(أم)‎ و (أو)‎ الاستفهاميتان : دراسة تركيبية

Abstract EN

The study begins with the definition of the question-words “am” and “aw"(or) semantically and terminologically, as a prelude.

The first part of the paper deals with the first aspect of the affix “am"(or).

This part is divided into fourteen sections.

In the first section the issue of the question-word “am"(or) when preceded by a glottal stop is looked at.

The question using this particle tries to determine one of two options, for example, “azaydon qama am qa3ada? "(Did Zayd stand up or sit down? ), and it denotes confirmation or reprimand.

In the second section, I focus on the necessity to topicalize one name if the question is about two names.

The third section deals with the possibility of starting the sentence with a verb or a noun when “am"(or) is used, and show that both are possible.

The fourth section is concerned with the word “sawa'"(either) when it is used with “am”, not as a question but as a statement.

In the fifth section I talk about “am"(or) used after an affixed glottal stop, that usually links two sentences.

The two sentences are either verbal sentences or nominal sentences.

The sixth section is about “thamma"(indeed) when it is used with “am"(or).

The seventh section shows that if the choice is between two verbs, then it is better to start the sentence with a verb, especially if the question is about which of the two verbs came first, example, “adarabta zaydan am qataltaho"(did you hit Zayd or kill him? ).

In section eight I discuss cases where it is used in combination with other question forms or glides.

Section nine is about some particles like “am"(or) in connection with alternations.

The tenth section concentrates on the conditions of the use of the affix “am"(or).

In the eleventh section I explain under what conditions glottal stops are used in combination with “am” and “aw"(or).

Section twelve is about the glottal stop used as a bound or free morpheme.

In section thirteen I elaborate on the characteristics of the word “either” and its parsing.

The last section of part one, section fourteen, illustrates “am"(or) as it is used in the Koran and classical Arabic poetry.

The second part of this paper is about “am"(or) as a free morpheme.

I deal with it in three sections.

In section one I show that the free morpheme occurs after the predicate.

Section two deals with the characteristics and illustrations of the free affix.

In the third section I show that “am” is used both as a free and a bound morpheme in the Koran and in classical Arabic poetry.

In the third part I discuss “aw"(or) in three sctions.

In the first section I compare “am” and “aw"(the two forms of 'or').

In the second section I deal with the scholars' parsing of “sawa'"(either) and “aw"(or).

In the third section I survey the uses of “am” and “aw"(or) by scholars and I illustrate various cases.

In the conclusion I state the main results of the paper.