The Comparative and Superlative (sometime called the Elative Noun)

Meaning

In Arabic, there is only one word which is used to indicate on the root meaning being carried out to both a greater extent as well as the greatest extent (comparative and superlative). For example, “being eloquent” can be made comparative by saying “more eloquent” and superlative by saying “most eloquent” and one word in Arabic would be used for both of these. Another example is “to be fast”; the comparative would be “faster” and the superlative would be “fastest”.

This noun can occupy most grammatical positions in a sentence. Ones it cannot occupy are easily identified based on the meaning and context and we do not need to discuss this further. Another point to note is that, unlike the participles, the meaning of this noun is usually quite transparent and can be induced without the use of a dictionary.

Furthermore, like the participles, it can be used as both a noun and an adjective. For example, the terms “fastest” and “most expensive” are used as adjectives in the sentence “the Bugatti Veyron is one of the fastest and most expensive cars.” And the term “most deserving” is used as a noun in the sentence “she is the most deserving of all people.”

The chart below gives some examples of this entity’s use as an adjective and a noun, as well as some examples of its use in the comparative context and the superlative context.

Gloss	Phrase
he is more eloquent than me	هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّيْ
he is the most eloquent of the eloquent people	هُوَ أَفْصَحُ الفُصَحَاءِ
the most eloquent man spoke to me	كَلَّمَنِيْ الرَجُلُ الأَفْصَحُ
he is the most eloquent	هُوَ الأَفْصَحُ

Now, this entity can be used in many grammatical ways, as can be seen from the chart above:

• as an indefinite noun
  1. followed by مِنْ
  2. followed by a clarification (تَمْيِيْز)
• as a definite noun
  1. in a possessive construction (مُضَاف)
  2. as an adjective (صِفَة)
  3. on its own

In (1), it is used as a comparative and in (2), it is used as a superlative. This is not always the case, though. Given the examples below, try to determine which of the constructions is being used, then translate the sentence.

1. نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ القَصَصِ
2. إِنَّ كَلِمَةَ اللهِ هِيَ العُلْيى
3. فَهِيَ كَالحِجَارَةِ أَوْ أَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً
4. هُوَ أَفْصَحُ مِنِّيْ لِسَاناً
5. وَالَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوْا أَشَدُّ حُبّاً للهِ
6. ثُمَّ لَنَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِالَّذِيْنَ هُمْ أَوْلى بِهَا صِلِيّاً
7. أَيُّ الفَرِيْقَيْنِ خَيْرٌ مَقَاماً وَأَحْسَنُ نَدِيّاً

The comparative/superlative noun applies to the active voice in the vast majority of cases and not the passive. For example, making the gerund “to help” superlative would result in the phrase “the most helpful” as opposed to “the one most helped”. Which of the two voices will be used depends on the individual word, but it is usually safe to assume that the active voice is used. Compare the translations in the following list for a few examples.

Meaning	Voice	Superlative
strongest	active	أَقْوى
most helpful	active	أَنْصَر
most famous	passive	أَشْهَر

Construction

This noun exists only for trilateral roots with no extra letters (see Verb Paradigms). The method of construction is simply to place the root letters on the designated pattern. There is only one pattern and it behaves quite regularly; it has been given below.

Broken Plural	Sound Plural	Singular
أَفَاعِل	أَفْعَلُوْنَ	أَفْعَل	Masculine
فُعَل	فُعْلَيَات	فُعْلى	Feminine

The Hyberbolic Participle

Meaning

The hyperbolic participle is that noun derived from a gerund which is used to indicate upon the one who has/is/will enact the meaning expressed by the root letters to a very high degree or to a very large extent. For example, we can create a hyperbolic participle for “traveling” which gives us the meaning “one who travels a lot” or “one who travels by profession”, in other words “a globetrotter”.

 

Some points to note about the exaggerated participle have already been detailed in our discussion on the active participle:

 

• it can occupy any grammatical positioning in a sentence
• the meaning might not always be obvious
• it can be used as both an adjective and a noun
• not all gerunds have an associated hyperbolic participle; in fact, most don’t

 

One of the patterns in the inventory of this participle is especially useful for occupations. The list below gives some examples of this:

 

Translation	Meaning from Root Letters	Arabic Word
barber	to shave	حَلاَّق
mason, builder	to build	بَنَّاء
executioner	to whip, be tough	جَلاَّد
lethal, pernicious	to kill	قَتَّال
winegrower	also has to do with vines	كَرَّام
carpenter	to carve	نَجَّار

 

Construction

The hyperbolic participle exists only for trilateral roots with no extra letters. Constructing the participle is a simple matter of placing the root letters on one of the following patterns. Given a set of three root letters, however, it is unpredictable which one of these patterns will be used, or if the root letters even have an associated hyperbolic participle at all.

• فَعِل
• فَعُوْل
• فَعِيْل
• فَعَّال
• فُعَّال
• فُعُّوْل
• فِعِّيْل
• فَيْعُول
• مِفْعَال
• مِفْعِيْل
• فَعَّالَة

The Active Participle

Meaning

The active participle is that noun derived from a gerund which is used to indicate upon the one who has, is, or will enact something. It is loosely referred to as the ‘doer’. For example, the active participle for “helping” is “helper”. Recall that the word “helper” can be used in any grammatical positioning in a sentence and its function as the ‘doer’ is at the word level, not the sentence level. We can say “Zaid hit his helper.” “Helper” in this sentence is a ‘doer’ (one who helps), but it is not the one doing the verb of the sentence (the subject is Zaid).

 

When we take a set of base letters and place them on one of the active participle patterns, the resulting meaning may not be immediately clear. We do know that this noun adds the ‘doer’ meaning, but for the final, correct translation of the word, a dictionary is usually consulted. In the chart below, compare the base meaning of each word with the active participle.

 

Some Popular Actual Meanings	Expected Meaning	Active Participle	Base Meaning	Base Letters
clubhouse	one who calls	نَادٍ	to call, convene	ن، د، و
pregnant	one who carries	حَامِل	to carry	ح، م، ل
eyebrow, hermetic	that which conceals	حَاجِب	to veil, conceal	ح، ج، ب

 

Notice that the translation “eyebrow” above is what we know in English as a noun, whereas the word “hermetic” is an adjective. Which of the two functions a given derived noun uses is dependent on context. For example, we may say “the capable people can do it.” In this case, the word “capable” is being used as an adjective. And we may say “the capable can do it.” It is now being used as a noun.

 

A final point to note is that not all gerunds may have an associated active participle. Although most do. For example, “one who is tall” will not be expressed using an active participle because being tall is an attribute, not an act of doing something, so it is better suited for the resembling participle.

 

Construction

If the gerund from which the active participle is derived is a trilateral verb with no extra letters (see Verb Paradigms), then we simply place the base letters on the pattern:

 

فَاعِل

 

The Passive Participle

Meaning

The passive participle is that noun derived from a gerund designed to indicate upon the thing upon which the root meaning has been, is, or will be enacted. For example, using the passive participle for the gerund “breaking” gives us “that which is broken”, or simply “broken”. For contrasting purposes, notice that the active participle would have been “that which breaks”, or simply “breaker”.

 

Some points to note about the passive participle have already been detailed in our discussion on the active participle:

 

• it can occupy any grammatical positioning in a sentence
• the meaning might not always be obvious
• it can be used as both an adjective and a noun
• not all gerunds have an associated passive participle; e.g. intransitive gerunds

 

The following chart provides some passive participles. Notice how the word “rational”, for example, can be used as both an adjective or a noun; compare “this rational proof is good” and “this rational (thing) is good.”

 

Some Popular Meanings	Expected Meaning	Passive Participle	Base Meaning	Base Letters
rational, cogent	that which is comprehended	مَعْقُوْل	to comprehend	ع، ق، ل
(tooth)paste	something kneaded	مَعْجُوْن	to knead, to soak	ع، ج، ن

 

Construction

For trilateral roots with no extra letters (see Verb Paradigms), the passive participle is constructed by placing the root letters on the following pattern:

 

مَفْعُوْل

 

In Arabic there are three types of words:

1. Verb – فعل
2. Noun – اسم
3. Preposition – حرف

Verb فعل

This category is defined as those words that impart a single meaning on their own and afford a tense. This is exactly what we in English know as verbs.

examples:

کتب (he wrote)

تسجد (you are prostrating)

Noun اسم

This category is defined as those words that impart a single meaning on their own and do not afford a tense. Roughly speaking, this is equivalent to what we know in English as nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs.

عالم (scholar)

هی (she)

کبیر (large)

کثیر (very)

Particle حرف

This category is defined as those words that do not impart a meaning on their own . Roughly speaking, this is equivalent to what we know in English as prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and other particles.

فی (in)

علی (on)

الی (to/towards)

لِ (for)

مِن (from)

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