Elementary Arabic Morphology 3
Implied Declinable Signs
When are the signs of declination implied?
When is the wāw implied?
When is the nominative nūn implied?
When is the sakūn implied?
There are four cases when the signs of declination are implied: declinable nouns that end in an alif, for example: الفتیَ, nouns that are prefixed to a first person yā', for example: غلامي, declinable words that end in a wāw preceded by a dummah or a yā' preceded by a kasrah, for example: یَدعُو القاصي, and in words whose last letter is erased, for example: قاضٍ. All vowel signs are implied when the word ends in an alif because an alif cannot take a vowel sign. The vowel signs are implied in nouns that are prefixed to a first person yā' because the last letter has to receive a kasrah in relation to the yā'. The vowel sign is implied in the third case due to difficulty in pronunciation. A fathah is able to come in the third case, for example: لن یَدعُوَ القاصيَ, a wāw and yā' can receive vowel signs if they are preceded by a letter without a vowel sign, for example: دَلوٌ, if the last letter is erased the dummah and kasrah are implied while the fathah remains, for example: رأیتُ قاضیاً.
The wāw is implied in masculine sound plurals in the nominative state which are prefixed to a first person yā', for example: جاءَ مُکرِميَّ. We would say that this word is in the nominative state and its sign is a wāw that has turned into a yā' because of incorporation.
The nominative nūn is implied in two cases: if it comes before a nūn of emphasis, for example: هل تُکرِمانَّ or if it comes before the nūn of separation, for example: هل تُکرِمُوني.
The sakūn is implied if it follows a letter without a vowel sign, for example: احترام الشیوخَ. In this case the mīm is given a kasrah so two letters without vowel signs will not occur together.