The Nawāsikh in ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād’s Muʿallaqa A Grammatical Study

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the nawāsikh (grammatical operators) in ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād’s Muʿallaqa through an applied grammatical analysis. It seeks to identify the patterns of their occurrence in the verses of the poem and to clarify their effect on the structure of the nominal sentence in terms of grammatical function and the changes they introduce to the rules governing the subject (mubtadaʾ) and predicate (khabar). The study begins by defining the concept of nawāsikh both linguistically and technically, along with a brief introduction to the poet ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād. It then examines the different categories of nawāsikh and their grammatical rules, drawing on the views of both classical and modern grammarians and applying these rules to relevant examples from the Muʿallaqa.

The study adopts the descriptive-analytical method by identifying the occurrences of nawāsikh in the verses of the Muʿallaqa, classifying them, and analyzing them grammatically. It also observes the chronological development of grammatical opinions and draws on major classical and modern sources of Arabic grammar. The study addresses three main categories: verbs that raise the subject and assign the accusative case to the predicate; particles that assign the accusative case to the subject and raise the predicate; and verbs that govern two objects whose original syntactic functions are the subject and predicate.

The findings reveal the frequent use of nawāsikh in ʿAntarah’s Muʿallaqa and the diversity of their grammatical forms and structures. Kāna and its sisters occur in twelve verses, while inna and some of its sisters occur in eighteen instances, and ẓanna and its sisters appear in twelve instances. The analysis also demonstrates variation in the forms of the nouns and predicates governed by these operators, including single words, clauses, and semi-clauses, reflecting the grammatical richness of the Muʿallaqa. The study found no examples of verbs of approximation, particles resembling laysa, or lā of generic negation. It concludes that nawāsikh constitute a prominent grammatical phenomenon in the Muʿallaqa that merits further study and analysis.