فلن

Root entry · 11 derived lemmas

This root primarily deals with the concept of 'so-and-so' or 'such-and-such', used as a placeholder name or pronoun. It extends to referring to specific individuals, animals, or even abstract concepts, with variations in its usage depending on context and grammatical function, particularly in vocative constructions.

Derived headwords

فُلَانname

1.
so-and-soboth
A placeholder name used to refer to a specific male person when their name is not mentioned or known.
2.
such-and-suchboth
Used to refer to a non-human entity, often animals, when their specific identity is not stated.

فُلَانَةname

1.
so-and-soboth
A placeholder name used to refer to a specific female person when their name is not mentioned or known.
2.
such-and-suchboth
Used to refer to a non-human female entity, often animals, when their specific identity is not stated.

الفُلَانname

1.
the so-and-soboth
Used with the definite article to refer to a specific male person or animal, often in a more formal or specific context.

الفُلَانَةname

1.
the so-and-soboth
Used with the definite article to refer to a specific female person or animal, often in a more formal or specific context.

فُلname

1.
O so-and-soclassical
A vocative form, often used in direct address, derived from 'fulan' by shortening, sometimes considered a distinct word rather than a truncation.

فَلَاname

1.
O so-and-soclassical
A vocative form of 'fulan' where the final 'n' is dropped, sometimes considered a form of elision or a specific vocative construction.

فَلَاهname

1.
O so-and-soclassical
A vocative form of 'fulan' where the final 'n' is dropped and a 'ha' is added, used in direct address.

فَلِيّانname

1.
so-and-soclassical
The diminutive form of 'fulan', indicating a smaller or less significant instance of 'so-and-so'.

فُلَيْنname

1.
so-and-soclassical
An alternative diminutive form of 'fulan', used to refer to a smaller or less significant instance of 'so-and-so'.

فِلِسْطِينname

1.
Palestineboth
The name of the geographical region known as Palestine, located between Jordan and Egypt.

الفُلَانِيّadjective

1.
so-and-so'sclassical
An adjective derived from 'fulan', used in a possessive or attributive sense, often indicating lineage or belonging.

Parallel reading

فلان وفلانة: كناية عن أسماء الآدميين.

Fulan and Fulana: a substitute for the names of human beings.

والفلان والفلانة: كناية عن غير الآدميين.

And al-Fulan and al-Fulana: a substitute for non-human beings.

تقول العرب: ركبت الفلان وحلبت الفلانة.

The Arabs say: I rode al-Fulan and milked al-Fulana.

ابن السراج: فلان كناية عن اسم سمي به المحدث عنه، خاص غالب.

Ibn al-Siraj: Fulan is a substitute for a name by which the one being spoken about is named, usually specific.

ويقال في النداء: يا فل فتحذف منه الألف والنون لغير ترخيم، ولو كان ترخيما لقالوا يا فلا

And in vocative address it is said: 'Ya Ful', from which the alif and nun are deleted for reasons other than elision; if it were elision, they would say 'Ya Fula'.

وربما جاء ذلك في غير النداء ضرورة؛ قال أبو النجم: في لجة، أمسك فلانا عن فل واللجة: كثرة الأصوات، ومعناه أمسك فلانا عن فلان.

And sometimes that occurs in non-vocative contexts out of necessity; Abu al-Najm said: 'In a sea of noise, hold Fulan back from Ful', and al-Lajjah means a multitude of sounds, and its meaning is 'hold Fulan back from Fulan'.

ويقال في غير الناس الفلان والفلانة بالألف واللام.

And for non-humans, al-Fulan and al-Fulana are said with the definite article.

إذا سمي به إنسان لم يحسن فيه الألف واللام.

If it is named after a human, the definite article is not appropriate.

يقال: هذا فلان آخر لأنه لا نكرة له، ولكن العرب إذا سموابه الإبل قالوا هذا الفلان وهذه الفلانة

It is said: 'This is another Fulan' because it has no indefinite form; but when the Arabs name camels with it, they say 'this is al-Fulan' and 'this is al-Fulana'.

فإذا نسبت قلت فلان الفلاني، لأن كل اسم ينسب إليه فإن الياء التي تلحقه تصيره نكرة وبالألف واللام يصير معرفة في كل شيء.

And when you derive a nisba, you say 'Fulan al-Fulani', because any name to which the ya is attached becomes indefinite, and with the definite article it becomes definite in all things.

تقول لقيت فلانا، إذا كنيت عن الآدميين قلته بغير ألف ولام، وإذا كنيت عن البهائم قلته بالألف واللام؛

You say 'I met Fulan', if you are substituting for humans, you say it without the definite article, and if you are substituting for animals, you say it with the definite article;

وهو إذا قيل له: ويها، فل ... فإنه أحج به أن ينكل

And when it is said to him: 'Ho there, Ful!'... then he is more likely to be deterred from faltering.

فمن قال يا فل فمضى فرفع بغير تنوين فقال قم يا فل؛

So whoever says 'Ya Ful' and proceeds to raise it without tanwin, he says 'Qum ya Ful'.

ومن قال يا فلاه فسكن أثبت الهاء فقال قل ذلك يا فلاه، وإذا مضى قال يا فلا قل ذلك، فطرح ونصب.

And whoever says 'Ya Fulah' and pauses, he affirms the 'ha' and says 'Qul dhalika ya Fulah', and when he proceeds, he says 'Ya Fula', dropping and inflecting.

يقول بعض بني أسد يا فل أقبل ويا فل أقبلا ويا فل أقبلوا، وقالوا للمرأة فيمن قال يا فل أقبل: يا فلان أقبلي

Some of Banu Asad say 'Ya Ful, approach!', 'Ya Ful, approach (dual)!', 'Ya Ful, approach (plural)!', and for a woman, among those who say 'Ya Ful, approach!', they say 'Ya Fulana, approach!'

ويقولون للرجل يا فل أقبل، وللاثنين يا فلان، ويا فلون للجمع أقبلوا، وللمرأة يا فل أقبلي، ويا فلتان، ويا فلات أقبلن، نصب في الواحدة لأنه أراد يا فلة، فنصبوا الهاء.

And they say to a man 'Ya Ful, approach!', to two 'Ya Fulan', and to the plural 'Ya Fulun, approach!', and to a woman 'Ya Ful, approach!', 'Ya Fultan', 'Ya Flata, approach!', inflecting the singular because they intended 'Ya Fula', and they inflected the 'ha'.

يقول الله عز وجل أي فل ألم أكرمك وأسودك؟ معناه يا فلان، قال: وليس ترخيما لأنه لا يقال إلا بسكون اللام، ولو كان ترخيما لفتحوها أو ضموها؛

Allah, the Almighty, says: 'Ay Ful, did I not honor you and make you a leader?' Its meaning is 'Ya Fulan'. He said: And it is not elision because it is only said with a sukun on the lam; if it were elision, they would have opened or dammaed it;

فكسر اللام للقافية.

So the lam was kasraed for the rhyme.

فبنو أسد يوقعونها على الواحد والاثنين والجمع والمؤنث بلفظ واحد، وغيرهم يثني ويجمع ويؤنث؛

So Banu Asad use it for the singular, dual, plural, and feminine with one form, while others use dual, plural, and feminine forms;

يا ويلتى ليتني لم أتخذ فلانا خليلا ؛ قال الزجاج: لم أتخذ فلانا الشيطان خليلا، قال: وتصديقه: وكان الشيطان للإنسان خذولا ؛

'Oh, woe is me! I wish I had not taken Fulan as a friend'; Al-Zajjaj said: 'I did not take Fulan, the devil, as a friend', he said: and its corroboration is: 'And Satan has been to man a betrayer';

وفل بن فل: محذوف، فأما سيبويه فقال: لا يقال فل يعني به فلان إلا في الشعر كقوله: في لجة، أمسك فلانا عن فل

And 'Ful bin Ful' is truncated. As for Sibawayh, he said: 'Ful' meaning Fulan is not said except in poetry, like his saying: 'In a sea of noise, hold Fulan back from Ful'.

وأما يا فل التي لم تحذف من فلان فلا يستعمل إلا في النداء، قال: وإنما هو كقولك يا هناه، ومعناه يا رجل.

And as for 'Ya Ful' which is not deleted from Fulan, it is only used in vocative address, he said: and it is like your saying 'Ya Hanah', and its meaning is 'O man'.

فلان: اسم رجل.

Fulan: the name of a man.

وبنو فلان: بطن نسبوا إليه، وقالوا في النسب الفلاني كما قالوا الهني، يكنون به عن كل إضافة.

And Banu Fulan: a clan attributed to them, and they said in the nisba 'al-Fulani' as they said 'al-Hani', by which they substitute for every attribution.

فلان نقصانه ياء أو واو من آخره، والنون زائدة، لأنك تقول في تصغيره فليان، فيرجع إليه ما نقص وسقط منه، ولو كان فلان مثل دخان لكان تصغيره فلين مثل دخين، ولكنهم زادوا ألفا ونونا على فل؛

Fulan is missing a ya or a waw from its end, and the nun is added, because you say in its diminutive 'Fulyan', so what was missing and dropped returns to it. And if Fulan were like 'dukhkhan' (smoke), its diminutive would be 'Fulayyin' like 'dukhayyin', but they added an alif and a nun to 'Ful'.

فلسطن: فلسطين، بكسر الفاء وفتح اللام: الكورة المعروفة فيما بين الأردن وديار مصر، حماها الله تعالى، وأم بلادها بيت المقدس.

Falastin: Palestine, with a kasra on the fa and a fatha on the lam: the known region between Jordan and the lands of Egypt, may God protect it, and the mother of its lands is Jerusalem.