Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
مَنْقُوص
manqus
Manqus (ending in ya)
Sarf · morphologyNoun ending typeadvanced term383+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The ya-ending noun — الْقَاضِي: damma and kasra hide on the heavy ya, only fatha shows; with tanwin the ya itself walks away (قَاضٍ).
Definition (modern)
الِاسْمُ الْمَنْقُوصُ: هُوَ كُلُّ اسْمٍ مُعْرَبٍ آخِرُهُ يَاءٌ لَازِمَةٌ مَكْسُورٌ مَا قَبْلَهَا. حُكْمُهُ: تُقَدَّرُ عَلَيْهِ الضَّمَّةُ وَالْكَسْرَةُ، وَيَمْنَعُ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمَا الثِّقَلُ، أَمَّا الْفَتْحَةُ فَتَظْهَرُ عَلَيْهِ لِخِفَّتِهَا.
“The manqus is any declinable noun ending in a fixed ya with a kasra before it. Its ruling: damma and kasra are assumed on it, their appearance prevented by heaviness; the fatha, being light, does appear.”
(النحو التطبيقي)
Key words in the Arabic
يَاءٌ لَازِمَةٌa fixed ya
الثِّقَلُheaviness — the ya resists u/i
لِخِفَّتِهَاbecause of its lightness
Understand it
The ya tolerates only the light fatha: جَاءَ الْقَاضِي (muqaddar damma), رَأَيْتُ الْقَاضِيَ (visible fatha), مَرَرْتُ بِالْقَاضِي (muqaddar kasra). Strip the ال and add tanwin and the ya itself drops in rafa' and jarr — قَاضٍ — returning only in nasb: قَاضِيًا. That disappearing act is the manqus's fingerprint in the mushaf: مُهْطِعِينَ إِلَى الدَّاعِ.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A noun ending ـِي that keeps the ya (or shows bare ـٍ with tanwin): fatha visible in nasb; everywhere else say 'muqaddar, prevented by thiqal'.
In the Qur'an
فَٱقْضِ مَآ أَنتَ قَاضٍ
Ta-Ha 20:72 — “So decree whatever you will decree”
قَاضٍ is the manqus with tanwin — the ya has dropped, and the rafa' damma is muqaddar on the missing letter.
Related terms