A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC

AZIZ M.KHALIL

Bethlehem University
A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
Morphology: Literally means ‘’the study of word
formation’’. i.e. it refers to the structure of words. It
refers to the analysis of the basic elements used in a
language.

Broadly speaking, morphology is the study of the

patterns of word-forms. It studies how words are formed
and where they originate from.

Morphemes: a morpheme may be described as a

sequence of sounds in a meaningful combination. i.e.
any word or part of a word in the language which has a
meaning of its own and which can not be split into
smaller units is a morpheme.
Morphemes may or may not have a meaning or
phonological representation.
Ex. the morpheme (un) has the negative meaning
in words like ‘unable’, ‘unhappy’, ‘unemployed’ etc.
But it is meaningless in the words like ‘under’.

(Morphology)

1- inflectional 2- derivational
1- Inflectional morphology is concerned with the
grammatical categories of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
and pronouns.

2- Derivational morphology is concerned with word-

formation processes.

***Inflectional and derivational suffixes of morphemes***

Suffixes are the bound morphemes that follow the root.
- The suffixes which donot allow further affixation are
inflectional morphemes.
Ex. the words ‘agreed’ and ‘agrees’ suffixes ‘d’ and ‘s’ are
inflectional. They don’t allow further suffixes.
Suffixes which may be followed by other
suffixes are called derivational suffixes.

Ex. in the words ‘agreements’ and

‘agreeableness’ the suffixes ‘ment’ and ‘able’
are derivational suffixes. We can add ‘s’ and
‘ness’ after them.
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND
ARABIC
WORD CLASSES (PARTS OF SPEECH)
English word classes:
Content and function words OR open and closed words
1- content words are also called major class, open class (new
words can be added to these word class), lexical words. It refers
to things, objects, states, qualities, events, ideas, etc. this class
includes (N_V_AJ_AV) it has lexical meaning.
Example: “Tom thinks that Van Dick and Bill have been visiting
the office to ask for rise in the salary which has promised to
them by their boss”
Tom- think- Van- Bill- visiting- office- ask- raise- salary- promised-
boss.
It helped to make clear idea about the content.
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC

NOTE: The form and category of content word changes

morphologically by prefixation and suffixation.

Ex. ( kissable)
(jungledom, )
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC

2- Function words:
It is also called monoclass, structural, grammatical, form words,
closed system ( means they are limited and new entry is not
allowed). etc.
- These words do not denote things, actions, and contribute to
the structure of the sentence or phrase. It includes
pronouns, auxiliaries, intensifiers, question words,
prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, etc.
- - It has grammatical meaning.
- - It is not easy to explain the meaning of the function words
contrary to content words.
- -There is no possibility for creativity, innovation, etc.
- -these words are unstressed.
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC

- Function words can be deleted in short messages.

Example:
reaching Pune Thursday 4p.m

[[[ENGLISH WORDS ARE MULTIBLE MEMBERSHIP, A WORD MAY

BELONG TO MORE THAN ONE CLASS. (round)]]]
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
ARABIC WORD CLASSES

1- ‫ االسم‬ism noun.
A- Adjectives
B- nemerals ‫االرقام‬
C- demonstratives pronouns ‫ضمائر االشارة‬
D- relative pronouns ‫ضمائر الوصل‬
E- interrogative pronouns ‫ضمائر االستفهام‬
F- participles ‫النعت‬
G- verbal noun ‫اسم الفعل‬
NOTE: nouns in Arabic are inflected (‫يمكن تصريفها‬-) for numbers,
case, gender and definiteness.
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
2- ‫ فعل‬fi’l verb
Verbs in Arabic language are inflected for numbers, gender.
Person, tense, mood and voice.

3- particle harf ‫حرف‬

The Arabic class words, particles, are uninflected. It has a number
of subclasses: adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interrogatives,
interjections, etc.
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY
(A) ENGLISH
There are seven inflectional suffixes that can be added to the root
of the word. They are:
1) -s/ -es/ with verb
2) -ed (past)/
3) -ed (p.p)/
4) -ing/ present continuous
5) –s/ -es with nouns
6) –s genitive (possession)
7) –er/ -est comparative and superlative
NOTE: all the seven inflectional suffixes have only two
characteristics in common.
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
A) the grammatical category of the word is fixed. i.e they never
change the grammatical category of the word to which they are
attached.
Ex: “cat” and “cats” are both nouns.
B) They always come final in a word. (they always seal off a
word).
-For example, if a word has both a derivational suffix and an
inflectional one, the latter follows the former.
Ex. juge-ment-s.
In the above example, the (s) morpheme follows (ment)
morpheme in the word judgments.
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
1- present simple (3 rd) person singular. [s/es]
Ex. (1) cut-s debate-s keep-s /s/
(2) go-es /z/
(3) brush-es possess-es wash-es /iz/
2- past simple tense –(ed)
Ex. 1- stay—ed play-ed /d/
2- jump-ed wash-ed /t/
3- wait-ed start-ed /id/

3- past participle of the verb (ed)

1- play-ed 2- walk-ed
4- present participle (ing)
Ex. walk-ing 2- go-ing 3- play-ing
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
5- plural nouns –s/-es
Ex: 1- cat-s pan-s /s/
2- dog-s panda-s /z/
3- church-es fox-es /iz/
6- genitive –s (possessive)
Ex: cat’s rocket’s /s/
room’s John’s /z/
judge’s bunch’s /iz/
7- comparative and superlative (er-est)
Ex: fast-er fast-est
Quick-er quick-est
NOTE: DO NOT FORGET THE IRREGULAR FORM OF PAST AND
PAST PARTICIPLE
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
ARABIC INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY
1- Arabic is highly inflectional language.
2- Nouns, pronouns and adjectives are inflected for: number,
gender and case.
3- In Arabic, verbs are inflected for person, number, gender, tense,
mood and voice.
4- The Arabic inflectional suffixes assign syntactic functions to
word classes. i.e (the grammatical relationships that hold between
the different sentence constituents are marked by inflectional
affixation.
5- The inflectional markers of the nominal category of case and
the verbal category of mood constitute ‘al-’I’raab
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
NOMINAL CATEGORY
A) ENGLISH NUMBER
• Numbers in English are divided into two kinds, singular and
plural.
• There are three phonemes /s, z, iz/ can be realized for the
English suffix –s.
• EX: cats, pans, (S)
• dogs, pandas (Z)
• foxes, horses (IZ)
• Each of the above allomorph /s,z,iz/ is phonologically
conditioned.
*English has plurals which are not rule-governed.
EX: music music (singular-always)
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
EX:
gold [are all invariable.
news
music

EX: people
[ are always plural ] invariable
brains
the poor

***English has irregular plurals,

• EX: theses feet
• criteria sheep
 A CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND ARABIC
ARABIC NUMBERS
• There are three number contrasts for Arabic nouns: singular,
dual, and plural.
• The Arabic plural and dual are marked by special inflectional
suffixes.
• There are two forms for the dual inflectional suffixes: (-
aani)(NOM) and (-ayni) (ACC/GEN)
• EX: NOM mu’allimaani ‫‘ معلمان‬two male teachers’
• mu’allimatanni ‫‘ معلمتان‬two female teachers’

• ACC/GEN mu’allimayni ‫‘ معلمين‬two male teachers’

• mu’allimatayni ‫‘ معلمتين‬two female teachers’
 ARABIC NUMBERS
-2- Plural.
- There are two types of plural in Arabic:
- A) sound plural (SP) and B) broken plural (BP)
- 1- Sound plurals are formed by two suffixation for masculine
and two suffixation for feminine.
- MASCULINE
- Masculine nouns take /uun/ (NOM) and /iin/ (ACC/GEN)
Ex: mu’allimun ‫ معلم‬mu’allim-uun/iin ‫معلمين‬- ‫معلمون‬
- FEMININE
- Feminine nouns take –aatun/ (NOM) and –aatin/(ACC/GEN)
EX: mu’allimatun ‫ معلمة‬mu’allim-aatun-aatin
 ARABIC NUMBERS
NOTE: in the construct state/case ‘al-idaafa’ ‫ االضافة‬a masculine
plural loses the –na ending.
Ex: wasala mu’allimuu s-saffi s-saadis ‫وصل معلمو الصف السادس‬

NOTE: broken plurals (BPs) are formed by stem-internal consonant

and vowel changes. Such changes in the shape of the singular
involve geminating or adding a consonant and inserting a long
vowel or a semi-vowel. There are about 28 patterns of BP, among
which are:
 ARABIC NUMBERS
- Tuhfa ‫تحفة‬ tuhaf ‫تحف‬
- Yawm ‫يوم‬ ayyaam ‫ايام‬
- Saahib ‫صاحب‬ sihaab ‫صحاب‬
- Malik ‫ملك‬ muluuk ‫ملوك‬
- Fiil ‫فيل‬ fiyala ‫فيلة‬
- Azraq ‫ازرق‬ zurq ‫زرق‬
- Yad ‫يد‬ aydii/ayaadii ‫ايدي ايادي‬
- Dam ‫دم‬ dimaa’ ‫دماء‬
- Safiir ‫سفير‬ sufaraa’ ‫سفراء‬
- Ayn ‫عين‬ ayuun ‫عيون‬
- Rajul ‫رجل‬ rijaal ‫رجال‬
 ARABIC NUMBERS
- NOTE: Some nouns have more than one broken plural, creating
polysemous words:
- EX: bayt ‫ بيت‬buyuut ‫بيوت‬, abyaat (verses of poetry).
- EX: aamil ‫عامل‬awaamil ‫(عوامل‬factors), ummal ‫(عمال‬workers) and
aamiluun ‫(عاملون‬employees)..
CONTRAST
- Arabic nouns have dual number- English doesn’t have.
- Arabic plural contrasts are realized according to regular plural
patterns. – English plural contrasts are realized by both regular-s
plural suffix and irregular plural.
- Duality in English is marked lexically rather than morphologically.
- A few Arabic nouns have two broken plurals that are different in
meaning.
 GENDER
ENGLISH
-1- Genders in English are natural not grammatical. i.e the animate
nouns are either (1) masculine (male) or (2) feminine (female).
This however can be realized according to the biological sex of the
referent of the noun.
-2- Inanimate nouns are neuter in gender.
-3- English nouns have either personal or nonpersonal reference.
-4- The personal one include nouns that refer to human beings.
-5- The nonpersonal one include nouns that refer to animals and
inanimates.
 Gender
NOUNS WITH PERSONAL REEFERENCE
- This kind of nouns fall under four classes of gender: 1- male 2-
female 3- dual 4- common.
-**- MALE/FEMALE pairs:
Ex: father-mother son/daughter king-queen
boy/girl
*** NOUNS morphologically marked for feminine gender:
EX: host-hostess hero-heroine usher/usherette

*** NOUNS morphologically marked for masculine gender:

Ex: Widow- widower bride-bridegroom
 Gender
** NOUNS with dual gender (masculine or feminine):
EX: friend student parent cook teacher
NOTE: In order to show the distinction of the above gender, we use
compounds,
EX: ‘’boy-friend, “girl-friend” “male-student”
“female-student”

** NOUNS with common gender (masculine- feminine or neuter):

EX: baby child infant
NOTE: the above nouns can be referred to by He, She, It
 GENDER
NOUNS WITH NONPERSONAL REFERENCE
1- Male-Female pairs
Ex: bull-cow ram- ewe stallion-mare

2- Nouns morphologically marked for feminine gender:

EX: Lion-lioness

3- NOUNS with dual gender:

Ex: cat
 GENDER IN ARABIC
-1- Contrary to English, Arabic has grammatical gender. This
however means, that the gender is a feature of the noun itself.
-2- Nouns in Arabic are either a) masculine b) feminine or common
(both masculine and feminine)
• Male: boy ‫ولد‬
• Female: girl ‫بنت‬
• Common: way ‫طريق‬
3- Feminine gender has three morphological markers:
A) ‫ تاء التأنيث‬the-t of feminine gender.
Ex: jann-at-un ‫‘ جنة‬paradise’, mu’allim-at-un ‫ معلمة‬female
teacher.
 GENDER IN ARABIC

B) Shortened –aa of feminine gender ‫الف التانيث المقصورة‬

Ex: hubl-aa ‫ حبلى‬pregnant
Ex: ru’y-aa ‫‘ رؤيا‬vision’
Ex: ‫ ذكرى‬remembrance

C) ‫‘ الف التانيث الممدودة‬the extended –aa of feminine gender’:

Ex: sahr-aa ‫‘ صحراء‬desert’
Ex: kibriy-aa ‫‘ كبرياء‬pride’
Ex: hamr-aa ‫‘ حمراء‬red’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
NOTE: In Arabic language there are two types of feminine gender:
1- real ‫حقيقي‬ 2- (unreal) ‫مجازي‬
1- ‫ مؤنث حقيقي‬real/natural feminine covers nouns with personal
reference.
FEMININE
Ex: ‫‘ امراة‬woman’
Ex: ‫‘ معلمة‬female teacher’
Ex: ‫‘ حبلى‬pregnant’
MASCULINE
EX: ‫ رجل‬man
Ex: ‫‘ معلم‬male teacher’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
NOTE: Some nouns with personal reference, they are feminine in
form but masculine in signification:
Ex: hamza ‫‘ حمزة‬hamza’
Ex: xaliifa ‫‘ خليفة‬caliph’
Ex: allaama ‫‘عالمة‬learned person’

2- ‫‘ المؤنث المجازي‬unreal/unnatural feminine’. [[[[[This type of

genders covers nouns that are either feminine in form or in
signification]]]]
1- Nouns with nonpresonal reference and feminine in form:
Ex: janna(t) ‫‘جنة‬paradise’ Ex: hayaa(t) ‫‘ حياة‬life’
Ex: da’w-aa ‫ دعوى‬law-suit Ex: sahr-aa’ ‫‘ صحراء‬desert’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
2- Nouns with nonpersonal reference, feminine in signification (by
convention):
EX: harb ‫‘ حرب‬war’
Ex: ayn ‫‘ عين‬eye’
Ex: yad ‫‘ يد‬hand’
Ex: ard ‫‘ ارض‬earth’
Ex: bi’r ‫‘ بئر‬well’
Ex: sams ‫‘ شمس‬sun’
Ex: naar ‫‘ نار‬fire’
Ex: daar ‫‘ دار‬house’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
3- Some inanimate broken plural nouns have common gender.
Ex: jarhaa ‫‘ جرحى‬wonded persons’ (with a feminine marker)
Ex: masaabiih ‫‘ مصابيح‬lanterns’ (without a feminine markers)

4- Some collective nouns referring to large animals are feminine in

signification:
Ex: ganam ‫‘غنم‬sheep’ Ex: xayl ‫‘ خيل‬horses’ Ex: ibil ‫ابل‬camels

5- Some collective inanimate nouns are masculine in form but

feminine in signification.
Ex: nahl ‫‘ نحل‬bees’
Ex: sajar ‫‘ شجر‬trees’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
Contrast

1- English nouns have natural gender. Arabic nouns have

grammatical gender.

2- Arabic has gender agreement between the nouns, pronouns,

adjective and verb. Nouns in English does not have this
agreement.

3- Consider table number 6.

 GENDER IN ARABIC
-1- Contrary to English, Arabic has grammatical gender. This
however means, that the gender is a feature of the noun itself.
-2- Nouns in Arabic are either a) masculine b) feminine or common
(both masculine and feminine)
• Male: boy ‫ولد‬
• Female: girl ‫بنت‬
• Common: way ‫طريق‬
3- Feminine gender has three morphological markers:
A) ‫ تاء التأنيث‬the-t of feminine gender.
Ex: jann-at-un ‫‘ جنة‬paradise’, mu’allim-at-un ‫ معلمة‬female
teacher.
 GENDER IN ARABIC

B) Shortened –aa of feminine gender ‫الف التانيث المقصورة‬

Ex: hubl-aa ‫ حبلى‬pregnant
Ex: ru’y-aa ‫‘ رؤيا‬vision’
Ex: ‫ ذكرى‬remembrance

C) ‫‘ الف التانيث الممدودة‬the extended –aa of feminine gender’:

Ex: sahr-aa ‫‘ صحراء‬desert’
Ex: kibriy-aa ‫‘ كبرياء‬pride’
Ex: hamr-aa ‫‘ حمراء‬red’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
NOTE: In Arabic language there are two types of feminine gender:
1- real ‫حقيقي‬ 2- (unreal) ‫مجازي‬
1- ‫ مؤنث حقيقي‬real/natural feminine covers nouns with personal
reference.
FEMININE
Ex: ‫‘ امراة‬woman’
Ex: ‫‘ معلمة‬female teacher’
Ex: ‫‘ حبلى‬pregnant’
MASCULINE
EX: ‫ رجل‬man
Ex: ‫‘ معلم‬male teacher’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
NOTE: Some nouns with personal reference, they are feminine in
form but masculine in signification:
Ex: hamza ‫‘ حمزة‬hamza’
Ex: xaliifa ‫‘ خليفة‬caliph’
Ex: allaama ‫‘عالمة‬learned person’

2- ‫‘ المؤنث المجازي‬unreal/unnatural feminine’. [[[[[This type of

genders covers nouns that are either feminine in form or in
signification]]]]
1- Nouns with nonpresonal reference and feminine in form:
Ex: janna(t) ‫‘جنة‬paradise’ Ex: hayaa(t) ‫‘ حياة‬life’
Ex: da’w-aa ‫ دعوى‬law-suit Ex: sahr-aa’ ‫‘ صحراء‬desert’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
2- Nouns with nonpersonal reference, feminine in signification (by
convention):
EX: harb ‫‘ حرب‬war’
Ex: ayn ‫‘ عين‬eye’
Ex: yad ‫‘ يد‬hand’
Ex: ard ‫‘ ارض‬earth’
Ex: bi’r ‫‘ بئر‬well’
Ex: sams ‫‘ شمس‬sun’
Ex: naar ‫‘ نار‬fire’
Ex: daar ‫‘ دار‬house’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
3- Some inanimate broken plural nouns have common gender.
Ex: jarhaa ‫‘ جرحى‬wonded persons’ (with a feminine marker)
Ex: masaabiih ‫‘ مصابيح‬lanterns’ (without a feminine markers)

4- Some collective nouns referring to large animals are feminine in

signification:
Ex: ganam ‫‘غنم‬sheep’ Ex: xayl ‫‘ خيل‬horses’ Ex: ibil ‫ابل‬camels

5- Some collective inanimate nouns are masculine in form but

feminine in signification.
Ex: nahl ‫‘ نحل‬bees’
Ex: sajar ‫‘ شجر‬trees’
 GENDER IN ARABIC
Contrast

1- English nouns have natural gender. Arabic nouns have

grammatical gender.

2- Arabic has gender agreement between the nouns, pronouns,

adjective and verb. Nouns in English does not have this
agreement.

3- Consider table number 6.

 case
English
- Possession in English can be signaled in two ways:
A) ‘s genitive suffix (added to singular and plural nouns)
B) Ex: the boy’s book
C) Ex: the boys’ books
D) Ex: the men’s names.

B) of-genitive form.
Ex: the price of the book.
Ex: the name of the game.
 case
NOTE: ‘s genitive denotes several semantic relationships. Consider
the following:
1- possessive: Ex: john’s house
2- genitive of attribute: Ex: john’s courage
3- subject genitive: Ex: the parent’s consent
4- object genitive: Ex: the prisoner’s release
5- relation genitive: Ex: Tom’s friends
6- Amount genitive: Ex: two month’s delay
NOTE: A) the ‘s genitive occurs with animate head nouns.
B) the of-genitive occurs with inanimate head nouns
C) Possessive phrase can be left alone by ellipsis.
*** I like John’s.
 Case in Arabic
• In Arabic, nouns have different case markers. This however
depends on their number and definiteness. Nouns have three
cases:

1- raf’ ‫ رفع‬nominative
2- nasb ‫ نصب‬accusative
3- jarr ‫ جر‬genitive.

• The endings of the above cases are marked by /-u/ , /-a/ and /-
i/

NOTE: If a noun is indefinite, an (-n) is added to that noun.

 Case in Arabic
1- Nominative case:
• We use the nominative case for:
A- the agent of a verbal sentence:
Ex: jaa’at l-bint-u ‫‘ جاءت البنت‬the girl came’
Ex: rakadha al-walad-u ‫‘ ركض الولد‬the boy ran’

B- the topic and comment in a nominal (verbless) sentence:

Ex: al-bayt-u ba’iid-un ‫‘ البيت بعيد‬the house is far away’
Ex: al-hisan-u jamii-un ‫‘ الحصان جميل‬the horse is beautiful’
 Case in Arabic
C- the subject of kaana ‫ كان‬and its sisters:
-‫ مابرح‬-‫ مافتئ‬-‫ ماانفك‬-‫ مازال‬-‫ ليس‬-‫ بات‬-‫ امسى‬-‫ ضل‬-‫ اضحى‬-‫ اصبح‬-‫ صار‬-‫كان‬
‫مادام‬
Kaana l-ardu jamiil-an ‫‘ كان العرض جميال‬the show was lovely’
Mazala l-qamaru muniir-an ‫‘ مازال القمر منيرا‬the moon is still
brigthener.

D- the subject of maa ‫ما‬:

EX: maa hind-un haadirat-an ‫‘ ماهند حاضرة‬Hind is not present’
Ex: maa l-bab-u kabiirat-an ‫‘ ماالباب كبيرة‬the door is not big’
 Case in Arabic
E- the predicate of inna ‫ ان‬and its sisters:

‫ لعل‬- ‫ كأن – لكن – ليت‬- ‫ ان‬-‫أن‬

Ex: inna-d-dars-a sa’b-un ‫‘ ان الدرس صعب‬the lesson is hard’
Ex: inna l-I’lmm-a nafia’un ‫‘ ان العلم نافع‬the knowledge is useful’
 Case in Arabic
2- Accusative case:
We use the accusative case in Arabic language for :

A- object of transitive verb:

Ex: katabati l-bint-u d-dars-a ‫كتبت البنت الدرس‬
she-wrote the-girl- (NOM) the-lesson- (ACC)
- ‘The girl wrote the lesson’

B- predicate of kaana ‫كان‬

Ex: kaabati s-sayyarat-u musri’at-an ‫كانت السيارة مسرعة‬
‘the car was running fast’
 Case in Arabic
C- the subject ‘inna’ ‫ان‬:
Ex: inna llaah-a kariim-un ‫( ان هللا كريم‬Allah is generous)

D- cognate accusative (absolute object) al-maf’uulu l-mutlaq

‫ يذكر لبيان نوع الفعل او لتوكيده او ( المفعول المطلق‬.‫مصدر منصوب من لفظ الفعل‬
‫)لبيان عدد مرات حدوث الفعل‬

Ex: farihnaa farah-an adiim-an ‫فرح فرحا عظيما‬

(we rejoiced greatly)
 Case in Arabic
E- circumstantial adverb ‘al-haal’ ‫الحال‬
Ex: aada l-jaysu muntasir-an ‫عاد الجيش منتصرا‬
( the army came back triumphantly)

F- place and time adverbials al-maf’uul fiih ‫المفعول فيه‬

(‫)اسم منصوب يدل على مكان وقوع الفعل او زمانه‬

Ex: saafarna layl-an ‫سافرن ليال‬

(They travelled at night)
 ‫‪Case in Arabic‬‬
‫المفعول معه ‪G- object of accompaniment al-mafuul ma’ahu‬‬
‫المفعول معه هو اسم منصوب الفضلة (زيادة) مسبوق ب واو تفيد المصاحبة ‪ .‬الواو (‬
‫)مسبوقة بفعل او اسم فيه معنى الفعل وحروفه)‬

‫مشت والنهر ‪Ex: masat wa n-nahr-a‬‬

‫)‪(She walked along the river‬‬

‫المفعول الجله ‪H- object of purpose ‘ al-maf uul lahu/ li’ajlihi‬‬

‫المفعول الجله‪ :‬هو المصدر القلبي (هي الصادرة عن القلب) المنصوب الذي يذكر (‬
‫)بيانا لسبب وقوع الفعل‬
‫وافقت اكراما لك ‪Ex: waafaqtu ‘ikraam-an laka‬‬
‫)‪(I agreed for your sake‬‬
 Case in Arabic
i- exception construction ‘al-istithnaa’ ‫االستثناء‬
Ex: jaa’ati l-fatayaatu ‘illaa hind-an ‫جاءت الفتيات اال هندا‬
(All the girls came except Hind)

J- specification at-tamyiiz ‫التمييز‬

Ex: istarat isriin-a qalam-an ‫اشترت عشرين قلما‬
(She bought twenty pens)

K- vocative ‘al-munaadaa ‫المنادى‬

EX: yaa’abda-a-llahi ‫ياعبدهللا‬
(Oh, Abdallah)
 Case in Arabic
L- predicate of laysa :‫ليس‬
Ex: laysati- l-bintu muwaafiqatan ‫ليست البنت موافقة‬
( The girl doesn’t agree)

M- subject of laa ‘ismu laa ‘an-naafiyatu li-l-jinsi (‫)اسم ال النافية للجنس‬

Ex: laa say’an baaqiyan ‫الشيئا باقيا‬
(Nothing lives for ever)
 Case in Arabic
3- Genitive case:
• Genitive in Arabic language is used after all prepositions.

Ex: al-qalamu ala t-aawilat-i ‫القلم على الطاولة‬

(the pen on the table (Gen)
(The pen is on the table)

*we use the genitive for the second member of al-idaafa(t) ‫االضافة‬
Ex: ism-u l-bint-I jamiilun ‫اسم البنت جميل‬
name- (nom) the girl (gen) beautiful
(the girl’s name is beautiful)
 Case in Arabic
*we use the genitive for the second member of al-idaafa(t) ‫االضافة‬
Ex: ism-u l-bint-I jamiilun ‫اسم البنت جميل‬
name- (nom) the girl (gen) beautiful
(the girl’s name is beautiful)
• The possessor ‫ البنت‬takes the genitive case while the possessed
‫ االسم‬takes the nominative case.

Ex: haazaa qalamu bn-i-hi ‫هذا قلم ابنه‬

(this pen son (gen) his
(this is his son’s pen)
* In this example the possessive enclitic –hi is attached to the
second member of ‫االضافة‬
 Case in Arabic
Note: read the tables nr 7 and 8 carefully. Page 48

Contrast
1- Arabic nouns exhibit nominative, accusative and genitive case
contrast, whereas English exhibit genitive case contrast only.

2- The Arabic genitive case has different forms depending on the

number and definiteness of the noun, whereas English does not
have.
 Case in Arabic
• In Arabic, nouns have different case markers. This however
depends on their number and definiteness. Nouns have three
cases:

1- raf’ ‫ رفع‬nominative
2- nasb ‫ نصب‬accusative
3- jarr ‫ جر‬genitive.

• The endings of the above cases are marked by /-u/ , /-a/ and /-
i/

NOTE: If a noun is indefinite, an (-n) is added to that noun.

 Case in Arabic
1- Nominative case:
• We use the nominative case for:
A- the agent of a verbal sentence:
Ex: jaa’at l-bint-u ‫‘ جاءت البنت‬the girl came’
Ex: rakadha al-walad-u ‫‘ ركض الولد‬the boy ran’

B- the topic and comment in a nominal (verbless) sentence:

Ex: al-bayt-u ba’iid-un ‫‘ البيت بعيد‬the house is far away’
Ex: al-hisan-u jamii-un ‫‘ الحصان جميل‬the horse is beautiful’
 Case in Arabic
C- the subject of kaana ‫ كان‬and its sisters:
-‫ مابرح‬-‫ مافتئ‬-‫ ماانفك‬-‫ مازال‬-‫ ليس‬-‫ بات‬-‫ امسى‬-‫ ضل‬-‫ اضحى‬-‫ اصبح‬-‫ صار‬-‫كان‬
‫مادام‬
Kaana l-ardu jamiil-an ‫‘ كان العرض جميال‬the show was lovely’
Mazala l-qamaru muniir-an ‫‘ مازال القمر منيرا‬the moon is still
brigthener.

D- the subject of maa ‫ما‬:

EX: maa hind-un haadirat-an ‫‘ ماهند حاضرة‬Hind is not present’
Ex: maa l-bab-u kabiirat-an ‫‘ ماالباب كبيرة‬the door is not big’
 Case in Arabic
E- the predicate of inna ‫ ان‬and its sisters:

‫ لعل‬- ‫ كأن – لكن – ليت‬- ‫ ان‬-‫أن‬

Ex: inna-d-dars-a sa’b-un ‫‘ ان الدرس صعب‬the lesson is hard’
Ex: inna l-I’lmm-a nafia’un ‫‘ ان العلم نافع‬the knowledge is useful’
 Case in Arabic
2- Accusative case:
We use the accusative case in Arabic language for :

A- object of transitive verb:

Ex: katabati l-bint-u d-dars-a ‫كتبت البنت الدرس‬
she-wrote the-girl- (NOM) the-lesson- (ACC)
- ‘The girl wrote the lesson’

B- predicate of kaana ‫كان‬

Ex: kaabati s-sayyarat-u musri’at-an ‫كانت السيارة مسرعة‬
‘the car was running fast’
 Case in Arabic
C- the subject ‘inna’ ‫ان‬:
Ex: inna llaah-a kariim-un ‫( ان هللا كريم‬Allah is generous)

D- cognate accusative (absolute object) al-maf’uulu l-mutlaq

‫ يذكر لبيان نوع الفعل او لتوكيده او ( المفعول المطلق‬.‫مصدر منصوب من لفظ الفعل‬
‫)لبيان عدد مرات حدوث الفعل‬

Ex: farihnaa farah-an adiim-an ‫فرح فرحا عظيما‬

(we rejoiced greatly)
 Case in Arabic
E- circumstantial adverb ‘al-haal’ ‫الحال‬
Ex: aada l-jaysu muntasir-an ‫عاد الجيش منتصرا‬
( the army came back triumphantly)

F- place and time adverbials al-maf’uul fiih ‫المفعول فيه‬

(‫)اسم منصوب يدل على مكان وقوع الفعل او زمانه‬

Ex: saafarna layl-an ‫سافرن ليال‬

(They travelled at night)
 ‫‪Case in Arabic‬‬
‫المفعول معه ‪G- object of accompaniment al-mafuul ma’ahu‬‬
‫المفعول معه هو اسم منصوب الفضلة (زيادة) مسبوق ب واو تفيد المصاحبة ‪ .‬الواو (‬
‫)مسبوقة بفعل او اسم فيه معنى الفعل وحروفه)‬

‫مشت والنهر ‪Ex: masat wa n-nahr-a‬‬

‫)‪(She walked along the river‬‬

‫المفعول الجله ‪H- object of purpose ‘ al-maf uul lahu/ li’ajlihi‬‬

‫المفعول الجله‪ :‬هو المصدر القلبي (هي الصادرة عن القلب) المنصوب الذي يذكر (‬
‫)بيانا لسبب وقوع الفعل‬
‫وافقت اكراما لك ‪Ex: waafaqtu ‘ikraam-an laka‬‬
‫)‪(I agreed for your sake‬‬
 Case in Arabic
i- exception construction ‘al-istithnaa’ ‫االستثناء‬
Ex: jaa’ati l-fatayaatu ‘illaa hind-an ‫جاءت الفتيات اال هندا‬
(All the girls came except Hind)

J- specification at-tamyiiz ‫التمييز‬

Ex: istarat isriin-a qalam-an ‫اشترت عشرين قلما‬
(She bought twenty pens)

K- vocative ‘al-munaadaa ‫المنادى‬

EX: yaa’abda-a-llahi ‫ياعبدهللا‬
(Oh, Abdallah)
 Case in Arabic
L- predicate of laysa :‫ليس‬
Ex: laysati- l-bintu muwaafiqatan ‫ليست البنت موافقة‬
( The girl doesn’t agree)

M- subject of laa ‘ismu laa ‘an-naafiyatu li-l-jinsi (‫)اسم ال النافية للجنس‬

Ex: laa say’an baaqiyan ‫الشيئا باقيا‬
(Nothing lives for ever)
 Case in Arabic
3- Genitive case:
• Genitive in Arabic language is used after all prepositions.

Ex: al-qalamu ala t-aawilat-i ‫القلم على الطاولة‬

(the pen on the table (Gen)
(The pen is on the table)

*we use the genitive for the second member of al-idaafa(t) ‫االضافة‬
Ex: ism-u l-bint-I jamiilun ‫اسم البنت جميل‬
name- (nom) the girl (gen) beautiful
(the girl’s name is beautiful)
*we use the genitive for the second member of al-idaafa(t) ‫االضافة‬
Ex: ism-u l-bint-I jamiilun ‫اسم البنت جميل‬
name- (nom) the girl (gen) beautiful
(the girl’s name is beautiful)
• The possessor ‫ البنت‬takes the genitive case while the possessed
‫ االسم‬takes the nominative case.

Ex: haaqaa qalamu bn-i-hi

(this pen son (gen) his
(this is his son’s pen)
* In this example the possessive enclitic –hi is attached to the
second member of ‫االضافة‬
 Case in Arabic
Note: read the tables nr 7 and 8 carefully. Page 48

Contrast
1- Arabic nouns exhibit nominative, accusative and genitive case
contrast, whereas English exhibit genitive case contrast only.

2- The Arabic genitive case has different forms depending on the

number and definiteness of the noun, whereas English does not
have.
 Morphological Forms of the Verb
Introduction to English and Arabic verbs’ forms
A- English
1- Lexical (full, main), 2- primary auxiliary (Be, have, do) and 3-
modal auxiliary verb (will, may, can, etc) are the three types of
verb in English.

• Lexical verbs are divided into two classes: (regular and

irregular)
- The regular lexical forms have four morphological forms.
- The irregular lexical forms have five (five forms for the verb
“write”) or three forms for the verb “put”.
 Introduction to English and Arabic verbs’ forms
Regular verb
1- BASE FORM Play
2- -s FORM Plays
3- -ing Particible Playing
4- -ed PPAST Played
5- -ed Participle Played
IRREGULAR VERB
1- BASE FORM Write Put
2- -s FORM Writes Puts
3- -ing Particible Writing Putting
4- -ed PPAST Wrote Put
5- -ed Participle Written Put
 Introduction to English and Arabic verbs’ forms
B- ARABIC
- Arabic has a root and pattern morphology.
- Each verb has a specific semantic unit (root) shared by all its
derivatives.
- Arabic inflection is defined as “ the total range of forms or
morphological patterns a given root has (Owens (1988: 101)).
Example: The triconsonantal root KTB has the following forms
among others:
1- kataba ‫ كتب‬he wrote 2- yaktubu ‫ يكتب‬he writes
3- taktubu ‫ تكتب‬she writes 4- kattaba ‫ كتب‬make write
5- maktuub ‫ مكتوب‬written, letter 6- kaataba ‫ كاتب‬correspond
7- maktab ‫ مكتب‬office 8- maktaba(t) ‫ مكتبة‬library
 Introduction to English and Arabic verbs’ forms
9- mukaytib ‫مكيتب‬ small office
10- kitaab ‫كتاب‬ book
11- kutub ‫كتب‬ books
12- kitaabatun ‫كتابة‬ writing
13- kattib ‫كاتب‬ writer
14- mukaataba(t) ‫ مكاتبة‬correspondence
15- istiktaab ‫استكتاب‬ dictation
16- miktaab ‫مكتاب‬ typewriter
17- iktitaab ‫اكتتاب‬ registration
 Introduction to English and Arabic verbs’ forms
- In Arabic, Verbs are either “basic” (mujarrada ‫ )مجردة‬or “derived”
(maziida ‫)مزيدة‬.
- The majority of Arabic basic verb roots are triconsonant.
- Form of verbs are of three types, depending on the second vowel of
the perfect:
* (-a) : CvCaCv: kataba ‫ كتب‬he wrote
* (-i): CvCiCv: fariha ‫ فرح‬became happy. (signifying a temporary
quality/state)
* (-u): CvCuCv: hasuna ‫ حسن‬became better. (signifying a permanent
quality/state)
• NOTE: Some Arabic roots are quadriliteral, e.g DHRJ (dahrajahu
‫ * دحرجه‬He rolled him over)
• E.g WSWS (waswasa lahu ‫ * وسوس له‬He whispered suggestion to
him)
 English verbal Categories
• The English verb is inflected for person, number, tense, aspect
and mood.

1- person: 1st 2nd 3rd

2- Number: singular plural
3- Tense: present and past
4- Aspect1: perfective vs imperfective
5- Aspect2: progressive vs nonprogressive
6- Mood: indicative, subjunctive, imperative
 Arabic verbal Categories
• The Arabic verb has the following categories:

1- person: 1st 2nd 3rd

2- Number: singular, dual, plural
3- Gender: masculine, feminine
4- Tense: present (imperfect), past (perfect)
5- Aspect: perfective, imperfective
6- Mood: indicative, subjunctive, jussive
7- Voice: active, passive
 Person, Number and Gender
A) English
• English verbs are inflected for person. The only inflectional suffix
for person is the (-s) 3rd person singular in the present tense.
• Ex: We swim (plural) [here the suffix is zero]
• He swims (singular)

B) Arabic
• Arabic verbs are inflected for person, number and gender.
• In the imperfect, person is marked by prefixes.
• Ex: ‫كتب‬ ‫يكتب‬
• Number and gender are marked by suffixes rather than prefixes.
 Person, Number and Gender
Ex: ‫معلم‬ ‫معلمة‬
Ex: ‫معلم‬ ‫معلمون‬ ‫معلمين‬

Consider table number 10 page 52.

CONTRAST
1- the classification of Arabic verbs (basic and derived one) is
based on the morphological changes.
2- the classification of English verbs (main or auxiliary) is based on
syntactic principles.
3- Arabic verbs are inflected for gender, whereas English verbs are
not.
4- Arabic verbs are inflected for dual number, whereas English
verbs are not.
 Mood

[ In any utterance, mood expresses the speaker attitude

toward the event identified in that utterance. The verb
moods distinguish different attitudes such as fact,
possibility, necessity and hypothesis]

Mood in English
English has one unmarked mood (indicative i,.e ordinary
form am/is/are (limited to formal style)), and two
marked moods, namely subjunctive and imperative.
1- Subjunctive Mood
[This kind of verb mood is used to express or to
communicate possibility, motions, probability, that
clause and wishful thought]
 Mood in English
- There are two forms of subjunctive in English: present and past.
- The present subjunctive is realized by the base form of the verb and it has
two uses: “mandative” and “ formulaic”.
A- Mandative subjunctive.
[ This kind is used with clauses to express recommendations, demands and
suggestions]
NOTE: there are some verbs can be used to set up the mandative subjunctive
verb like demand- suggest- insist- recommend.
Ex: The Board of Directors recommend that the subcommittee approve the
project. (not approves)
Ex: I demand that he leave immediately. (not leaves)
Ex: I insist that the committee make its decision today. (not makes)
 Mood in English
• Indicative subjunctive
1- (present)
• Am/is/are be(infinitive)
• Plays play
2- (Past)
• Was were
Ex: If I were rich, I would buy a new house. (unreal or
impossible)
B- Formulaic subjunctive
[formulaic uses the base verb. It is usually used with ideomatic
expressions.]
Ex: Truth be told Ex: if it please the court
Ex: heaven forbid Ex: Long live the king
Ex: God bless you Ex: If need be
 Mood in English
2- Imperative Mood
[ A verb in the imperative mood expresses
commands. Its form is the uninflected base of the
verb.
Ex: Go out of here.
Ex: Close the door.
 Mood in Arabic
-Arabic has perfect and imperfect verbs.
- The perfect verbs are uninflected (mabnii ‫)مبني‬
- The imperfect verbs are inflected and it has three moods:

1- Indicative ‫ رفع‬faf’
2- subjunctive ‫ نصب‬nasb
3- jussive ‫ جزم‬jazm.
- These are marked by suffixation.

1- Indicative Mood
***Imperfect verbs in the indicative mood are marked by
either 1- ‘ad-damma ‫( الضمة‬-u sign)
Ex: a-ktub-u ‫اكتب‬
I-write- INDIC
I write
 Mood in Arabic
2- ‫( ثبوت النون‬firmness of –n)
Ex: ta-ktub-uu-na ‫تكتبون‬
you-write-you INDIC
You write

Singular Dual Plural

1st u u
2nd M u ni na
F na ni
(sukuun)
3rd M u ni na
F u ni
(sukuun)
 Mood in Arabic
Note: when the feminine marker (nuun) is attached to the
imperfect ( ‫)المضارع‬, the verb becomes uninflected, that is, it
becomes (‫)مبني على السكون‬. This applies to the second and third
person feminine plural forms.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
…
2- Subjunctive Mood
* Imperfect verbs are marked for the subjunctive mood either by
1- al-fatha ‫ الفتحة‬Ex: ‘uriid-u an arhal-a ‫اريد ان ارحل‬
I- want- INDIC that I-leave- SUBJ
I want to leave.
2- (‫)حذف النون‬ Ex: lan ya-rhal-uu ‫لن يرحلوا‬
Will not leave-they
They will not leave
 Mood in Arabic
NOTE: consider the following particles which govern
the verb in the subjunctive mood.
[‫ واو‬-‫ واو الجمع‬-‫ أو‬-‫ الم‬-‫ الم الجحود‬-‫ حتى‬-‫ كي‬-‫ اذا‬-‫ لن‬-‫}أن‬
………………………………………………………………………………..
3- jussive Mood
*( )‫اشهر ادواة الجزم واكثرها استخداما في اللغة العربية هي (لم‬
)‫و(ال الناهية الجازمة‬
• In Arabic the imperfect verbs are marked for the
jussive mood by
• 1- sukuun ‫ السكون‬:
Ex: ya’abu ‫ يلعب‬He plays
lam yal’ab ‫ لم يلعب‬He did not play
 ‫‪Mood in Arabic‬‬
‫حذف النون في االفعال الخمسة‪( .‬االفعال الخمسة هي ‪2-‬‬
‫االفعال التي يمكن تصريفها‬
‫من الفعل المضارع االساسي‪ .‬مثال يلعب‪ ..‬يلعبون‪ -‬تلعبون‪-‬‬
‫تلعبان‪ -‬تلعبين‪ -‬يلعبان‪)-‬‬
‫‪ They eat‬ياكلون ‪Ex: ya’kuluun‬‬
‫‪ They did not eat.‬لم يأكلوا ‪lam y-akul-uu‬‬

‫حذف حرف العلة (حروف العله عي االلف –الواو‪ -‬والياء) ‪3-‬‬

‫‪ He gives‬يعطي ‪Ex: yu’tii‬‬
‫‪ He did not give.‬لم يعط ‪lam yu’ti‬‬
 Mood in Arabic
Arabic Perfect Verb
• The arabic perfect verb is mabnii (‫ )مبني‬by
• 1- al-fatha ‫( الفتحة‬a)
• Ex: katab-a ‫ كتب‬He wrote

• 2- al-damma ‫( الضمة‬u)
• Ex: katab-uu ‫ كتبوا‬They wrote

• 3- as-sukuun ‫( السكون‬zero vowel)

• Ex: akal-naa ‫ اكلنا‬we ate
 Mood in Arabic
Verb of command In Arabic
• The Arabic verb of command is uninflected by
• 1- as-sukuun ‫السكون‬
• Ex: u-ktub ‫ اكتب‬write

2- al-fatha ‫الفتحة‬
Ex: if al-a-nna hazaa ‫افعلن هذا‬
(you)(plural- feminine) Do this
3- ‫حذف النون‬
Ex: uktub-uu ‫اكتبوا‬
You) (pl) write
4- ‫حذف حرف العلة‬
Ex: irm-I ‫ ارم‬Throw
 Mood in Arabic
Contrast
1- English has two marked moods (subjunctive
and imperative)
2- Arabic has three marked moods (indicative,
subjunctive and jussive).
3- English mood markers are lexicalized
4- Arabic mood markers are inflectional.
 Tense
*Tenses can be realized from verbs used in sentences.
• In English, morphologically speaking there are two
tenses: past and present.

• 1- the present tense is inflected by suffix –s which

appears with the third person singular regular verb.
• Ex: play-s
• write-s
• watch-es
2- the English past tense inflectional suffix is –ed
Ex: play-ed
Like-d
 Tense
*There are two tenses in Arabic language: ‫‘ ماضي‬past or
perfect’
And ‫‘ مضارع‬present or imperfect’.
• ‫ الماضي‬is realize by suffixes, whereas ‫ المضارع‬is realized or
marked by both suffixes and prefixes and internal vowel
change.
• Ex: perfect.
• katab-a ‫كتب‬
• he-wrote- perfect
• he wrote
Ex: imperfect.
ya-ktub-u ‫يكتب‬
he-write-indicative imperfect
he writes/is writing
 Contrast
1- Both past and present English tenses are
marked by suffixes.
2- The Arabic imperfect tense is marked by
prefixes and suffixes.
3- The English present tense suffix is added only
to third person singular verbs.
4- The Arabic imperfect prefixes and suffixes are
added to all forms of verbs in their person and
number distinctions.
 Aspect
• Aspect distinctions are the semantic distinctions that relate
the verb action to the moment of speaking. Verbs are
responsible for exhibiting the aspect distinctions.
1- Morphology of English Tense and Aspect
- We clearly realize tenses from the grammatical category of the
verb inflection.
- Tense is related to the time of the utterance.
Ex: past tense refers to past time (time prior to the time of the
utterance)
present tense refers to present time (time simultaneous with
the time of the utterance)
 Morphology of English Tense and Aspect

- Morphologically, English has only a- past and

b- present tenses.
- A- past simple
- Past is marked either by suffixation (walk-
walked) or by vocalic change (“ablaut”) (see-
saw).
- B- present is unmarked except for the 3rd
person singular form (live-s).
- The copula (BE) has three present tense forms
(am- is- are) and two past tense forms (was-
were).
 Morphology of English Tense and Aspect
Aspect:
• Aspect indicates the way in which the verb action is regarded
or experienced with respect to time.
• In English there are two aspects:
• 1- perfective:
• The perfective indicates “ anterior time” and portrays the
action as being complete.
• - perfective is marked by the auxiliary (have) plus –ed/ -en
participle of the verb
• Ex: I have seen John.
• 2- progressive:
The progressive indicates “simultaneous time’ and portrays the
action as being in progress at a given time.
 Morphology of English Tense and Aspect
- The progressive is marked by the auxiliary (be)
plus the (ing) participle form of the verb
Ex: He is writing a letter.
 Morphology of Arabic Tense and Aspect
- Arabic verbs are divided into three types on
the basis of morphological formation:
- 1- ‫ ماضي‬past {perfect}
- Ex: kataba ‫ كتب‬He wrote
- 2- ‫ مضارع‬present {imperfect}
- Ex: yaktubu ‫ يكتب‬He writes
- 3- ‫ امر‬Imperative
- Ex: uktub ‫ أكتب‬Write
 Morphology of Arabic Tense and Aspect
- The Arabic verb has two tenses :
- 1- ‫‘ ماضي‬perfect’ (suffixed conjugation)
- This tense refers to past time.
2- ‫ مضارع‬imperfect (prefixed conjugation)
- This tense refers to present or future time.

- Note: the two tenses, together with particles,

express the various aspectual meanings.
- Perfect tense indicates perfective aspect and
imperfect tense indicates imperfective aspect.
 Morphology of Arabic Tense and Aspect
-perfective aspect indicates a completed action
Ex: takallama ‫تكلم‬ He talked
- Imperfective aspect indicates non-complete action
Ex: kaana yatakallamu ‫ كان يتكلم‬He was talking

Note: the morphology of the Arabic tenses consists of

inflectional affixes that mark the verb for person (1st,
2nd, 3rd),
For number (singular, dual, plural), and
For gender (masculine, feminine).
- Each tense in Arabic has its distinct affixes.
 Morphology of Arabic Tense and Aspect
Morphology of the Arabic verb root KTB
Perfect Imperfect
Singular 3rd M katab-a ya-ktub-u
F Katab-at Ta-ktub-u
2nd M Katab-ta Ta-ktub-u
F Katab-ti Ta-ktub-ii-na
1st Katab-tu a-ktub-u
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……
Dual 3rd M Katab-aa ya-ktub-aa-ni
F katab-ataa ta-ktub-aa-ni
2nd M katab-tumaa ta-ktub-aa-ni
F katab-tumaa ta-ktub-aa-ni
1st kata-naa na-ktub-u
 Morphology of Arabic Tense and Aspect
Plural 3rd M katab-uu ya-ktub-uu-
na
F katab-na ya-ktub-na

2nd M katab-tum ta-ktub-uu-

na
F katab-tunna ta-ktub-na

1st Katab-naa na-ktub-u

 Morphology of Arabic Tense and Aspect
-Arabic has two aspects: perfective and imperfective. The two
aspects can be realized by the perfect and imperfect tenses
respectively.

• Perfective:
• Wasal-a l-mu’allimu ‫وصل المعلم‬
• He-arrived-perfect/perfective the-teacher
• ‘the teacher arrived’
• Imperfective:
• Ya-drus-u l-waladu kulla yawmin ‫يدرس الولد كل يوم‬
• He-study-imp/imperfective the-boy every day
• The boy studies every day
 Morphology of Arabic Tense and Aspect
Note: the perfective can also be realized by the particle
qad ‫ قد‬followed by the perfect
Ex: la-qad kataba l-waladu d-darsa ‫لقد كتب الولد الدرس‬
he -wrote the -boy the –lesson
the boy has written the lesson

Contrast
- The English perfective is realized by have+ed
participle.
- The Arabic perfective is realized by either the perfect
form of the verb or qad+perfect.
- The English progressive aspect is rendered in Arabic
by the imperfect form of the verb.
 Voice
English:
Study these two examples:
Ex: Active: She typed the letter yesterday.
Passive: The letter was typed yesterday.

Active and passive are the two English voices. To form the
passive, a complex verb phrase (i.e be+ ed participle) is required.

- From the above two examples we can realize that the object of
the active sentence (the letter) became the subject of the passive
counterpart. Moreover, the auxiliary (was) along with the passive
participle were added to the passive sentence.
 Voice
Some other examples:

Ex. Somebody built this house in 1985. (active)

(obj)

This house was built in 1985. (passive)

(subj)

Ex. We can solve this problem. (active- modal+infinitive)

This problem can be solved. (passive)

 Voice
Arabic

As in English, the Arabic verbs have two forms; active

and passive.
Study these examples:

Active Passive
َ َ ‫َكت‬
‫ب‬ ‫ب‬َ ِ‫ُكت‬
‫قا َل‬ ‫قي َل‬
‫َدعا‬ ‫ُعي‬
َ ‫د‬
َ ‫َر َك‬
‫ب‬ ‫ب‬
َ ‫ُر ِك‬
 voice
By looking to the passive verbs mentioned earlier, we can
say that those verbs formed by the internal vocalic
change. For example
1- kataba (he wrote) becomes kutiba (was written).
2- qaala (he said) becomes qiila (it was said).
3- da’aa (he invited) becomes du’iya (he was invited).
4- rakaba (he rode) becomes rukiba(it was ridden).
Contrast
In English the active form of the verb is made passive by
changing it into the-ed participle and by introducing the
appropriate form of “be”, whereas in Arabic the active
form of the verb is made passive by internal vocalic
change.
 Adjectival Categories
English
Adjectives in English are inflected for degree. In other -
words, the majority of English adjectives denote
1- comparative (this category can be realized in English -
by the (er) comparative suffix) and
2- superlative (this category can be realized by the (est) -
suffix)

Comparative superlative
Hotter Hottest
Bigger Biggest
Faster Fastest
 Adjectival Category
Arabic
Note: Adjectives in Arabic are inflected for degree,
number, gender, case and definiteness.
A/ Degree
In this category, the comparative and superlative
degrees have one form that is derived according to the
pattern ‘af’ alu’. The comparative form is followed by
(min) from.
Ex: kabir akbar al-akbar
big (M) bigger-M the biggest-M biggest-
‫ علي هو الولد االكبر بين اخوته‬:‫مثال‬
‫ علي أكبر من أحمد‬:‫مثال‬
 Adjectival Categories
B/ Number, gender, case, and definiteness
- Arabic adjectives, like nouns are inflected for number,
gender, case and definiteness.
Examples:
‫كبير‬
ُ ‫ َولَ ُد‬- Walad-un kabiir-un
(boy-Nom) (big-Nom)
‘a big boy’

‫بيران‬
ِ ِ َ‫َول‬
‫دان َك‬ - walad-aani kabiir-aani
(boy-dual) (big-dual)
‘two big boys’
 Adjectival Categories
ٌ ‫بيرة‬
َ ‫نت َك‬
ٌ ‫ ِب‬- bint-un kabiir-at-un
girl-Nom big-F-Nom
‘a big girl’

ُ ‫الولَ ُد أل َك‬
‫بير‬ َ - ‘al-walad-u l-kabiir-u
the-boy-Nom the-big-Nom
‘the big boy’

‫الولَ ُد أألكبَ ُر‬

َ - ‘al-walad-u l-’akbar-u
the-boy-Nom the-biggest-Nom
‘the biggest boy’
 Adjectival Categories
‫نت ال ُكبرى‬
ُ ‫ال ِب‬ - ‘al-bint-u l-kubraa
the-girl-Nom the-biggest
‘the biggest girl’

Contrast
-(-er and –est) are the two English suffixes. These two
suffixes mark the comparative and superlative degrees
of the majority of adjectives, whereas Arabic has one
verb pattern (fa’ala) from which both comparative and
superlative degrees are derived.
Unlike English, Arabic adjectives are inflected for
number, gender, case and definiteness.
 Derivational Morphology
- As we have discussed earlier, this chapter (Morphology) deals
with two areas of word structure:
1- inflection (all what was discussed in previous lectures) and
2- derivation (this term deals with word formation).

The word derivation means the formation of new words. To •

form new words that can be achieved through such
morphological processes as
1- affixation (prefixes and/or suffixes), •
2- compounding (creating compound lexemes) and •
3- abbreviation (a word or phrase is shortened). •
 Derivational Morphology
1- Affixation
Introduction
This process is a productive morphological process in
both languages English and Arabic.
Affixes are either prefixes (bound morphemes that are
attached at the beginning of a word) or suffixes
(attached at the end of a word).

Arabic language has more than suffixes and prefixes. It

also has infixes (infixes here to refer to the process of
inserting within the word)
 Derivational Morphology
English Affixation
1- prefixes
English prefixes can be divided into two types. This however can -
be made on the basis of effect prefixation has on the class of the
word that receives the prefix.
The two types are 1- class-maintaining prefixes and 2- class- -
changing prefixes.

1- Class-maintaining prefixes
* Negative: (dis, a, in, un and non)
Examples: dis-trust, a-moral, in-complete, un-happy, non-smoker.

* Reversative: (de, dis, and un)

Examples: de-frost, dis-infect, un-do
 Derivational Morphology
* Pejorative: (mal, mis and pseudo)
Examples: mal-treat, mis-hear, pseudo-scientific

* Degree or size: (arch, co, hyper, mini, out, over, sub, super, sur,
ultra and under)
Examples: arch-bishop, co-heir, hyper-active, mini-market, out-
class, over-coat, sub-normal, super-man, sur-tax, ultra-modern,
under-play.

* Orientation: (anti, contra, counter and pro)

Examples: anti-social, contra-indicate, counter-act, pro-student.
 Derivational Morphology
* Locative: (fore, inter, sub, super and trans)
Examples: fore-man, inter-wine, sub-let, super-script, trans-
plant.

* Time/ order: (ex, fore, post, pre and re)

Examples: ex-president, fore-tell, post-war, pre-war, re-use.

* Number: (bi, di, poly, multi, semi, demi, tri, uni and mono)
Examples: bi-plane, di-graph, poly-glot, multi-purpose, semi-
vowel, demi-god, tri-cycle, uni-sex, mono-plane.

* Neo-classical: (auto, extra, neo, pan, proto, tele and vice)

Examples: auto-biography, extra-affectionate, neo-Gothic, pan-
African, proto-type, tele-gram, vice-chairman.
 Derivational Morphology
- The formation of new words happens by the process of
derivation. This can be achieved through such morphological
processes as affixation, compounding and abbreviations.

1- Affixation. English derivational affixes are either prefixes or

suffixes.
- Prefixes divided into class-maintaining prefixes and class—
changing prefixes.

- Class-changing prefixes:
1- verb-adjective: sleep- a-sleep
2- Noun-verb: friend- be-friend
mesh- en-mesh
power- em-power
 Suffixes
- Suffixes change the grammatical function of the base therefore,
it will be classified on grammatical grounds.

English
1- Noun Suffixes
A- Denominal nouns: (is a noun that is formed from another noun
by adding suffix)
Examples: [mile-age], [bore-dom], [machine-ry], [spoon-ful],
[man-hood], [material-ism], [theo-cracy]…etc

B- Deverbal Nouns: (are nouns that are derived from verbs or

verb phrase. Those new words behave grammatically purely as
nouns not as verbs)
 Suffixes
Examples: [account-ant], [nomin-ee], [teach-er], [conduct-or], [
break-age], [surviv-al]… etc

C- De-adjectival Noun: (nouns that are derived from adjectives)

Examples: [sever-ity], [kind-ness] …etc

D- Noun-adjective (adjectives that are derived from nouns)

Examples: [boy-ish], [chomsky-an], [Chin-ese], [sex-ist], …etc

2- Adjective Suffixes
A- Denominal Suffixes: (are adjectives derived from nouns)
Examples: [worri-ed], [beauti-ful], [snobb-ish], [man-like], [home-
less], [ man-ly], [wind-y], [music-al], [Arab-esque], ..etc
 Suffixes
B- Deverbal Suffixes: ( a word (usually a noun or an adjective)
that is derived from a verb.
Examples: [read-able], [act-ive], …etc

3- Adverb Suffixes: ( are adverb words that formed from

adjectives)
Examples: [quick-ly], [north-wards], [money-wise], ..etc

4- Verb Suffixes: ( are verb words that are formed from

adjectives)
Examples: [active-ate], [length-en], [solid-ify], [critic-ize]
 Arabic Affixation
- Analogy is the way by which new Arabic words are derived.

_ The Arabic derivation involves the following:

1- arranging the root.
2- the carrier of primary lexical meaning.
3- Al- awzaan in different patterns.
4- Al-Siyaq and Qawaalib.
Each of which has a specific signification.

- As in English, Arabic also has derived nouns which are derived

through affixation.
- In Arabic, nouns are either primitive or derived.
*** sunny ‫ مشمس‬Is derived from the primitive lexical item
 Arabic Affixation
‫ شمس‬sun, from the verb ‘to become sunny’ .
** Derivation from concrete nouns.
Example: from the word sajara (t) tree, the following words are
derived:
1- asjar ‘full or trees’ (adjective) Example: waadin asjar ‘a valley full of
trees’
3- tasaajara ‘quarrel’ (verb) Example: tasaajara l-awlaadu ‘the boys
quarrelled’.
4- saajara ‘graze’ (verb) Example: saajarati l-iblu ‘ the camels grazed
on trees’
5- musajjara ‘tree-like’ Example: suwarun mutasajjaratun ‘tree-like
pictures’
6- mutasaajira ‘multifarious’ Example: rimaahun mutasaajiratun
‘spears branched out’
7- istajara l-qawmu ‘ the group disagreed’
8- sajarahu bi-r-rumhi ‘he stapped him with spear’
 Arabic Affixation
Nouns derived from verbs or nouns
1- al-masdar ‘abstract noun’
Example: kataba - kitaabah (t) ‘ he wrote- writing ‘
Darasa- Diraasa (t) he studied- studying

2- ismu l-faa’il ‘active participle’

‫ يصاغ على وزن فاعل اذا‬. ‫اسم الفاعل هو اسم مصوغ لما وقع منه الفعل او قام به‬
.‫كان ثالثي ومن غير الثالثي على وزن مضارعهه‬
Examples: waqafa waaqif ‘he stood up- standing’ (adj)
baa’a baa’I ‘ he sold- seller’
ihtaala muhtaal ‘ he cheated- cheater’
 Arabic Affixation
3- siyagu l-mubaalaga (t) ‘intensive active participle’
.‫صيغة المبالغة هي الفاض مشتقة تدل على القيام بالفعل مع افادة الكثرة والمبالغة‬
Examples: gafara gafuur ‘ he forgave- (very) forgiving’
xabaza xabbaaz ‘ he baked- baker’

4- sifa musabbaha bi smi l-faa’il ‘pseudo participle’

‫الصفة المشبه باسم الفاعل هي اسم مشتق من المصدر الثالثي واحيانا تلك الصفة‬
....‫فرحة وايضا على وزن فعال‬... ‫تكون على وزن فَع ِل الذي مؤنثه فعلة مثال فرح‬
Examples: jabuna jabaan ‘he chickened- coward’

5- ismu l-maf’uul ‘passive participle/ passive verbal adjective’

‫اسم المفعول هو اسم مشتق من مصدر الفعل المبني للمجهول (هو الفعل الذي لم‬
. ‫يذكر فاعله في الجملة) ويصاغ من الثالثي على وزن مفعول‬
Examples: daraba madruub ‘ he hit- have been hit’
 Arabic Affixation
6- ismu l-tafdiil ‘comparative/ superlative adjectives’
‫اسم التفضيل هو اسم مصاغ على وزن افعل للداللة على ان شيىين اشتركا في صفة‬
.‫معينه وزاد احدهما على االخر‬
Examples: naafi’ anfa ;beneficial- more/most beneficial’

7- ismu darf (az-zamaan- wa l-makaak)

‫اسم الضرف للزمان والمكان هما اسمان مصاغان من المصدر للداللة على زمان الفعل‬
‫او مكانه ويصاغ من الثالثي على وزن مفعل‬
Examples: kataba maktab ‘he wrote- office’
jalasa majlis ‘ he sat down- council’
qabara maqbara (t) ‘ he buried- cemetery’
 Arabic Affixation
8- ismu l-aala (t) ‘noun of instrument’
‫اسم االلة هو اسم مشتق من مصدر الفعل الثالثي المتعدي للداللة على ماوقع الفعل بواسطته‬
‫ويكون على وزن مفعل او مفعال او مفعلة‬
Examples: barada mibrad ‘he filed - file’
fataha miftaah ‘he opened- key’
wazana miizaan ‘he weighed- scales’
kanasa miknasa ‘ he swept- groom’

9- ismu l-hay’a (t) ‘noun of manner’

.‫ ويصاغ من الثالثي على وزن فِعلة‬.‫اسم مشتق يدل على هيئة حدوث الفعل‬
Examples: misya(t) gait
jilsa(t) ‘sitting posture’
10- ismu l-marra(t) ‘instance noun’
‫ويصاغ من الثالثي على وزن فَعلة هة اسم مشتق للدالة على وقوع الفعل مرة واحدة‬
Example: gafza(t) ‘a jump’
 Arabic Affixation
11- al-ismu l-musaggar ‘diminutive noun’
Note: There are some nouns having a diminutive form derived by
changing the vowelling of the word according to three patterns:

A/ Triliteral noun:
Examples: nahar ‘a river’ nuhayr ‘ a small river’

B/ Quadliteral noun:
Examples: dirham ‘dirham’ durayhim

C/ Quinqueliteral noun:
Examples: usfur ‘bird’ ‘usayfiir’ ‘ little bird’
 Arabic Affixation
Purposes of using diminutive forms

1- disparagement
Example: rajul ‘man’ rujayl ‘petty man’

2- approximation
Example: qabl ‘before’ qubayl ‘a little before’

3- glorification
Example: daahiya duwayhiya ‘smart’

4- endearment
Example: ibn bunayy ‘son’
 Arabic Affixation
12- an-nisba ‘relational adjective or adjectivized noun’
Note: this form is derived by adding the suffix –iyy to the noun.

Example: dimasq ‘Damascus’ dimasqiyy ‘Damascene’

Examples: 1- nationality: misr ‘Egypt’ misriyy ‘Egyptian’

2- Ethnicity: arab arabiyy ‘an Arab’
3- common nouns: sahraa sahraawiyy ‘desert-like’
abb abawiyy ‘paternal’
dam damawiyy ‘bloody’
4- proper noun: umayya umawiyy ‘Umayyad’
 Compounding
Compounding is the second derivational process by which we
can form a new word or words along with affixation and
abbreviation.

Compounding (= refers to the combining of two or three bases

to form a single new word.)

- English Compounding:
- nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are the English
compounds.
A/ Compound Nouns:
1- Noun+ Noun:
Examples: manservant (man+ servant)
Woman doctor (woman+ doctor)
 Compounding
2- Subject+ verb:
Examples: sunrise (sun+ rise)
daybreak (day+ break)

3- Verb+ object
Examples: Kill-joy (kill+ joy)
pick-pocket (pick + pocket)
breakfast (break +fast)

4- Verb + Verb:
Examples: make-believe (make+ believe)
5- Adjective+ noun
Examples: fast-food (fast+ food)
software (soft+ ware)
 Compounding
6- Phrase compound:
Example: son-in-law

7- Verb+ adverbial:
Examples: swimming pool (swimming+ pool)
homework (home+ work)

8- Subject+ object:
Examples: car cable (car+ cable)
chairperson (chair+ person)

9- Subject+ complement
Examples: blackboard (black+ board)
ashtray (ash+ tray)
10- Bahuvrihi compounds
Examples: highbrow (high+ brow)
pot-belly (pot+ belly)
 Compounding
B/ Compound verbs:
1- Noun+ verb
Examples: sky-dive (sky+ dive)
carbon-copy (carbon+ copy)
2- Verb+ verb
Examples: make do (make+ do)
freeze-dry (freeze+ dry)

3- particle+ verb
Examples: overlook (over+ look)

4- Adjective+ noun
Examples: bad-mouth (bad+ mouth)
 Compounding
5- Noun+ noun
Examples: breath-test (breath+ test)

C/ Compound Adjectives
1- verb+ object
Example: life-giving (life+ giving)
man-eating (man+ eating)

2- Verb+ adverbial
Examples: airborne (air+ borne)
far-fetched (far+ fetched)

3- Verbless
Examples: foolproof (fool+ proof)
age-old (age+ old)
 Compounding
4- Adjective+ adjective
Examples: oral-aural (oral+ aural)
bitter-sweet (bitter+ sweet)
deaf-mute (deaf+ mute)
open-ended (open+ ended)

D/ Compound adverbs:
Examples: double-quick (double+ quick)
off-hand (off+ hand)
over-night (over+ night)
Note: English has some compounds whose meaning are unrelated to
the meanings of the individual elements that constitute the
compound. We cannot tell the meaning of the compound egghead
from the meaning of the two elements (egg) and (head). Other
examples are words like turncoat, bedclothes, etc.
 Arabic Compounding
In Arabic language we can achieve new words by the process of -
compounding. Compounding in Arabic consists
1- noun compounds, -
2- compound particles and -
3- defective verb compounds. -

1- Noun Compounds … these fall into three categories:

a/ genitive construct
‫المركب االضافي‬
Examples: Earthworm [worm-Nom] [the-earth-Gen]
‫دودة االرض‬
‘doomsday’ [day-Nom] [the-judgment-Gen]
‫يوم الحساب‬
‘frogman’ [man-Nom] [the-frogs-Gen]
‫رجل الضفادع‬
‘steering wheel’ [wheel-Nom] [the-steering-Gen]
‫عجلة القيادة‬
 Arabic Compounding
B- fusional compound
‫المركب المزجي‬
Examples: thirteen
Three+ ten
‫ثالث عشر‬
Examples: sixteen , eighteen , fourteen
C- predicative compound
‫المركب االسنادي‬
Examples:
‫تأبط شرا‬
He-took-under-his-arm- Perf evil-ACC/NUN
Literally, this nickname means= [He has taken evil under his
arm”]
 Arabic Compounding
2- Compound Particles
‫الحروف المركبة‬
Examples: rubbamaa (perhaps)
rubba+ ma
‫ ما‬+ ‫رب‬
Example: haythumaa (whenever)
hauthu+ ma
‫ ما‬+‫حيث‬
Example: haalamaa (as soon as)
haala+ maa
‫ ما‬+‫حال‬
Example: lawlaa (had it not been)
law+laa
‫ ال‬+‫لو‬
 Arabic Compounding
3- Defective verb compounds

Examples: maa-daama (as long as)

maa+ daama
‫ دام‬+‫ما‬
Example: maa-bariha (still)
maa+ bariha
‫ برح‬+‫ما‬
 Abbreviation
-English Abbreviation.
-Abbreviation is the third word-formation process. It involves the
shortening of already existing lexical items. There are three types of
abbreviation in English:
1- blends,
2- clippings and
3- acronyms.

1- Clippings.
-Clipping involves shortening of long words by deleting syllables.
Examples:
1- ad (advertisement) “vertisement”
2- exam (examination) “ination”
3- lab (laboratory) “oratory”
4- mimeo (mimeograph) “graph”
 Abbreviation
2- Blends.
-Blending involves fusion two independent lexical items.
Examples:
1- The blend “motel” is derived from “motor” and “hotel”.
2- The blend “smog” is derived from “smoke” and “fog”.
3- The blend “telex” is derived from “telegram” and “fax”.
4- The blend “travelog” is derived from “travel” and
“monologue”.
5- The blend “Amtrack” is derived from “America” and “track”.
6- The blend “chunnel” is derived from “channel” and “tunnel”.
 Abbreviation
3- Acronyms.
-Acronyms are words derived from the initial letters of
different words.
Examples:
1- UN, (United Nations)
2- NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
3- MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
4- radar (radio detecting and ranging)
5- AWOL (Away without leave)
 Arabic Abbreviation
‘an-naht’ There are four types of ‘an-naht’ = blending:
1- ‘an-nahtu l-fi’liyy’ ‘verbal blending’.
‫بسمل‬
[to say: bismi l-laahi r-rahmaani r-rahiim]
‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬
In the name of Allah the compassionate the merciful.

2- ‘an-nahtu l-wasfiyy’ ‘adjectival blending’

‫ضبطر‬
)‫ضبط‬+‫(ضبر‬
(dabara+ dabata)
[he jumped +he caught] (it is used to describe a lion)
 Arabic Abbreviation
3- ‘an-nahtu n-nisbiyy’ ‘nationality/origin compound’
‫طبرخازي‬
)‫ خوارزم‬+ ‫(طبرستان‬
(tubristaan + xawaarizm) [names of two localities: someone
from tubristaan and xawaarizm]

4- ‘an-nahtu l-ismiyy’ ‘nominal blending’

Jalmuud
‫جلمود‬
)‫ جمد‬+‫(جلد‬
(jaluda+ jamuda) (to become hard + to become solid)