Demonstrative Pronouns — Ism al-Ishārah
Summary: Arabic demonstrative pronouns vary by gender, distance, and addressee; تِلْكَ is broken into three structural components: pointer, distance marker, and addressee marker.
Structure of تِلْكَ
تِلْكَ (that — feminine, distant) is composed of three parts: (source: session-2.md)
| Part | Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| تِ | ism al-ishāra | the actual pointer — feminine form of ذَا |
| لَ | lām al-buʿd | indicates greater distance (same lām as in ذَلِكَ vs. ذَاكَ) |
| كَ | ḥarf al-khiṭāb | indicates the addressee — changes based on who is being spoken to |
Variant Forms
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| تِلْكَ | feminine, distant — addressing one person |
| تِلْكُمَا | addressing two people |
| تِلْكُمْ | addressing a group |
| تِيكَ | without lām al-buʿd (shorter distance) |
Example from hadith al-ifk: تِيكُمْ — teacher addressing a group, referring to a feminine subject. Found in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhāri. (source: session-2.md)
Resolving the Two Sukūns in تِلْكَ
When lām al-buʿd enters upon تِيكَ, we get تِيْلْكَ — two adjacent sukūns (yāʾ with sukūn + lām with sukūn). Rule: when yāʾ with sukūn is adjacent to another sukūn, drop the yāʾ → تِلْكَ. (source: session-2.md)
When lām does not enter, تِيكَ remains as is.
Parallel: ذَاكَ / ذَلِكَ
The masculine pair follows the same logic:
- ذَاكَ — near/moderate distance (no lām al-buʿd)
- ذَلِكَ — greater distance (with lām al-buʿd)
From Surah Yusuf Session 8 — ذَٰلِكَ in Detail
The masculine form was taken apart the same way as تِلْكَ:
| Piece | Name | Function |
|---|---|---|
| ذَا | The demonstrative proper | this |
| لَ | لَام البُعْد | marks distance |
| كَ | كَاف الخِطَاب | addresses the listener |
How Far Is Far?
A star is ذَٰلِكَ — maximum distance, so the لَام البُعْد is present. A tree you can see down the road is ذَاكَ — the lām drops away.
The كَاف Agrees with the Addressee, Not the Referent
| Form | Addressee |
|---|---|
| ذَٰلِكَ | one male |
| ذَٰلِكُمْ | a group |
| ذَٰلِكُنَّ | a group of females (uncommon) |
ذَٰلِكُمْ أَزْكَىٰ لَكُمْ — Sūrat al-Baqarah
ذَٰلِكُمْ أَزْكَىٰ لَكُمْ وَأَطْهَرُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
The context: divorced women who have completed their ʿiddah and wish to remarry their former husbands — a first or second divorce that both parties have come to regret. Allah instructs their guardians not to prevent them.
Plural كَاف ≠ Plural Referent
Only one thing is being pointed at in that āyah. ذَٰلِكَ becoming ذَٰلِكُمْ means the people addressed are now more than one — not that the referent has become plural. Pointing at several things requires أُولَٰئِكَ.
For the use of كَذَٰلِكَ as a deputy for the absolute object, see [[mafool-mutlaq]].