| هٰذَا بَاْبُ أَمْ وَأَوْ | 1٧٥٥٣٨ |
this is the topic of
Ɂam interrogative ¿or
and
Ɂawindicative ¡or
|
| أَمَّا أَمْ فَلَا يَكُوْنُ الْكَلَاْمُ بِهَا إلَّا اسْتِفْهَاْمًا | 2٤٤٧١٧ |
as for
Ɂam interrogative ¿or
well speech is not with it except in
soliciting understandingاستفهام is usually translated as
“interrogation” or similar, but that fails to
capture the sense of the root فهم “understanding”.
For “questioning” Sībawayhi has سُؤَال and its
cognates. He also sometimes uses استخبار
“soliciting information (خَبَر)” as a near-synonym
of استفهام.
|
| وَيَقَعُ الْكَلَاْمُ بِهَا فِي الِاْسْتِفْهَاْمِ عَلَى وَجْهَيْنِ | 3٩٧٧٩١ | and speaking occurs with it in soliciting understanding on two ways: |
| عَلَى مَعْنَى أَيُّهُمَا وَأَيُّهُمْ | 4٤٤٢٢٦ |
on the meaning of
Ɂayyu-humā which of them[2]
and
Ɂayyu-humwhich of them[pl]
|
| وَعَلَى أَنْ يَكُوْنَ الِاْسْتِفْهَاْمُ الْآخَرُ مُنْقَطِعًا مِنْ الْأَوَّلِ | 5٩٦٣٢٧ | and on that the other solicition of understanding be cut off from the first |
| وَأَمَّا أَوْ فَإِنَّمَا تَثْبُتُ بِهَا بَعْضُ الْأَشْيَاْءِ وَتَكُوْنُ فِي الْخَبَرِ | 6٦٠٦٠٢ |
and as for
Ɂaw indicative ¡or
well it is just that some things are
fixed by it and are in predication
|
| وَالِاسْتِفْهَاْمُ يَدْخُلُ عَلَيْهَا عَلَى ذٰلِكَ الْحَدِّ | 7٨٥٠٦٨ | and solicition of understanding enters on it on that discipline |
| وَسَأُبَيِّنُ لَك وُجُوْهَهُ إنْ شَاْءَ اللَّهُ تَعَاْلَى | 8٩٣٩٨٤ | and I will clarify for you its ways if God (Exalted be He) will it |
›‹
٢٧٧هٰذَا بَاْبُ أَمْ وَأَوْ
٢٧٧
هٰذَا بَاْبُ أَمْ وَأَوْSegment Notes
Segment 1: هٰذَا بَاْبُ أَمْ وَأَوْ
Since English has only “or” to gloss both أَمْ and أَوْ, I use prefixes intended to hint at the semantics: ¿or for interrogative أَمْ and ¡or for indicative أَوْ. Roughly, أَوْ implies “either ... or (is the case)”, whereas أَمْ just lists possible alternatives.
Segment 4: عَلَى مَعْنَى أَيُّهُمَا وَأَيُّهُمْ
Analyzed in the next chapter, 278. The sense is that asking “Is it A Ɂam B?” is equivalent to asking “which one of the two is it?”.
Segment 5: وَعَلَى أَنْ يَكُوْنَ الِاْسْتِفْهَاْمُ الْآخَرُ مُنْقَطِعًا مِنْ الْأَوَّلِ
Analyzed in chapter 279. This covers cases where each argument to Ɂam is an independent clause, e.g. "Did he go Ɂam did he stay?"
Colophon
Pagination
Derenbourg
١-٤٣١
بلاق
١-٤٨٢
هارون
٣-١٦٩
يعقوب
٣-١٩٢
البكّاء
٤-٣١٤
Status(revision / pct complete)
Last update
2026-05-19
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