الذي

An innovation in Arabic, formed from اَل (al-, “the”) +‎ لَ (la, “truly”) +‎ ذِي (ḏī, “this”). Compare Biblical Hebrew הלזה (hallāze, “this, that”).

• IPA^(key): /al.la.ðiː/

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اَلَّذِي • (allaḏī) m (feminine اَلَّتِي (allatī))

1. (relative pronoun) who, that, which
   • 10th century, Al-Mutanabbi :

     أَنَا الَّذِي نَظَرَ الْأَعْمَى إِلَى أَدَبِي
     وَأَسْمَعَتْ كَلِمَاتِي مَنْ بِهِ صَمَمُ

     ʔanā allaḏī naẓara l-ʔaʕmā ʔilā ʔadabī
     wa-ʔasmaʕat kalimātī man bihi ṣamamu

     I am he whose set-down verse the blind have seen,
     whose words and rhymes have echoed in unhearing ears!

Although used similarly to the relative pronouns of the modern Germanic and Romance languages, it may be worth noting that "relative clauses" in Arabic are structurally identical to "nominal" (or zero-copula) sentences and "verbal" sentences with fronted nouns. Thus, when the relative pronoun is the object of a verb or a preposition, a pronominal clitic that references and agrees with the "relative pronoun" in gender and number is added after the respective verb or preposition while the relative pronoun itself remains at the beginning of the clause, though the addition of clitics after verbs and participles is optional (just as when nouns in verbal sentences are fronted).

1. هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي رَأَيْتُ ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī raʔaytu ― This is the man I saw. (literally, “This is the man that I saw”)
2. هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي رَأَيْتُهُ ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī raʔaytuhu ― This is the man I saw. (literally, “This is the man that I saw him”)
3. هٰذَا هُوَ الصُّنْدُوقُ الَّذِي فِيهِ الْكِتَابُ ― hāḏā huwa ṣ-ṣundūqu allaḏī fīhi l-kitābu ― This is the box that the book is in. (literally, “This is the box that in it is the book”)
4. تِلْكَ هِيَ الْوَرَقَةُ الَّتِي كَتَبْتُ عَلَيْهَا ― tilka hiya l-waraqatu allatī katabtu ʕalayhā ― This is the paper on which I wrote. (literally, “This is the paper that I wrote on it”)

This is also the case in fused (or nominal) relative clauses.

1. فَٱقْضِ مَا أَنْتَ قَاضٍ ― fa-qḍi mā ʔanta qāḍin ― So judge as you will. (literally, “So ordain what[ever] you [are] ordaining”)

Syntactically, this differs from, for example, English, where relative pronouns replace nouns (as in that, which, who, and whom) and determiners (as in whose and which) in the relative clause. Hence, relative pronouns are classified in traditional Arabic grammar as a subcategory of nouns. In linguistics, such a clitic is often termed a resumptive pronoun, whose addition in the relative clause is also a feature of Hebrew (for which see the usage notes in the entry for אשר).

If the antecedent is indefinite, the relative pronoun is obligatorily omitted, regardless of the structure of the relative clause.

1. هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي يَبِيعُ كُتُبًا كَثِيرَةً ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī yabīʕu kutuban kaṯīratan ― This is the man who sells a lot of books. (literally, “This is the man that sells many books”)
2. هٰذَا رَجُلٌ يَبِيعُ كُتُبًا كَثِيرَةً ― hāḏā rajulun yabīʕu kutuban kaṯīratan ― This is a man who sells a lot of books. (literally, “This [is] a man sells many books”)
3. هٰذَا هُوَ الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي شَعْرُهُ طَوِيلٌ ― hāḏā huwa r-rajulu allaḏī šaʕruhu ṭawīlun ― This is the man whose hair is long. (literally, “This is the man that his hair [is] long”)
4. هٰذَا رَجُلٌ شَعْرُهُ طَوِيلٌ ― hāḏā rajulun šaʕruhu ṭawīlun ― This is a man whose hair is long. (literally, “This [is] a man his hair [is] long”)

If the relative clause includes a predicative adjective qualifying an attribute of the antecedent or another referent related to or associated with it, the adjective may be moved to the front of the clause, in which case the relative pronoun is obligatorily omitted. The adjective also becomes perpetually in the singular unless the attribute or related referent is a broken plural, in which case the adjective may be pluralized, though this is relatively uncommon and some traditional grammarians criticize it. In its new position, the adjective agrees with the antecedent in case and definiteness and with the noun denoting the attribute or associated referent in gender.

1. رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا طَوِيلًا شَعْرُهُ ― raʔaytu rajulan ṭawīlan šaʕruhu ― I saw a man whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw a man long (indef m sg acc) [is] his hair”)
2. رَأَيْتُ الرَّجُلَ الطَّوِيلَ شَعْرُهُ ― raʔaytu r-rajula ṭ-ṭawīla šaʕruhu ― I saw the man whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw the man long (def m sg acc) [is] his hair”)
3. رَأَيْتُ ٱمْرَأَةً طَوِيلًا شَعْرُهَا ― raʔaytu mraʔatan ṭawīlan šaʕruhā ― I saw a woman whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw a woman long (indef m sg acc) [is] her hair”)
4. رَأَيْتُ الْمَرْأَةَ الطَّوِيلَ شَعْرُهَا ― raʔaytu l-marʔata ṭ-ṭawīla šaʕruhā ― I saw the woman whose hair is long. (literally, “I saw the woman long (def m sg acc) [is] her hair”)
5. هٰؤُلَاءِ رِجَالٌ طَوِيلٌ شَعْرُهُمْ ― hāʔulāʔi rijālun ṭawīlun šaʕruhum ― These are men with long hair. (literally, “These [are] men long (indef m sg nom) [is] their hair”)
6. هٰؤُلَاءِ نِسَاءٌ طَوِيلٌ شَعْرُهُنَّ ― hāʔulāʔi nisāʔun ṭawīlun šaʕruhunna ― These are women with long hair. (literally, “These [are] women long (indef m sg nom) [is] their hair”)
7. وَقَفَ الْعُصْفُورُ عَلَى شَجَرَةٍ عَظِيمَةٍ أَغْصَانُهَا ― waqafa l-ʕuṣfūru ʕalā šajaratin ʕaẓīmatin ʔaḡṣānuhā ― The bird stood on a tree with great branches. (literally, “The bird stood on a tree great (indef f sg gen) [are] its branches (inan m pl)”)
8. وَقَفَ الْعُصْفُورُ عَلَى شَجَرَةٍ عِظَامٍ أَغْصَانُهَا ― waqafa l-ʕuṣfūru ʕalā šajaratin ʕiẓāmin ʔaḡṣānuhā ― The bird stood on a tree with great branches. (literally, “The bird stood on a tree great (indef c pl gen) [are] its branches (inan m pl)”)

• Gulf Arabic: الي
• Hijazi Arabic: اللي (illi)
• Maltese: li
• Moroccan Arabic: اللي (elli, lli), الدي (eddi, ddi)
• North Levantine Arabic: اللي (lli, illi, ll, l), ياللي (yalli)
• South Levantine Arabic: اللي (lli, illi)

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “الذي”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN