al-Munsif li-Ibn Jinni, Sharh Kitab al-Tasrif li-Abi Uthman al-Mazini
- Author died
- 392 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Qadim
al-Munsif (The Equitable) is an extensive Arabic morphological treatise and commentary composed by Ibn Jinni (d. 392 AH / 1002 CE) on Kitab al-Tasrif (The Book of Morphology) by Abu Uthman al-Mazini (d. 247 AH / 861 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Ibn Jinni regarded al-Mazini’s al-Tasrif as one of the finest and most precise treatises on morphology, characterized by concise expression and abundant meaning while free of superfluity . Driven by his dedication to morphology, Ibn Jinni had studied al-Mazini's text with his master Abu Ali al-Farisi (d. 377 AH / 987 CE) and set out to write an exhaustive commentary . In the introduction, Ibn Jinni states that his goal was to consolidate the book's principles, refine its sections, clarify every obscure and difficult issue, and cite numerous parallels and analogues so that the commentary would stand as a self-sufficient work in its field .
Structure and Contents
The work is arranged in three volumes :
- Volumes 1 and 2: The core commentary on al-Mazini's text, treating fundamental rules of word structure, radical and augmentative letters (al-asli wa-l-za'id), nominal and verbal templates (abniyat al-asma' wa-l-af'al), morphological affixation (al-ziyadah), assimilation and gemination (al-idgham and al-tad'if), and various phonological mutations affecting weak letters (al-i'lal and al-ibdal) .
- Volume 3: A dedicated gloss explaining the rare Arabic vocabulary (sharh al-lughah al-gharibah) occurring throughout the text, followed by advanced hypothetical exercises and intricate morphological problem-solving (masa'il al-tamarin) designed to test and sharpen grammatical reasoning .
Method and Scholarly Approach
Ibn Jinni structures his commentary passage by passage, demarcating al-Mazini’s base text with "Abu Uthman said" (qala Abu Uthman) and his own commentary with "Abu al-Fath said" (qala Abu al-Fath) . The length of his explanations fluctuates according to the difficulty of each issue, ranging from concise clarifications to multi-page disquisitions rich in poetic and linguistic attestations (shawahid) and examples .
Throughout the book, Ibn Jinni incorporates original insights, such as deriving verbs from concrete nouns (asma' al-a'yan) and from individual letters of the alphabet . While expressing deep reverence for al-Mazini as an authoritative scholar, Ibn Jinni maintained an independent critical stance, refuting or deeming weak several isolated views held by al-Mazini—such as al-Mazini's position that the waw in hayawan is radical rather than mutated from ya', and certain idiosyncratic forms he allowed for the comparative (af'al al-tafdil) and diminutive (tasghir) . Ibn Jinni frequently cross-references al-Munsif in his subsequent major work, al-Khasa'is (The Characteristics) .
Modern Publication
al-Munsif was edited by Ibrahim Mustafa and Abd Allah Amin and published in Cairo (1373 AH / 1954 CE) by Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi .
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