61Chapter 12
Id
̇
a ̄fah construction (genitive
attribute) and the five nouns
12.1 The meaning of the Arabic term
id
̇a ̄fah (^) ِإ َضا َف ٌة is ‘addition’,
‘annexation’, or ‘attachment’. This kind of annexation occurs when two
nouns (or an adjective and a noun) are linked together and immediately
follow each other. It is comparable to a genitive or attributive construc-
tion, where the first noun (or adjective) is the head constituent and the
second noun is the attribute.
The first noun (or adjective) of the
id
̇
a ̄fah construction is called
َأْلـ ُم َضا ُف^
al-mud
̇
a ̄fu, meaning ‘annexed’ or ‘attached’. The second
noun is called َأْلـ ُم َضا ُف ِإَل ْي ِه
al-mud
̇
a ̄fu
ilay-hi, meaning ‘annexer’ or
‘attacher’. There are two variants of the
id
̇
a ̄fah construction.
12.2 The first variant: genitive construction
The first variant is called ي ُةََّأ ِْلإ َضا َف ُة ْلـ َح ِقي ِق
al-
id
̇
a ̄fatu l-h
̇
aqı ̄qiyyatu,
genuine annexation. It corresponds to the genitive construction and is
similar to English ‘of ...’ or ‘...’s’. In the following examples, the annexer
expresses the possessor and the annexed a possessed item:
Indefinite form Definite form
ِإَل ْي ِه َأْلـ ُم َضا ُف َأْلـ ُم َضا ُف ِإَل ْي ِهَأْلـ ُم َضا ُف َأْلـ ُم َضا ُف
Annexer Annexed Annexer Annexed
possessor possessed possessor possessed
ل ٍمُّم َعـَ ِكـ َتـا ُب ل ِمّب ْلـ ُم َعـَِكـ َتـا ُ
kita ̄bu mu
allimin (not: kita ̄bun...) kita ̄bu l-mu
allimi (not:
al-kita ̄bu...)
a book of a teacher the book of the teacher
OR a teacher’s book OR the teacher’s book