The adverbial function of qurʾānic verbal nouns taking the position of ḥāl
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Yehudit Dror
Abstract
Of Arabic verbal nouns’ various functions, this article focuses on their taking the position of ḥāl ‘circumstantial accusative’. Arab grammarians claim that a plain infinitive may replace a participle in the accusative, assuming the same meaning as the participle. I argue, however, that from the point of view of modern linguistics, these verbal nouns might be interpreted as having an adverbial function; more precisely, they perform the semantic-aspectual features of two types of adverbs: manner adverbs, which specify the mode of action, and state-of-mind adverbs, which describe a state of mind experienced by the agent of the action.
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Appendix 1
Brill’s Arabic Transliteration System.
| Arabic | Roman letter | Arabic | Roman letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | a | ض | ḍ |
| ب | b | ط | ṭ |
| ت | t | ظ | ẓ |
| ث | ṯ | ع | ʿ |
| ج | ǧ | غ | ġ |
| ح | ḥ | ف | f |
| خ | ḫ | ق | q |
| د | d | ك | k |
| ذ | ḏ | ل | l |
| ر | r | م | m |
| ز | z | ن | n |
| س | s | ه | h |
| ش | š | و | w, ū |
| ص | ṣ | ي | y, ī |
| ء | ʾ |
*Initial hamza is not transliterated
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