Lesson 160: Workmen and Diminutives

Step 1 of 5: Learn

Walk down any old street and you read the pattern فَعَّالٌ on the shop signs: خَبَّازٌ baker, نَجَّارٌ carpenter, حَدَّادٌ blacksmith, خَيَّاطٌ tailor. The shadda on the middle radical says someone who does this all the time; that is why the same pattern will later give intensive adjectives such as كَذَّابٌ an inveterate liar (lesson 168). In the same street you hear the diminutive: a father calls يَا بُنَيَّ my little son, the baker opens his shop قُبَيْلَ الْفَجْرِ a little before dawn, and a customer asks for شُوَيَّةً a little of something. Both patterns are built by pouring the radicals of a noun into a fixed mould, exactly as you did with the nouns of place and instrument in lesson 126.

Rule 1: 1. Nouns of trade and occupation: فَعَّالٌ

A noun denoting a workman, artisan or habitual doer is formed on the pattern فَعَّالٌ: from خَبَزَ to bake comes خَبَّازٌ baker, from نَجَرَ to plane wood نَجَّارٌ carpenter, from حَدِيدٌ iron حَدَّادٌ blacksmith, from خَيْطٌ thread خَيَّاطٌ tailor, from طَبَخَ to cook طَبَّاخٌ cook, from فَلَحَ to till فَلَّاحٌ peasant, from حَمَلَ حَمَّالٌ porter, from بَقْلٌ greens بَقَّالٌ grocer. When the third radical is و or ي it appears as hamza after the long ā: بَنَّاءٌ builder (from بَنَى), سَقَّاءٌ water-carrier (from سَقَى). The feminine adds ة: خَيَّاطَةٌ seamstress, طَبَّاخَةٌ a woman cook; the plural is sound, خَبَّازُونَ, نَجَّارُونَ, فَلَّاحُونَ, beside a few collective plurals in ة such as جَمَّالَةٌ camel-drivers (from جَمَّالٌ). The noun is declined like any triptote and takes the article: اَلْخَبَّازُ, دُكَّانُ النَّجَّارِ.

يَفْتَحُ الْخَبَّازُ دُكَّانَهُ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ.
yaftaḥu l-khabbāzu dukkānahu qabla ṭulūʿi sh-shamsi
The baker opens his shop before sunrise.
صَنَعَ النَّجَّارُ بَابًا جَدِيدًا لِلْمَسْجِدِ.
ṣanaʿa n-najjāru bāban jadīdan li-l-masjidi
The carpenter made a new door for the mosque.
خَاطَتِ الْخَيَّاطَةُ ثَوْبَ الْعَرُوسِ فِي أُسْبُوعٍ.
khāṭati l-khayyāṭatu thawba l-ʿarūsi fī usbūʿin
The seamstress sewed the bride's dress in a week.
Feminine فَعَّالَةٌ.
اَلْبَنَّاؤُونَ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الشَّمْسِ وَالْحَدَّادُ يَعْمَلُ عِنْدَ النَّارِ.
al-bannāʾūna yaʿmalūna fi sh-shamsi wa-l-ḥaddādu yaʿmalu ʿinda n-nāri
The builders work in the sun and the blacksmith works by the fire.
بَنَّاءٌ from a defective root; its sound plural is بَنَّاؤُونَ.
كَانَ جَدِّي سَقَّاءً يَحْمِلُ الْمَاءَ إِلَى الْبُيُوتِ.
kāna jaddī saqqāʾan yaḥmilu l-māʾa ila l-buyūti
My grandfather was a water-carrier who carried water to the houses.
اِشْتَرَى الْفَلَّاحُونَ آلَاتٍ جَدِيدَةً مِنَ الْمَدِينَةِ.
ishtara l-fallāḥūna ālātin jadīdatan mina l-madīnati
The peasants bought new machines from the city.

Rule 2: 2. The diminutive فُعَيْلٌ

The diminutive, اِسْمُ التَّصْغِيرِ, is made by giving the first radical ḍamma, the second fatḥa, and inserting a vowelless ي after the second radical: فُعَيْلٌ. So رَجُلٌ man becomes رُجَيْلٌ a little man, كَلْبٌ كُلَيْبٌ a little dog, جَبَلٌ جُبَيْلٌ a hill, وَلَدٌ وُلَيْدٌ a little boy, عَبْدٌ عُبَيْدٌ, حَسَنٌ حُسَيْنٌ. The last two show that many proper names are old diminutives: حُسَيْنٌ, عُبَيْدٌ, عُمَيْرٌ, زُهَيْرٌ, قُرَيْشٌ (from قِرْشٌ). The diminutive has four shades of meaning: smallness (كُتَيِّبٌ a booklet), nearness in time or place (قُبَيْلَ الظُّهْرِ shortly before noon), affection (يَا بُنَيَّ my dear little son) and contempt (رُجَيْلٌ a mere little man). The context decides which. The noun keeps its gender, its case endings and its article: اَلْكُلَيْبُ, رُجَيْلًا.

نَامَ كُلَيْبٌ أَبْيَضُ تَحْتَ الْمِنْضَدَةِ.
nāma kulaybun abyaḍu taḥta l-minḍadati
A little white dog slept under the table.
Smallness.
وَصَلَ الْخَبَّازُ إِلَى دُكَّانِهِ قُبَيْلَ الْفَجْرِ.
waṣala l-khabbāzu ilā dukkānihi qubayla l-fajri
The baker reached his shop a little before dawn.
Nearness in time: قُبَيْلَ from قَبْلَ.
قَالَ الْأَبُ: يَا بُنَيَّ، لَا تَلْعَبْ بِالْمِنْشَارِ.
qāla l-abu: yā bunayya, lā talʿab bi-l-minshāri
The father said: My little son, do not play with the saw.
Affection; بُنَيَّ is the diminutive of اِبْنٌ with the suffix ـِي.
جَاءَ رُجَيْلٌ قَصِيرٌ يَطْلُبُ أُجْرَةً كَبِيرَةً.
jāʾa rujaylun qaṣīrun yaṭlubu ujratan kabīratan
A little man came asking for a big fee.
Contempt.
سَكَنَ الْحَدَّادُ عَلَى جُبَيْلٍ خَارِجَ الْقَرْيَةِ.
sakana l-ḥaddādu ʿalā jubaylin khārija l-qaryati
The blacksmith lived on a small hill outside the village.

Rule 3: 3. Longer nouns: فُعَيْعِلٌ and فُعَيْعِيلٌ

A noun of four consonants takes فُعَيْعِلٌ, with kasra after the inserted ي: دِرْهَمٌ دُرَيْهِمٌ a small dirham, دَفْتَرٌ دُفَيْتِرٌ a little notebook, مَسْجِدٌ مُسَيْجِدٌ a little mosque, جَعْفَرٌ جُعَيْفِرٌ. If a long vowel follows the third consonant it is kept and becomes ي: فُعَيْعِيلٌ: عُصْفُورٌ عُصَيْفِيرٌ a tiny bird, مِفْتَاحٌ مُفَيْتِيحٌ a little key, مِصْبَاحٌ مُصَيْبِيحٌ a small lamp. A long vowel after the second radical, as in كِتَابٌ or حِمَارٌ, is swallowed by the diminutive ي, which then takes shadda: كُتَيِّبٌ booklet, حُمَيِّرٌ a little donkey, غُلَيِّمٌ a small lad. Nouns of five or more letters drop what lies beyond the fourth consonant.

كَتَبَ الصَّبِيُّ أَسْمَاءَ الزَّبَائِنِ فِي دُفَيْتِرٍ.
kataba ṣ-ṣabiyyu asmāʾa z-zabāʾini fī dufaytirin
The boy wrote the customers' names in a little notebook.
فُعَيْعِلٌ.
قَرَأْتُ كُتَيِّبًا عَنْ حِرَفِ الْمَدِينَةِ الْقَدِيمَةِ.
qaraʾtu kutayyiban ʿan ḥirafi l-madīnati l-qadīmati
I read a booklet about the crafts of the old city.
The long ā of كِتَابٌ becomes يّ.
عَلَّقَ النَّجَّارُ مُصَيْبِيحًا فَوْقَ بَابِ الْوَرْشَةِ.
ʿallaqa n-najjāru muṣaybīḥan fawqa bābi l-warshati
The carpenter hung a small lamp above the workshop door.
فُعَيْعِيلٌ.
حَمَلَ السَّقَّاءُ الْمَاءَ عَلَى حُمَيِّرٍ رَمَادِيٍّ.
ḥamala s-saqqāʾu l-māʾa ʿalā ḥumayyirin ramādiyyin
The water-carrier carried the water on a little grey donkey.
فِي الْحَيِّ مُسَيْجِدٌ لَا يَسَعُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ثَلَاثِينَ رَجُلًا.
fi l-ḥayyi musayjidun lā yasaʿu akthara min thalāthīna rajulan
In the quarter there is a little mosque that does not hold more than thirty men.

Rule 4: 4. Weak, short and feminine nouns

Hollow nouns show their original و or ي: بَابٌ (root ب-و-ب) بُوَيْبٌ a little door, دَارٌ دُوَيْرَةٌ a little house, سَاعَةٌ سُوَيْعَةٌ a short hour, نَابٌ (ن-ي-ب) نُيَيْبٌ, شَيْخٌ شُيَيْخٌ. Short nouns of two letters recover their lost third radical, which merges with the diminutive ي into يّ: اِبْنٌ بُنَيٌّ little son, أَخٌ أُخَيٌّ little brother, أَبٌ أُبَيٌّ, اِسْمٌ سُمَيٌّ, يَدٌ يُدَيَّةٌ; شَيْءٌ gives شُيَيْءٌ a little thing, in everyday speech شُوَيَّةٌ a little. Feminine nouns without ة (parts of the body in pairs, شَمْسٌ, أَرْضٌ, دَارٌ) add ة in the diminutive to show their gender: شُمَيْسَةٌ, عُيَيْنَةٌ, أُذَيْنَةٌ, أُرَيْضَةٌ, دُوَيْرَةٌ; nouns that already end in ة simply keep it: شَجَرَةٌ شُجَيْرَةٌ, قَرْيَةٌ قُرَيَّةٌ, لُعْبَةٌ لُعَيْبَةٌ. Adverbs of time and place are diminished too, with the sense a little before, a little after: قُبَيْلَ, بُعَيْدَ, فُوَيْقَ, تُحَيْتَ.

دَخَلْنَا الْوَرْشَةَ مِنْ بُوَيْبٍ فِي الْحَائِطِ.
dakhalna l-warshata min buwaybin fi l-ḥāʾiṭi
We entered the workshop through a little door in the wall.
The و of بَابٌ reappears.
يَسْكُنُ الْخَيَّاطُ فِي دُوَيْرَةٍ قَدِيمَةٍ خَلْفَ السُّوقِ.
yaskunu l-khayyāṭu fī duwayratin qadīmatin khalfa s-sūqi
The tailor lives in a little old house behind the market.
دَارٌ is feminine, so the diminutive takes ة.
أُخَيَّ، أَعْطِنِي الْمِطْرَقَةَ.
ukhayya, aʿṭini l-miṭraqata
Little brother, hand me the hammer.
أُخَيٌّ with the suffix ـِي: أُخَيَّ.
رَجَعَ الْفَلَّاحُ مِنَ الْحَقْلِ بُعَيْدَ الْمَغْرِبِ.
rajaʿa l-fallāḥu mina l-ḥaqli buʿayda l-maghribi
The peasant returned from the field a little after sunset.
زَرَعَتِ الْبِنْتُ شُجَيْرَةً أَمَامَ الدُّكَّانِ.
zaraʿati l-bintu shujayratan amāma d-dukkāni
The girl planted a little tree in front of the shop.
أَعْطِنِي شُيَيْئًا مِنَ الْخُبْزِ يَا خَبَّازُ.
aʿṭinī shuyayʾan mina l-khubzi yā khabbāzu
Give me a little bread, baker.

The diminutive patterns

Ḍamma on the first radical, fatḥa on the second, then the diminutive ي. Everything else depends on how many consonants the noun has and whether it is weak or feminine.
Type of noun	Pattern	Example	Diminutive
Three consonants	فُعَيْلٌfuʿaylun	رَجُلٌrajulunman	رُجَيْلٌrujayluna little man
Three consonants, long vowel after the second	فُعَيِّلٌfuʿayyilun	كِتَابٌkitābunbook	كُتَيِّبٌkutayyibunbooklet
Four consonants	فُعَيْعِلٌfuʿayʿilun	دَفْتَرٌdaftarunnotebook	دُفَيْتِرٌdufaytirunlittle notebook
Four consonants, long vowel before the last	فُعَيْعِيلٌfuʿayʿīlun	مِفْتَاحٌmiftāḥunkey	مُفَيْتِيحٌmufaytīḥunlittle key
Hollow noun	فُوَيْلٌ / فُيَيْلٌfuwaylun / fuyaylun	بَابٌbābundoor	بُوَيْبٌbuwaybunlittle door
Short noun (third radical restored)	فُعَيٌّfuʿayyun	اِبْنٌibnunson	بُنَيٌّbunayyunlittle son
Feminine without ة	فُعَيْلَةٌfuʿaylatun	شَمْسٌshamsunsun	شُمَيْسَةٌshumaysatunlittle sun
Feminine with ة	فُعَيْلَةٌfuʿaylatun	سَاعَةٌsāʿatunhour	سُوَيْعَةٌsuwayʿatuna short hour
Adverb	فُعَيْلَfuʿayla	قَبْلَqablabefore	قُبَيْلَqubaylaa little before

Vocabulary

Why do words end with “-un”?

The -un ending is called tanween (nunation). It marks indefinite nouns — similar to “a/an” in English.

كِتَابٌ (kitaabun) = a bookvsكِتَاب (kitaab) = book (base word)

To find the base word, simply remove the final “-un” sound (the double-stacked damma بٌ on the last letter).

نَجَّارٌ

najjārun

carpenter

خَبَّازٌ

khabbāzun

baker

حَدَّادٌ

ḥaddādun

blacksmith

خَيَّاطٌ

khayyāṭun

tailor

بَنَّاءٌ

bannāʾun

builder, mason

سَقَّاءٌ

saqqāʾun

water-carrier

طَبَّاخٌ

ṭabbākhun

cook

فَلَّاحٌ

fallāḥun

peasant, farmer

نَقَّاشٌ

naqqāshun

engraver, decorator

دُكَّانٌ

dukkānun

shop

وَرْشَةٌ

warshatun

workshop

مِنْشَارٌ

minshārun

saw

خَشَبٌ

khashabun

wood, timber

خِزَانَةٌ

khizānatun

cupboard, wardrobe

أُجْرَةٌ

ujratun

wage, fee

حِرْفَةٌ

ḥirfatun

craft, trade

صَبِيٌّ

ṣabiyyun

boy, apprentice

بُنَيٌّ

bunayyun

little son (dim. of اِبْنٌ); يَا بُنَيَّ my little son

قُبَيْلَ

qubayla

shortly before

بَرْهَنَ يُبَرْهِنُ عَلَى

barhana yubarhinu ʿalā

to prove, to demonstrate

Step 2 of 5: Read

In the carpenter's workshop

فِي وَرْشَةِ النَّجَّارِ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.What does the father call his son, and what do the neighbours call him?
2.Why does the customer want a small cupboard?
3.Who will decorate the cupboard?
4.What was the carpenter's grandfather?
5.What is the moral the carpenter states at the end?

In the Quran

فَعَّالٌۭ
Surah Al-Buruj · 85:16
فَعَّالٌ لِمَا يُرِيدُ 'Doer of whatever He wills': the pattern فَعَّال marking one who does an action constantly and completely.
- فَعَّالٌۭfaʿʿālunDoer
Read in context
وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَـٰنُ لِٱبْنِهِۦ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُۥ يَـٰبُنَىَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱلشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
Surah Luqman · 31:13
يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللّٰهِ: Luqmān addresses his son with the diminutive بُنَيَّ, the diminutive of اِبْن with the suffix 'my', expressing tenderness.
Read in context
قَالَ يَـٰبُنَىَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُءْيَاكَ عَلَىٰٓ إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا۟ لَكَ كَيْدًا ۖ إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ عَدُوٌّۭ مُّبِينٌۭ
Surah Yusuf · 12:5
قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ: Yaʿqūb speaks to Yūsuf with the same affectionate diminutive.
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 90/0 correct

Transform

Form the noun of trade on the pattern فَعَّال:

خَبَزَ (to bake)

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

يَعْمَلُ النَّجَّارُ وَابْنُهُ الصَّغِيرُ فِي الْوَرْشَةِ مِنَ الصَّبَاحِ إِلَى الْمَسَاءِ.

2.

قَالَ الْخَبَّازُ لِابْنِهِ: يَا بُنَيَّ، اِحْمِلِ الْخُبْزَ إِلَى دُكَّانِ الْبَقَّالِ.

3.

وَصَلَ الْحَدَّادُ إِلَى الْقَرْيَةِ بُعَيْدَ الظُّهْرِ عَلَى حُمَيِّرٍ صَغِيرٍ.

4.

فِي هٰذَا الْكُتَيِّبِ صُوَرُ خَزَائِنَ مُزَخْرَفَةٍ بِالْخَشَبِ.

5.

أُجْرَةُ الْخَيَّاطِ عَشَرَةُ دَنَانِيرَ، وَأُجْرَةُ النَّقَّاشِ أَكْثَرُ.

6.

بَرْهَنَ الصَّبِيُّ عَلَى أَنَّهُ يَعْرِفُ حِرْفَةَ أَبِيهِ.

Translate from English to Arabic

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

The builders finished the little mosque before winter.

2.

A little man entered the shop and asked for a little bread.

3.

My little brother, do not touch the saw.

4.

The water-carrier lives in a little house near the little door of the market.

5.

The cook opened the kitchen a little before sunrise.

6.

Every craft is honourable as long as its master is honest.

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