Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
اِسْم هَيْئَة
ism hay'a
Noun of manner
Sarf · morphologyDerived noun (mushtaqq)advanced term23+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The manner-noun: فِعْلَة names how the action is done — جِلْسَة is a way of sitting, مِشْيَة a gait.
Classical definition
اسْمُ الهَيْئَةِ مَصْدَرٌ يَدُلُّ عَلَى هَيْئَةِ وُقُوعِ الفِعْلِ، عَلَى وَزْنِ فِعْلَةٍ، كَجِلْسَةٍ.
“The noun of manner indicates the manner in which the action occurs, on the pattern fi'la, like jilsa.”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
هَيْئَةِ وُقُوعِ الْفِعْلِthe manner of the act
فِعْلَةthe manner-pattern
Understand it
One vowel apart from the once-noun, a world apart in meaning: جَلْسَة (fatha) is one act of sitting, جِلْسَة (kasra) is a style of sitting — the scholar's poise, the child's slouch. It typically arrives described or annexed: مَشَى مِشْيَةَ الْمُتَكَبِّرِ, 'he walked the walk of the arrogant'. Classical sarf coins it only from the bare three-letter verb.
How to spot it
Recognition test
فِعْلَة (kasra on the fa) naming a how, usually followed by an adjective or idafa describing the manner.
Related terms