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588
PREPOSITIONS IN THE ARABIC LANGUAGE
Xasanova Dilsora Baxtiyor kizi
Oriental University Faculty of Philology
Department of Philology and Language Teaching (Arabic Language)
3rd-year Student
Abstract:
This article analyzes the structure, grammatical aspects, types and usage of
prepositions in the Arabic language. In addition to expressing syntactic relations, prepositions in
the Arabic language play an important role in expressing the meaning of a sentence semantically.
Of course, this article will be useful for those interested in the Arabic language and students
studying it.
Keywords:
Arabic language (ةيبرعلا ةغلا) letter word group (فرح), prefixes ( رج فورح ّ ),
accusative case ( رج ّ ), word in accusative case (رورجم).
In the Arabic language, there are three main parts of speech:
1.
مسلا (ism – noun).
This category includes nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals, adverbs,
verbal nouns (masdars), participles, as well as some prepositions and modal words, similar to
those in the Uzbek language.
2.
لعفلا (fiʿl – verb).
This category encompasses all verb forms, including tense, mood,
voice, affirmative and negative forms.
3.
فرحلا (ḥarf – particle).
This category includes the definite article, prepositions, various
particles, and, in general, auxiliary words.
Prepositions (فورح رجلا – ḥurūf al-jarr), which belong to the category of particles, play an
important role in Arabic sentences. They are among the key grammatical elements in the
language, as they establish syntactic and semantic relationships between sentence components.
Due to the richness and complexity of Arabic grammar, prepositions represent one of the most
interesting yet challenging aspects for students and learners of Arabic.
A significant part of auxiliary words consists of prepositions. Since the Arabic case system is
rather limited, relations such as time, place, delimitation, and other various connections are
mainly expressed through prepositions. A common feature of prepositions is that they always
precede the word they govern and require that word to appear in the genitive case.
The case system in Arabic differs somewhat from that of Uzbek. In Arabic, there are three
grammatical cases, whereas in Uzbek there are more.
Case
Definite form
Indefinite form
1.
Nominative case
فُتاهلا (
al-hātifu
)
فُتاه (
hātifun
)
2.
Accusative case
فُتاهلا (
al-hātifa
)
افًتاه (
hātifan
)
3.
Genitive case
فُتاهلا (
al-hātifi
)
فُتاه (
hātifin
)
For this reason, they cannot be used independently in other types of sentences. Moreover, in
Arabic, case markers (i‘rāb) are always placed before the word they govern.
Auxiliary words and prefixes that express meanings such as place, time, purpose, cause, means,
and accompaniment are called
prepositions (فرح ررجلا – ḥarf al-jarr)
.
Prepositions in Arabic are divided into three groups:
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1. Original (basic) prepositions
These are words that have lost their independent lexical meaning and are used only as
prepositions. The following are examples of original prepositions:
يفِ (fī – in, inside, at):
The student is at the university.
نْفِ (min – from, out of):
The student came out of the house.
جرخ بلاطلا نم فِيبلا
ىلإ (ilā – to, toward):
The student went to the university.
لخد بلاطلا ىلإ فةعماجلا
ىلَلَ (ʿalā – on, upon, above):
The notebook is on the table.
رتفدلا ىلع فةلواطلا
نْلَ (ʿan – about, from):
The student asked about the lesson.
لأس بلاطلا نع فِردلا
فِ (bi – with, by means of):
He wrote the letter with a pen.
بتك ةلاسرلا فِلقلاب
فِ (li – for, belonging to):
This book belongs to the student.
اذه باتكلا فبلاطلل
لَ (ka – like, as):
The girl is beautiful like a flower.
ِنبلا ةليمج فِدرولاك
The prepositions
فِ (bi), فِ (li), and لَ (ka)
are considered
attached prepositions
, as they are
always written connected to the words they govern.
Arabic
With Definite
Noun
With
Indefinite
Noun
Meaning
in
English
Particle Example in English
فِ (bi)
فِفلفقللافب
(
bi-l-
qalami
)
فِفلفقفب
(
bi-
qalamin
)
with, by means of فب
With a pen / By means of a
pen
فِ (li)
فبفلاططلفل
(
li-ṭ-
ṭālibi
)
فبفلافطفل
(
li-
ṭālibin
)
for, belonging to,
possessed by
فل
For the student / Belonging
to the student / The student
has
لَ (ka)
فِلمطّلافك (
ka-sh-
shamsi
)
فِلمفّفك
(
ka-
shamsin
)
like, as, similar to فَ
Like the sun / As a sun
When the preposition
ِ (li – for)
comes before the definite article
ِا (al-),
the initial
ا (alif)
is not
written. For example: ل + ةسردملا = ةسردملل (for the school).
If the first letter of a noun is
ِ (lām),
then the
ِ (lām)
of the article
ِا
is also omitted: ةغللا + فل =
ةغّلل (for the language).
1. Nominal (derived) prepositions – Adverbs (فورظلا)
This group includes words that, while still retaining their nominal features, can be used as
adverbs. These words often function in the accusative case when used adverbially:
لخاد (dākhil – inside, within):
Inside the university
– فل فخاد فةفعفمافجللا
جراخ (khārij – outside):
Outside the school
– فج فرافخ فةفس فرلدفملا
ربَ (ʿabr – through):
Through the book
– فرلبفع فبافتفكللا
ِلخ (khilāl – during):
During the holiday
– فل فَ فخ فةفللطفعللا
ِرق (qurba – near, close to):
Near the house
– فب فرق فِليفبللا
ماِأ (ʾamām – in front of):
In front of the car
– فَافمفَ فِفراطيطسلا
فَخ (khalf – behind):
Behind Umar
– فُللفخ فرفمفع
ْيب (bayna – between, among):
Between two students
– فنليفب فنليفبفلاططلا
قوِ (fawqa – above, over):
Above the table
– فَ لوفف فةفلفواططلا
تحت (taḥta – under, beneath):
Under the table
– فِلْفت فةفلفواططلا
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590
دنَ (ʿinda – at, with):
With the teacher
– فدلنفع فِافتلسفأا
ِوح (ḥawla – around, about):
Around the school
– فل لوفح فةفس فرلدفمللا
These nominal (derived) prepositions originate from nouns. They require the word that follows
them to be in the
genitive case (ررج)
, but they are not classified as
ḥurūf al-jarr (prepositions
proper).
According to original Arabic grammatical sources, such auxiliaries are considered
adverbs (فورظ). In sentence analysis, they are treated as
muḍāf (construct state noun)
, while
the word that follows is analyzed as
muḍāf ilayh (the governed noun).
2. Compound prepositions
These consist of two or three words and express more complex relationships compared to the
simple prepositions. Examples include:
لجل (li-ajl) – for the sake of
يِ ليبس (fī sabīl) – for the sake of, in the path of
اِوخ ِْ (khawfan min) – out of fear of
فرصب رظنلا ىلإ (bi-ṣarf al-naẓar ilā) – due to
رظنلاب ىلإ (bi-l-naẓar ilā) – because of
لاِ َْ (faḍlan ʿan) – in addition to, alongside
يِ نواغ (fī ghuḍūn) – during, in the course of
بناجب (bi-jānib) – beside, next to
ةطساوب (bi-wāsiṭa) – by means of
ةجيتن ِ (natījatan li) – as a result of
مغلاب ِْ (bi-l-gham min) – despite, in spite of
These compound prepositions are formed by combining derived auxiliaries with the basic
prepositions such as
فِ, ْفِ, ىلإ, يفِ, فِ.
The above examples illustrate this clearly.
Conclusion
In summary, Arabic prepositions (ḥurūf al-jarr) serve to establish connections between words in
a sentence. They not only perform a syntactic function but also carry semantic roles such as
indicating place, cause, time, manner, and more. As previously mentioned, they also determine
the grammatical case of the following word.
For learners of Arabic, the study of prepositions is essential yet challenging due to their
grammatical complexity. Mastering the correct usage of prepositions ensures accuracy and
clarity of expression in the Arabic language.
References
1.
N.Ibrohimov. Arab tili grammatikasi kitobi. 55-b. T-1997
2.
Abduhafiz Abdujabborov. Arab tili darslik.78-bet. T-2005
3.
N.Ibrohimov. Arab tili grammatikasi kitobi. 56-b. T-1997
4.
file:///C:/Users/MSI/Downloads/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D1
5.
N.Ibrohimov. Arab tili grammatikasi kitobi. 57-b. T-1997
