etc. Note that َغ ْي ُر then appears without article or nunation (i.e. in
the form called construct state), e.g.
َغ ْي ُر َقا ِد ٍر g ̇ayru qa ̄dirin, unable (other than able)
ّم
ً
َغ ْي ُر ُم ِه g ̇ayru muhimmin, unimportant
َغ ْي ُر ُم ْم ِك ٍن g ̇ayru mumkinin, impossible
ّي
ً
َغ ْي ُر َع َر ِب g ̇ayru
arabiyyin, not an Arab, non-Arab
َغ ْي ُر َم ْو ُجو ٍد g ̇ayru mawg ̆u ̄din, unavailable, not present, absent, non-
existent
(b) When َغ ْي ُر g ̇ayru has a suffixed pronoun, it means ‘other(s) (than)’,
e.g.
(c) When َغ ْي ُر is preceded by a negative predicate or negative particle
like َلا , it is translated as ‘only’, e.g.
َغ ْي ُر ْلـ ُم ِدي ِر ه َذا
ا
َلا َي ْعَل ُم^ la ̄ ya
lamu ha ̄d
̄
a ̄ g ̇ayru l-mudı
- ri.
Only the director knows this. (lit. No one knows this other than
the director).
َأْل ُف ِدي َنا ٍر َلا َغ ْي ُر^
alfu dı
- na ̄rin la ̄ g ̇ayru, only a thousand dinars
(d) When َغ ْي ٌر precedes نَّ َأ, as in نَّ َغ ْي َر َأ , it means ‘except that, neverthe-
less, however, but’.
24.5 Negation with َع َد ُم
adamu
The noun َع َد ٌم
adamun ‘non-being, lack, absence’ or the adjective
َع ِدي ٌم^
adı ̄mun ‘lacking’, can be followed by a noun in the genitive,
meaning ‘non-, in-, un-, dis-, -less, lack of...’, etc. The noun َع َد ٌم appears
without article or nunation, e.g.
َأْلـ ُم ِدي ُر َو َغ ْي ُر ُه
al-mudı-ru wa-g ̇ayru-hu
the director (masc.) and others (than him)
َأْلـ ُم ِدي َر ُة َو َغ ْي ُر َها
al-mudı-ratu wa-g ̇ayru-ha ̄
the director (fem.) and others (than her)
173
Interroga-
tive
particles
and
pronouns,
vocative
particles