LessonsAl-Ta‘rif wa al-Tankir: Rhetorical Functions of Definiteness and IndefinitenessQuiz

الَّذِي كَانَ مَعَنَا أَمْسِ مُسَافِرٌ
The person who was with us yesterday is a traveler.

A relative noun identifies its referent through a relative clause (sila). A form such as “the one who” becomes informative when the attached clause identifies the person.

In the example, «الذي» is the relative noun, «كان معنا أمس» is its clause, and «مسافر» gives the predicate. The referent is recognized through a descriptive event rather than a proper name or pointing.

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The defining role of relative nouns

Al-Ta‘rif wa al-Tankir: Rhetorical Functions of Definiteness and Indefiniteness

الَّذِي كَانَ مَعَنَا أَمْسِ مُسَافِرٌ
The person who was with us yesterday is a traveler.

A relative noun identifies its referent through a relative clause (sila). A form such as “the one who” becomes informative when the attached clause identifies the person.

In the example, «الذي» is the relative noun, «كان معنا أمس» is its clause, and «مسافر» gives the predicate. The referent is recognized through a descriptive event rather than a proper name or pointing.