَاهُ ا@للّٰهُ [Whichever of me and thee be evil, may God abase him !] was explained by Kh to Sb as meaning أَيُّنَا كَانَ شَرًّا [whichever of us two be evil]; and as being like the saying, أَخْزَى ا@للّٰهُ الكَاذِبَ مِنِىّ وَمِنْكَ, meaning مِنَّا. (M. [And in a similar manner, the former clause of that saying, occurring in a verse, with مَا after أَيِّى, is said in the T to have been explained by Kh to Sb.]) ― -b4- It is also a conjunct noun; (Mughnee;) [i. e.] it is sometimes used in the manner of الَّذِى, and therefore requires a complement; as in the saying, أَيُّهُمْ فِى الدَّارِ أَخُوكَ [He, of them, who is in the house is thy brother]: (S:) [i. e.] it is syn. with الَّذِى. (M, Mughnee.) So in the saying [in the Kur xix. 70], ثُمَّ لَنَنْزِعَنَّ مِنْ كُلِّ شِيعَةٍ أَيُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَى الرَّحْمٰنِ عُتِيَّا [Then we will assuredly draw forth, from every sect, him, of them, who is most exorbitantly rebellious against the Compassionate]: so says Sb: but the Koofees and a number of the Basrees disagree with him, holding that the conjunct noun أَىّ is always decl., like the conditional and the interrogative: Zj says, “It has not appeared to me that Sb has erred except in two instances, whereof this is one; for he has conceded that it is decl. when separate, and how can he say that it is indecl. when it is a prefixed noun?” and El-Jarmee says, “I have gone forth from El-Basrah, and have not heard, from my leaving the Khandak to Mekkeh, any one say, لَأَضْرِبَنَّ أَيُّهُمْ قَائِمٌ [as meaning I will assuredly beat him, of them, who is standing], with damm:” these assert, that it is, in the verse above, an interrogative, and that it is an inchoative, and اشد is an enunciative: but they differ as to the objective complement of the verb: Kh says that this is suppressed, and that the implied meaning is, we will assuredly draw forth those of whom it will be said, Which of them is most &c.? and Yoo says that it is the proposition [ايهّم &c.], and that the verb is suspended from governing, as in the instance in the Kur xviii. 11, cited above: and Ks and Akh say that it is كلّ شيعة, that من is redundant, and that the interrogative proposition is independent of what precedes it; this being grounded on their saying that the redundance of مِنْ is allowable in an affirmative proposition: but these [following] facts refute their sayings; viz. that the suspension of government is peculiar to verbs significant of operations of the mind; and that it is not allowable to say, لَأَضْرِبَنَّ الفَاسِقُ, with refa, as meaning by implication “I will assuredly beat him of whom it is said, He is the transgressor;” and that the redundance of مِنْ in an affirmative proposition is not correct. (Mughnee. [Some further remarks on the same subject, in that work, mentioning other opinions as erroneous, I omit. Another reading of the passage in the Kur cited above (xix. 70) will be found in what here follows.]) [ISd states that] they said, لَأَضْربَنَّ أَيُّهُمْ أَفْضَلُ [I will assuredly beat him, of them, who is most excellent], and أَىٌّ أَفْضَلُ [him who is most excel-lent]; اىّ being indecl., accord. to Sb, and therefore the verb does not govern it [save as to the meaning]. (M.) And [that] you say, اِضْرِبْ أَيُّهُمْ أَفْضَلُ [Beat thou him, of them, who is most excellent], and أَيَّهُمْ أَفْضَلُ [meaning the same, or whichever of them, &c.]; suppressing the relative هُوَ after ايّهم. (M in a later part of the same art.) Fr says that when أَىّ is governed by the verb before it, it has not the interrogative meaning; and you may say, لَأَضْرِبَنَّ أَيَّهُمْ يَقُولُ ذٰلِكَ [I will assuredly beat him, of them, or whichever of them, says that]: and he says that he who reads أَيَّهُمْ, in the accus. case, in the passage of the Kur cited above (xix. 70) makes it to be governed by لَنَنْرِعَنَّ. (T.) Ks says, you say, لَأَضْرِبَنَّ أَيَّهُمْ فِى الدَّارِ [I will assuredly beat him, of them, or whichever of them, is in the house]; but you may not say, ضَرَبْتُ أَيَّهُمْ فِى الدَّارِ: thus he distinguishes between the actual occurrence and that which is expected. (S.) Akh says, also, that it may be indeterminate and qualified by an epithet; as when one says, مَرَرْتُ بِأَىٍّ مُعْجِبٍ لَكَ, like as one says, بِمَنْ مُعْجِبٍ لَكَ [I passed by one pleasing to thee]: but this has not been heard [from the Arabs]. (Mughnee.) ― -b5- It also denotes perfection, or consummateness: and in this case it is an epithet applying to an indeterminate noun; as in زَيْدٌ رَجُلٌ أَىُّ رَجُلٍ (tropical:) [Zeyd is a man; what a man!], meaning that he is complete, or consummate, in the qualities of men: and it is a denotative of state relating to a determinate noun; as in مَرَرْتُ بِعَبْدِ ا@للّٰهِ أَىَّ رَجُلٍ (tropical:) [I passed by 'Abd-Allah; what a man was he!]: (Mughnee:) and used in this sense, it is tropical. (Har p. 534.) [J says,] it is sometimes an epithet applying to an indeterminate noun: you say, مَرَرْتُ بِرَجُلٍ أَىِّ رَجُلٍ and أَيِّمَارَجُلٍ (assumed tropical:) [I passed by a man; what a man!]; and مَرَرْتُ بِا@مْرَأَةٍ أَيَّةِ ا@مْرَأَةٍ (assumed tropical:) [I passed by a woman; what a woman!], and بِا@مْرَأَتَيْنِ أَيَّتِمَا ا@مْرَأَتَيْنِ [by two women; what two women!]; and هٰذِهِ ا@مْرَأَةٌ أَيَّةُ ا@مْرَأَةٍ (assumed tropical:) [This is a woman; what a woman!]: and أَيَّتُمَا ا@مْرَأَ أَيَّةُ ا@مْرَأَةٍ (assumed tropical:) [What two women!]; ما being redundant: and in the case of a determinate noun, you say, هٰذَا زَيْدٌ أَيَّمَا رَجُلٍ (assumed tropical:) [This is Zeyd; what a man is he!]; putting it in the accus. case as a denotative of state; and هٰذِهِ أَمَةُ ا@للّٰهِ أَيَّتَمَا جَارِيّةٍ (assumed tropical:) [This is the handmaid of God; what a girl, or young woman, is she!]: you say, also, [in using an indeterminate noun,] أَىُّ ا@مْرَأَةٍ جَآءَتْكَ and جَآءَكَ, and أَيَّةُ ا@مْرَأَةٍ جَآءَتْكَ (assumed tropical:) [What a woman came to thee!]; and مَرَرْتُ بِجَارِيَةٍ أَىِّ جَارِيَةٍ (assumed tropical:) [I passed by a girl, or young woman; what a girl, or young woman!]; and جِئْتُكَ بِمُلَآءَةٍ أَىِّ مُلَآءَةٍ and أَيَّةِ مُلَآءِةٍ (assumed tropical:) [I brought thee a body-wrapper; what a body-wrapper!]: all are allowable. (S.) [In all these it evidently denotes admiration, or wonder, at some good or extraordinary quality in the person or thing to which it relates; notwithstanding that J says afterwards,] and sometimes it is used to denote wonder; as in the saying of Jemeel, “ بُثَيْنَ ا@لْزَمِى لَا إَِنَّ لَا إِِنْ لَزِمْتِهِ
عَلَى كَثْرَةِ الوَاشِينَ أَىُّ مَعُونِ
” (assumed tropical:) [O Butheyneh, (بُثَيْنَ being a curtailed form of بُثَيْنَة, a woman's name,) adhere thou to “No:” verily “No,” if thou adhere to it, notwithstanding the numbers of the slanderers, what a help will it be!]: (S:) i. e., an excellent help will be thy saying “No” in repelling, or rebutting, the slanderers, though they be many. (TA in art. عون.) Fr gives as exs. of its use to denote wonder the sayings, أَىُّ رَجُلٍ زَيْدٌ [What a man is Zeyd!], and أَىُّ جَارِيَهٍ زَيْنَبُ [What a girl, or young woman, is Zeyneb!]. (T.) It denotes wonder at the sufficiency, and great degree of competence, of the person [or thing] to whom [or to which] it relates. (M.) El-Kattál El-Kilábee says, “ وَلَمَّا رَأَيْتُ أَنَّنِى قَدْ قَتَلْتُهُ
نَدِمْتُ عَلَيْهِ أَىَّ سَاعَةِ مَنْدَمِ
” [And when I saw that I had slain him, I repented of it; in what an hour, or time, of repentance!]: i. e., when I slew him, I repented of it, in a time when repentance did not profit: اىّ being here in the accus. case as an adv. n.; for, as it denotes the part of a whole, its predicament is made to be the same as that of the affixed noun, of whatever kind this may be. (Ham p. 95.) ― -b6- It also has ك prefixed to it; and thus it becomes changed in signification so as to denote numerousness, being syn. with the enunciative كَمْ [How many!]; (S, K;) or syn. with رُبَّ [as meaning many]: (Sb, M:) [and sometimes it is syn. with the interrogative كَمْ, meaning how many? or how much? as will be shown below:] thus it is written كَأَىٍّ, (M,) or كَأَيِّنْ, (S, M, K,) its tenween being written ن; (S, K;) and كَآءٍ, (M,) or [more commonly] كَائِنْ, (S, M, K, [in some copies of the S and K كَايِنْ,]) like كَاعِنْ, (S,) said by IJ, on the authority of Aboo-'Alee, to be formed from كَأَيِّنْ, by putting the double ى before the ', after the manner of the transposition in قِسِىٌّ and a number of other words, so that it becomes كَيَّأٍ [or كَيَّئِنْ], then suppressing the second ى, as is done in مَيِّتٌ and هَيِّنٌ and لَيِّنٌ, so that it becomes كَىْءٍ [or كَىْءِنْ], and then changing the [remaining] ى into ا, as in [طَيْئِىٌّ, which becomes] طَادِىٌّ, and in [حِيرِىٌّ, which becomes] حَارِىٌّ, so that it becomes كَآءٍ [or كَائِنْ]; (M;) and it has other dial. vars.; namely كَيْئِنٌ [one of the intermediate forms between كَأَيِّنْ and كَائِنْ mentioned above]; (K; [in one copy of the K written كَيَيِّنْ, and so accord. to the TK;]) and كَأْىٍ, (M, K,) of the measure of رَمْىٍ, and most probably formed by transposition from كَىْءٍ, mentioned above; (M;) and كَأ, of the measure of عَمٍ, (M, TA,) incorrectly written in the copies of the K كَاءٍ, i. e. like كَاعٍ, (TA,) formed by the suppression of ى in كَىْءٍ; a change not greater than that from أَيْمُنُ ا@للّٰهِ to مُ ا@للّٰهِ and مِ ا@للّٰهِ. (M.) You say, كَأَيِّنْ رَجُلًا لَقِيتُ [How many a man have I met! or many a man &c.], (S, K, *) putting the noun following كأيّن in the accus. case as a specificative; (S;) and كَأَيِّنْ مِنْ رَجُلٍ لَقِيتُ; (S, K; *) and the introduction of مِنْ after كَأيّن is more common, and better. (S. [And Sb, as cited in the M, says the like.]) You say also, كَأَيِّنْ قَدْ أَتَانِى رَجُلًا [How many a man has come to me! or many a man &c.]. (Sb, M.) And بِكَأَيِّنْ تَبِيعُ هٰذَا الثَّوْبَ, i. e. بِكَمْ تبيع [For how much wilt thou sell this garment, or piece of cloth?]. (S.) Kh says that if any one of the Arabs made it to govern the gen. case, perhaps he did so by making مِنْ to be implied, as is allowable with كَمْ: (M:) [so that you may say, بِكَأَيِّنْ دِرْهَمٍ ا@شْتَرَيْتَ هٰذَا For how many a dirhem didst thou buy this? for] it is allowable to make the noun that follows كَمْ to be governed in the gen. case by منْ implied, when كم immediately follows a preposition; as in بِكضمْ دِرْهَمٍ ا@شْتَرَيْتَ هٰذَا; but when it is not thus preceded by a preposition, the noun after it must be in the accus. case. (I 'Ak p. 317.) It always holds the first place in a proposition, like كَمْ. (Idem, next p.) ― -b7- It is also a connective of the vocative يَا with the noun signifying the person or persons or thing called, when this noun has the article ال prefixed to it; (S, M, Mughnee, K;) and with a noun of indication, as ذَا; and with a conjunct noun having ال prefixed to it, as الذِّى: (I 'Ak p. 268:) it is a noun formed for serving as such a connective; (M, K;) and has هَا affixed to it. (S, M, &c.) You say, يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّجُلُ [which seems to be best rendered O thou man; more agreeably with the original, O thou, the man; or, accord. to Akh, O thou who art the man; lit., O he who is the man; often written يَأَيُّهَا]; (T, S, M, Mughnee, K;) and يَاأَيُّهَا الرَّجُلَانِ [O ye two men]; and يَاأَيُّهَا الرِّجَالُ [O ye men]; (M;) and يَاأَيَّتُهَاالمَرْأَةُ [O thou woman]; (S, M;) and يَا أَيَّتُهَا المَرْأَتَانِ [O ye two women]; and أَيَّتُهَا النّسْوَةُ [O ye women]; and يَاأَيُّهَا المَرْأَةُ, and المَرْأَتَانِ, and النِّسْوَةُ; (M;) and يَاأَيُّهَا ذَا [O thou, this person or thing]; and يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِى فَعَلَ كَذَا [O thou who didst, or hast done, thus]. (I 'Ak p. 267.) In the first of the exs. here given, أَىّ is a noun of vague signification, (Zj, T, S,) denoting the person called, (Zj, T,) of the sing. number, (Zj, T, S,) rendered determinate by the vocative [يا], (S,) indecl., with damm for its termination; (Zj, T, S;) and هَا is a particle employed to rouse attention, or to give notice, a substitute for the noun to which أَىّ is in other cases prefixed; and الرَّجُلُ is a qualificative to أَىّ, (Zj, T, S,) wherefore it is in the nom. case. (S.) Akh asserts, [as we have indicated above,] that أَىّ is here the conjunct noun, and that the first member of its complement, namely the relative هُوَ, is suppressed; the meaning being, يَا مَنْ هُوَ الرَّجُلُ: but this assertion is refuted by the fact that there is no relative pronoun that must be suppressed, nor any conjunct noun that necessarily requires that its complement should be a nominal proposition: though he might reply to these two objections by arguing that ما in the saying لَا سِيَّمَا زَيْدٌ is in like manner [virtually] in the nom. case [as a conjunct noun syn. with الَّذِى, and that the first member of its complement, namely هُوَ, an inchoative of which زَيْدٌ is the enunciative, is suppressed]. (Mughnee.) The putting of the qualificative of أَىّ in the accus. case, as in the saying يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّجُلَ أَقْبِلْ [O thou man, advance], is allowed (M, K) by El-Mázinee; but it is not known [as heard from the Arabs]. (M.) أَيُّهَا and أَيَّتُهَا are also used for the purpose of particularizing; [in which case they are not preceded by يا;] as when one says, أَمَّا أَنَا فَأَفْعَلُ كَذَا أَيُّهَا الرَّجُلُ [As for me, I will do thus, or such a thing, thou man], meaning himself; and as in the saying of Kaab Ibn-Málik, related in a trad., فَتَخَلَّفْنَا أَيَّتُهَا الثَّلَاثَهُ [And we remained behind, or held back, ye three], meaning, by the three, those particularized as remaining behind [with him], or holding back. (TA.)
An Arabic-English Lexicon. London. Williams and Norgate. 1863.
The U.S. Department of Education, The Max Planck Society provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.
hide
Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
