LessonsThe Predicate as a Single Expression: Causal Linkage, Clauses, Verbs and NounsQuiz

رَجُلٌ كَرِيمٌ أَبُوهُ
A man whose father is generous.

«كريم» is morphologically an adjective, so a superficial analysis might call it merely a single predicate and ignore linkage. Yet the generosity concerns «أبوه». Thus being a single lexical expression and being non-causally attributed are not identical.

Grammatically the adjective is linked to the father's quality; semantically it is the father, not the named man, whose generosity is stated. This is why the source rule insists on a separate condition for absence of causal linkage.

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A causal adjective can be a single word

The Predicate as a Single Expression: Causal Linkage, Clauses, Verbs and Nouns

رَجُلٌ كَرِيمٌ أَبُوهُ
A man whose father is generous.

«كريم» is morphologically an adjective, so a superficial analysis might call it merely a single predicate and ignore linkage. Yet the generosity concerns «أبوه». Thus being a single lexical expression and being non-causally attributed are not identical.

Grammatically the adjective is linked to the father's quality; semantically it is the father, not the named man, whose generosity is stated. This is why the source rule insists on a separate condition for absence of causal linkage.