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حيث

Root entry · 6 derived lemmas

The root حيث (ḥaythu) primarily denotes a place or location, functioning as an adverb. It is debated whether it can also refer to time, with some scholars arguing for this possibility based on poetic evidence. The entry also discusses various grammatical aspects, including its case endings, potential for being followed by a conditional particle, and its etymological origins.

Derived headwords

حَيْثُparticle
  1. 1.
    place, locationboth

    An adverbial particle indicating a specific place or location.

  2. 2.
    timeclassical

    Used to refer to time, though this usage is debated and considered less common or classical.

حيثما تستقم يقدر لك الله نجاحا في غابر الأزمان — Wherever you stand firm, God will decree success for you in bygone ages.
حِينٌnoun
  1. 1.
    time, periodboth

    A noun referring to a specific period of time or an occasion.

حَوْثٌother
  1. 1.
    original form of حيثclassical

    Considered by some scholars to be the original form of حيث, from which حيث was derived by changing the 'waw' to a 'ya' for lightness.

حَاثٌ بَاثٌother
  1. 1.
    scattered, dispersedclassical

    An idiomatic expression possibly related to the root, describing something scattered or dispersed.

حَوْحَثٌ بُوثٌother
  1. 1.
    scattered, dispersedclassical

    Another idiomatic expression possibly related to the root, similar in meaning to حاث باث.

حَيْثٌ بَيْثٌother
  1. 1.
    scattered, dispersedclassical

    An idiomatic expression possibly related to the root, similar in meaning to حاث باث and حوحث بوث.

Parallel reading

حيث: كلمة دالة على المكان
Ḥaythu: a word indicating place.
لأنه ظرف في الأمكنة، (كحين في الزمان)
Because it is an adverb of place, (like ḥīnun for time).
فادعى أنها تأتي وترد للزمان
He claimed that it comes and refers to time.
وهي ظرف، وتدخل عليها ما الكافة، فتتضمن معنى الشرط
It is an adverb, and the particle 'mā' can attach to it, making it imply the meaning of a conditional.
تركته حاث باث
I left him scattered.
حيث مبنيا على الكسر: لغة في الضم والفتح.
Ḥaythu, built on kasra: a dialectal variation for damma and fatha.
حيث: ظرف مبهم من الأمكنة، مضموم، وبعض العرب يفتحه
Ḥaythu: an indefinite adverb of place, with a damma, and some Arabs pronounce it with a fatha.
وإنما قلبوا الواو ياء طلب الخفة
They only changed the waw to a ya seeking lightness.
أجمعت العرب على رفع حيث في كل وجه
The Arabs agreed on raising (making nominative) ḥaythu in every instance.
فقلبت الواو ياء؛ لكثرة دخول الياء على الواو فقيل: حيث
So the waw was changed to a ya; due to the frequent occurrence of ya with waw, it was said: ḥaythu.
ثم بنيت على الضم؛ لالتقاء الساكنين
Then it was built on damma; due to the meeting of two silent letters.
وقد يكون فيها النصب يحفزخها ما قبلها إلى الفتح.
And it may have accusative case, prompted by what precedes it towards the fatha.
منهم من ينصب الثاء على كل حال
Some of them make the tha accusative in all cases.
يقولون: حيث التقينا
They say: ḥaythu taqilnā (where we met).
ومن حيث لا يعلمون
And from where they do not know.
أن منهم من يخف بحيث
That some of them lighten the 'tha' in ḥaythu.
أما ترى حيث سهيل طالعا
Do you not see where Suhail is rising?
فاللغة العالية حيث، الثاء مضمومة، وهو أداة للرفع يرفع الاسم بعده
The high dialect is ḥaythu, with the tha in damma, and it is a particle that raises the noun after it.
ولغة أخرى حوث، رواية عن العرب لبني تميم
Another dialect is ḥawthu, narrated from the Arabs of Banu Tamim.
يقولون القه حيث لقيته
They say: confront him where you met him.
حيث حرف مبني على الضم وما بعده صلة له، يرتفع الاسم بعده على الابتداء
Ḥaythu is a particle built on damma, and what follows it is a supplement to it; the noun after it is raised as if it were a subject.
قمت حيث زيد قائم
I stood where Zayd is standing.
وأهل الكوفة يجهيزون حذف قائم، ويرفعون بحيث زيدا، وهو صلة لها
And the people of Kufa allow omitting 'qā'im', and they raise Zayd after ḥaythu, which is a supplement to it.
فإذا أظهروا قائما بعد زيد أجازوا فيه الوجهين: الرفع، والنصب
And if they make 'qā'iman' explicit after Zayd, they permit both cases: raising and نصب.
حيث مضافة إلى جمحلة (ف) لذلك لم تخفض
Ḥaythu is added to a general noun (fa) therefore it is not in the genitive case.
أما ترى! حيث سهيل طالعا
Do you not see! where Suhail is rising.
فلما أضافها فتحها كما يفعل بعند وخلف
And when he added it, he made it fatha, as is done with 'inda and khalfa.
حيث ظرف من الظروف يحتاج إلى اسم وخبر
Ḥaythu is an adverb that requires a noun and a predicate.
وهي تجمع معنى ظرفين، كقولك: حيث عبد الله قاعد زيد قائم.
And it combines the meaning of two adverbs, like your saying: ḥaythu 'Abd Allah qā'id Zayd qā'im.
المعنى: الموضع الذي فيه عبد الله قاعد زيد قائم
The meaning: the place in which 'Abd Allah is sitting, Zayd is standing.
حيث من حروف المواضع، لا من حروف المعاني
Ḥaythu is from the particles of place, not from the particles of meaning.
وإنما ضمت؛ لأنها ضمنت الاسم الذي كانت تستحق إضافتها إليه
It is only damma-ed because it implied the noun to which it should have been added.
إنما ضم؛ لأن أصلها حوث، فلما قلبوا واودها ياء ضموا آخرها.
It is only damma-ed because its origin is ḥawthu, so when they changed its waw to a ya, they damma-ed its end.
إنما يعقبون في الحرف ضمة دالة على واو ساقطة.
They only follow a letter with a damma indicating a dropped waw.
ومما تخطىء فيه العامة والخاصة باب حين! وحيث، غلط فيه العلماء مثل أبي عبيدة وغيره.
And among what the common people and the elite err in is the chapter of ḥīnun and ḥaythu; scholars like Abu Ubaidah and others have erred in it.
يجعل حين حيث
He makes ḥīnun into ḥaythu.
حين ظرف من الزمان، وحيث ظرف من المكان
Ḥīnun is an adverb of time, and ḥaythu is an adverb of place.
ولكل واحد منهما حد لا يجاوزه
And each of them has a limit it does not exceed.