Iḍāfah

This article is about the construction in Arabic. For the corresponding structure in Persian and related languages, see Ezāfe.

Roadsign in Morocco, showing an iḍāfah construction: جماعة أولماسjamāʿat ʾūlmās "Commune of Oulmes".

Iḍāfah (إضافة) is the Arabic grammatical construct case, mostly used to indicate possession.

Iḍāfah basically entails putting one noun after another: the second noun specifies more precisely the nature of the first noun. In forms of Arabic which mark grammatical case, this second noun must be in the genitive case. The construction is typically equivalent to the English construction "(noun) of (noun)". It is a very widespread way of forming possessive constructions in Arabic, ^[1] and is typical of a Semitic language. ^[2] Simple examples include:

• دارُ السَلامِdāru‿s-salām "the house of peace".
• كِيلُو مَوْزٍkīlū mawz "a kilo of bananas".
• بِنْتُ حَسَنٍbintu Ḥasan "the daughter of Hasan/Hasan's daughter".
• بَيْتُ رَجُلٍbaytu rajul "the house of a man/a man's house".
• بَيْتُ الرَجُلِbaytu‿r-rajul "the house of the man/the man's house".

Terminology

The word إضافة, spoken by a male from Tiznit, Morocco.

The Arabic grammatical terminology for this construction derives from the verb أضافʼaḍāfa "he added, attached", verb form IV from the hollow root ض ي فḍ y f. ^{[3] [4]}

• The whole phrase consisting of a noun and a genitive is known in Arabic as إضافةiḍāfah ("annexation, addition") and in English as the "genitive construct", "construct phrase", or "annexation structure".
• The first term in the pair is called المُضافal-muḍāf "the thing annexed".
• The first term governs (i.e. is modified by) the second term, referred to as المُضاف إلَيْهِal-muḍāf ilayhi "the thing added to". ^[5]

Kinds of relationship expressed

The range of relationships between the first and second elements of the idafah construction is very varied, though usually consists of some relationship of possession or belonging. ^[6] In the case of words for containers, the iḍāfah may express what is contained: فِنْجانُ قَهْوةٍfinjānu qahwatin "a cup of coffee". The iḍāfah may indicate the material something is made of: خاتَمُ خَشَبٍkhātamu khashabin "a wooden ring, ring made of wood". In many cases the two members become a fixed coined phrase, the idafah being used as the equivalent of a compound noun used in some Indo-European languages such as English. Thus بَيْتُ الطَلَبةِbaytu al-ṭalabati can mean "house of the (certain, known) students", but is also the normal term for "the student hostel".

Forming iḍāfah constructions

First term

The first term in iḍāfah has the following characteristics: ^[7]

• It must be in the construct state: that is, it does not have the definite article or any nunation (any final -n), or any possessive pronoun suffix.
  • When using a pronunciation that generally omits cases (’i‘rāb), the ة ( tā’ marbūṭah ) of any term in the construct state must always be pronounced with a -t (after /a/) when spoken, e.g. خالة أَحْمَدkhālat ’aḥmad "Ahmad's aunt".
• It can be in any case: this is determined by the grammatical role of the first term in the sentence where it occurs.

Second term

The second term in iḍāfah has the following characteristics when it is a noun: ^[8]

• It must be in the genitive case.
• It is marked as definite (with the definite article) or indefinite (with nunation, in those varieties of Arabic that use it), and can take a possessive pronoun suffix. The definiteness or indefiniteness of the second term determines the definiteness of the entire iḍāfah phrase.

Three or more terms

iḍāfah constructions of multiple terms are possible, and in such cases, all but the final term are in the construct state, and all but the first member are in the genitive case. For example: سَرْقةُ جَوازِ سَفَرِ أِحَدِ اللاعِبِينَsarqatu jawāzi safari ’aḥadi l-lā‘ibīna "the theft of the passport [literally "license of journey"] of one of the athletes". ^[9]

Indicating definiteness in iḍāfah constructions

The iḍāfah construction as a whole is a noun phrase. It can be considered indefinite or definite only as a whole. An idafah construction is definite if the second noun is definite, by having the article or being the proper name of a place or person. The construction is indefinite if it the second noun is indefinite. Thus idafah can express senses equivalent to:

• 'the house of the director' (بَيْتُ المُدِيرِbaytu l-mudīr-i)
• 'a house of a director' (بَيْتُ مُدِيرٍbaytu mudīr-in)

But it cannot express a sense equivalent to 'the house of a director': this sense has to be expressed with a prepositional phrase, using a preposition such as لـِـli-. For example:

• ٍِالبَيْتُ لِمُدِيرal-baytu li mudīrin (literally 'the house for/to a director'). ^[10]
• بَيْتُ مُحَمَّدٍ الكَبِيرُbaytu muḥammadini l-kabīru "Muhammad's big house, the big house of Muhammad" (idafah)
  • بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ لِمُحَمَّدٍbaytun kabīrun li-muḥammadin "a big house of Muhammad's" (construction with li-) ^[11]

Nominal sentences, noun-adjective phrases, and iḍāfah

Iḍāfah constructions can typically be distinguished from nominal sentences (جُمْلَة اِسْمِيَّة) and from noun-adjective phrases (اسْمٌ وَصِفَّة) by the case ending of the muḍāf ilayhi as well as the definiteness of the nouns.

Iḍāfah	Nominal sentence	Noun-adjective phrase
بِنْتُ جَمِيْلَةٍ	البِنْتُ جَمِيْلَةٌ	بِنْتٌ جَمِيْلَةٌ
bintu jamilatin	al-bintu jamilatun	bintun jamilatun
the daughter of Jamila	The girl is beautiful.	a beautiful girl

Adjectives and other modifiers in iḍāfah

Nothing (except a demonstrative determiner) can appear between the two nouns in iḍāfah. If an adjective modifies the first noun, it appears at the end of the iḍāfah.

Modifying the first term

An adjective modifying the first noun appears at the end of the iḍāfah and agrees with the noun it describes in number, gender, case, and definiteness (the latter of which is determined by the last noun of the iḍāfah). ^[12]

first word: gender, case, number	state	Arabic script	transliteration	translation
feminine nominative singular	indefinite (no adjective)	فُرْشاةُ أَسْنانٍ	furshāt-u ’asnān-in	a toothbrush (literally "a brush of teeth")
	indefinite (adjective describing first noun)	فُرْشاةُ أَسْنانٍ كَبِيرةٌ	furshāt-u ’asnān-in kabīrat-un	a big toothbrush (literally "a big brush of teeth")
	definite (no adjective)	فُرْشاةُ الأَسْنانِ	furshāt-u l-’asnān-i	the toothbrush (literally "brush of the teeth")
	definite (adjective describing first noun)	فُرْشاةُ الأَسْنانِ الكَبِيرةُ	furshāt-ul-’asnān-i l-kabīrat-u	the big toothbrush (literally "the big brush of the teeth")
masculine nominative singular	indefinite (no adjective)	طَبِيبُ أَسْنانٍ	ṭabīb-u ’asnān-in	a dentist (literally "doctor of teeth")
	indefinite (adjective describing first noun)	طَبِيبُ أَسْنانٍ كَبِيرٌ	ṭabīb-u ’asnān-in kabīr-un	a big dentist (literally "a big doctor of teeth")
	definite (no adjective)	طَبِيبُ الأَسْنانٍ	ṭabīb-u l-’asnān-i	the dentist (literally "doctor of the teeth")
	definite (adjective describing first noun)	ٌطَبِيبُ الأَسْنانٍ الكَبِيرُ	ṭabīb-ul-’asnān-i l-kabīr-u	the big dentist (literally "the big doctor of the teeth")
feminine nominative singular	proper noun (no adjective)	مَدِينةُ شِيكاغُو	madīnat-u shīkāghū	city of Chicago, the city of Chicago
	proper noun (adjective describing first noun)	مَدِينَةُ شِيكَاغُو الكَبِيرةُ	madīnat-u shīkāghū l-kabīrat-u	the big city of Chicago
masculine nominative singular	proper noun (no adjective)	اِبنُ أَحْمَدَ	ibn-u ’aḥmad-a	son of Ahmad, the son of Ahmad
	proper noun (adjective describing first noun)	اِبنُ أَحْمَدَ الكَبِيرُ	ibn-u ’aḥmad-a l-kabīr-u	the old son of Ahmad, Ahmad's old son

Modifying the last term

An adjective modifying the last term appears at the end of the iḍāfah and agrees with the noun it describes in number, gender, definiteness, and case (which is always genitive).

second word (always genitive): gender, number	state	Arabic script	transliteration	translation
feminine singular	indefinite (no adjective)	نَهْرُ مَدِينةٍ	nahr-u madīnat-in	a river of a town
	indefinite (adjective describing last noun)	نَهْرُ مَدِينةٍ جَمِيلةٍ	nahr-u madīnat-in jamīlat-in	a river of a beautiful town
	definite (no adjective)	نَهْرُ المَدِينةِ	nahr-u l-madīnat-i	the river of the town
	definite (adjective describing last noun)	نَهْرُ المَدِينةِ الجَمِيلةِ	nahr-u l-madīnat-il-jamīlat-i	the river of the beautiful town
masculine singular	indefinite (no adjective)	نَهْرُ بَلَدٍ	nahr-u balad-in	a river of a country
	indefinite (adjective describing last noun)	نَهْرُ بَلَدٍ جَمِيلٍ	nahr-u balad-in jamīl-in	a river of a beautiful country
	definite (no adjective)	نَهْرُ البَلَدِ	nahr-u l-balad-i	the river of the country
	definite (adjective describing last noun)	نَهْرُ البَلَدِ الجَمِيلِ	nahr-u l-balad-il-jamīl-i	the river of the beautiful country

Modifying both terms

If both terms in the iḍāfah are modified, the adjective modifying the last term is set closest to the iḍāfah, and the adjective modifying the first term is set further away. ^[13] For example:

مَجْمَعُ اللُّغةِ العَرَبِيّةِ الأُرْدُنِّيُّ

majma‘-u

academy

l-lughat-i

the-language

l-‘arabiyyat-i

the-Arabic

l-’urdunniyy-u

the-Jordanian

majma‘-u l-lughat-i l-‘arabiyyat-i l-’urdunniyy-u

academy the-language the-Arabic the-Jordanian

"the Jordanian Arabic Language Academy"

Iḍāfah constructions using pronouns

The possessive suffix can also take the place of the second noun of an iḍāfah construction, in which case it is considered definite. Indefinite possessed nouns are also expressed via a preposition.

Person		Singular	Dual	Plural
1st		‏ ـِي, ـيَ ‎ (poss.) -ī/-ya ‏ ـنِي ‎ (obj.) -nī	‏ ـنَا ‎ -nā
2nd	masculine	‏ ـكَ ‎ -ka	‏ ـكُمَا ‎ -kumā	‏ ـكُمْ ‎ -kum
	feminine	‏ ـكِ ‎ -ki		‏ ـكُنَّ ‎ -kunna
3rd	masculine	‏ ـهُ, ـهِ ‎ -hu/-hi	‏ ـهُمَا, ـهِمَا ‎ -humā/-himā	‏ ـهُمْ, ـهِمْ ‎ -hum/-him
	feminine	‏ ـهَا ‎ -hā		‏ ـهُنَّ, ـهِنَّ ‎ -hunna/-hinna

Variant forms

For all but the first person singular, the same forms are used regardless of the part of speech of the word attached to. In the third person masculine singular, -hu occurs after the vowels u or a (-a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw), while -hi occurs after i or y (-i, -ī, -ay). The same alternation occurs in the third person dual and plural.

صَدِيقَتُهَاṣadīqatu-hā "her friend"

صَدِيقَتُهَا الجَدِيدةُṣadīqatu-hā l-jadīdatu "her new friend"

صَدِيقةٌ لَهَاṣadīqatun la-hā "a friend of hers"

صَدِيقةٌ جَدِيدةٌ لَهَاṣadīqatun jadīdatun la-hā "a new friend of hers"

In the first person singular, however, the situation is more complicated; -ī/-ya "my" is attached to nouns. In the latter case, -ya is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. in the sound masculine plural and the dual), while -ī is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a short vowel, in which case that vowel is elided (e.g. in the sound feminine plural, as well as the singular and broken plural of most nouns). Furthermore, -ū of the masculine sound plural is assimilated to -ī before -ya (presumably, -aw of masculine defective -an plurals is similarly assimilated to -ay). Examples:

• From ‏ كِتابٌ ‎kitāb "book", pl ‏ كُتُبٌ ‎kutub (most of nouns in general).

Person	Singular	Plural
Nominative	كِتابِيkitābī	كُتُبِيkutubī
Accusative
Genitive

• From ‏ كَلِمةٌ ‎kalimah "word" (nouns ending on ة‎), pl ‏ كَلِمَات ‎ or ‏ كَلِم ‎.

Person	Singular	Plural
Nominative	كَلِمَتِيkalimatī	كَلِمَاتِيkalimātī كَلِمِيkalimī
Accusative
Genitive

• From ‏ دُنْيَا ‎dunyā "world"; ‏ مُسْتَشْفًى ‎mustashfan "hospital" (nouns ending on ـَا ـَى ـًى).

Person	Singular	Singular
Nominative	دُنْيَايَdunyāya	مُسْتَشْفَايَmustashfāya
Accusative
Genitive

• From nom. dual ‏ مُعَلِّمانَ ‎mu‘allimān "teachers", acc./gen. dual مُعَلِّمَينَmu‘allimayn (dual nouns)

Person	Dual
Nominative	مُعَلِّمايَmu‘allimāya
Accusative	مُعَلِّمَيَّmu‘allimayya
Genitive

• From nom. pl. مُعَلِّمُونَmu‘allimūn "teachers", acc./gen. pl. مُعَلِّمِينَmu‘allimīn (regular plural ـُون nouns)

Person	Plural
Nominative	مُعَلِّمِيَّmu‘allimiyya
Accusative
Genitive

• From pl. ‏ مُصْطَفَوْنَ ‎muṣṭafawn "chosen" (regular plural ـَوْن nouns)

Person	Plural
Nominative	مُصْطَفَيَّmuṣṭafayya
Accusative
Genitive

• From ‏ قاضٍ ‎qāḍin "judge" (active participle nouns ending on ـٍ as nominative)

Person	Singular
Nominative	قاضِيَّqāḍiyya
Accusative
Genitive

• From ‏ أَبٌ ‎ab "father", long construct form أَبُوabū (long construct nouns)

Person	Singluar
Nominative	أَبِيّabiyya
Accusative	أَبايَabāya
Genitive	أَبِيّabiyya

• From any nouns ending on ـُو -ū, ـَو -aw or ـِي -ī (more commonly loanwords).

Person	Singluar
Nominative	ـِيَّ-iyya
Accusative
Genitive

• From any nouns ending on ـَي -ay (more commonly loanwords).

Person	Singluar
Nominative	ـَيَّ-ayya
Accusative
Genitive

Pronominal nouns in most of Arabic dialects

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		‏ ـِي, ـيَ ‎ (poss.) -ī/-ya ‏ ـنِي ‎ (obj.) -nī	‏ ـنَا ‎ -nā
2nd	masculine	‏ ـَك ‎ -ak	‏ ـكُمْ ‎ -kum
	feminine	‏ ـِك ‎ -ik
3rd	masculine	‏ ـُه، ـه ‎ -uh, -h	‏ ـهُمْ ‎ -hum
	feminine	‏ ـهَا ‎ -hā

• From ‏ كِتابٌ ‎kitāb "book", pl ‏ كُتُبٌ ‎kutub (most of nouns in general).

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		‏ كِتابِي ‎ kitāb-ī	‏ كِتابنا ‎ kitāb-nā
2nd	masculine	‏ كِتابَك ‎ kitāb-ak	‏ كِتابكُم ‎ kitāb-kum
	feminine	‏ كِتابِك ‎ kitāb-ik
3rd	masculine	‏ كِتابُه ‎ kitāb-uh	‏ كِتابهُم ‎ kitāb-hum
	feminine	‏ كِتابْهَا ‎ kitāb-hā

• From ‏ كِلْمة ‎kilma "word" (nouns ending on ة).

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		‏ كِلْمَتِي ‎ kilmat-ī	‏ كِلْمَتْنا ‎ kilmat-nā
2nd	masculine	‏ كِلْمَتَك ‎ kilmat-ak	‏ كِلْمَتْكُم ‎ kilmat-kum
	feminine	‏ كِلْمَتِك ‎ kilmat-ik
3rd	masculine	‏ كِلْمَتُه ‎ kilmat-uh	‏ كِلْمَتْهُم ‎ kilmat-hum
	feminine	‏ كِلْمَتْهَا ‎ kilmat-hā

• From ‏ دُنْيا ‎dunyā "world"

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		‏ دُنْيايَ ‎ dunyā-ya	‏ دُنْيانا ‎ dunyā-nā
2nd		‏ دُنْياك ‎ dunyā-k	‏ دُنْياكُم ‎ dunyā-kum
3rd	masculine	‏ دُنْياه ‎ dunyā-h	‏ دُنْياهُم ‎ dunyā-hum
	feminine	‏ دُنْياهَا ‎ dunyā-hā

• From ‏ أَب ‎ab "father"

Person		Singular	Plural
1st		‏ أَبُويَ ‎ abū-ya	‏ أَبُونا ‎ abū-nā
2nd		‏ أَبُوك ‎ abū-k	‏ أَبُوكُم ‎ abū-kum
3rd	masculine	‏ أَبُوه ‎ abū-h	‏ أَبُوهُم ‎ abū-hum
	feminine	‏ أَبُوهَا ‎ abū-hā

References

1. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 205-24 [§8.1].
2. Adam Pospíšil, 'The Idafa construction in Arabic and its morphosyntactic behaviour' (unpublished BA thesis, Univerzita Karlova v Praze, 2015), §7.1.
3. Hans Wehr, Dictionary of Modern Standard Arabic: )ضيف( ضافḍāfa
4. Faruk Abu-Chacra, Arabic: An Essential Grammar: p. 61
5. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 205 [§8.1].
6. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 206-11 [§8.1.1].
7. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 211-12 [§8.1.2.1].
8. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 212-13 [§8.1.2.2].
9. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 215-16 [§8.1.5].
10. Adam Pospíšil, 'The Idafa construction in Arabic and its morphosyntactic behaviour' (unpublished BA thesis, Univerzita Karlova v Praze, 2015), §3.2.3.
11. J. A. Haywood, H. M. Nahmad. A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language. Pages 36-37.
12. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 213 [§8.1.3.1].
13. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 214 [§8.1.3.3].