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Anthropological Linguistics
Verbal and Nominal Forms of Najdi Arabic
Author(s): A. Aziz I. Al-Sweel
Source: Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Spring, 1987), pp. 71-90
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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
pat-
terns 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 fol-
lowing 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 fol-
lowing 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 men-
tioned in
(2) above. The
following examples
are of this
pat-
tern.
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
recip-
rocal. The result is a collective.
Examples
of this form fol-
low.
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
74
Anthropological Linguistics,
Vol.
29,
No. 1
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
Forms of
Najdi
Arabic 75
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
76
Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 29,
No. 1
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
Forms of
Najdi
Arabic 77
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. pre-
tended to be tended to be
cross-eyed cross-eyed
tahbwalti
you s.f. pre-
tahbwalan
you p.f. pre-
tended 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
78
Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 29,
No. 1
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. pre-
tend to be tend to be
cross-eyed cross-eyed
tah-walgn
you s.f. pre-
tabhwalan
you p.f. pre-
tend 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 inter-
esting 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 follow-
ing 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.
Forms of
Najdi
Arabic 79
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
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Anthropological Linguistics,
Vol.
29,
No. 1
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
Forms of
Najdi
Arabic
81
3.1.1.4. CLASS IV, One pattern of nominal forms is possi-
ble 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
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Anthropological Linguistics,
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29,
No. 1
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
Forms of
Najdi
Arabic 83
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
underly-
ing
verbal form. Instance nouns are
usually
derived
by
suffix-
ing
-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
suf-
fixing
-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
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Anthropological Linguistics,
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29,
No. 1
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
86
Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 29, No.
1
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
Forms of
Najdi
Arabic 87
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
88
Anthropological Linguistics, Vol. 29,
No. 1
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 indi-
cates emotional states:'
ta9ban tired
+
ticib
to
get
tired
xailfn shy
+
xijil to
get shy
Forms of
Najdi
Arabic 89
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
suf-
fixing
-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
morphologi-
cal 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.
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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
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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.