عَمِّof the paternal uncle

Example sentences

• وَهُوَ ابْنُ عَمِّ خَدِيجَةَ أَخِي أَبِيهَا،

  And he was the son of Khadija's paternal uncle, her father's brother.

  عَمِّ — paternal uncle. This kinship noun is both the owner of the preceding 'son' and itself the first link of a further 'of' pairing with Khadija's name, so it sits in the genitive. Arabic can chain these possessives, 'son of uncle of Khadija', by stacking nouns directly.

  From: The Night of Revelation and Consolation →

• فَقَالَتْ خَدِيجَةُ يَا ابْنَ عَمِّ اِسْمَعْ مِنْ ابْنِ أَخِيكَ

  Khadijah said, "O cousin, listen to what your nephew has to say."

  عَمِّ — paternal uncle. The owning half of the possessive pair begun by 'son of': it closes the chain, so it takes the genitive (the 'belonging' ending) that any second noun in such an of-chain receives. Set directly behind 'son', with nothing between, the two build the fixed phrase that Arabic uses for a cousin.

  From: The Night of Revelation and Consolation →