Lesson 5
Ownership Expression and Vocative
لام الملكية يا
لِـ (lām al-milk) expresses possession: لِزَيْد = "belonging to Zayd." The vocative particle يَا calls out to someone. Both are among the most frequently used Arabic structures.
Key Vocabulary
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
لِـli-belonging to / for (possession)
يَاyāO! / Hey! (vocative particle)
أُسْتَاذustādhteacher / professor
طَالِبṭālibstudent (m)
رَجُلrajulman
وَلَدwaladboy / child
صَدِيقṣadīqfriend
Lām al-Milk Possession with لِـ
Attaching لِـ before a noun expresses ownership or belonging. The noun after لِـ is always genitive (kasra). When لِـ precedes the definite article, they merge: لِـ + الـ = لِلـ (lil-).
هَذَا الْكِتَابُ لِزَيْدٍ ذَلِكَ الْقَلَمُ لِلطَّالِبِ
Hādhā l-kitābu li-Zaydin Dhālika l-qalamu liṭ-ṭālibi
This book belongs to Zayd. That pen belongs to the student.
يَا أُسْتَاذُ، هَذَا الْكِتَابُ لَكَ يَا صَدِيقِي، تَعَالَ هُنَا
Yā ustādhu, hādhā l-kitābu laka Yā ṣadīqī, taʿāla hunā
O teacher, this book is for you. O my friend, come here.
Sample Dialogue
أ: لِمَنْ هَذَا الْكِتَابُ؟ ب: هُوَ لِأَحْمَدَ. أ: يَا أَحْمَدُ، هَذَا كِتَابُكَ.
A: Li-man hādhā l-kitābu? B: Huwa li-Aḥmada. A: Yā Aḥmadu, hādhā kitābuka.
A: Whose is this book? B: It is Ahmad's. A: O Ahmad, this is your book.
Pronunciation Focus
The vocative يَا has a long ā vowel draw it out before the name: yā Aḥmadu. In classical Arabic, the person addressed takes the nominative with a ḍamma: يَا أُسْتَاذُ (not أُسْتَاذَ). Practice this ḍamma ending it is the formal vocative marker.
- لِـ governs the genitive the noun after it takes kasra: لِلطَّالِبِ (lil-ṭālibi).
- لِمَنْ؟ (li-man = for whom?) is the question for asking ownership.
- يَا + indefinite noun: يَا رَجُلُ (O man!). يَا + definite: يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّجُلُ (more formal).
- مَبْنِيّ words never change: هَذَا، هَذِهِ، ذَلِكَ، يَا no case endings on these words.
- لَكَ = for you (m). The pronoun suffix كَ attaches to prepositions just as it does to nouns.