Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
مُنَادَى
munada
Vocative noun (munada)
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term504+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The noun being called — what comes after the vocative particle يا.
The classical list
الْمُنَادَى خَمْسَةُ أَنْوَاعٍ: الْمُفْرَدُ الْعَلَمُ، وَالنَّكِرَةُ الْمَقْصُودَةُ، وَالنَّكِرَةُ غَيْرُ الْمَقْصُودَةِ، وَالْمُضَافُ، وَالشَّبِيهُ بِالْمُضَافِ.
“The called noun is of five kinds: the single proper name, the intended indefinite, the unintended indefinite, the mudaf, and what resembles the mudaf.”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
النَّكِرَة الْمَقْصُودَةan indefinite aimed at a specific person (“O man!” to one man)
الشَّبِيه بِالْمُضَافwhat resembles a mudaf (has a completing word)
Understand it
Call someone in Arabic and grammar follows: after يَا, a single name is built on damm (يَا زَيْدُ) while a mudaf takes nasb (يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ، يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا). The Quran's addresses — to the Prophet ﷺ, to the believers, to mankind — all run through this small system, so it repays learning early.
How to spot it
Recognition test
The noun directly after يا (or another call-particle) is the munada.
In the Qur'an
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا
Al-Baqarah 2:104 — “O you who have believed”
أَيُّ is the munada after the call-particle يا.
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