Generally speaking, the copula may be absent in MSA in the present indicative context26 (Bahloul, 1993; Ryding, 2005; Benmamoun, 2008; Aoun et al., 2010; Ryding, 2014). That is, in the present indicative context the copula has three possible situations: (i) it must be absent, (ii) it must be overt or (iii) its appearance is optional. It must be absent in the deictic present tense27 as in (22) above, repeated below as (75):
(75) r-rajul-u mariiD-u-n
the-msn.SG-NOM sick.SG.M-NOM-NN
‘The man is sick’ (Fassi Fehri, 1993)
This sentence is in the present tense as it accepts the adverb ɁalɁaana ‘now’ and the sentence remains grammatical (Fassi-Fehri, 1993). For example:
26
Eid (1983: 198) argues that there is no present tense form of a copula in Egyptian Arabic. In MSA, however, there are present jussive, subjunctive and indicative forms of the copula kaana, although the present indicative form is forbidden except in certain contexts where it is obligatory, as we will see in this section.
27 Following Benmamoun (2000: 47), ( assume that deictic contexts refer to sentences that contain (i)
‘individual-level predicates that describe states of affairs that are permenent’ or (ii) ‘stage-level predicates that describe situations that are true in the present moment only’. Generic contexts, however, refer to sentences that contain stage-level predicates that describe situations that are usually true in the past and present and are expected to be true in the future (Benmamoun, 2000: 47).
(76) r-rajul-u mariiD-u-n ɁalɁaana
the-msn.SG-NOM sick.SG.M-NOM-NN now
‘The man is sick now’ (Fassi Fehri, 1993)
In contrast, (75) does not accept past adverb. The use of such an adverb causes ungrammatical sentences as in (77):
(77) * r-rajul-u mariiD-u-n Ɂamsi
the-msn.SG-NOM sick.SG.M-NOM-NN yesterday
‘The man is sick yesterday’ (Fassi Fehri, 1993)
The ungrammaticality of (77), together with the grammaticality of (76), suggest that sentence (75) receives present tense interpretation.
The absence of the copula in the present indicative context means that it appears otherwise. That is, with respect to tense, it appears in past and future contexts as shown below (Sentence (78a) is presented above as (6)).
(78) a. kaana r-rajul-u muʕallim-a-n
be.PFV.3SG.M the-man.SG-NOM teacher.SG.M-ACC-NN
b. sa-yakuunu r-rajul-u muʕallim-a-n
FUT-be.IPFV.INDC.3SG.M the-man.SG-NOM teacher.SG.M-ACC-NN ‘The man will be a teacher’ (Aoun et al., 2010: 37)
Therefore, if the sentence receives past or future interpretation, the copula must appear.
However, with regard to mood, the copula appears in imperfective jussive and subjunctive forms, as shown below, respectively.
(79) lam yakun ħulum-a-n ʕaadiyy-a-n
NEG.PST be.IPFV.JSV.3SG.M dream.SG.M-ACC-NN regular.SG.M-ACC-NN
‘It was not a regular dream’ (Ryding, 2005: 636)
(80) lan yakuuna l-Ɂaxiir-a min nawʕ-i-hi
NEG.FUT be.IPFV.SBJV.3SG.M the-last.SG.M-ACC from kind.SG.M-GEN-his
‘It will not be the last of its kind’ (Ryding, 2005: 645)
The absence of the copula in these contexts causes ungrammatical sentences, as shown below:
(81) *lam ħulum-u-n ʕaadiyy-u-n
NEG.PST dream.SG.M-NOM-NN regular.SG.M-NOM-NN
(82) *lan l-Ɂaxiir-u min nawʕ-i-hi
NEG.FUT the-last.SG.M-NOM from kind.SG.M-GEN-his
Intended: ‘It will not be the last of its kind’
While lam and lan negate past and future tenses, the copula laysa is used to negate the present tense, as shown in (8) above, repeated below as (83).
(83) laysa r-rajul-u muʕallim-a-n
be.NEG.3SG.M the-man.SG.M-NOM teacher.SG.M-ACC-NN
‘The man is not a teacher’ (Aoun et al., 2010: 38)
As the copula must be absent in the deictic present indicative context, its appearance in that context causes an ungrammatical sentence, as exemplified in (21) above.
The second situation that the present indicative copula has is where it must appear overtly. That is, certain words need to be followed by a present indicative form of the verb (Bahloul, 1993). These words include qad ‘may’, and ʕindamaa, lammaa and ħiina ‘when/whenever’. In these contexts, the appearance of a present indicative form of the copula is obligatory. If the present indicative form is not overt, the sentence will be ungrammatical, as exemplified below:
(84) a. Ɂism-u-haa maryam-u
name.SG-NOM-her Maryam-NOM
b. *qad Ɂism-u-haa maryam-u
may name.SG-NOM-her Maryam-NOM
Intended:‘Her name may be Maryam’
c. qad yakuunu Ɂism-u-haa maryam-a
may be.IPFV.INDC.3SG.M name.SG.M-NOM-her Maryam-ACC
‘Her name may be Maryam’ (KACSTAC)
(85) a. Ɂab-uu-ka fii l-bayt-i
father.SG-NOM-your.SG.M in the-house.SG-GEN
‘Your father is in the house’ (Bahloul, 1993)
b. *ʕindamaa/*lammaa/* ħiina Ɂab-uu-ka fii l-bayt-i, …
when/whenever father.SG-NOM-your.SG.M in the-house.SG-GEN
Intended: ‘When/whenever your father is in the house, …’ (Bahloul, 1993)
c. ʕindamaa/lammaa/ħiina yakuunu Ɂab-uu-ka fii l-bayt-i,…
when/whenever be.IPFV.INDC father.SG-NOM-your in the-house-GEN
‘When/whenever your father is in the house, …’ (Bahloul, 1993)
The third situation that the present indicative copula has is where the appearance of this copula is optional. It is optional in generic present indicative contexts, as in (86) below:
(86) a. yakuunu l-jaww-u ħaarr-a-n fii S-Sayf-i
be.IPFV.INDC the-weather.SG-NOM hot.3SG.M-ACC-NN in the-summer-GEN
‘The weather is hot in summer’
b. l-jaww-u ħaarr-u-n fii S-Sayf-i
the-weather.SG-NOM hot.3SG.M-NOM-NN in the-summer-GEN
‘The weather is hot in summer’
In (86), the present indicative copula can optionally be absent.
Consequently, it can be stated that the overt present indicative copula has three situations: (i) it is forbidden in the deictic present tense context, (ii) it is obligatory after certain words such as qad ‘may’ and (iii) it is optional in the generic present tense context.
The above discussion is summarised in the Table 2.4.
Table 2.4 Copula appearance in MSA
Context Affirmative Negative
Past tense Obligatory Obligatory
Present Tense Obligatory/Forbiden/optional Obligatory