What is the specifier (tamyiz)?
In one line
Classical definition
Understand it
Something in the sentence is left vague, and one word settles it. That word is the تَمْيِيز.
اِشْتَرَيْتُ عِشْرِينَ كِتَابًا (ishtaraytu 'ishrina kitaban) — I bought twenty books. Without كِتَابًا, twenty of what? The number is the vagueness; the tamyiz removes it.
The two kinds
Tamyiz of a thing clears up a vague quantity; tamyiz of a relation clears up a vague statement.
It comes in two kinds. تَمْيِيز ذَات clears up a vague thing — after numbers, weights, measures: رِطْلًا زَيْتًا, a pound of oil. تَمْيِيز نِسْبَة clears up a vague relationship in the sentence as a whole: طَابَ مُحَمَّدٌ نَفْسًا (taba muhammadun nafsan), Muhammad was good — in respect of his soul.
The tamyiz is always indefinite, and always mansub.
How to spot it
In the Qur'an
Don't confuse it with the hal
Do not confuse the تَمْيِيز with the حَال.
Both are indefinite and both are mansub, which is why students mix them.
A حَال answers in what state? — it describes a condition at the time of the action: جَاءَ زَيْدٌ رَاكِبًا.
A تَمْيِيز answers in respect of what? — it removes an ambiguity, usually about a quantity or a relation: طَابَ مُحَمَّدٌ نَفْسًا.
A useful test: a tamyiz can usually be rewritten with مِنْ — عِشْرُونَ كِتَابًا, twenty of books. A hal cannot.
Related terms
Common questions
How is a tamyiz different from a hal?
A hal says what state something was in. A tamyiz says in what respect a vague statement should be taken — after a number, a measure, or a general claim. Both are indefinite and in nasab, which is exactly why they get confused.
Next in the guideاِسْمُ إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتِهَاWhat is the ism of inna (ism inna wa akhawatiha)? →Updated