النِّدَاءُ
(The Vocative)
The vocative is used to when addressing someone
English lacks a specific vocative particle as found in Arabic. While the use of “O” or “Oh” in poetic or religious settings, these are stylistic rather than grammatical. In Arabic vocative particles are a part of the language.
By far the most common vocative particle in Arabic is يَا yā.
Example
يَا يَعْقُبُ, ٱفْتَحْ ٱلنَّافِدَةَ
Translation: “Oh Jacob, open the window”
| בטיית | In English |
| يَا رَبُّ | Oh Lord |
| يَا رَجَلُ وَيَا سَيِّدَةُ يَا رِجَالُ وَيَا سَيِّدَاةُ | Oh man and woman oh men and women |
| يَا دَانُ يَا رَخِلُ | Oh Dan Oh Rachel |
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The vocative particle أَيَُهَا and أَيُّتَهَا
These longer forms of the vocative article are often used at the beginning of speech, they can be preceded by the shorter vocative particle يَا.
أَيُهَا ٱلْأُسْتَادُ, أَنَا لَا أَفْهَم
“teacher, I do not understand”
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