Arabic from Najd

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Anthropological Linguistics

Verbal and Nominal Forms of Najdi ArabicAuthor(s): A. Aziz I. Al-SweelSource: Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring, 1987), pp. 71-90Published by: The Trustees of Indiana University on behalf of Anthropological LinguisticsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30028090 .Accessed: 12/09/2011 07:57

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VERBAL AND NOMINAL FORMS OF NAJDI ARABIC*

A. Aziz I. Al-Sweel King Saud University

ABSTRACT, This paper is a descriptive account of the verbal and nominal forms of Najdi Arabic. NA is the dialect of the desert region of the Arabian Peninsula. This dialect is the least studied, among Arabic dialects, within modern linguistics. It is hypothesized that NA is the closest dialect, still spoken, to the Classical Arabic. Through studies like this we hope to be able to shed more light on more facts of Classical Arabic. More studies on so-called peninsular dialects in general will cer- tainly unveil much of the alleged truth about the many generali- zations made regarding all Arabic dialects.

0,0, NAJDI ARABIC. (NA) is a dialect of Arabic spoken in Najd, the middle region of the desert part of Arabia constitut- ing today's Saudi Arabia. There is no scientific geographical limitation for the area called Najd, but usually (locally) it is used to refer to the area lying from Yemen to the south to the borders of Jordan to the north, and from the Ahsa oasis to the east to the mountains of Hijaz and the plains of Asiir to the west.

This paper, however, is limited to the dialect spoken in the Al-Qassim area and to some extent in Hail to the north. This dialect is what Johnston refers to as the Shammari type (see Johnston 1967a, b). NA is the least studied among Arabic dialects in the framework of modern linguistics, and therefore references are less than one hand's fingers in number (see, for example, Lehn 1967; and Abboud 1975, 1978; Czapkiewicz 1975). Eurpoean explorers who visited Najd in the 18th and 19th centur- ies (not much visited at that time) wrote some descriptive accounts of the dialect.

0.1, INTRODUCTION TO DERIVATION, This paper is about verbal and nominal forms of NA, especially derived forms. The term "derived" is used here to indicate a regular relationship of form and meaning between existing words of the same root, not historical development. In this sense the more complex of two forms is considered to be derived from the simpler; the latter is termed the basic one (see Al-Sweel 1981).

1.1, NA BASIC VERBAL FORMS, Three basic patterns are encountered in the verbal system of NA (Bakalla 1979; Ingham 1982). The following table illustrates the three forms:

71

72 Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 29, No. 1

Strong Verbs Weak Verbs Doubled Verbs

sirib to drink diri to know 9add to count

kitab to write wigaf to stop yamm to aim at

hasab to calculate gal to say bass to feel The pattern fvcvl is usually used as a canonical shape, but due to the fact that the second radical ' affects the vowels in its neighbourhood (see Al-Sweel 1981; Brame 1970), the arbitrarily chosen form fvbvl will be used instead. The three basic patterns of NA verbs are given below: a. fibil: may be referred to as high pattern.1 Examples:

girib to drink simi9 to hear

fitin to remember yibis to dry up b. fibal: may be referred to as mixed pattern. Examples:

kitab to write bital to continue

gita9 to cut fitah to open c. fabal: may be referred to as low pattern. Examples:

ahaa6 to beg hasad to envy hasab to calculate sarag to steal

1,2, NA DERIVED VERBAL FORMS, NA exhibits the main nine derived forms exhibited by Classical Arabic (CA) (see Thorton 1919; Wright 1933). These derived forms are given below: (2) Fabbal is formed from the basic fvbvl class by doubling the second radical. This form signifies intensivity or extensive- ness. It also functions as a causative in some cases. The following examples illustrate this form:

kassar to smash kisar to break

gallal to cause to be few gall to be few

daxxal to cause to go in daxal to go in

talla9 to cause to go out tala to go out

(3) Fabal is formed from the basic fvbvl pattern by lengthening the vowel a after the first radical. It has many functions, the most important of which is that of reciprocity. Examples of this include the following:

xibar to tell each other xabar news

katab to write to each other kitab to write

k~tal to fight each other kital to kill

This pattern sometimes exhibits a stative function as the following examples show:

Forms of Najdi Arabic 73

nabar to look

calam to call

s~qad to help

(4) The fourth form, ?afbal, is formed by prefixing ?a- to the basic form fvbvl, causing the first vowel to drop. This form is factive or causative. Examples of this form are provided below.

7arcab to give a ride ricib to ride

?adxal to get ... in daxal to get in

?arbak to confuse ribak to be confused

(5) The fifth form, tvfabbal, is formed from the second pattern, fabbal, by prefixing ti- (or ta-) to it. The prefix ti- adds the reflexive function to the functions of the second form mentioned in (2) above. The following examples are of this pattern.

ticallam to speak kallam to talk to

tifarraj to watch farraj to show

taCallam to learn 9allam to teach

taxarraj to graduate xarraj to take out

(6) The sixth form, tvfabal, is formed by prefixing ti- (or ta-) to the third form. This form is reflexive because of the prefix ti-, but also reciprocal in that the f~bal form itself is reciprocal. The result is a collective. Examples of this form follow.

tikItab to write to each other katab to write to

tisavad to help each other saqad to help ...

taxagar to share xaar to share with

taqCraf to know each other qaraf to know ...

(7) The seventh form, infvbal, is formed from the basic pattern, fvbvl, by prefixing n-. ?- is inserted at the beginning of the word after a pause, and i is inserted to break the cluster of three consonants. This form has a passive function.

inkitab it was written kitab to write

inlitab it was cracked litab to crack

inhalab it was milked halab to milk

inxatab he was engaged xatab to get engaged

(8) The eighth form, ?iftvbal, is formed from the basic pattern by inserting -ti- (or -ta-) between the first and the second radicals. As expected, the first a drops, giving rise to a cluster of three consonants at the beginning of the word. This triggers epenthesis of i- to the form. This is properly the reflexive form of the basic fvbvl pattern. The reciprocal


function is also very common to this form. This latter function arises from its being reflexive.

?iftilal to feel shy figil to be shy ?ibtisam to smile bisam to smile

?iftaxar to be proud faxar to be proud ?ibtlas to be in trouble bilig to be in trouble

(9) The ninth form, ?ifball, is formed from the basic pattern by doubling the third radical. Its function is intensiveness. It is usually used to express properties of color, defect, and emo- tions (see Erwin 1962 and Qafisheh 1977 for comparable dialects). The following are examples of this pattern:

?iswadd to become black siwid to be black

?ilmarr to become red himir to be red

?istarr to become happy sarr to make ... happy

?ihtarr to become hot harr to make ... hot

(10) The tenth form, ?istafbal, is formed by prefixing sta- to the basic form. This form is frequently denominative. In NA, this form is particularly interesting in that it has two sub- classes: the normal one mentioned above and a cluster form, ?istfvbal, which is formed from a gutteral-initial verb. The normal form, however, exists for these verbs but it is less encountered than their cluster forms as the following examples show.

?istarjal to be a man

?istarxa to relax

?istarba to seek to satisfy

?istcadal or istacdal to sit upright

?istxadam or istaxdam to use (a person) as a servant

?isthadaf or istahdaf to aim at something

2,0, NA-PECULIAR DERIVED FORMS, Despite its relation to Classical Arabic, NA has some particular and peculiar derived verbal forms that do not exist in CA and perhaps in any other Arabic dialect. In what follows I will introduce these peculiar verbal forms and discuss their morphological construction and function.

2,1,0, POTENTIAL. Two derived verbal forms, which I will henceforth refer to collecitvely as the potential, exist in NA. There is the form yintifabbal which will be called the normal potential, and there is the form yintif~bal which will be called the reciprocal potential.

The potential form indicates that the subject is capable of undergoing an action. Only the imperfect is inflected for the


potential. Its formation is a complex morphological process, and may be analyzed as follows.

2..1.. Normal potential is formed by prefixing n- to the form fabbal which has already had ti- (or ta-) prefixed to it, i.e., from the derived verbal form numbered (2) discussed in 1.2, above. This is formed by doubling the second radical of the basic form fvbvl. The formation of the normal potential form in NA may be schematized as follows:

fvbvl + fabbal + tvfabbal + -ntvfabbal.

The following paradigms illustrate forms related to this pattern.

High Pattern

1. gibiv he became full 2. gabbe he made somebody full

5. tivabbaq he made himself full

p. yintigabbaq he could be made full Low Pattern

1. xalat he mixed

2. xallat he mixed repeatedly

5. taxallat it got mixed

p. yintaxallat it could be mixed

Mixed Pattern

1. kitab he wrote

2. kattab he wrote repeatedly 5. tikattab it got written repeatedly

p. yintikattab it could be written repeatedly More examples of normal potential in NA follow:

yintaqallam he could be told

yintisanna9 it could be fixed

yintiga2- it could be shopped or shopping could be done

Inflection of normal potential in NA is given below:

Singular Plural antacallam I could be nintaeallam we could be

told told

tintatallam you s.m. could tintacallimn you p.m. could be told be told

tintarallimln you s.f. could tintacalliman you p.f. could be told be told


yintacallam he could be yintacallim~n they m. could told be told

tintaqallam she could be yintaqalliman they f. could told be told

2.1.2. Reciprocal potential is formed by prefixing n- to the form fabal, which as is the case in normal potential, has already had ti- (or ta-) prefixed to it, i.e., from the third derived verbal form number (3) discussed in 1.2, above. This is formed by lengthening the vowel of the first syllable of the basic form. The formation of the reciprocal potential form in NA may be schematized as follows:

fvbvl fabal tvfabal -ntifabal.

The following paradigms illustrate forms related to this pattern. High Pattern

1. simi9 to hear

3. samaq to whisper 5. tisamaq to whisper to each other

P. yintis&maq to be able to be whispered to

Low Pattern

1. xalat to mix

3. xalat to mix with

5. taxalat to mix with each other

P. yintaxalat to be able to be mixed with

More examples of this pattern follow:

yintisaham could be shared with

yintifiham could be negotiated with

yintaqada could be treated as an enemy Inflexion of reciprocal potential in NA goes as follows:

Singular Plural

antax~lat I could be nintaxalat we could be mixed with mixed with

tintaxalat you s.m. could tintaxalitan you p.m. could be mixed with be mixed with

tintaxalitin you s.f. could tintaxalitan you p.f. could be mixed with be mixed with

yintaxalat he could be yintaxalitan them m. could mixed with be mixed with

tintaxalat she could be tintaxalitan they f. could mixed with be mixed with


2,2, PRETENSIVE, The form tif8bal is a verbal form which does not exist in CA, but is a NA verbal form. It is not easy to label this particular form with any of the available termi- nological labels. Among other less common functions, it donates the function of pretending. It most frequently means to pretend to be ... or to appear like ..., and we may, henceforth, call it pretensive.

The pretensive is formed by raising the first vowel of the basic form fvbvl to the mid-vowel e, i.e., to f~bal. Further- more, it requires tv- to be prefixed to it. The pretensive is inflected in both the perfective and the imperfective as the following examples show:

Perfect Imperfect

titawal to pretend to be taZZll ytitgwal ta1hwal to pretend to be cross-eyed ytabhwal

fvbvl + febal + tvf8bal ytvfgbal The form fabal exists in the dialect but is very rare.

Some examples follow:

newat to pass ... to ...

d~war to make a U turn in a car

rawas to back up in a car

9awaj to bend

More examples of the pretensive pattern follow:

tayvba to pretend to be dumb

timawat to pretend to be dead

taieraj to pretend to be lame

tijhal to pretend to be ignorant The perfective inflexion of this form runs as follows:

Singular Plural

tah9walt I pretended to tahgwalna we pretended to be cross-eyed be cross-eyed

tabwal you s.m. pre- tabwaltu you p.m. pretended to be tended to be cross-eyed cross-eyed

tahbwalti you s.f. pre- tahbwalan you p.f. pretended to be tended to be cross-eyed cross-eyed

tat~wal -he pretended tahbwalaw they m. pre- to be cross- tended to be eyed cross-eyed


tah9walat she pretended tahewalan they f. pre- to be cross- tended to be eyed cross-eyed

Its imperfective inflection is as follows:

Singular Plural

?atahgwal I pretend to ntahBwal we pretend to be cross-eyed be cross-eyed

tahbwal you s.m. pre- tahbwalfn you p.m. pretend to be tend to be cross-eyed cross-eyed

tah-walgn you s.f. pre- tabhwalan you p.f. pretend to be tend to be cross-eyed cross-eyed

ytah9wal he pretends to ytahgwalbn they m. pre- be cross-eyed tend to be cross-eyed

tahbwal she pretends ytahgwalan they f. pretend to be cross- to be cross-eyed eyed

Notice that the first-person singular feminine ending is -an instead of the usual -in, and that the first-person plural masculine is -6n instead of the usual -an. It is interesting to notice that the vowel in both cases is a mid-vowel which characterizes the formation of this verbal form. Another interesting point to notice here is the assimilation in the cases of t-initial prefixes.

3,0, DERIVED NOUNS, Most of NA's nominal forms are derived from other more basic forms. Verbs are the source of the majority of derived nouns. These forms are referred to as Verbal Nouns. Some nominal forms are derived from adjectives. And a number of them are derived from other nouns. The following examples illustrate the three categories of derived nominal forms respectively:

falah to farm flabih farming

habib friendly hababih friendliness

rajil a man marjlih manliness

3.1.0, Verbal nouns are nominal forms that express the notion contained in the radicals of the underlying verb. They have the general meaning of that verb. They usually indicate an event, a function, a state, or a quality of the base verb. The derivation of these forms depends to a great degree on the class of verbal base from which it is derived. Within these classes, however, a number of different nominal patterns are derivable. This is noticeable especially in Class I verbs, and is less encountered in other classes.


3.1.1, TRILITERALS., There are ten different triliteral nominal forms. There are a number of possible nominal forms for each verbal class; Class I verbs are the basic verbal forms of 1.1, above; Classes II-X, consist of the derived verbal forms with corresponding numbers in 1,2.

3.1.1.1. CLASS I, This is by far the most productive class. It exhibits a number of nominal forms. Its derivation is quite irregular. The following are the most common nominal forms of Class I triliteral verbs. Notice that the pattern (i.e., high, low, or mixed) does not affect the pattern of the nominal forms derived from verbs of this class:

1. Nominal pattern fbUl

high ricib to ride rclb riding mixed rijaV to return rjaT returning low harab to flee hrib fleeing

2. Nominal pattern fabl - fibl

high lihidz to follow labg following mixed litas to mind lats minding low darab to hit darb hitting

high ribih to win ribh a win

3. Nominal pattern fabal - fabil

high tiqib to get tired tacab tiredness

mixed sibar to withhold sabir patience low talab to demand talab demanding

4. Nominal pattern fba:lih

high sibih to swim sbahih swimming mixed siby to dye sbcyih dye low daras to study drasih studying

5. Nominal pattern fibil - fabal

high hizin to be sad hizin sadness

mixed sitar to cover sitir cover

low mayal to make busy liyil work low racad to thunder racad thunder

Weak verbs:

6. Pattern 1 fbu:l

yibis to dry ybu:s dryness

wisil to reach, arrive wsu:1 arrival


7. Pattern 4 fba:lih

sag to drive swagih/syagih driving ras to head ryasih heading

8. Nominal pattern fa:bi

bay' to want bayi want

sawa to roast sawi roasting 9. Nominal pattern fo:l and fe:12

gal to say g61 saying xat to sew xat a thread

Xaf to fear x5l fear bar to sell bg9 selling

10. Nominal pattern fibl

high zilim to know 9ilm knowledge

mixed --

low --

3,1,1.2. CLASS II, There are two patterns for nominal forms derived from Class II verbs.

A. The nominal pattern tafbi:l for Class II verbs except weak (lame) verbs:3

fattas to search taftiv search

gassam to divide tagsIm dividing

nawwar to light tanwir light

yabbas to dry taybIs drying

B. The nominal pattern tafbat for weak Class II verbs:

rabba to grow something tarbat growing something

sawwa to make even taswat making something even

3.1,1,3, CLASS III. There are three patterns for nominal forms derived from Class III verbs.

A. The nominal pattern mfaralih or mfabilih:

saad to help msaadih helping

Iawal to try mhawilih a trial

B. The nominal pattern mfabal

n~aar to look mnabar looking

gbab to hold each other mga.ab holding each other

hawal to quarrel mhwal a quarrel

C. The nominal pattern mfab~t

ganB to sue mga6at a suit

s5da to be enemy to m9ad't hostility

lawa to bend mlawat bending each other


3.1.1.4. CLASS IV, One pattern of nominal forms is possible from these verbs. That is the pattern ifbl:

adxal to cause to enter idxal causing something to enter

arcab to give a ride irc~b giving a ride

3.1.1.5. CLASS V. There is one possible nominal form of these verbs. That is tifibbil:

ticallam to talk ticillim talking tifarrav to watch tifirri5 watching

tacallam to learn ticillim learning

taxarra' to graduate tixirri5 graduating

3.1.1.6. CLASS VI, There is one pattern for nominal forms of these verbs. That is tifibil (or tifibi for weak verbs): taV5raf to know each other tiqirif knowing each other

tanasa to pretend to forget tinisi pretending to forget

taXa'ar to share tixivir sharing 3.1.1.7. CLASS VII. The only pattern possible for nominal

forms derived from these verbs is the pattern infiba:l:4 intibah to pay attention intibah attention

insitab to crack insitab a crack

insidah to Zay down insidah Zaying down

3.1.1.8. CLASS VIII, The only possible pattern for the verbs is iftiba:l:5 ifti'al to feel shy iftial shyness ibtisam to smile ibtis:m smiling iftaxar to feel proud iftixar pride

3.1.1.9 CLASS IX, One pattern is possible. That is ifbil=1:6

isfarr to become yellow isfirar becoming yellow imtadd to stretch imtidad stretching

3.1.1.10. CLASS X, A. istifbal:

istarxas to seek permission istirxms seeking a permission ista9mal to use istiemal using

B. istifalih for Class X verbs derived fromweak low verbs (triliterals):

istifad to make use of istifadih making use of istara to relax istirahih relaxation

ista9~n to seek help isti9nih seeking help


3,1.2. QUADRILITERALS. The only possible pattern for quadriliteral verbs in NA fablilih:

laqwaz to trouble laqwizih troubling

naxjar to annoy naxjirih annoying

nagras to bother nagrisih bothering

Reduplicated quadriliteral verbs follow the regular pattern:

zalzal to quake zalzilih quaking laclaV to shout la9licih a shout

Derived quadriliterals have the pattern tifiblil:

talaqwaz to have troubles tiliqwiz having troubles

tifanjal to have tea tifinjil having tea in a cup tizalzal to quake tizilzil quaking

The forms fibal/fgbal and tif6bal/tifgbal, referred to in 2.2 as the pretensive.

A. The form fEbal/fibal. febal + flbilih

newat to hand newitih handing

rewas7 to make a reverse riwisih a reverse or rewas

2. fobal + f~bal/fibilih:

96kas to cause trouble 9ckas causing trouble

hasan to make somebody hnsan making somebody feel sorry feel sorry

h56al to make singing- h5bilih making singing- like noise like noise

s5far to whistle sbfirih whistling

B. The form tifgbal/tif6bal:

1. The form tif~bal -+ taf5bal:

titgwal to pretend to be tall titiwil pretending to be taZZll

tabwal to pretend to be tihiwil pretending to cross-eyed be cross-eyed

tanewat to try to reach tintwit trying to reach something something

2. The form tifbbal + tafibal:

tacDkas to have problems 9ikis having problems

ta96mas to have a dilemma i~m~ms having a dilemma

taIasan not to know what hfasan not knowing what to do to do


3.1.3. INSTANCE NOUNS. This is an attested Classical Arabic form (ismul marrah) although the particular pattern may differ in NA. It designates a single occurrence of the underlying verbal form. Instance nouns are usually derived by suffixing -ih to the verbal noun.

A. Strong Verbs:

rigas to dance ragsih a dance

li9ib to play li9bih a game sirib to drink giribih a sip

B. Weak Verbs: 1. fl + f6lih:

nam to sleep namih a nap

gam to stand up gjmih standing

2. fl + filih:

sad to become a leader sidih becoming a leader

yab to be absent ygbih8 absence

But notice also forms like: A. mAt to die mitih a death

1 to live 91!ih a living

say to form siyih a form B. ticallam to talk cilmih a word

3. Derived verbs (Classes II-X) and quadriliterals do not usually have instance nouns.

3,1.4, UNIT NOUNS, This is also a Classical Arabic form (ismu lhayah). The pattern in NA may, however, differ from that of the classical language. This form designates an indi- vidual unit of the underlying collective noun. Derived by suffixing -ih to the collective noun:

dijaj chickens dij2jih a chicken

b36 eggs bSbih an egg xUx peaches xTIxih a peach romman pomegranate rommnnih a pomegranate

There are, however, some exceptions to this pattern. The following are some examples of these exceptions. 5ibin cheese 5ibnih a piece of cheese ramil sand ramlih a sand

dihin fat dihnih a piece of fat Macar hair l9arih a hair

naxal palm trees nxalih a palm tree


bigar cows bgirih a cow

bisal onions bsalih an onion

sijar trees s3irih a tree

gita sandpipers gitat a sandpiper hasa pebbles hasat a pebble

3.1.5. FEMININE NOUNS, A. Human and animal feminine forms are formed by suffixing

-ih to the corresponding masculine nominal form.

jidd a grandfather viddih a grandmother

camm an uncle cammih an aunt

calb a dog calbih a bitch

zoo3 a husband zoovih a wife

B. A group of feminine forms require a vowel elision:

jahil ignorant m. jahlih ignorant f. 9dilp wise m. qdzlih wife f.

talib a student m. tlbih a student f. C. Another group of feminine forms are formed by vowel

elision and a consonantal elision:

mqazzib an employer m. mqazbih an employer f. mdarris a teacher m. mdarsih a teacher f. myassil a washer m. myaslih a washer f.

D. Nouns ending in i or u go through the following change after suffixing -ih: i + y and u + w.

rami a shooter m. ramyih a shooter f. sagi a drink server m. sagyih a drink server f. 6abi an antelope m. babyih an antelope f. 9ibu a member m. ci6wih a member f. luulu a pearl m. luulwih a pearl m.

filu a young stallion filwih a mare

E. The suffix -iyyih is added to some nouns to form the feminine counterpart. It is the feminine (nisbah) relative suffix, too.

yani a rich male yaniyyih a rich woman

h~di a quiet male h~diyyih a quiet woman

yabi a stupid male yabiyyih a stupid woman

giwi a strong male giwiyyih a strong female

sc9di a Saudi male ssidiyyih a Saudi female

forms of najdi arabic 85

gtiri a qatari male gtiriyyih a qatari female sari a syrian male striyyih a syrian female

3,2.1, participles as nouns, first, active participles: 1. class i:

a. fa:bil for strong verbs:

hasab to count lhsib a counter

kitab to write katib a writer

girib to drink sarib a drinker

b. fa:bi for defective verbs:

sara to buy gari a buyer

liga to find ldzi a finder

diri to know dari a knowledged m.

c. weak verbs fa:yib:

gal to say gayil a sayer

xaf to fear xayif afraid

c~b to defect c defective d. doubled verbs fabb:

gass to tell a story gass a story telling 9add to count 9add counting madd to stretch madd stretching

2. class ii: a. mfabbil:

faval to embarrass mfallil an embarrassing (matter)

xayyam to tent mxayyim a camper

xawwaf to cause somebody to mxawwif dreadful be afraid

saffag to clap one's hands msaffidz clapper b. defective verbs mfabbi:

salla to pray msalli a praying one

hayya to greet mhayyi a greeting one

rawwa to water mrawwi a watering (thing)

sadda to rust msaddi rusty

3. class iii mfa:bil:

safar to travel msifir a traveller

kitab to write to each other mkatib a writer

catab to rebuke m9atib rebuke


4. Class IV: A. mifbil for strong verbs:

axbar to tell mixbir a teller

adxal to cause something to midxil somebody who causes enter something to enter

azcal to cause somebody to mizil somebody causing be angry somebody to be

angry B. mifbi for defective verbs:

arxa to loosen mirxi a Zoosener

arba to satisfy mir8i a satisfier

ayra to attract miyri attractive

arsa to anchor mirsi anchorer

5. Class V: A. mtifabbil + mtafabbil:

tisallaf to borrow mtisallif borrower

tavallam to learn mta9allim learned

ta9awwar to get injured mtaqawwir injured

B. mtifabbil S mtafaffi for defective verbs:

tisalla to pass time mtisalli time-passer

tayadda to have lunch mtayaddi somebody who had lunch

6. Class VI: A. mtifa:bil + mtafa:bil for strong verbs:

ti'wa to get well mti'wi getting well ta9~fa to get fat mtaqafi fat

B. mtifabi + mtafabi for defective verbs:

tibara to match each other mtibari somebody who matches

tahaca to talk to each other mtahaci talking to each other

7. Class VII: A. minfibil + minfabil for strong verbs:

inticar to be spilled mintieir spilled

inharag to burn minharidz burnt

B. minfibi + minfabi for defective verbs:

intala to get full mintili full inhaca to be told minhaci told

C. minfabb:

ingass to get cut mingass cut


incall to get ill minall ill

8. Class VIII: A. miftibil for strong verbs:

ixtaral to get excited mixtirig excited

irtacad to shake mirticid shaken

B. miftibi for defective verbs: istaha to feel shy mistihi shy

iAtaha to want migtihi wanting

C. mift:1 for weak verbs:

ihtaj to need mihttj needy

irtah to relax mirtah relaxed

D. miftabb:

ihtamm to get worried mihtamm worried

ihtadd to have to mihtadd having to

istadd to do without mistadd doing without

9. Class X: A. mistafbil for strong verbs:

istamal to use mistacmil user

istarxas to take a permission mistarxis permission-taker

B. mistafbi for defective verbs:

istar6a to seek mistarbi satisfaction-seeker satisfaction

istahda to advise mistahdi (mistahdi) advisor

C. miftifibb for doubled verbs:

istababb to like mistihibb liking istaradd to recapture mistiridd recapturing

10. Quadriliterals: A. mfablil for basic and reduplicated verbs:

xarbat to paint non- mxarbit painting nonsense sense lines

zalzal to quake itself mtizalzil quaking

taxarbat to get confused mtaxarbit confused

3,2,2, PASSIVE PARTICIPLES, 1. Triliterals mafbl:

6arab to hit maSrib hit

sirib to drink mari-b a drink


kitab to write makttb written

2. Augmented (derived triliterals): A. m-forms (non-clustered forms):

kattab to write repeatedly mkattab written repeatedly B. mi-forms (forms with two consonantal clusters):

istacjal to be quick mistacjal quick

istardab to seek to satisfy mistarda8 satisfied

3. Quadriliterals mfablal:

xarbat to paint nonsense mxarbat confused laqwaz to cause troubles mlaqwaz troubled

zalzal to quake mzalzal quaked

Adjectives: 1. Positive Adjectives:

The following adjectives are mainly with verbal underlying forms:

A. fibil + fabil:

tiwil tall m.s.

nibif clean m.s.

habib beloved m.s.

xabie wicked m.s.

B. Weak verbs fayyil:

tayyib + tRb kind m.s.

hayyin + hMn easy m.s.

6ayyidz + d'g narrow m.s.

C. The following adjectives have nouns underlying them fibil:

giwi strong + giwih strength

6aki intelligent + 6ika intelligence

sixi generous + saxa generosity

yabi dullZZ + yaba dullness

D. Doubled fa:ll:

~arr hot + tarr heat

marr passing by + marr to pass

2. fabla:n form. Derived from Class I verbs. Usually indicates emotional states:'

ta9ban tired + ticib to get tired

xailfn shy + xijil to get shy


sab9~n full + ibi9 to get full

nadmin sorry + nidim to get sorry

3. Nisbah adjectives (relative adjectives). These are mainly derived from nouns, or adjectives. They are formed by suffixing -i to the word:

scdi a Saudi scd a proper name Saud

masri an Egyptian masir Egypt bahri sea . . . bahar sea.10

WORKS CITED

Abboud, P. F. 1975. Verb Suffixation in Najdi Arabic. Etudes Arabes et Islamiques. II. Langue et Litterature Vol. i., Paris.

. 1978. The vowel of the imperfect prefix in Arabic. In Linguis- tics and Literary Studies in Honor of Archibald A. Hill, Mohammad Ali Jazayery, E. C. Polme, and W. Winter, eds. II, Descriptive Linguistics.

Al-Sweel, A. Aziz. 1981. The Verbal System of Najdi Arabic, A morphological and phonological study. University of Washington M.A. Thesis.

Bakalla, M. H. 1979. The Phonological and Morphological Components of the Arabic Verb. London, Beirut: Longman and Librairie du Liban.

Brame, M. 1970. Arabic Phonology: Implications for Phonological Theory and General Semitic. Doctoral dissertation, MIT.

Czapkiewicz, A. 1975. The Verb in Modern Arabic Dialects as an Exponent of the Development Process Occurring in Them. Warsaw.

Erwin, W. M. 1962. A Short Reference Grammar of Iraqi Arabic. Washington, D. C.: Georgetown University Press.

Ingham, B. 1982. North East Arabian Dialects. London and Boston: Kegan Paul International.

Johnstone, T. M. 1967a. Eastern Arabian Dialect Studies. London Oriental Series, Vol. 17. London: Oxford University Press.

. 1967b. Aspects of syllabification in the spoken Arabic of Anizah. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 30.

Lehn, W. 1967. Vowel Contrasts of Najdi Arabic. Linguistics Studies in Memory of Richard Salade Harell, Graham Stuart, ed. Georgetown Univer- sity Press, 123-31.


Qafisheh, H. A. 1977. A Short Reference Grammar of Gulf Arabic. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press.

Thorton, F. D. 1919. Elementary Arabic. A Grammar. Cambridge University Press.

Wright, W. 1933. A Grammar of the Arabic Language. [Translated from Caspari's German. Cambridge University Press 1964.]

NOTES

*. The IPA conventional phonetic symbols will be used throughout the paper. The following symbols are of special interest:

[9]: This symbol stands for the voiced pharyngeal. [h]: This symbol stands for thevoiceless counterpart of [9]

1. The terms "high", "mixed", and "low" refer to the nature of the vocalic segments of the pattern. Thus the "high" pattern contains high vowels in its two syllables; the mixed contains a high, then a low vowel, while the low contains two low vowels.

2. Notice the forms tal -+ til, not t51, and mas + miis, not mis.

3. As usual a clustered pattern has two nominal forms, e.g., callam either ta9lim or tcallm and qawwar either taqwir or tqawir.

4. The pattern infbdl prevails in the clustered forms such as insayal +

inssy:l.

5. The pattern iftib5l is preferred in the clustered patterns, ixtalaf + ixtlaf.

6. The pattern ?iftba:l is obtained in the case of the clustered exam-

ple ?ihtamm + ?ihtma:m.

7. This is a borrowed English word (reverse).

8. This differs from ylbih slander, from ?iytRab to slander.

9. There is an interesting relation between this form and the excep- tional class of triliteral fibil verbs.

10. The phonological change in the last two examples is due to the dif- ferences in stress.

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