السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته,

We’re continuing our study of grammatical followers, and today we’re looking at التَّوْكِيْد (the emphasis).

التَّوْكِيْد (Emphasis)

التَّوْكِيْدُ: تابِعٌ لِلْمُؤَكَّدِ فِيْ رَفْعِهِ وَنَصْبِهِ وَخَفْضِهِ وَتَعْرِيْفِهِ …

The emphasis is a word that follows the emphasized word in its raf’, nasb, khafdh (jarr) and its definiteness…

تَوْكِيْد (also pronounced تَأْكِيْد with a أ instead of و) means to strengthen something and in grammar there are two kinds of emphasis:

الْتَّوْكِيْد اللَّفْظِيْ (verbal emphasis) – This is accomplished by repeating the word (using either the exact same word or a synonym for it). Emphasis can be done for a noun, verb or particle. For example (with the emphasis in bold): جاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ مُحَمَّدٌ (“ Muhammad came”) – emphasized noun

(“ came”) – emphasized noun جاءَ جاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ or جاءَ حَضَرَ مُحَمَّدٌ (“Muhammad came “) – emphasized verb. َجاء and حَضَرَ both mean something came

مُحَمَّدٌ or جاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ (“Muhammad “) – emphasized verb. َجاء and حَضَرَ both mean something came نَعَمْ نَعَمْ جاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ or نَعَمْ جَيْرِ جاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ (“Yes, Muhammad came”) – emphasized particle. نَعَمْ and جَيْرِ are both particles that mean “Yes” التَّوْكِيْد الْمَعْنَوِيْ (emphasis by meaning) – A follower that removes the possibility that one is speaking forgetfully or intending something with a wider meaning than what he’s saying جاءَ الأمِيْرُ (“The prince came”) could give the listener the impression that you spoke forgetfully or that you really meant that the prince’s messenger came instead

came instead جاءَ الْأمِيْرُ نَفْسُهُ (“The prince, himself, came) has نَفْسُهُ (“himself”) added to emphasize الأمِيْرُ (“the prince”). This removes any other possibility and establishes with the listener that the prince himself came

The rule for an emphasis is that it matches the word it follows in status (raf’, nasb, jarr, etc.) and definiteness.

حَضَرَ خالِدٌ نَفْسُهُ (“Khalid himself arrived”) – خالدٌ is in raf’ because its the doer, so its emphasis نَفْسُ has to have dhammah for raf’

(“Khalid arrived”) – خالدٌ is in raf’ because its the doer, so its emphasis نَفْسُ has to have dhammah for raf’ حَفِظْتُ الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّهُ (“I memorized the Quran, all of it “) – القُرْآنَ is in nasb because it’s the object of a verb. Its emphasis كُلَّ has to have fathah so it can also be in nasb

(“I memorized the Quran, “) – القُرْآنَ is in nasb because it’s the object of a verb. Its emphasis كُلَّ has to have fathah so it can also be in nasb تَدَبَّرْتُ فِيْ الْكِتابِ كُلِّه (“I pondered the book, all of it ) – الكِتابِ is in jarr because of the word فِيْ before it. Its emphasis كُلِّ has kasrah so that it can also be in jarr

) – الكِتابِ is in jarr because of the word فِيْ before it. Its emphasis كُلِّ has kasrah so that it can also be in jarr In all of these examples, both the noun we’re emphasizing (خالد is a proper name, and الكتاب and القرآن are made definite using ال) and the emphasis will be definite. The emphasis is definite because it is mudhaaf to a definite noun (the pronoun ه is a definite noun)

ألْفاظ التَّوْكِيْدِ الْمَعْنَوِيّ (Words used to emphasize by meaning)

وَيَكُوْنُ بِألفاظٍ مَعْلُوْمَةٍ، وَهِيَ: النَفْسُ، وَالعَيْنُ، وَكُلٌّ، وَأَجْمَعُ، وَتَوابِعُ أَجْمَع، وَهِيَ: أَكْتَعُ، وَأَبْتَعُ، وَأَبْصَعُ، تَقُوْلُ: قامَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسُهُ، وَرَأَيْتُ القَوْمَ كُلَّهُمْ، وَمَرَرْتُ بِالْقَوْمِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ

And it (the emphasis) is by using known utterances, and they are نَفْس (“self”), عَيْن (“self”), كُلّ (“all”/”every”) and أَجْمَع (“all”/”every”), and the followers of أَجْمَعُ, which are أَكْتَعُ/أَبْتَعُ/أَبْصَعُ (same meaning as أَجْمَعُ).

You say قامَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسُهُ (“Zayd, himself, stood”), رَأَيْتُ الْقُوْمَ كُلَّهُمْ (“I saw the people, all of them”) and مَرَرْتُ بِالْقَوْمِ أجْمَعِيْنَ (“I passed by the people, all of them”).

By following the speech of the Arabs, the grammarians were able to identify specific words used to emphasize by meaning:

النَفْس and العَيْن – They both mean “self” and have to be mudhaaf to a pronoun that correlates to the noun you are emphasizing in gender and number. If you’re emphasizing a singular noun, the emphasis and the pronoun attached to it will both be singular جاءَ عَلِيٌّ نَفْسُهُ (“Ali himself came”) – نَفْسُ is mudhaaf to هُ (“his”), which corresponds to Ali in masculinity and singularity حَضَرَ أبُوْ بَكْرٍ عَيْنُهُ (“Abu Bakr himself arrived”) – عَيْنُ is mudhaaf to هُ (“his”), which corresponds to Abu Bakr in masculinity and singularity

If you’re emphasizing a plural noun, the emphasis and its attached pronoun will both be plural جاءَ الرِّجالُ أنْفُسُهُمْ (“The men themselves came”) – أنْفُس is the plural form of نَفْس and is mudhaaf to هُمْ (“them”), which corresponds to the men in masculinity and plurality حَضَرَ الكُتّابُ أعْيُنُهُمْ (“The scribes themselves came”) – أَعْيُن is the plural of عَيْن and is mudhaaf to هُمْ (“them”), which corresponds to the scribes in masculinity and plurality

If you’re emphasizing a dual, it is more eloquent to use the plural form of the emphasis with a dual pronoun حَضَرَ الرَّجُلانِ أَنْفُسُهُما (“The two men themselves came”) – أنْفُس is the plural form of نَفْس and is mudhaaf to هُما (” both of them”), which corresponds to the two men in masculinity and duality جاءَ الْكَاتِبانِ أَعْيُنُهُما (“The two scribes themselves came”) – أَعْيُن is the plural of عَيْن and is mudhaaf to هُمَا (“both of them”), which corresponds to the scribes in masculinity and duality

to use the plural form of the emphasis with a dual pronoun كُلٌّ and similarly جَمِيْعٌ – both mean “all” or “whole”. They also have to be attached to a pronoun that matches the emphasized noun in gender and number جاءَ الْجَيْشُ كُلُّهُ (“The army came, all of it “) – هُ (“he/it”) matches the masculine, singular army

(“The army came, “) – هُ (“he/it”) matches the masculine, singular army حَضَرَ الرِّجالُ جَمِيْعُهُمْ (“The men arrived, all of them“) – هُمْ matches the masculine, plural men أَجْمَعُ (“all/every”) – It’s usually only used as an emphasis after كُلّ has already been used (as in فَسَجَدَ الْمَلئِكَةُ كُلُّهُمْ أَجْمَعُوْنَ [Quran 15:30]), but it’s valid for it to come by itself without كُلّ. If more emphasis is needed, then one of its followers (أَكْتَعُ – أَبْتَعُ – أَبْصَعُ ) will come after it. These three can only come after أَجْمَعُ, like in جاءَ الْقَوْمُ أَجْمَعُوْنَ أَكْتَعُوْنَ

By the way, to answer the kid’s question in the picture, she’d say أكَلْتُ الطَّعامَ كُلَّهُ (“I ate the food, all of it!”)

Questions

What is تَوْكِيْد (or تَأْكِيْد)? What are special words used to emphasize by meaning? What are the conditions for using نَفْس and عَيْن for emphasis? What are the conditions for using كُلّ and جَمِيْع for emphasis? Can أجْمَعُوْنَ be used without كُلّ coming before it? Find the emphasis and the word it’s emphasizing in these examples. See if you find the the state and the reason why? الطُّلابُ جَمِيْعُهُمْ فائِزُوْنَ

رَأَيْتُ عَلِيًّا نَفْسَهُ

زُرْتُ الشَّيْخَيْنِ أَنْفُسَهُما

Until next time, السلام عليكم

Like this post? Simply enter your e-mail and click “Yes, include me!” for updates