Noun Case Class 8 — The Manqūṣ Noun

1. The Eighth Class of Noun Inflection

الثَّامِنُ: أَنْ يَكُونَ الرَّفْعُ بِتَقْدِيرِ الضَّمَّةِ، وَالْجَرُّ بِتَقْدِيرِ الْكَسْرَةِ، وَالنَّصْبُ بِالْفَتْحَةِ لَفْظًا.
Translation: In this eighth class, nominative has an estimated ḍamma, genitive has an estimated kasra, and accusative takes a visibly pronounced fatḥa.

The noun remains inflected in all three cases; two endings are estimated while the accusative ending is expressed.

2. Definition of the Manqūṣ Noun

وَيَخْتَصُّ بِالْمَنْقُوصِ، وَهُوَ مَا فِي آخِرِهِ يَاءٌ مَا قَبْلَهَا مَكْسُورٌ، كَـ«الْقَاضِي».
Translation: This pattern applies to the manqūṣ noun, which ends in a yāʾ preceded by a kasra, for example الْقَاضِي.

Both conditions matter: a final yāʾ and a kasra on the preceding letter. Merely ending in a written yāʾ is not enough.

3. The Three Examples in the Book

تَقُولُ: «جَاءَنِي الْقَاضِي، وَرَأَيْتُ الْقَاضِيَ، وَمَرَرْتُ بِالْقَاضِي».
Translation: You say: “The judge came to me; I saw the judge; and I passed by the judge.”

The noun is a subject in the first example, an object in the second, and governed by a preposition in the third. Every word of each original example is parsed below.

4. Inspect the Ending of Al-Qāḍī

In الْقَاضِي, the word ends in yāʾ preceded by the kasra on ḍād: ضِ + ي. This is the reason it is classed as manqūṣ.

The definite article الْـ makes the noun definite. It does not cause the noun to be manqūṣ; the final sequence does.

This is an instructional analysis of the book’s example.

5. Maqṣūr versus Manqūṣ

Maqṣūr: الْعَصَا ends in an alif, so all three case vowels are estimated.

Manqūṣ: الْقَاضِي ends in a yāʾ preceded by kasra. Nominative and genitive are estimated, while accusative fatḥa is visible.

Core contrast: maqṣūr has three estimated endings; manqūṣ has two estimated endings and one visible one.

6. Why Are Nominative and Genitive Estimated?

On the final yāʾ of الْقَاضِي, pronouncing ḍamma or kasra is considered heavy (thiqal); grammarians therefore treat them as estimated.

A fatḥa is lighter, so the accusative is pronounced الْقَاضِيَ, with fatḥa on the final yāʾ.

Important: heaviness (thiqal) is not the same as the impossibility (taʿadhdhur) discussed with maqṣūr.

7. Book Example 1: Full Parsing

جَاءَنِي الْقَاضِي
Translation: The judge came to me.

جَاءَ: past verb, built on fatḥa; نِ: protective nūn, without grammatical case; ي: attached object pronoun in the accusative position.

الْقَاضِي: nominative subject with estimated ḍamma on the final yāʾ, unpronounced because of heaviness (thiqal).

8. The Pronoun Inside Jāʾanī

In جَاءَنِي, the yāʾ means “me” and functions as the object pronoun.

نِ is the protective nūn inserted before first-person yāʾ; it is not an additional subject or object.

Three components: جَاءَ = verb; نِ = protective nūn; ي = object pronoun. الْقَاضِي is the subject.

9. An Unseen Nominative Ending

الْقَاضِي is the subject and hence nominative even though no ḍamma is visible on its final yāʾ.

Its complete analysis: فَاعِلٌ مَرْفُوعٌ، وَعَلَامَةُ رَفْعِهِ الضَّمَّةُ الْمُقَدَّرَةُ عَلَى الْيَاءِ، مَنَعَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهَا الثِّقَلُ.

Point: no visible ḍamma does not mean the subject has ceased to be nominative.

10. Book Example 2: Full Parsing

رَأَيْتُ الْقَاضِيَ
Translation: I saw the judge.

رَأَيْتُ: past verb built on sukūn because of attached subject tāʾ; تُ: attached first-person subject pronoun in the nominative position.

الْقَاضِيَ: accusative direct object; its case marker is a visible fatḥa on the final yāʾ.

11. Where Is the Accusative Fatḥa?

The kasra on ḍād in الْقَاضِيَ is not the accusative ending; it precedes the final yāʾ as part of the noun’s form.

The accusative fatḥa is on the final يَ: الْقَاضِيَ.

Compare: رَأَيْتُ الْعَصَا has an estimated fatḥa, while رَأَيْتُ الْقَاضِيَ has a visible fatḥa. Both are accusative objects.

12. Book Example 3: Full Parsing

مَرَرْتُ بِالْقَاضِي
Translation: I passed by the judge.

مَرَرْتُ: past verb built on sukūn because of the attached subject tāʾ; تُ: subject pronoun, in the nominative position.

بِـ: preposition; الْقَاضِي: genitive noun governed by bāʾ, with an estimated kasra on the final yāʾ hidden by heaviness.

13. The Prepositional Phrase and Its Verb

In بِالْقَاضِي, بِـ is the preposition and الْقَاضِي its genitive complement. Together they form a prepositional phrase.

The phrase attaches to the verb مَرَرْتُ and indicates who was passed by.

Review: the noun is a subject in example 1, an object in example 2, and a genitive noun in example 3.

14. All Three Book Examples Compared

جَاءَنِي الْقَاضِي — nominative subject, estimated ḍamma.
رَأَيْتُ الْقَاضِيَ — accusative object, visible fatḥa.
مَرَرْتُ بِالْقَاضِي — genitive noun, estimated kasra.

Takeaway: It is the same noun with three grammatical functions. Only the accusative shows the case vowel on its final yāʾ.

15. Manqūṣ Is Not Mabnī

الْقَاضِي looks identical in the nominative and genitive, but that does not make it indeclinable.

It is an inflected noun: its grammatical case varies, although some vowels are estimated.

Avoid this error: “I cannot see a case vowel, therefore the word is mabnī.” That conclusion is false.

16. Definite and Indefinite Manqūṣ

الْقَاضِي is definite because of الْـ; the final yāʾ is retained.

When this noun is indefinite, its usual nominative and genitive form is قَاضٍ. Its accusative form is قَاضِيًا.

Source boundary: The printed book examples use الْقَاضِي; the indefinite forms are an additional teaching explanation.

17. Why the Yāʾ Disappears in Qāḍin

قَاضٍ is related to قَاضِي. In the regular indefinite nominative and genitive forms, the final yāʾ is dropped and a kasra tanwīn remains.

The spelling of جَاءَ قَاضٍ and مَرَرْتُ بِقَاضٍ is the same, but the former is nominative and the latter genitive.

Caution: Kasra tanwīn here does not prove that the noun is genitive; check its syntactic role.

18. Supplementary Example: Nominative Indefinite

جَاءَ قَاضٍ
Translation: A judge came.

جَاءَ: past verb, built on fatḥa.
قَاضٍ: nominative subject; its underlying yāʾ has an estimated ḍamma, and the yāʾ is dropped in this indefinite form.

Exam point: Do not mistake kasra tanwīn for genitive here; the noun is the subject. This is a supplementary example.

19. Supplementary Example: Accusative Indefinite

رَأَيْتُ قَاضِيًا
Translation: I saw a judge.

رَأَيْتُ: past verb with subject tāʾ.
قَاضِيًا: accusative direct object with a visible fatḥa on the retained yāʾ and tanwīn for indefiniteness.

Contrast: In the accusative the yāʾ remains; indefinite nominative and genitive commonly use قَاضٍ.

20. Supplementary Example: Genitive Indefinite

مَرَرْتُ بِقَاضٍ
Translation: I passed by a judge.

مَرَرْتُ: past verb with subject tāʾ.
بِـ: preposition; قَاضٍ: genitive noun with estimated kasra on its underlying yāʾ, which is omitted in the indefinite form.

Contrast: The same written form was nominative in جَاءَ قَاضٍ; the preposition makes it genitive here.

21. Definite and Indefinite Paradigms

Definite: الْقَاضِي (nom.), الْقَاضِيَ (acc.), الْقَاضِي (gen.).

Indefinite: قَاضٍ (nom.), قَاضِيًا (acc.), قَاضٍ (gen.).

Source distinction: The definite forms are the book’s examples; the indefinite forms are added teaching material. Grammatical position determines the case in each sentence.

22. Final Yāʾ versus Possessive Yāʾ

In الْقَاضِي, the final yāʾ belongs to the structure of the noun itself; the form meets the definition of manqūṣ.

In غُلَامِي, the yāʾ is a separate first-person possessive pronoun; the noun is غُلَام. Its three case vowels were estimated in the preceding lesson.

Conclusion: Similar endings need not have the same grammatical explanation.

23. Additional Example: Ad-Dāʿī

الدَّاعِي is also manqūṣ: its final yāʾ follows a kasra.

حَضَرَ الدَّاعِي: The caller arrived. حَضَرَ: past verb; الدَّاعِي: nominative subject with estimated ḍamma.
رَأَيْتُ الدَّاعِيَ: I saw the caller. رَأَيْتُ: verb and subject; الدَّاعِيَ: accusative object with visible fatḥa.

These are added instructional examples, not quotations.

24. Genitive of Ad-Dāʿī and Review

سَلَّمْتُ عَلَى الدَّاعِي: I greeted the caller.

سَلَّمْتُ: past verb with subject tāʾ; عَلَى: preposition; الدَّاعِي: genitive noun with estimated kasra because of heaviness.

Three cases: الدَّاعِي (nom.), الدَّاعِيَ (acc.), الدَّاعِي (gen.). The rule matches الْقَاضِي.

25. Common Errors and Their Corrections

Error 1: Al-qāḍī has the same case in every sentence. Correction: nominative and genitive are estimated; accusative is visible.

Error 2: The kasra on ḍād itself is genitive. Correction: it belongs to the word’s form; the genitive is an estimated kasra on yāʾ.

Error 3: Qāḍin must be genitive. Correction: it can also be nominative.

Error 4: Al-qāḍī is indeclinable. Correction: it is inflected.

26. Level Summary and Mastery Check

A manqūṣ noun ends in yāʾ preceded by kasra; the printed example is الْقَاضِي.

Nominative: estimated ḍamma (heaviness). Accusative: visible fatḥa. Genitive: estimated kasra (heaviness).

Book review: جَاءَنِي الْقَاضِي، وَرَأَيْتُ الْقَاضِيَ، وَمَرَرْتُ بِالْقَاضِي. You should now be able to parse every word and explain the case of the noun.

Also recognise the extra indefinite forms قَاضٍ / قَاضِيًا / قَاضٍ.