WAS ʾILĀ A NOUN IN ARABIC GRAMMATICAL TRADITION?

This article raises the possibility that several grammarians classified ʾilā as a noun (ism), at least in certain constructions. First, we discuss the view attributed by later grammarians to ʾAb Bakr Ibn al-ʾAnbārī, according to which ʾilā is a noun, as it may follow the preposition min. Secondly, we succinctly address Ibn al-Sarrāj‘s ascription to Sībawayhi of the classification of ʾilā under the nominal category of ẓurūf. Finally, and most importantly, we raise the possibility that ʾilā in the interjection (ism fiʿl) ʾilayka was categorized by Sībawayhi as a noun. The discussion of ʾilayka in al-Kitāb as well as by later grammarians may shed some light on grammarians‘ conceptions of the noun-ness of the category of ism fiʿl.