Derivational categories, conjugations

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The system of verb conjugations in Arabic is quite complicated, and is formed along two axes. One axis, known as the form (described as "Form I", "Form II", etc.), is used to specify grammatical concepts such as causative, intensive, reciprocal, passive or reflexive, and involves varying the stem form. The other axis, known as the weakness, is determined by the particular consonants making up the root. For example, defective (or third-weak or final-weak) verbs have a و w or ي y as the last root consonant (e.g. ر-م-ي r-m-y 'throw', د-ع-و d-ʿ-w 'call'), and doubled (or germinated) verbs have the second and third consonants the same (e.g. م-د-د m-d-d 'extend'). These "weaknesses" have the effect of inducing various irregularities in the stems and endings of the associated verbs.

Examples of the different forms of a sound verb (i.e. with no root weaknesses), from the root ك-ت-ب k-t-b 'write' (using ح-م-ر ḥ-m-r 'red' for Form IX, which is limited to colors and physical defects):

Form Past Meaning Non-past Meaning
I kataba
كَتَبَ
'he wrote' yaktubu
يَكْتُبُ
'he writes'
II kattaba
كَتَّبَ
'he made (someone) write' yukattibu
يُكَتِّبُ
'he makes (someone) write'
III kātaba
كاتَبَ
'he corresponded with, wrote to (someone)' yukātibu
يُكاتِبُ
'"he corresponds with, writes to (someone)'
IV ʾaktaba
أَكْتَبَ
'he dictated' yuktibu
يُكْتِبُ
'he dictates'
V takattaba
تَكَتَّبَ
nonexistent yatakattabu
يَتَكَتُّبُ
nonexistent
VI takātaba
تَكَاتَبَ
'he corresponded (with someone, esp. mutually)' yatakātabu
يَتَكَاتَبَ
'he corresponds (with someone, esp. mutually)'
VII inkataba
اِنْكَتَبَ
'he subscribed' yankatibu
يَنْكَتِبُ
'he subscribes'
VIII iktataba
اِكْتَتَبَ
'he copied' yaktatibu
يَكْتَتِبُ
'he copies'
IX iḥmarra
اِحْمَرَّ
'he turned red' yaḥmarru
يَحْمَرُّ
'he turns red'
X istaktaba
اِسْتَكْتَبَ
'he asked (someone) to write' yastaktibu
يَسْتَكْتِبُ
'he asks (someone) to write'