Fully conjugated in all the aspects in a new, easy-to-learn format, alphabetically arranged by Raymond Scheindlin, Ph.D. Professor of Medieval Hebrew Literature Jewish Theological Seminary of America BARRON’S F O R E I G N L A N G U A G E G U I D E S 0 ARABIC VERBS 7-3622-501ArabVrbs-TP 7/20/07 11:24 AM Page 1 © Copyright 2007 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner. All inquiries should be addressed to: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. 250 Wireless Boulevard Hauppauge, NY 11788 www.barronseduc.com ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-3622-1 ISBN-10: 0-7641-3622-4 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 2006047354 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Scheindlin, Raymond P. 501 Arabic verbs: fully conjugated in all the forms / Raymond Scheindlin. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-3622-1 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7641-3622-4 (alk. paper) 1. Arabic language --Verb -- Tables. I. Title. II. Title: Five hundred one Arabic verbs. III. Title: Five hundred and one Arabic verbs. PJ6145.S315 2007 492.7'8--dc22 2006047354 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Foreword iv Introduction v 501 Arabic Verbs xvii Index of Verbs in Root Order 551 Index of Verbs in Whole Word Order 557 iv Foreword This book is not merely an expansion of its predecessor, 201 Arabic Verbs, but a completely new work. In preparing it, I had the help of an intelligent, efficient, and loyal team, consisting of Dr. Michael Rand, an expert Semitic philologist, who drafted the conjugations; Safwat Henein, who drafted the examples; May Ahmar, lecturer in Arabic at Columbia University, who reviewed the examples for grammatical accuracy and stylistic correctness; and my wife, Janice Meyerson, who contributed her editor’s expertise and her artist’s love of detail to the English portions of the book and to the preparation of the manuscript, plus an eagle eye that enabled her to raise some questions even about the Arabic. The help of these contributors notwithstanding, the responsibility for the accuracy of both Arabic and English rests entirely in my hands. v Introduction: The Arabic Verb One of the best-kept secrets of the Arabic language is the clarity and logic of its verb inflections. Unlike the verbs in the languages of Europe, the Arabic verb brooks hardly any true irregularities, that is, forms that cannot be predicted by rules (such as the principal parts of “to sing” in English). Although the rules and the sheer quantity of forms might seem daunting to the beginner, the regularity of the patterns makes mastering of the Arabic verb a very achievable project—with patience and a guide, such as this book. Triliteral Roots; Prefixes and Suffixes for Person, Gender, and Number The vast majority of Arabic verbs are built from a root consisting of three consonants. The root usually conveys a certain core meaning that is made more specific by having added to it the vowels and prefixes belonging to one of ten patterns, called Forms. (“Form” in the sense of conjugational patterns is capitalized to distinguish it from the common noun “form.”) Only when the root is realized in a particular Form is it a verb. Although dictionaries are usually organized by roots, the verb is not the root itself but only its realization in a particular Form. Its meaning may range widely from the core meaning inherent in the root, depending on the Form and on usage as it has developed over the centuries. A verb can be modified to indicate mood, voice, tense,1 person, gender, and number. The prefixes and suffixes for person, gender, and number are essentially identical in all ten Forms. There are two sets, depending on which of the two tenses is being used. The perfect tense is inflected by means of these suffixes: he -a she -at you, masculine singular -ta you, feminine singular -ti I -tu they two, masculine -ā they two, feminine -atā you two, masculine and feminine -tumā they, masculine -ū they, feminine -na you, plural masculine -tum you, plural feminine -tunna we -nā __________________________________ 1 The term tense is not strictly appropriate because, as explained below, Arabic verbs do not indicate the time of the action but whether the action is complete or not. Linguists therefore is not strictly appropriate because, as explained below, Arabic verbs do not indicate the time of the action but whether the action is complete or not. Linguists therefore is not strictly appropriate because, as explained below, Arabic verbs do not prefer to use the term indicate the time of the action but whether the action is complete or not. Linguists therefore prefer to use the term indicate the time of the action but whether the action is complete or not. Linguists therefore aspect. We retain the more familiar term, so beginners may think of the indicate the time of the action but whether the action is complete or not. Linguists therefore . We retain the more familiar term, so beginners may think of the indicate the time of the action but whether the action is complete or not. Linguists therefore perfect and imperfect as analogous to the past and future of the European languages. prefer to use the term perfect and imperfect as analogous to the past and future of the European languages. prefer to use the term aspect perfect and imperfect as analogous to the past and future of the European languages. aspect. We retain the more familiar term, so beginners may think of the perfect and imperfect as analogous to the past and future of the European languages. . We retain the more familiar term, so beginners may think of the vi The imperfect is inflected by suffixes as well as prefixes: he ya- she ta- you, masculine ta- you, feminine ta—īna I a- they two, masculine ya—ān ān ā ī they two, feminine ta—ān ān ā ī you two, masculine and feminine ta—ān ān ā ī they, masculine ya—ūna they, feminine ya—na you, plural masculine ta—ūna you, plural feminine ta—na we na- The Ten Forms Ten Forms are in ordinary use in Arabic today, but no root occurs in all ten, and most roots can be used in only a few. Here is a table of the ten Forms, using the common root ﻞﻌﻓ (a root that contains the idea of “doing”), as has been the custom of Arab grammarians for many centuries. In the left-hand Arabic column, each of the Forms is represented by a verb in the perfect third-person masculine singular. This form is the one closest to the root and therefore the form under which verbs are listed in most dictionaries. In the second Arabic column, the same verb appears in the imperfect third-person masculine singular. In the following columns the active participle, the passive participle, and the verbal noun (except for Form I, in which the verbal noun has no single form) appear. Form I ﹶﻞﹸﹺﹶﻌﹶﻓﹸﻞﹸﹺﹶﻌﹾﻔﹶﻳﹲﻞﹺﻋﺎﹶﻓﹲﻝﻮﹸﻌﹾﻔﹶﻣ --- Form II ﹶﻞﱠﻌﹶﻓﹸﻞﱢﻌﹶﻔﹸﻳﹲﻞﱢﻌﹶﻔﹸﻣﹲﻞﱠﻌﹶﻔﹸﻣﹲﻞﻴﹺﻌﹾﻔﹶﺗ Form III ﹶﻞﹶﻋﺎﹶﻓﹸﻞﹺﻋﺎﹶﻔﹸﻳﹲﻞﹺﻋﺎﹶﻔﹸﻣﹲﻞﹶﻋﺎﹶﻔﹸﻣﹲﺔﻠﹶﻋﺎﹶﻔﹸﻣ ،ﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹺﻓ Form IV ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹾﻓﹶﺃﹸﻞﹺﻌﹾﻔﹸﻳﹲﻞﹶﻌﹾﻔﹸﻣﹲﻞﹺﻌﹾﻔﹸﻣﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹾﻓﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹾﻓﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹾﻓ Form V ﹶﻞﱠﻌﹶﻔﹶﺗﹸﻞﱠﻌﹶﻔﹶﺘﹶﻳﹲﻞﱢﻌﹶﻔﹶﺘﹸﻣﹲﻞﱠﻌﹶﻔﹶﺘﹸﻣﹲﻞﱡﻌﹶﻔﹶﺗ Form VI ﹶﻞﹶﻋﺎﹶﻔﹶﺗﹸﻞﹶﻋﺎﹶﻔﹶﺘﹶﻳﹲﻞﹺﻋﺎﹶﻔﹶﺘﹸﻣﹲﻞﹶﻋﺎﹶﻔﹶﺘﹸﻣﹲﻞﹸﻋﺎﹶﻔﹶﺗ Form VII ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹶﻔﹾﻧﹺﺇﹸﻞﹺﻌﹶﻔﹾﻨﹶﻳﹲﻞﹺﻌﹶﻔﹾﻨﹸﻣﹲﻞﹶﻌﹶﻔﹾﻨﹸﻣﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹺﻔﹾﻧﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹺﻔﹾﻧﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹺﻔﹾﻧ Form VIII ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹶﺘﹾﻓﹺﺇﹸﻞﹺﻌﹶﺘﹾﻔﹶﻳﹲﻞﹺﻌﹶﺘﹾﻔﹸﻣﹲﻞﹶﻌﹶﺘﹾﻔﹸﻣﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹺﺘﹾﻓﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹺﺘﹾﻓﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹺﺘﹾﻓ Form IX ﱠﻞﹶﻌﹾﻓﹺﺇﱡﻞﹶﻌﹾﻔﹶﻳﱞﻞﹶﻌﹾﻔﹸﻣ --- ﹲﻝﹶﻼﹺﻌﹾﻓﹺﺇﹲﻝﹶﻼﹺﻌﹾﻓﹺﺇﹲﻝﹶﻼﹺﻌﹾﻓ Form X ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹾﻔﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇﹸﻞﹺﻌﹾﻔﹶﺘﹾﺴﹶﻳﹲﻞﹺﻌﹾﻔﹶﺘﹾﺴﹸﻣﹲﻞﹶﻌﹾﻔﹶﺘﹾﺴﹸﻣﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹾﻔﹺﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹾﻔﹺﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇﹲﻝﺎﹶﻌﹾﻔﹺﺘﹾﺳ vii The Form in which a verb is conjugated has an effect on its meaning; for example, ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹶﻓ (Form I) means “to do,” but ﹶﻞﹶﻋﺎﹶﻔﹶﺗ (Form VI) means “to interact”; ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹶﻔﹾﻧﹺﺇ (Form VII) ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹶﻔﹾﻧﹺﺇ means “to be done” or “to be excited”; ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹾﻔﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ (Form X) means “to fabricate” or “to ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹾﻔﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ invent.” It is not always possible to predict how a given Form will affect the meaning of a given root; the only way to know for certain is to consult the dictionary. Here are some generalizations that should be of help, along with a description of the main grammatical features of the ten Forms. Form I. Verbs in Form I may be transitive or intransitive; that is, they may have an object, like “to hit” (as in “He hit the child”); intransitive, like “to fall” (as in “I fell”); or stative, like “to redden” (as in “He reddened with shame”). Form I is the only Form whose vowel pattern is not absolutely consistent, for the vowel following the second letter of the root varies from verb to verb. That is why the perfect and imperfect of Form I in the table have three vowels each in the second root consonant. Most commonly, this vowel is a in the perfect and u in the perfect and in the imperfect. But many verbs have i in the perfect and a in the imperfect, such as ﹶﻢﹺﺣﹶﺭ, imperfect ﹸﻢﹶﺣﹾﺮﹶﻳ; some have a in the perfect and i in the perfect and in the imperfect, such as ﹶﻚﹶﻠﹶﻣ, imperfect ﹸﻚﹺﻠﹾﻤﹶﻳ; and a few have u in the perfect and u in the perfect and in the imperfect, such as ﹶﺮﹸﺜﹶﻛ, imperfect ﹸﺮﹸﺜﹾﻜﹶﻳ. When learning the verbs of Form I, the middle vowel of the imperfect must be memorized along with the basic form (third-person perfect masculine singular). In dictionaries, the middle vowel of Form I words is often given in the form “ﹶﻞﹶﻌﹶﻓ a,” meaning that the perfect has a, the imperfect a; or ﹶﻚﹶﻠﹶﻣ i, meaning that the perfect has a, the imperfect i, and so on. Form II. The distinctive features of Form II are the doubling of the second root letter, the invariable vowel patterns a-a-a in the perfect, u-a-i-u in the imperfect active, and u-a-a-u in the imperfect passive. Verbs in Form II are almost always transitive. If a root exists in both Forms I and II, it may be intransitive in I and transitive in II. If a verb is transitive in I, it becomes doubly transitive in II; thus ﹶﺮﹶﻛﹶﺫ (Form I) means “to remember” (transitive), ﹶﺮﹶﻛﹶﺫ but ﹶﺮﱠﻛﹶﺫ (Form II) means “to remind” (doubly transitive because the verb can be used to mean “to remind someone of something,” with both objects in the accusative). Form II can also contribute a heightening of intensity to the meaning of a verb; thus the Form I verb ﹶﻞﹶﺘﹶﻗ, meaning “to kill,” is intensified in Form II to ﹶﻞﱠﺘﹶﻗ, meaning “to massacre.” Form II is sometimes used to turn nouns or even phrases into verbs; a common example is ﹶﻢﱠﻠﹶﺳ, meaning “to give the greeting ﻚﻴﻠﻋ ﻡﻼﺴﻟﺍ” (peace be upon you). Form III. Form III’s distinctive features are the long vowel ā between the first and ā second root letters of the perfect active (which becomes a long ū in the perfect passive) and the vowel pattern u-ā-i-u in the imperfect active (which becomes u-ā-a-u in the imperfect passive). It sometimes involves an element of reciprocity, so that ﹶﺐﹶﻘﹶﻋ in Form I ( “to follow”) becomes ﹶﺐﹶﻗﺎﹶﻋ (“to alternate”) in Form III. A verb that requires a preposition in Form I may govern its object in the accusative in Form III. Thus ﻪﻴﻟﺇ ﹸﺖﹾﺒﹶﺘﹶﻛ, “I wrote to him” (Form I), becomes ﹸﻪﹸﺘﹾﺒﹶﺗﺎﹶﻛ, “I wrote him” (Form III). viii Form IV. Form IV is distinguished by the prefixed a in the perfect, the vowel patterns u-i-u in the imperfect active, and u-a-u in the imperfect passive. The hamza in the prefix of its perfect and imperative is never elided into a preceding vowel, unlike the prefixed hamzas in some of the other nine Forms. Like Form II, this Form is mostly transitive: verbs that are intransitive in I become transitive in IV; verbs that are transitive in I become doubly transitive in IV; and nouns may be transformed into verbs by putting their roots into Form IV. Form V. Form V in the perfect resembles Form II with a prefixed ta-, but in the imperfect, the vowel pattern is a-a-a-a-u. Some verbs in Form V have a reflexive element, although this may not be immediately obvious; thus ﹶﻢﹺﻠﹶﻋ in Form I means “to know,” ﹶﻢﱠﻠﹶﻋ in Form II means “to teach,” and ﹶﻢﱠﻠﹶﻌﹶﺗ in Form V means “to learn,” that is, to teach oneself. But no consistent meaning is attached to this Form. Form VI. Form VI corresponds in form to Form III in the same way that Form V corresponds to Form II, with a prefixed ta-, long ā between the first and second root letters in the active and long ū between the first and second root letters in the passive, and the vowel pattern a-a-ā-a-u in the imperfect. It relates to Form III also in enhancing the reciprocity in the action; Form III ﻪﹶﻠﹶﺗﺎﹶﻗ (“He fought him,” transitive) thus becomes Form VI ﹶﻼﹶﺗﺎﹶﻘﹶﺗ, “the two of them fought each other.” Form VII. Form VII is characterized by the prefix in-. It is mostly reflexive, resultative, or passive, and roots that are transitive in Form I become intransitive in Form VII. Thus Form Iﹶﺮﹶﺴﹶﻛ, “to break,” becomes Form VII ﹶﺮﹶﺴﹶﻜﹾﻧﹺﺇ, “to be broken”; and Form Iﹶﺮﹶﺴﹶﻜﹾﻧﹺﺇ, “to be broken”; and Form Iﹶﺮﹶﺴﹶﻜﹾﻧﹺﺇﹶﻒﹶﺸﹶﻛ, “to reveal,” becomes ﹶﻒﹶﺸﹶﻜﹾﻧﹺﺇ, “to appear.”ﹶﻒﹶﺸﹶﻜﹾﻧﹺﺇ, “to appear.”ﹶﻒﹶﺸﹶﻜﹾﻧﹺﺇ Form VIII. Form VIII is distinguished by having both a prefixed i- and an infixed t, which is placed between the first and second letters of the root. The pattern is i-ta-a-a in the active and u-tu-i-a in the passive. If the first root letter is a dental or waw, the t assimilates into it, resulting in the doubling of the assimilated letter and often other phonetic changes; examples in this book are ﻰﹶﻋﱠﺩﹺﺇﻰﹶﻋﱠﺩﹺﺇﻰﹶﻋﱠﺩ (fromﹺﺇﻮﻋﺩ); ﹶﺮﹶﺧﱠﺩﹺﺇﹶﺮﹶﺧﱠﺩﹺﺇﹶﺮﹶﺧﱠﺩ (from ﹺﺇﺮﺧﺫ); ﹶﺝﹶﻭﹶﺩﹾﺯﹺﺇ (from ﺝﻭﺯ); ﹶﻡﹶﺪﹶﻄﹾﺻﹺﺇ (from ﹶﻡﹶﺪﹶﻄﹾﺻﹺﺇﻡﺪﺻ); ﱠﺮﹶﻄﹾﺿﹺﺇ (from ﱠﺮﹶﻄﹾﺿﹺﺇﺭﺮﺿ); and ﹶﻊﹶﻠﱠﻃﹺﺇ (from ﹶﻊﹶﻠﱠﻃﹺﺇﻊﻠﻃ). This common Form often serves as a reflexive for verbs that are transitive in Form I; as Form VIII ﹶﻕﹶﺮﹶﺘﹾﻓﹺﺇ, ﹶﻕﹶﺮﹶﺘﹾﻓﹺﺇ, ﹶﻕﹶﺮﹶﺘﹾﻓﹺﺇ “to part,” versus Form Iﹶﻕﹶﺮﹶﻓ, “to divide.” But there is no reliable element of meaning associated with Form VIII. Form IX. Form IX, like Forms VII, VIII, and X, has a prefixed i-; in addition, its third root letter is doubled. It is used only with verbs indicating colors and defects, like ﱠﺮﹶﻔﹾﺻﹺﺇ,“to turn yellow,” and ﱠﺮﹶﻔﹾﺻﹺﺇ,“to turn yellow,” and ﱠﺮﹶﻔﹾﺻﹺﺇﱠﺝﹶﻮﹾﻋﹺﺇ, “to be bent,” and is therefore not very common.ﱠﺝﹶﻮﹾﻋﹺﺇ, “to be bent,” and is therefore not very common.ﱠﺝﹶﻮﹾﻋﹺﺇ Form X. Form X has the prefix ista- in the active and ustu- in the passive. It is often associated with asking for a thing implied by the root, like ﹶﺮﹶﻔﹾﻐﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ, “to apologize” ﹶﺮﹶﻔﹾﻐﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ, “to apologize” ﹶﺮﹶﻔﹾﻐﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ (i.e., to ask for pardon), from a root that in Form I means “to pardon.” It can also imply ix an attitude toward something designated by the root, like ﹶﻦﹶﺴﹾﺤﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ, “to approve” ﹶﻦﹶﺴﹾﺤﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ, “to approve” ﹶﻦﹶﺴﹾﺤﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ (i.e., to find something good), from ﹲﻦﹶﺴﹶﺣ, “good.” It is sometimes reflexive, as ﹶﻢﹶﻠﹾﺴﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ, ﹶﻢﹶﻠﹾﺴﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ, ﹶﻢﹶﻠﹾﺴﹶﺘﹾﺳﹺﺇ “to give oneself up,” versus the same root in Form IV, ﹶﻢﹶﻠﹾﺳﹶﺃ, “to hand over.” Other Forms exist, but they are exceedingly rare in modern standard Arabic. Of somewhat greater concern to the student are the handful of quadriliteral verbs. They have four Forms instead of ten and are rare enough that only four occur among the 501 most common verbs conjugated in this book: ﹶﻢﹶﺟﹾﺮﹶﺗ and ﹶﺮﹶﻄﹾﻴﹶﺳ, which are in quadriliteral Form I; ﹶﺮﹶﻘﹾﻬﹶﻘﹶﺗ, which is in quadriliteral Form II; and ﱠﻥﹶﺄﹶﻤﹾﻃﹺﺇ, which is in quadriliteral Form IV. The ﱠﻥﹶﺄﹶﻤﹾﻃﹺﺇ, which is in quadriliteral Form IV. The ﱠﻥﹶﺄﹶﻤﹾﻃﹺﺇ patterns of quadriliteral Forms I, II, and IV are similar to triliteral Forms II, V, and IX, respectively, and are easily mastered. Voice Verbs may be active or passive. In English, we may say, “I hit the man” or “The man was hit by me.” The act described is the same, but the emphasis in the first case is on the subject who performs the act; in the second case, it is on the object of the act (who becomes the subject of the sentence). In Arabic, some of the Forms habitually function as passives. But most of the Forms have an internal passive that is formed by altering the vowels; the initial vowel is always changed to u, and other vowels may change as well. These changes are absolutely uniform within each Form and need only be memorized. Passive forms are most naturally used with transitive verbs, that is, verbs denoting actions that have a direct object, as in the example “to hit,” just given. But it is a peculiarity of Arabic that intransitive verbs are sometimes used in the passive when there is no subject or when the subject is vague (i.e., the “impersonal construction”). Thus, just as one might use the passive ﺏﺎﺒﻟﺍ ﹶﺢﹺﺘﹸﻓ, “The door was opened,” without specifying who did the opening, one might put the verb ﹶﻒﹶﻠﹶﺘﹾﺧﹺﺇ (“to disagree”) in the passive and say ﹶﻒﹶﻠﹶﺘﹾﺧﹺﺇﹺﻪﻴﹺﻓ ﹶﻒﹺﻠﹸﺘﺧﹸﺃ, “There is disagreement about it,” literally, “It is disagreed about.” That is why a number of verbs in this book are provided with a passive even though they are intransitive. Tense Arabic tenses function somewhat differently from those of English, which makes a clear distinction between past (“He went”), present (“He goes”), and future (“He will go”), and a variety of finer distinctions of time (e.g., “He has gone”; “He has been going”; “He had gone”; “He will have gone”). Arabic makes distinctions not so much with respect to the time of an act as with respect to the state of an act relative to its completion. The tenses are therefore called “perfect” and “imperfect.” The perfect can indicate past when it occurs with no other marker; but ordinarily, something in the sentence indicates whether it is to be understood as past, present, or future. Thus ﹶﺐﹶﺘﹶﻛ, in the perfect, can, depending on the context, mean “he wrote” or “he had written” (completed acts in the past), or “he will have written” (completed act in the future); but it cannot be used to mean “was writing” (uncompleted act in the past). Likewise, the x imperfect ﹸﺐﹸﺘﹾﻜﹶﻳ can indicate future, when it occurs with no other marker, but it is quite commonly used for the present, which does not have a tense of its own in Arabic; it only unambiguously indicates future when it has the prefix ﹶﺱ, or is preceded by the word ﹶﻑﻮﹶﺳ, or when the sentence includes some other indicator of tense. Thus, depending on the context, ﹸﺐﹸﺘﹾﻜﹶﻳ could mean “was writing” (uncompleted act in the past), “will be writing” (uncompleted act in the future), or “is writing” (an act in the present, therefore by definition uncompleted); it only unambiguously means “will write” when it appears as ﹸﺐﹸﺘﹾﻜﹶﻴﹶﺳ. Mood The imperfect has four moods. The indicative is the mood that states an action as a fact: “He goes” or “He will go.” In normal verbs, it is distinguished by the final vowel: u, for most persons in the singular and the first-person plural; āni for dual; and ūna for masculine plural. ūna The subjunctive is the mood of a verb in a subordinate clause when it depends on a main verb that connotes a command, wish, intention, or fear. The conjunction ﹾﻥﹶﺃ, “that” (or its negative, ﱠﻻﺃ, “that not”), is usually used to link the main verb and the subordinate verb. As an example, consider the sentence “He told me to go.” In Arabic, this would be expressed as “He commanded that I go,” that is, ﹶﺐﹶﻫﹾﺫﹶﺃ ﹾﻥﹶﺃ ﻲﹺﻧﹶﺮﹶﻣﹶﹶﺐﹶﻫﹾﺫﹶﺃ ﹾﻥﹶﺃ ﻲﹺﻧﹶﺮﹶﻣﹶﺃﹶﺐﹶﻫﹾﺫﹶﺃ ﹾﻥﹶﺃ ﻲﹺﻧﹶﺮﹶﻣﹶ, with the verb of the ﹶﺐﹶﻫﹾﺫﹶﺃ ﹾﻥﹶﺃ ﻲﹺﻧﹶﺮﹶﻣﹶ, with the verb of the ﹶﺐﹶﻫﹾﺫﹶﺃ ﹾﻥﹶﺃ ﻲﹺﻧﹶﺮﹶﻣﹶ subordinate clause in the subjunctive. The subjunctive is commonly used after other particles that indicate intent, such as ﹺﻝ, ﹾﻲﹶﻛ, ﻰﱠﺘﹶﺣ, all meaning “so that”; and ﱠﻼﹶﺌﹺﻟ(“so that not”), as well as after the asseverative ﻦﻟ (“certainly not”). In normal verbs, the subjunctive is distinguished by the final vowel a in the persons in which the indicative has u, and by dropping the syllable na from the suffixes -ūna and -ūna -īna. The jussive in normal verbs is distinguished by having no final vowel where the indicative has u; like the subjunctive, the jussive drops the syllable na from suffixes na -ūna and -īna. The jussive is used instead of the imperative to express negative commands; for example, ﹾﺐﹶﻫﹾﺬﹶﺗ ﹶﻻ,“Don’t go.” It is commonly used with ﹾﻢﹶﻟ to form negative sentences in the past; for example, ﹾﺐﹶﻫﹾﺫﹶﺃ ﹾﻢﹶﻟ, “I did not go.” This usage seems counterintuitive until we remember that the tenses in Arabic do not specify time, as they do in the European languages (see n. 1 above). The jussive may be used to form a command in the third person, which in English can only be expressed by roundabout expressions such as “Let him come,” whereas in Arabic only one word is needed, ﹾﺊﺠﹶﻳ. The jussive also figures prominently in conditional sentences. The imperative, as in English, is the mood of command, like the English “Come here.” In Form I, it is formed by prefixing u- to the jussive of verbs that have u as the vowel of the second root consonant, and i- to the jussive of verbs that have a or i as the vowel of the second root consonant. In Forms II, III, V, and VI, the imperative is formed from the xi jussive by dropping the prefix ta- of the second person. In Form IV, it also follows the jussive but has a (which never elides) as a prefix. In Forms VII through X, it follows the jussive but has i as a prefix (which does elide if the preceding word ends in a vowel). The imperative is only used for positive commands; in negative commands, the jussive is used. Person, Gender, and Number Arabic has three numbers: singular, dual (used when speaking of two things), and plural. These elements are indicated by prefixes and suffixes, which make it unnecessary, and even incorrect, to use pronouns with a verb, except for the sake of emphasis. Thus ﹸﺐﹶﻫﹾﺫﹶﺃﺎﻧﺃ does not mean “I will go” but “I, and no one but I, will go.” Even the word two may be omitted in sentences such as “When are you two coming?” because the “two- ness” is accounted for by the suffix of the verb. Arabic has two genders, unlike English, which has three. Because there is no neuter, every noun is considered masculine or feminine. It is usually easy to distinguish; most feminine nouns end in ﹲﺓ–ﹶ, and feminine names are, of course, feminine. But there is a complication in that plural nouns of the type called “broken plurals,” designating inanimate objects, are considered feminine and ordinarily require a feminine singular verb; for example, ﻥﻮﺤﺼﻟﺍﹺﺖﹶﻄﹶﻘﹶﺳ (the kasra at the end of the verb is merely a linking vowel connecting ﹾﺖﹶﻄﹶﻘﹶﺳ to the definite article of the following noun and is not part of the conjugation), “The dishes fell.” The rules of agreement between verbs and subjects include a few other surprises for English speakers. For example, when the subject of a verb is a human being, the agreement depends on whether the verb precedes or follows the noun: in the normal Arabic word order, with the verb first, the verb is in the singular, as ﻝﺎﺟﺮﻟﺍﹶﻂﹶﻘﹶﺳ, “The men fell.” But when the verb follows the subject, it is in the plural, as in the sentence ﺍﻮﹸﺗﺎﹶﻣﻭ ﻝﺎﺟﺮﻟﺍ ﹶﻂﹶﻘﹶﺳ, “The men fell [singular] and died [plural].” The rules for agreement of subject and predicate, although unexpected, are not complicated. Participles and the Verbal Noun These are forms of the verb that in some ways function as nouns or sometimes even as adjectives. Every verb has an active participle, a form of the verb that describes a person or thing performing the action. It may sometimes be used like English words ending in -ing that are used to describe a person or thing engaged in an act, such as “He -ing is writing.” The suffix -ing makes the verb a participle, indicating the doer; it is not the -ing same as the -ing that indicates the act itself, as in “Writing is my favorite activity”. But -ing more often, participles describe persons or things characterized by a particular action and thus resemble nouns or adjectives. For example, ﹲﺐﹺﺗﺎﹶﻛ ﹶﻮﹸﻫ could theoretically mean “He is writing,” but normally it means “He is a writing person,” “He is a writer,” or even “He is a scribe.” The passive participle is the analogous form of the passive; it describes the person or thing to whom the action was done, like ﹲﻝﻮﹸﺘﹾﻘﹶﻣ ﻮﻫ, “He is killed.” xii The verbal noun (masdar) is a noun formed from the verb, like many English words ending in -ing (known as gerunds; e.g., “writing,” in the sense of “the act of writing,” as -ing in the preceding sentence, “Writing is my favorite activity”). But the use of the masdar ranges beyond the ordinary uses of the verbal noun, in ways that must be studied from a full grammar book. The forms of the masdar are fixed in Forms II through X, but they are numerous masdar in Form I, so that for each Form I verb, the masdar must be memorized along with masdar the middle vowel of the perfect and imperfect. Some Form I verbs have two or more masdars, which may be distinguished in meaning. Deviant Verbs The conjugational patterns just described hold good for all verbs that have three root consonants, unless one or more of those consonants is hamza, waw, or ya. The deviations from the patterns caused by the presence of any of these three consonants in the root can nearly all be reduced to rules, but it is easier to master the rules once the student has memorized the conjugation of a verb for each pattern and gotten the sound patterns fixed in the ear. (In learning a language as an adult, always aim for reciprocity between raw memorization—which is absolutely essential—and mastering the patterns according to the rules.) Here is a summary of the most important deviant patterns. 1. Verbs whose root includes hamza. The Arabic alphabet does not have a way to represent the glottal stop, even though it is a sound that bears meaning in Arabic and may serve as a root consonant (whereas in English, it is merely a feature of pronunciation). To make up for this deficiency, the symbol ﺀ (hamza) was added to the writing system at an early time; it is placed on a letter of the alphabet—alif, alif, alif waw, or ya—that represents the ya—that represents the ya vowel that precedes or follows the hamza; this letter is called the “chair” of the hamza. In some situations, the hamza stands alone. As far as the conjugation itself is concerned, the presence of hamza in a root affects mostly the imperative in that the three common verbs ﹶﻞﹶﻛﹶﺃ, ﹶﺬﹶﺧﹶﺃ, and ﹶﺮﹶﻣﹶﺃ drop it (e.g., the imperative of ﹶﺮﹶﻣﹶﺃ is ﹾﺮﹸﻣ), whereas other verbs assimilate it (the imperative of ﹶﺮﹶﺳﹶﺃ is ﹾﺮﹺﺴﻳﹺﺇ). It affects some masdars. And in the case of one root, ﹶﺬﹶﺧﹶﺃ, it is assimilated into the infixed t of Form VIII to produce ﹶﺬﹶﺨﱠﺗﹺﺇ. Although the hamza is scarcely a problem for conjugation, it creates a considerable problem for spelling. At the beginning of a word, the chair is always an alif. When a alif. When a alif hamza occurs after a prefixed a- (as in ﹸﺬﹸﺧﹾﺃﹶﺃ), the two alifs are reduced to one with the alifs are reduced to one with the alif symbol madda over it (ﹸﺬﹸﺧﺁ). When the ﹸﺬﹸﺧﺁ). When the ﹸﺬﹸﺧﺁ hamza occurs in the medial or final position in a verb, the spelling rules are determined by the surrounding vowels; in general, the presence of the vowel i gives priority to the letter ya over the letters waw or alif; the alif; the alif presence of the vowel u gives priority to the letter waw over alif; and the presence of the alif; and the presence of the alif xiii vowel a gives priority to the letter alif only when the alif only when the alif hamza itself has no vowel. When a word ends with ā and ā hamza, the hamza usually is written without a chair. For details, see Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 16–19. 2. Geminate verbs. These are verbs whose second and third root letters are the same and therefore assimilate into a single doubled consonant (e.g., the root ﺩﺩﺭ, which becomes ﱠﺩﹶﺭ). But in Forms II and V there is no assimilation, to preserve the doubling that is a feature of the Form, so Form II of ﺩﺪﻫ is ﹶﺩﱠﺪﹶﻫ. Furthermore, some speakers and writers avoid the assimilation in the jussive and imperative when the final root consonant would have a sukūn, as the phonetic tradition of Arabic avoids doubling in a closed syllable; yet other speakers and writers prefer an alternative form of the jussive and imperative in which the assimilation occurs but is put into conformity with the phonetic tradition by rounding off the syllable with an extra vowel a. Thus, from the root ﻞﻠﺣ, the Form I jussive (third person) can be ﹾﻞﹸﻠﹾﺤﹶﻳ (uncontracted) or ﱠﻞﹸﺤﹶﻳ (contracted and rounded off with the extra vowel). In Forms III and VI, the assimilation is optional, so these verbs have two parallel sets of conjugation, as pointed out in the treatment of ﱠﺩﺎﹶﻀﹶﺗ in this book. 3. Verbs that have the unstable letters waw or waw ya as a root consonant. There are three kinds, depending on the position of the weak consonant in the root: a. Initial. The presence of a waw or ya at the beginning of a root affects mostly Form I imperfect and imperative, where they simply drop out. The verb ﹶﻞﹶﺟﹶﻭ in this book is a rare exception in that it retains the initial waw. The letters waw and ya combine with the prefixed ﹺﺇ of the verbal noun in Forms IV and VIII to yield –ﹺﺇﻱﺇ; in the perfect of Form VIII, the waw or ya is assimilated into the infixed t, which is doubled as a result; compare ﹶﻞﹶﺼﱠﺗﹺﺇ, from the root ﹶﻞﹶﺼﱠﺗﹺﺇ, from the root ﹶﻞﹶﺼﱠﺗﹺﺇﻞﺻﻭ. b. Medial. When the second root consonant is waw or ya, the verb is called “hollow.” In Form I perfect, the middle consonant becomes a long ā if the third consonant has a ā vowel, but if the third consonant has a sukūn, the middle consonant of waw verbs turns into the corresponding vowel; that is, waw becomes u (as in ﹸﺖﹾﻠﹸﻗ, from the root ﻝﻮﻗ), and ya becomes i (as in ﹸﺕﹾﺮﹺﺳ, from the root ﺮﻴﺳ). In the imperfect, medial waw and ya take the form of ū or ī, respectively, but a few verbs have ī, respectively, but a few verbs have ī ā in the imperfect, such as āﹶﻝﺎﹶﻧ, which produces such forms as ﹸﻝﺎﹶﻨﹶﻳ in the imperfect. In Forms II, III, V, and VI, the middle consonant is completely stable. In the other Forms, the middle radical becomes a long vowel in open syllables and a short vowel in closed syllables; whether that vowel is a, i, or u or depends on the preceding vowel in predictable ways. xiv c. Final. When the third consonant is waw or ya, the verb is called “weak.” The difficulty is caused by the fact that these consonants are so similar to vowels that they tend to merge into the surrounding vowels. This may be observed immediately in the third-person masculine singular of Form I, the most basic form of the verb and the one used for dictionary entries, for it has only two syllables instead of the usual three, and this syllable ends in the long vowel ā, spelled with ﺍ (alif) for verbs whose root ends in alif) for verbs whose root ends in alif w, and ﻯ (alif maqsūra) for verbs whose root ends in y (e.g., ﺎﹶﻋﹶﺩ, from the root ﻮﻋﺩ, and ﻰﹶﻣﹶﺭ, from the root ﻲﻣﺭ). The patterns by which these mergers occur does not depend on the Form, voice, tense, mood, person, gender, or number but only on the configuration of sounds; thus, like so many features of Arabic morphology, once you know the rules, you can work out the correct form with considerable certainty. The rules require us to imagine that these verbs are absolutely regular and to observe the configuration of vowel and consonant around the final waw or ya that would result from any conjugated form. Consider, for example, ﹶﻥﻮﹸﻋﹾﺪﹶﻳ (Form I, imperfect third-person masculine plural), from the root ﻮﻋﺩ. The hypothetical regular form would be *ﹶﻥﻭﹸﻮﹸﻋﹾﺪﹶﻳ, but it is only natural for the group uwū to merge into the ū, giving rise to ﹶﻥﻮﹸﻋﹾﺪﹶﻳ. Likewise, if the root letter ya is followed by the vowel ya ī, as in the hypothetical * ī, as in the hypothetical * īﹶﻦﻴﹺﻴﹺﻣﹾﺮﹶﺗ (ﻲﻣﺭ), Form I imperfect second-person feminine singular, the iyī will naturally merge into the iyī will naturally merge into the iyī ī, resulting ī, resulting ī in ﹶﻦﻴﹺﻣﹾﺮﹶﺗ. Other such common mergers are iwū→ū; uyī→ uyī→ uyī ī; awū→aw; ayū→aw; ayī→ ayī→ ayī ay, and so on. Because the rules are complicated, many students find it more efficient simply to memorize verbs exemplifying the various possible transformations and to study the rules only after having many patterns well established in the eye and the ear. Memorizing the following Form I verbs will provide you with enough examples to cover any case: ﹶﻲﹺﻘﹶﻟ, ﹶﻲﹺﺿﹶﺭ, ﻰﹶﻣﹶﺭ, ﺎﹶﻋﹶﺩ. The situation is somewhat simpler in Forms II through X, in which verbs with waw as the third root consonant are treated exactly like verbs with ya as the third root consonant. The same rules apply, but the collapse of the distinction between the root u The same rules apply, but the collapse of the distinction between the root and the root i and the root reduces the number of possible mergers. A final point about the weak verb must be made explicit, although it follows from what has been said. It applies to participles and follows from the fact that active participles of all roots in all Forms have the same pattern in their last two syllables: C-i-C-un (where C represents the second and third letters of the root). If the third letter of the root is C w or y, that would yield the hypothetical ending *iyun or *iwun; these hypothetical forms merge into Cin. Thus ﻮﻋﺩ in Form I would give rise to the hypothetical *ﹲﻲﹺﻋﺍﹶﺩ, which, in conformity with the rules summarized in the preceding paragraph, yields ﹴﻉﺍﹶﺩ. This form sometimes puzzles beginners because it is nominative, even though the suffix i ordinarily signifies the genitive; but this particular i is merely the regular contraction of iyun to in. When the participle has the definite article and accordingly loses the tanwīn, the form is ﻲﹺﻋﺍﹶﺪﹾﻟﹶﺃ, representing the regular contraction of iyu to ī. xv Doubly Deviant Verbs A number of common roots have two features that cause them to deviate from the basic patterns. In most cases, the rules for the two kinds of deviation do not come into conflict. A verb such as ﻰﹶﺗﹶﺃ, “to come,” from the root ﻲﺗﺃ, with a hamza as its first consonant and ya as the third, produces odd-looking forms such as ﹺﺖﻳﹺﺇ in the imperative, but it is actually quite regular. Only a few verbs of this type are truly irregular, in that their forms cannot be exactly predicted from rules. One is the common verb ﻯﹶﺃﹶﺭ, “to see,” which has hamza as its second root consonant and ya as the third because the hamza disappears in the imperfect (and, therefore, in the subjunctive, jussive, and imperative) of Forms I and IV. Another is the root ﻲﻴﺣ (sometimes given as ﻮﻴﺣ), which is realized in Form I sometimes as ﹶﻲﹺﻴﹶﺣ and sometimes as ﱠﻲﹶﺣ, both meaning “to live.” The imperfect of Form I is unexpectedly spelled as ﺎﹶﻴﹾﺤﹶﻳ, and the perfect of Form IV as ﺎﹶﻴﹾﺣﹶﺃ. The spelling of Form X also varies, depending on whether the meaning is “to spare one’s life” or “to be ashamed.”