Derived verb forms (stems), roots and radicals, transitive

and intransitive verbs

18.1 Until now we have dealt with the basic verb form of triliteral verbs (

ﻲﺛِﻼَـﺜُّـﻟْ ﻞُـﻌْـﻔِﻟْأَ

al-fi



lu t

¯-t¯ula¯t¯ı¯). The basic verb form has the pattern CVCVCV, as for example

ﺐَﺘَﻛَ

kataba ‘to write’ (lit. ‘he wrote’, perfect tense). The basic verb form is called in Arabic

دُﺮَّﺠَﻤُـﻟْأَ

al- mug˘arradu, meaning ‘peeled’ or ‘stripped’, because it lacks prefixes and infixes.

18.2 At this point it is important to explain more about the terms (verbal) root and radical, which are very special features in Arabic grammar. The root is the absolute basis for forming all verb forms as well as most nouns, adjectives, adverbs and even prepositions (see chapter 14). The root usually consists of three consonants. These con- sonants are called radicals, because together they make up the root, e.g.

ﺐﺘﻛ

/ktb/ ‘to write’,

بٌﺎﺘَﻛِ

kita¯bun ‘book’,

لﻮـﻗ

/qwl/ ‘to speak’ (basic verb form

لَﺎﻗَ

qa¯la ‘he spoke’, imperfect

لُﻮـﻘُـﻳَ

yaqu¯lu ‘he speaks’), verbal noun

لٌﻮْـﻗَ

qawlun ‘speech’.

18.3 Some grammarians call the radicals simply letters, but the term radical is more appropriate, because letters refer to units of writing, whereas radicals refer to more theoretical units, which may sometimes be dropped or transformed in the actual verb forms and derivations (see chapters 31–33 on weak radicals). Roots with three radicals are called triliteral. There are no roots with fewer than three radicals. Some roots have four radicals. They are called quadriliteral. This type of verb will be dealt with in chapter 29.

18.4 The derived verb forms are called

ﺪُﻳﺰِـﻤَـﻟْأَ

,

al-mazı¯du, which means ‘increased’ or ‘added’. They are formed from the root by means of consonant doubling, prefixes or infixes, according to certain patterns (mentioned below, and in table A1.1, the ten forms of

ﻞَﻌَﻓَ

fa



ala, in Appendix 1).

18.5 The meanings of the derived verb forms are generally derived from the basic verb form according to a system explained below. As a rule, grammarians prefer to call the derived verb forms derived verb stems, because each derived verb form has a complete set of conjugated forms (tenses, verbal noun, participles, etc.). (See table A1.1 fa



ala in

Appendix 1.)

18.6 There are 14 derived verb forms (stems). Western Arabists traditionally number these forms with Roman numerals starting from the basic form, which is numbered as I, and the derived verb forms as II, III, IV, etc. Forms I to X are the most frequent and only these will be explained in this book.

18.7 There is no verb which is used in all ten forms; normally the verb is used in five or six of the derived forms, and sometimes even the basic verb form itself is not used. For example, the verb form I

ﻢَﻠِﻋَ

alima ‘to know’ occurs in forms II, IV, V, and X, but another verb might occur only in forms III, VI, X, and so on.

18.8 As mentioned in chapter 14, there is no infinitive in Arabic in the same sense as in Indo-European languages. The derived verb forms are listed in the dictionary under the root, which is mostly the same as the basic verb form (I) without vowels.

18.9 It is crucially important to learn by heart these ten verb forms and their derivations from table A1.1 of the verb

ﻞَﻌَـﻓَ

fa



ala in Appen- dix 1; otherwise it is almost impossible to find a word in a dictionary.

18.10 Arab grammarians chose the basic verb

ﻞَﻌَـﻓَ

/f



l/ fa



ala ‘to do, to act’ as a pattern or model for describing other verb forms and nouns which are derived from it.

18.11 Although the vowelling of the middle consonant (radical) of

the basic verb form (I) in the perfect tense varies:

ﺐَﺘَﻛَ

kataba ‘to write’, 116 Derived verb forms, transitive and intransitive verbs

بَﺮِـﺷَ

sˇariba ‘to drink’ or

ﺮَﺒُﻛَ

kabura ‘to grow up’, the vowelling of the derived verb forms remains the same for all verbs.

18.12 Transitive and intransitive verbs

A transitive verb is called

ﺪًّﻌَﺘَﻣُ

muta



addin, and an intransitive verb

ﺪًّﻌَﺘَﻣُ ﺮُﻴْﻏَ

g˙ayru muta



addin or

مٌزِﻻَ

la¯zimun. Transitive verbs can take a direct object in the accusative case, whereas intransitive cannot do so (some of them can, however, take an accusative predicative comple- ment). The basic verb form may be transitive or intransitive, depending on its meaning and construction. Some derived verb forms are typically transitive, while others are generally intransitive, but there are no absolute rules for determining their meaning.

In the following examples, the basic form (I) is transitive and the corres- ponding form VII is intransitive.

18.13 In addition to the nouns mentioned in chapter 9, with the

initial hamzatu l-qat

˙



_i

_إِ

_/

_{i/ or}

_أُ

_/

_{u/, the verb forms VII–X (perfect,}

imperative and verbal noun) also follow the rule of hamzatu

l-was

˙li (was˙lah). However, the verb form IV follows the rule of hamzatu l-qat

˙



_i.

18.14 Formation of the ten verb forms I–X

The table presents the ten verb forms I–X in the perfect and the imperfect (third person sing. masc.), as exemplified by the verb

ﻞَﻌَﻓَ

fa



ala ‘to do, to act’.

Transitive sentence Intransitive sentence

تِارَﺎﻈَّﻨَّﻟ ﺐُﻟِﺎﻄَّﻟ ﺮَﺴَﻛَ

تُارَﺎﻈَّﻨَّﻟ تِﺮَﺴَﻜَﻧْإِ

kasara (I) t

˙-t˙a¯libu n-nad¯˙d¯˙a¯ra¯ti.

inkasarati (VII) n-nad

¯˙d¯˙a¯ra¯tu. The student broke the spectacles. The spectacles were/got broken.

117 Derived verb forms, transitive and intransitive verbs

18.15 The meanings of the ten verb forms I–X

The basic meanings of the ten verb forms I–X are outlined below with some examples. Observe that many derived verb forms can have several different meanings and that some verbs have quite idiomatic or specialized meanings in some of their derived verb forms. Therefore it is recommended that the student learn the specific meaning of each derived verb form of each verb separately, rather than relying upon the general rules given below.

perfect

I II III IV V

ﻞَﻌَﻓَ

ﻞَﻌَّﻓَ

ﻞَﻋَﺎﻓَ

ﻞَﻌَﻓْأَ

ﻞَﻌَّﻔَﺗَ

fa



ala fa



ala fa¯



ala

af



ala tafa



ala imperfect

ﻞُﻌَﻔْﻳَ

_{ﻞُﻌَّﻔَﻳُ}

ﻞُﻋِﺎﻔَﻳُ

ﻞُﻌِﻔْﻳُ

ﻞُﻌَّﻔَﺘَﻳَ

yaf



alu yufa



ilu yufa¯



ilu yuf



ilu yatafa



alu perfect

VI VII VIII IX X

ﻞَﻋَﺎﻔَﺗَ

ﻞَﻌَﻔَﻧْإِ

ﻞَﻌَﺘَﻓْإِ

ﻞَّﻌَﻓْإِ

ﻞَﻌَﻔْﺘَﺳْ إِ

tafa¯



ala

infa



ala

ifta



ala

if



alla

istaf



ala imperfect

ﻞُﻋَﺎﻔَﺘَﻳَ

ﻞُﻌِﻔَﻨْﻳَ

ﻞُﻌِﺘَﻔْﻳَ

ﻞُّﻌَﻔْﻳَ

ﻞُﻌِﻔْﺘَﺴﻳَ

yatafa¯



alu yanfa



ilu yafta



ilu yaf



allu yastaf



ilu

Form I

The basic form (I) can be transitive or intransitive. I

ﺐَﺘَﻛَ

kataba (transitive) imperf.

ﺐُﺘُـﻜْـﻳَ

yaktubu

to write

I

ﺲَ ﻠَﺟَ

g˘alasa (intransitive) imperf.

ﺲُ ﻠِﺠْﻳَ

yag˘lisu to sit 118 Derived verb forms, transitive and intransitive verbs

Form II

(a) II is causative: to cause someone to do something (transitive).

I

ﻢَـﻠِـﻋَ

alima II

ﻢَـﻠَّـﻋَ

allama imperf.

ﻢُـﻠَّـﻌَـﻳُ

yu



allimu to know to teach (lit. cause someone to learn)

(b) II is intensifying or iterative: repeating the action (transitive).

I

ﺮَﺴَ ﻛَ

kasara II

ﺮَـﺴَّ ﻛَ

kassara imperf.

ﺮُﺴَّ ﻜَـﻳُ

yukassiru to break to smash, to break into pieces

(c) II is declarative: to consider someone or something to be something, (transitive).

I

بَﺬَـﻛَ

kad

¯aba II

بَﺬَّـﻛَ

kad¯d¯aba imperf.

بُﺬَّـﻜَـﻳُ

yukad¯d¯ibu to lie to consider someone a liar,

to disbelieve someone else

(d) II is denominative (forming verb from noun).

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