Possession
Hi, i have a doubt regarding an specific topic in arabic and I'd deeply appreciate if somebody could help me out with this.

I know that when I want to say that something is mine, I need to add an I. For example, My Dog would be: كلبي . I understand this without a problem, but my question is the following: How do I do that when the word ends with an I? Do I have to repeat it? For example, I have the word "Lawyer" (محامي); if I'd like to say "My lawyer", do I need to repeat the ي?

Thanks in advance for your attention.

Question

Possession
Hi, i have a doubt regarding an specific topic in arabic and I'd deeply appreciate if somebody could help me out with this.

I know that when I want to say that something is mine, I need to add an I. For example, My Dog would be: كلبي . I understand this without a problem, but my question is the following: How do I do that when the word ends with an I? Do I have to repeat it? For example, I have the word "Lawyer" (محامي); if I'd like to say "My lawyer", do I need to repeat the ي?

Thanks in advance for your attention.

Answer

Salam Nicolas,

First of all, "lawyer" in MSA is ttranslated as "ٍ مُــحَــام ". The definite form "the lawyer" is written as " الـمـحـامــي ". As for your question, the correct answer is " مُـحَـامِــيَّ ". Basically it is like adding another "ي" to " محامي", that's why the following diacritic " ّ  ", called "Shadda", is used to mark doubled letters. The same rule applies to similar words: ... ,قــاض, ساع, مـاض

Answer

the rule is basically adding another ي to the word
محامي = محاميي
قاضي = قاضيي
ولي = وليي

I have a lot of references regarding this rule. one of them: 
"أنت وليي في الدنيا والآخرى "
this is a verse from the Quran, which is regarded as the top Arabic language reference.

you don't have to be wordy and say المحامي الخاص بي or anything like that.
Arabic is known as a concise language.

Thanks

Answer

Great question! I want to know the answer too! :D

Well, you can't add another ي. In this case I think the only solution is to use الخاص بي. So if you want to say "my lawyer" it becomes:
المحامي الخاص بي

Hope this helps.