Word typesIsm — the nouncore term31,632+ in the Qur'an
Also written: ism (naw' al-kalima) · Noun (ism) — word class tag · ISM · Noun-plus
In one line
An ism (اِسْم) is a word that means something in itself and carries no time — and every ism has four properties: definiteness, gender, number and i'rab.
Definition
الِاسْمُ هُوَ كَلِمَةٌ دَلَّتْ عَلَى مَعْنًى فِي نَفْسِهَا، وَلَمْ تَقْتَرِنْ بِزَمَانٍ.
“A noun is a word that indicates a meaning in itself, and is not tied to a time.”
(النحو التطبيقي)
Understand it
A كَلِمَة (kalimah) is one of three: an ism, a فِعْل (fi'l) or a حَرْف (harf). The ism is the naming one.
It means something on its own, and no time is attached to it. Say رَجُلٌ (rajulun), “a man”, and the meaning is already whole. Nothing has happened, and nothing is going to. Time belongs to the fi'l.
Inside the ism
خَصَائِص الِاسْم الْأَرْبَع–(khasa'is al-ism al-arba')
Every ism carries four properties at once: definiteness, gender, number and i'rab.
The ism is wider than the English noun. Pronouns, adjectives, demonstratives and words of place and time are all isms — هُوَ (huwa), كَبِير (kabīr), هَٰذَا (hādhā), فَوْقَ (fawqa).
How to spot it
الِاسْمُ يُعْرَفُ بِالْخَفْضِ وَالتَّنْوِينِ وَدُخُولِ الْأَلِفِ وَاللَّامِ وَحُرُوفِ الْخَفْضِ.
“The noun is recognised by khafd (the jarr ending), by tanwin, by taking alif-lam (الـ), and by the particles of khafd (prepositions).”
Recognition test
Run the tests on any word: will it take الـ in front? Tanwin at the end? A preposition such as مِنْ or فِي before it? One 'yes' is enough — the word is an ism.
(الآجرّومية)
In the language — فِي اللُّغَة
Like most Arabic grammar terms, اِسْم (ism) was taken from everyday speech and then given one precise technical sense.
In everyday Arabic it means a name.
مَا اسْمُكَ؟ (mā ismuka) — “what is your name?”
In Arabic grammar it means any word that names something without carrying a time.
Draft · awaiting final review. This page is being rewritten and checked against the source books.