The Institute of Asian and African Studies

The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation

Offprint from

JERUSALEM STUDIES IN
ARABIC AND ISLAM
37(2010)
Arik Sadan
The meaning of the technical term jaw
ab
in Arabic grammar

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM

THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

CONTENTS
Y. Friedmann and
S. Hopkins

Aryeh Levin: a scholarly biography

Aryeh Levin: list of publications

i
vii

G. Ayoub

La description semantique du verbe

dans le Kit
ab de Sbawayhi

I. Ferrando

Sbawayhi and the broken plural

Pidgin Arabic and arabi sa ab: the
influence of the standard language in
the history of Arabic

53

K. Versteegh

m '@ jJ@ A@
Q
k K. @ K
Y@ QAK 
K. C


J
@
A. Sadan
A. Kasher

YK
Ym' QK@

K
QJ.@

The meaning of the technical term

jaw
ab in Arabic grammar
The terminology of vowels and i r
ab
in mediaeval Arabic grammatical
tradition

61

81
129
139

Y. Peled

Sbawayhis Kit
ab and the teaching
of Arabic grammar

163

Sh. Alon

The sources of Ibn Manz.u

rs Lis
an
al-arab

189

New prepositions
Judaeo-Arabic

mediaeval

201

O. Kapeliuk

Some special features of EthioSemitic morphology and syntax: inalienables and intimate relationship
in Amharic

207

N. Basal

Mediaeval Jewish and Muslim cultures: an anonymous Judaeo-Arabic

adaptation of Ibn Jinns al-Luma

223

F. Corriente

Im
alah and other phonemic and
morphological features in subdialectal Andalus Arabic

265

J. Blau

in

J. Aguade

The word for nine in Moroccan

Arabic and other euphemisms related to numbers

275

M. Bar-Asher

The Maghrib sharh. to Tractate Avot

283

M. Muranyi

Eine islamische Rechtsfrage u

ber
Entschadigungen zwischen Muslimen
und Christen. Ein Beitrag zur Textentwicklung und Textkritik in der
Mudawwana

297

REVIEWS
M. Muranyi

Adam Gacek. The Arabic manuscript tradition. A glossary of technical terms and bibliography

307

K. Dmitriev

Georges Tamer. Zeit und Gott. Hellenistische Zeitvorstellungen in der

altarabischen Dichtung und im Koran

315

F.S. Stewart

Kurt Franz.
Vom Beutezug zur
Territorialherrschaft:
das lange
Jahrhundert des Aufstiegs von
Nomaden zur Vormacht in Syrien
und Mesopotamien, 286420/889
1029.
Beduinische Gruppen in
mittelislamischer Zeit I

325

JSAI 37 (2010)

THE MEANING OF THE TECHNICAL TERM

IN ARABIC GRAMMAR
JAWAB
Arik Sadan
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

I. Introduction
The word jaw
ab occurs very frequently in Arabic. In Classical Arabic,
as in Modern Standard Arabic, its common connotation is an answer,
a reply or a response,1 a connotation deriving from the verb aj
aba
to answer, to reply or to respond.
Here I shall try to show that in the context of grammar, two other
connotations of this technical term are frequently encountered, one of
which is more general in meaning than the other. The main sources on
which this study is based are the Classical Arabic dictionaries, beginning with al-Xalls Kit
ab al-ayn, and the works of the ancient Arab
grammarians, beginning with Sbawayhis al-Kit
ab.

II. The connotations of jawab according to

the Classical Arabic dictionaries
In the earliest Classical Arabic dictionary known to us, Kit
ab al-ayn,
there is a short definition of jaw
ab: wal-jaw
abu raddu l-kal
ami (and
[the meaning of the word] jaw
ab is the reply2 in speech).3 In Lis
an
al-arab, Ibn Manz.u
r defines jaw
ab in exactly the same words,4 as does

al-H
al-ul
um.5 Some dictionaries do not even trouble
. imyar in his Sams
1 See

Lane, Lexicon, vol. 2, p. 480b, 12 ff.

to Lane, Lexicon, vol. 3, p. 1033c, 21 ff., the meaning of radd is a
reply or an answer.
3 See al-Xal
l, Kit
ab al-ayn, vol. 6, p. 193. Al-Azhar cites this definition and
attributes it to al-Layt. See al-Azhar, Tahdb al-luga, vol. 11, p. 219a, 4.

4 See Ibn Manzu

an al-arab, vol. 1, p. 283.
. r, Lis
5 See al-Himyar

,
Sams
alul
u
m,
vol.
2,
p. 1215, 6. For al-H
.
. imyar, see also the
end of this section.
2 According

129

130

Arik Sadan

to define jaw
ab, remarking that its meaning is clear (al-jaw
abu ma r
ufun
[The meaning of the word] jaw
ab is known).6

In two dictionaries, al-H

al-ul
um and al-Bust.ans
. imyars Sams
Muh.t. al-muh.t., I found not only the short definition of jaw
ab quoted
above, but also a list of the different kinds of jaw
ab in Arabic grammar.
Al-H
ans definitions, as well as the Arab grammar. imyars and al-Bust.
ians use of the term (discussed in the next section), show beyond a
doubt that jaw
ab should not be understood as an answer, but rather
as an utterance following another utterance. Following are quotations
referring to the term jaw
ab from the two dictionaries noted above.

a. Al-H
imyar
s
Sams
al-ul
um:7
.
The ajwiba (plural form of jaw
ab) in Arabic are such as
jaw
abu s-sart.i the apodosis of a conditional sentence,
[jaw
abu] n-nafyi the utterance which follows the negation, [jaw
abu] l-amri the utterance which follows the imperative, [jaw
abu] n-nahyi the utterance which follows
the prohibition, [jaw
abu] l-istifh
ami the utterance which
follows the question and [jaw
abu] t-tamann the utterance which follows the wish. (wal-ajwibatu f l-arabiyyati kajaw
abi s-sart.i wan-nafyi wal-amri wan-nahyi wal-istifh
ami
wat-tamann)
Al-H
ab
. imyar goes on to give a few examples of the different kinds of jaw
listed above: Examples (i.e. of the different kinds of jaw
ab) are: in
tazurn
a nazurka if you visit us, [then] we shall visit you; layta l
m
alan unfiqhu I wish I had money, [so that] I would spend it; and
mat
a ta tin
a na tika when will you come to us? then we will come
to you. The first example is of jaw
abu s-sart.i, the second of jaw
abu ttamann, the third of jaw
abu l-istifh
ami. (taq
ulu min d
alika in tazurn
a

nazurka wa-layta l m
alan unfiqhu wa-mat
a ta tin
a na tika).8
b. Al-Bust.
ans Muh.t. al-muh.t.:9
The jaw
ab is what is said following an invocation, a question,
a claim, a discourse, a message, a criticism and the like [. . . ]
jaw
abu s-sart.i, according to the grammarians, is a sentence
which (i.e. whose action) occurs after the [action of the] verb
of the conditional clause, being consequent upon it10 (i.e.
6 See

al-Jawhar, T
aj al-luga, vol. 1, p. 104A, 5.

al-H
al-ul
um, vol. 2, p. 1215, 8 ff.
. imyar, Sams
8 Al-Himyar
then discusses the possible moods of the imperfect verb introduced
.
in the jaw
ab, but this discussion is beyond the scope of this article.
9 See al-Bust
. an, Muh.t. al-muh.t., vol. 1, p. 311b, 30 ff.
10 For this meaning of murattabatan alayhi, see Lane, Lexicon, vol. 3, p. 1025b,
910.
7 See

The meaning of the technical term jaw

ab in Arabic grammar 131

the apodosis of a conditional sentence), as akramtuka in the

[conditional] sentence in zurtan akramtuka if you visit
me, I shall honor you. Jaw
abu l-qasami is what the oath depends on, as wa-ll
ahi la af alanna by God, I shall indeed
do [it]. Jaw
abu lawl
a is what did not occur because of the
existence of what follows it (i.e. what follows lawl
a ), as lawl
a
Aliyyun lahalaka Amrun had it not been for Al, Amr
would have died. (al-jaw
abu m
a yuq
alu raddan al
a du
a in
aw su
alin aw da w
a aw xit.
abin aw ris
alatin aw i tir
ad.in
wa-nah.wi d
alika [. . . ] wa-jaw
abu s-sart.i inda n-nuh.
ati jum
latun taqa u ba da fi li s-sart.i murattabatan alayhi nah.wu
akramtuka min qawlika in zurtan akramtuka. wa-jaw
abu
l-qasami huwa m
a yu allaqu l-qasamu alayhi nah.wu wa-ll
ahi
la af alanna. wa-jaw
abu lawl
a huwa m
a mtana a liwuj
udi
m
a ba dah
a nah.wu lawl
a Aliyyun lahalaka Amrun.)
It can thus be inferred from al-Bust.an that the term jaw
ab denotes a
general meaning of an utterance following another utterance. Both
al-H
an present several kinds of jaw
ab which exist in
. imyar and al-Bust.
Arabic grammar.

III. The connotations of jawab according to

the works of the Arab grammarians
The grammarians use the term jaw
ab frequently in two main meanings.
The first, broader and more general than the second, is an utterance
following another utterance. The second meaning, actually an instance
of the first, is an apodosis of a conditional sentence. The apodosis
naturally follows the protasis and is attached to it. The apodosis is thus
an instance of the general meaning of jaw
ab given above. When the Arab
grammarians use the term jaw
ab in the second meaning of apodosis, one
has to take into account that this usage is actually an ellipsis of the
second part of the term jaw
abu s-sart.i (literally: the utterance following
the condition).
Following are some examples of the usage of the term jaw
ab in the
grammarians discussions.
1. In his discussion of the particle idan, which under certain con
ditions influences the imperfect verb following it to take the subjunc11
tive mood, Sbawayhi says: As for idan, it is a jaw
ab and a jaz
a

11 See

Sadan, Idan, pp. 2226, especially p. 24.

132

Arik Sadan

(wa-amm
a idan fa-jaw
abun wa-jaz
a un).12 In using the technical term

jaw
ab, Sbawayhi means an utterance following another utterance and
in using the technical term jaz
a (literally: requital, compensation13 ),
he means the utterance following the conditional sentence, i.e. the
apodosis.14 Many grammarians and lexicographers characterize idan

exactly as Sbawayhi does: idan jaw

abun wa-jaz
a un.15 One of them,

al-Zamaxsar, explains further what is meant by the technical terms

jaw
ab and jaz
a :
idan is a jaw
ab and a jaz
a , as in the example in which

someone says an
a
atka I shall come to you, and then you
say [in response] idan ukrimaka then I shall honor you

(putting the verb in the subjunctive). By this utterance (i.e.

the second one, your response) you have answered him and
turned your giving honor [to him] a requital of it (i.e. of the
first utterance) for his coming [to you] (wa-idan jaw
abun wa
jaz
aun yaq
ulu r-rajulu an
a
atka fataq
ulu idan ukrimaka

fah
a d
a l-kal
amu qad ajabtahu bihi was.ayyarta ikr
amaka ja
z
aan lahu al
a ity
anihi ).16
In other words, idan is used both in order to respond to a preced
ing utterance (jaw
ab) and in order to create a semantic relationship of
condition-apodosis between the two utterances preceding and following
it (jaz
a ).
Many secondary sources which refer to the syntactic role of idan and

to its possible influence on the mood of the verb following it interpret its
role of introducing a jaw
ab in a similar way. Wright says that the subjunctive after idan occurs under certain conditions, one of which is that

this particle commences a clause expressing the result or effect of a previous statement.17 H
ub have similar expositions. They
. asan and Yaq
12 See

Sbawayhi, al-Kit
ab, vol. 2, p. 339, 910.
Hava, Dictionary, p. 89.
14 Al-Rumm
an defines jaz
a by saying: al-jaz
a u l-mustah.aqqu bil-amali mina lxayri was-sarri wa-huwa jaw
abu s-sart.i the [technical term] jaz
a [signifies] what
merits good or bad deeds and it is the apodosis of a conditional sentence. See alRumm
an, Ris
alat
ani f l-luga, p. 73. Al-Tah
anaw has a similar explanation of jaz
a :
wa-f s..til
ah.i n-nuh.a
ti hiya jumlatun ulliqat al
a jumlatin uxr
a musamm
atin bissart.i In the usage of the grammarians, it (i.e. the technical term jaz
a ) [signifies]
a sentence dependent upon another sentence, which is called condition. See alTah
anaw, Kassa
f vol. 1, p. 268, 912.
15 For some of them, see al-Zajj
aj, H
uf al-ma a
n, p. 6; Ibn Sda, al-Muxas.s.as.,
. ur
. alvol. 14, p. 59, 2021; al-Zamaxsar, al-Mufas.s.al, p. 151, 1314; Ibn Yas, Sarh
mufas.s.al vol. 2, p. 925, 20 and p. 1216, 19; Ibn M
alik, Tashl al-faw
a id, p. 230, 78;
Ibn Manz.u
r, Lis
an al-arab, vol 13, p. 13, 8.
16 For reference, see note 15 above.
17 See Wright, Arabic grammar, vol. 2, p. 33, 2223.
13 See

The meaning of the technical term jaw

ab in Arabic grammar 133

further explain the meaning of jaw

ab that idan implies, by referring

to the literal meaning of the word jaw

ab, a response or an answer:
An utterance which functions as a jaw
ab, they say, derives from the
utterance preceding it, exactly as an answer derives from the question
preceding it, whether the utterance before the jaw
ab be a question or
not.18
2. In their discussions of the particle fa, after which, under certain conditions, the imperfect verb takes the subjunctive mood,19 most
grammarians use the technical term f
a u l-jaw
abi in order to indicate this
particle.20 This technical term should be understood as the f
a of the
utterance following another utterance. Ibn al-Sarr
aj explains its origin
by the semantic similarity between jaw
abu l-jaz
a i, i.e. the apodosis of a
conditional sentence (literally: the utterance following the utterance of
the condition), and the utterance in which the imperfect verb after fa
takes the subjunctive mood.21
3. Another example of the usage of the technical term jaw
ab in the
meaning of an utterance following another utterance can be found
in Sbawayhis discussions in chapter 57 of al-Kit
ab.22 Here Sbawayhi
examines certain sentences in which there is a noun in the accusative
with no apparent
amil that causes it to take this case. The accusative
is thus explained by an ellipsis of a verb from the literal utterance. One
of the sentences quoted above is man anta Zaydan.23 Y
unus explains
the accusative of Zaydan by an ellipsis of the verb tadkuru, so that the

taqdr 24 structure of the sentence is man anta [tadkuru] Zaydan who

are you [mentioning] Zayd?. In order to show that a sentence like man
anta Zaydan appears only in a specific context, Sbawayhi says:
[the sentence] man anta Zaydan can only appear [in speech]
as a jaw
ab, as if, when [a certain person] says an
a Zay18 See Hasan, al-Nahw al-w
af, vol. 4, pp. 308, 9309, 7 and Yaq
ub, H
uf, pp. 83b,
.
.
. ur
last line84a, 21.
19 See Sadan, Arabic subjunctive, pp. 7778.
20 See, for example, al-Mubarrad, al-Muqtadab, vol. 2, pp. 1424; Ibn al-Sarr
aj,
.
al-Us.u
l, vol. 2, p. 179, 34; al-Zajj
aj, al-Jumal, p. 22, 7 and pp. 196, 10197, 4;
Id.a
h., vol. 1, p. 167, 911.
al-F
aris, al-
21 See Ibn al-Sarr
aj, al-Us.u
l, vol 2, p. 183, 1011. See further the explanations of
Id.a
h., vol. 2, pp. 1066, last
al-F
aris and his commentator, al-Jurj
an: al-F
aris, al-
line1067, 2 and 1067, 417, respectively.
22 See S
bawayhi, al-Kit
ab, vol. 2, p. 122, 14 ff. I deeply thank Prof. Levin for
drawing my attention to this chapter in the context of jaw
ab.
23 The context of the sentence man anta Zaydan is explained by al-S
r
af. According
to him, this sentence can be said addressing someone unknown, named Zayd, when
at the same time a certain other man named Zayd is present, who is famous for a
certain quality. For al-Sr
afs explanation, see Jahn, Translation, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 193,
remark 10.
24 For taqd
r, see Levin, Taqdr, pp. 142144.

134

Arik Sadan

dun I am Zayd, [the other person] would say [the taqdr

structure] fa-man anta d
akiran Zaydan who are you men
tioning Zayd?. (wa-l
a yak
unu man anta Zaydan ill
a jaw
aban
ka annahu lamm
a q
ala an
a Zaydun q
ala fa-man anta d
akiran

Zaydan).25
It is clear that here the technical term jaw
ab does not have anything to
do with an answer following a question, but rather implies an utterance
which is said following another utterance.

IV. Conclusion
In this article I discuss the different connotations of the technical term
jaw
ab in Arabic grammar. It appears that its two main connotations
(other than the immediate one of a response) are an utterance following another utterance and an apodosis (of a conditional clause).
The second connotation is actually a specific case of the first, more general one. Understanding jaw
ab in the grammatical context as always
implying the common meaning a response is thus inadequate.

References
Primary sources26
Al-Azhar, Tahdb al-luga =



) @ I.K
YE .Yg @ K . Ym PJ K. @ , 
QP B@

 . (AJ@ A
. B@
J@ K. A@ Z@Qk
, QA@
PYJ @
. 15 .1384-1387/1964-1967
.@ ZQk

Al-Bust.
an, Muh.t. al-muh.t. =



 A , J
j @ J
m H AJ .Q. , GA J.@

 Q
K. . J
K. Q@
, H
.

. @Qk
. .1870

25 See

Sbawayhi, al-Kit
ab, vol. 2, p. 123, 910.

26 Works

consulted using the digital collection

with an asterisk.

jJ@ by al-Turath are marked

Q@

The meaning of the technical term jaw

ab in Arabic grammar 135

.
ah. =
Al-F
aris, al-Id



'@  K. @ , PA@
YJ. K . Yg @ K . m
:
. hA
B @ H. AJ .P A @

 YJ , GAg
: J
m ' . hA
B @ hQ YJ @ H AJ .QA@
Qm'. A
.
. Qm. '@
.

 G B hA B @ H AJ hQ) . @Qk

. Q @
. .1982 , X@YK . . Ag
. 
PA@

.



(.H. AK. K
@YK.
hA
B @ H. AJ   

Al-H
al-ul
um =
. imyar, Sams

H. Q@ C Z@ X @  .YJ
K . @   ,  Q
m '@
.@










K
[]
GAK
P B@ K. Q[]
Q@ <@ YJ. K. 
k : J
m '

 Q
K. . <@ YJ. Ym
. 12 .1420/1999 , H
.@ ZQk

Ibn Malik, Tashl al-faw

a id =



. <@ YJ. K . <@ YJ. K. @ K
Y@ Ag. , A K . @
 . HAQK
JD
 . A Ym : J
m ' . YA @ J
K YK@ @
, QA@

.1387/1967

Ibn Manz.u
r, Lis
an al-arab =

K @ Q K Ym ,P J K @ *
. K
Y@ Ag @
. H. Q@ A
.
.
.
.

 Q
K.
. 15 .1955-1956 , H
.@ ZQk

Ibn al-Sarr
aj, al-Us.u
l =

: J
m ' . jJ@
B@ H. AJ . 
Q@ K . Ym QK. K. @

 Q
K. . J@
. @ 3 .1417/1996 , H
.Z@Qk

 K . @
, h. @Q@

m '@ YJ.

Ibn Sda, al-Muxas..sas. =

 . @

'@ K. @ , YJ
K . @
, QA@

 j @ H. AJ . m
. 17 .1316/1898-1899
.@ ZQk

. al-mufas..sal =
Ibn Yas, Sarh
Ibn-Yas, Muwaffaq al-Dn Ab
u al-Baqa. Ibn Ja s Commentar
zu Zamachsars Mufas..sal. G. Jahn, ed. Leipzig, 18821886. 2
vols.
Al-Jawhar, T
aj al-luga =

h. AK H. AJ .XAg K . J

A @ Q K. @ ,  Qm. '@
. J
K. Q@ hAm @

136

Arik Sadan

 @Q@ J
 @ .1990 , H
 P @
YJ. Yg @ : J
m '
 Q
K. .P A
. @ 7 . K
.Z@Qk
.
.
Al-Mubarrad, al-Muqtad.ab =

 m '@ YJ Ym : J m ' . I J @ H AJ .YK QK K Ym AJ@ K @ , XQ @

A
. . .
.

.
.
.

 . J
 
. @ 4 .1385-1388/1965-1968 , QA@
.Z@Qk

Al-Rumm
an, Ris
alat
ani f l-luga =


. <@ YJ. K .

@QK. @ : J
m '


K . J
K .
'@
. XYm '@ (2) , Qm

 *
'@ K. @ , GA Q@

m

A JAP
PA J (1) : @





.1984 , A . 
G@ QA@

Sbawayhi, al-Kit
ab =
Sbawaihi. Le livre de Sbawaihi, Traite de grammaire arabe. Texte
arabe publie par Hartwig Derenbourg. Paris, 18811889. 2 vols.
Al-Xall, Kit
ab al-ayn =

Yg @ K Jm '@ *
- 
Q j @ 
Y : J
m ' . 
@ H. AJ . 
YJ
@Q@
.

 . G@ QA@
. , QA@

. @ 8 .t'
P AK YK

@QK. @
.Z@Qk

Al-Zajj
aj, H
uf al-ma
an =
. ur

@ Qk
 K @ , k Ag Q@ *
  @ K gQ@ YJ A@
.
GA
H. AJ . Am
.
.
. .
.
K  : J m '
 Q
K. .Ym '@ J

.1984 , H

Al-Zajj
aj, al-Jumal =

  @ K gQ@ YJ A@
 K @ , k Ag Q@
. jJ@
 m. '@ H. AJ . Am
.
.
. .
.
.1957 , 
PAK. .I.  K . Ym : J
m '

Al-Zamaxsar, al-Mufas..sal =

 J
 K @ ,  Qm Q@
 @ .Q K . Xm A@
: J
m ' . H. @QB @
.





Q . J
KA J@ J.@ , (J.P. Broch) pQK.
.1879 , AJ
KAJ

Secondary sources
H
af =
. asan, al-Nah.w al-w

 . @ @ jJ@ .AJ , k
. @ 4 .1987 , QA@
.Z@Qk
.

The meaning of the technical term jaw

ab in Arabic grammar 137

Hava, Dictionary =
Hava, J.G. Al-Far
a id. Arabic-English dictionary. Beirut, 1982.
Jahn, Translation =
Jahn, G. Sbawaihis Buch u
ber die Grammatik, u
bersetzt und erkl
art von Dr. G. Jahn. Berlin, 18951900. 2 vols.
Lane, Lexicon =
Lane, Edward William. An Arabic-English lexicon. London, 1863
1893. 8 vols.
Levin, Taqdr =
Levin, Aryeh. The theory of al-taqdr and its terminology. JSAI
21 (1997): 142166.
Sadan, Arabic subjunctive =
Sadan, Arik. The nas.b (subjunctive mood) in the verbal system of
Classical Arabic. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
2010. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation [in Hebrew].
Sadan, Idan =

. The word idan as an amil which induces the following verb

to take nas.b. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,

2004. Unpublished MA thesis [in Hebrew].
Al-Tah
anaw, Kass
af =


: J m ' .
HAgC@
J @
D@

YJ. 

A
. @ Ym , 
KA


. @Qk
. .1862 , AJ .K
YJ.@

Wright, Arabic grammar =

Wright, W. A grammar of the Arabic language. Cambridge, 1997.
2 vols.
Yaq
ub, H
uf =
. ur


'@


Qm
 Q
K. . J
K. Q@ @
.K
YK. J
@ , H. K
, H

.1415/1995