The morphosyntax of objects to participles in the Qurʾān

Abstract

This paper examines how Quranic text treats the construction of a participle in predicative position when it is followed by a direct object. While the medieval grammarians typically say that the participle may be either followed by the object in the accusative or form a construct phrase with it regardless of the definiteness of the object, close examination of the behaviour of participles in predicative positions in the Quranic text shows that a clear correlation presents itself. Indefinite objects are marked with the accusative, whereas definite objects are formed through a genitive construction. This thus means that the linguistic register of the Qurʾān, different from other forms of Classical Arabic, represents a kind of differential object marking on the objects of predicative participles, differentiating between indefinite and definite objects.