al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath

al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath (The Masculine and the Feminine) is an Arabic grammatical and lexicographical treatise on grammatical gender by the Baghdadi philologist Abu Bakr Ibn al-Anbari (d. 328 AH / 940 CE). al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath+1

Purpose and Method

In his introduction, Ibn al-Anbari states that a thorough command of Arabic grammar (nahw) and inflection (i'rab) requires understanding gender distinction, arguing that misgendering a word constitutes as significant an error as confusing the accusative, nominative, or genitive cases. al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath+1 His objective was to provide an exhaustive reference so that readers could avoid solecisms and speech flaws. al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath

The author organized the work chapter by chapter, outlining primary rules and secondary applications. al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath His method relies on citing evidence from classical Arabic poetry and regional dialectal variations (lughat), documenting consensus as well as points of disagreement among grammarians and philologists, and attributing each opinion directly to its source. al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath

Scope and Content

The treatise covers the morphological and semantic criteria governing masculine and feminine nouns in Arabic:

• Distinctions between nouns possessing overt feminine markers (such as the suffix -ah or the feminine alif forms) and unmarked feminine nouns. al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath+1
• Words applied interchangeably to both masculine and feminine referents, as well as nouns that admit both genders in usage. al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath+1
• Gender behavior across specific morphological patterns, such as fa'il and fa'ul, alongside diminutives and plural formations. Dirasat li-Uslub al-Quran…+1

In Western Islamic bibliographic records, such as the Fihrist of Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili, the text was also transmitted under the alternate title Kitab al-Tadhkir wal-Ta'nith, traced through an isnad passing through Abu Ali Ismail ibn al-Qasim al-Baghdadi. Fihrisat Ibn Khayr

Reception and Editions

The treatise came to be regarded as one of the most comprehensive classical monographs dedicated to the subject; Ibn Khallikan remarked of it that "no one composed a work [on the subject] more complete than it." Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1

The book has been published in modern critical editions:

• Edited by Tariq Abd Awn al-Janabi (Baghdad, 1978; reprinted in Beirut, 1406 AH / 1986 CE). Tadakhul al-Usul al-Lugha…+1
• Edited by Muhammad Abd al-Khaliq Udaymah and reviewed by Ramadan Abd al-Tawwab (Cairo: Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, 1419 AH / 1999 CE). al-Mudhakkar wal-Muannath+1