# العامل



## aurelien.demarest

Hi guys,

I have studying and I found the word العامل in a grammar table of my book but I don't understand well the meaning..
This is the translation from wikipedia.
العامل عند النحاة هو ما أوجب كون آخر الكلمة على وجه مخصوص من الإعراب

Could you help me for the translation please?

Thanks in advance
Aurélien


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## barkoosh

العامل is what gives a word a certain inflection.
For example:
1. سمع الرجلُ
2. الرجلُ سامع

In 1, العامل for the noun الرجل is the verb سمع. Because of this verb, الرجل has ضمة.
In 2, العامل for the noun الرجل is its position as مبتدأ.


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## aurelien.demarest

Hi Barkoosh,

thanks for answering.
Is it what is written in this sentence? 
العامل عند النحاة هو ما أوجب كون آخر الكلمة على وجه مخصوص من الإعراب

Aurélien


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## elroy

Yes, the Arabic sentence says what Barkoosh said in English.


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## abdulwahid

العامل can be translated as "agent". An agent causes a change in the last syllable of a word.

The particle في for example is an agent that causes a change in the last syllable of the word دار in this example: زيد في الدارِ. The kesra is caused by the agent في

العامل عند النحاة هو ما أوجب كون آخر الكلمة على وجه مخصوص من الإعراب
According to the grammarians an agent is what causes a specific change in the last part of a word. This is not an exact translation!


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## aurelien.demarest

Many thanks guys


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## elroy

abdulwahid said:


> العامل can be translated as "agent".


 No.  "Agent" has a clearly defined meaning in linguistics, and it's not this.  It would be confusing to use it with this meaning.


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## abdulwahid

elroy said:


> No. "Agent" has a clearly defined meaning in linguistics, and it's not this. It would be confusing to use it with this meaning.



Black or white as usual. This is not linguistics, its grammar and there is no equivalent for the word عامل in English as far as I know. The word Agent is used in this text:

https://islamicnotes.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/al-ajurumiyah-hamzayusuf.pdf

and here

The Heart of the Arabic Language | Learn Arabic Online

and here its called causative agent

عامل - Wiktionary


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## elroy

Your Wiktionary link says "word that governs another word," and that's perfect.  This is the clear, unambiguous way to describe this phenomenon.  Words are _governed_ by other words that determine their inflections.  

Grammar is part of linguistics, obviously.


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## abdulwahid

"Word that governs another word" is obviously not an attempt to translate عامل, it's an explanation. Causative agent is a translation. 

Grammar is part of linguistics but it's a science in and by itself with its own terminology. Anyone who studied at a university should be aware of the quite common issue of a single term being used and defined differently in different fields and that it it's quite common for a single term to be used with different meanings even whitin the same field. 

Therefore there should be no objection to the use of the term "agent" as long as it's being defined properly. Or like the Arabs say لا مشاحة في الاصطلاح


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## elroy

Your whole second paragraph is an uncalled-for personal jab, but since you went there: yes, with my three graduate degrees in language-related fields, I am well aware of the phenomenon you describe - which is entirely beside the point.  

The bottom line is that "agent" is confusing, and "causative agent" is even worse.  They are _bad_ translations.  "Word that governs another word" may be periphrastic, but it's clear and unambiguous.  There may be a shorter term used by linguists and grammarians; if I find one I'll let you know.


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## Ghabi

al-3aamil is indeed rendered as "governor" by some specialists (while "agent" is usually for al-faa3il).


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## elroy

"Governor" is used here. 

So there we have it: a single-word, clear, unambiguous term.  English has a term for this after all.


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## barkoosh

Some references call it "regent", as in Hans Wehr, here, and here.


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## elroy

"Regent" makes sense to me; the German verb for "govern" used in this context is "regieren."

As we can see, the term has been translated in different ways.  Just because a translation has been used by someone doesn't mean it's a good one or that it's even accepted or widely understood.  Especially with languages whose grammatical and linguistic systems are so drastically different from each other as Arabic and English, it's not surprising that there would be some tricky terms to translate in either direction and that those terms would lead to numerous translation attempts - some successful, some not so much. 

For an example of similar translation challenges in the other direction, see this thread.


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## Ibn Nacer

Salut,

En français :
- Pour العمل on trouve "*rection*" c'est l'action de *régir*...
- Pour le verbe عمل on trouve "*régir*"...
- Pour العامل on trouve "*régissant*, *gouvernant*" c'est-à-dire "qui *régit*/gouverne"...


On peut dire par exemple : tel verbe *régit* son complément à l’accusatif...


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## elroy

It's basically the same in German:

_rection > Rektion
régir > regieren 
régissant > regierend 
qui régit > der/die/das regiert 
le verbe régit son complément > das Verb regiert sein Komplement
_
These are from the Latin _regere_, "to govern" (which is the verb used in English, as I said).


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## Ibn Nacer

Effectivement il y a une forte ressemblance.


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