بُنَيَّmy son

Example sentences

• وَكُنْتُ أَقُولُ لَهُ يَا بُنَيَّ،

  And I would say to him, "My son,"

  بُنَيَّ — my son. This is the small-and-affectionate (diminutive) form of 'son' with a first-person 'my' folded into its ending, so one word means 'my dear little son'. The diminutive here is not about size but tenderness, a softened, intimate way to address the child. Standing after the call-particle, it is the person being directly addressed.

  From: Mothers and the Companions →