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Categorical proposition

al-ḥamliyya

الحَمْلِيَّة

A categorical proposition (ḥamliyya) judges that one thing is, or is not, another.

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Explanation

Its first part is the subject (mawḍūʿ) and its second the predicate (maḥmūl): in “Zayd is writing”, Zayd is the subject and writing the predicate.

Also written as: hamliyya, predicative proposition.

In the text

وَهِيَ إِمَّا حَمْلِيَّةٌ كَقَوْلِنَا: زَيْدٌ كَاتِبٌ، وَإِمَّا شَرْطِيَّةٌ مُتَّصِلَةٌ كَقَوْلِنَا: إِنْ كَانَتِ الشَّمْسُ طَالِعَةً فَالنَّهَارُ مَوْجُودٌ، وَإِمَّا شَرْطِيَّةٌ مُنْفَصِلَةٌ كَقَوْلِنَا: الْعَدَدُ إِمَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ زَوْجًا أَوْ فَرْدًا.It is either categorical, as in “Zayd is a writer”; or conditional and connective, as in “If the sun has risen, it is day”; or conditional and disjunctive, as in “A number is either even or odd.”أَوْ مِنْ حَمْلِيَّةٍ وَمُتَّصِلَةٍ، كَقَوْلِنَا: كُلَّمَا كَانَ هَذَا إِنْسَانًا فَهُوَ حَيَوَانٌ، وَكُلُّ حَيَوَانٍ جِسْمٌ، يُنْتِجُ: كُلَّمَا كَانَ هَذَا إِنْسَانًا فَهُوَ جِسْمٌ؛or of a categorical and a connective, as in “Whenever this is a human, it is an animal; and every animal is a body”, which produces “Whenever this is a human, it is a body”;وَإِمَّا مِنْ حَمْلِيَّةٍ وَمُنْفَصِلَةٍ، كَقَوْلِنَا: كُلُّ عَدَدٍ إِمَّا زَوْجٌ أَوْ فَرْدٌ، وَكُلُّ زَوْجٍ فَهُوَ مُنْقَسِمٌ بِمُتَسَاوِيَيْنِ، يُنْتِجُ: كُلُّ عَدَدٍ إِمَّا فَرْدٌ أَوْ مُنْقَسِمٌ بِمُتَسَاوِيَيْنِ؛or of a categorical and a disjunctive, as in “Every number is either even or odd, and every even number divides into two equal parts”, which produces “Every number is either odd or divides into two equal parts”;

Examples

زَيْدٌ كَاتِبٌZayd is writing

Related terms

Practise

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