Linguistics 203 - Languages of the World

Linguistics 203 - Languages of the World
Arabic

General

 Member of the Semitic branch of Afroasiatic languages

 Spoken as a first language by about 206,000,000 people (various dialects)

 Spoken as a second language by about 246,000,000 people (www.ethnologue.com)

Location
Arabic as a majority language

(source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/Arabic_Language.PNG)
Dialects of Arabic

(source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Arab_World-Large.PNG)

Linguistics 203 - Languages of the World
Arabic

Morphology (Roots)
 Arabic roots are made primarily of consonants
 Roots mix with vowel patterns to form words and stems
 Roots with 3 consonants are most common (called triliteral), but they can have between
2-5 consonants

/k-t-b/ (writing) (Ryding 2005:45-47)

verbal use nominal use book
kitaab books
katab-a he wrote kutub writer
kaatib writers
kaatab-a he corresponded kuttaab office; desk
maktab offices; desks
kutib-a it was written makaatib library
maktaba writing
uktub write! kitaaba

ta-ktub-u she writes

na-ktub-u we write

maktuub written

 A root can be used to make nine or more different verb stems, each with a different

meaning or connotation, but related to the meaning of the basic root. (following data from

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wiktionary/en/wiki/Appendix:Arabic_verb_forms)
o The following is simplified, and is based on triliteral roots.

form meaning/function past tense template
I basic form
II causative, intensifier CaCVC (V=/a/, /u/ or /i/)
III associative; intention, attempt
IV causative (similar to II) C1aC2C2aC3
V reflexive of II
VI reciprocal of III CaaCaC
VII reflexive-passive, resultative ʔaCCaC
VIII reflexive (intransitive); often opaque meaning
IX acquiring color or physical trait taC1aC2C2aC3
taCaaCaC

inCaCaC

iCtaCaC

iC1C2aC3C3

form k-t-b (writing) s-l-m (peace, safety)
I kataba ‘to write’ salima ‘to be safe’
II kattaba ‘to cause to write’ sallama ‘to make safe’
III kaataba ‘to correspond with’ saalama ‘to make peace with’
IV ʔaktaba ‘to dictate’ ʔaslama ‘to submit (e.g. to God)’
tasallama ‘to receive the surrender’
V tasaalama ‘to make peace together’
VI takaataba ‘to write to each other’
VII inkataba ‘to subscribe’ istalama ‘to receive’
VIII iktataba ‘to write to each other’ h-m-r ‘red’
ihmarra ‘to turn red, blush’
s-f-r ‘yellow’
IX isfarra ‘to turn yellow, pale’

Linguistics 203 - Languages of the World
Arabic

What might the following mean? (Fischer 2002:98-100)

qataʕa ‘cut off’ (F I) qattaʕa

qatala ‘kill’(F I) qaatala

dhahaba1 ‘go away’ (F I) dhahaba

ʕalima ‘know’ (F I) ʕallama

taʕallama

ʕaalaja ‘treat s.o.’ (F III) taʕaalaja

hazama ‘put to flight’ (F I) inhazama

rafaʕa ‘lift’ (F I) irtafaʕa

azwaru ‘crooked’ (F IV) izwarra

Given the following roots (the meanings of which I am guessing), how would you say...

q-t-l ‘fight’ ‘to fight with one another’

q-t-l ‘fight’ ‘to massacre’

k-s-r ‘break’ ‘to be broken’

th-b-t2 ‘firm’ ‘to make firm’

z-r-q ‘blue’ ‘to turn blue’

Does English have anything comparable to consonantal roots?

1 <dh> is used for /ð/ by convention
2 <th> is used for /θ/ by convention

Linguistics 203 - Languages of the World
Arabic

Miscellaneous Sytnax/Morphology

 Nouns are marked for gender (m, f), definiteness, number (sg, dual, pl) and case (nom,

acc, gen)
o Order of morphemes: definite - stem - gender - case - indefinite
o Masculine gender is unmarked
o Definite and indefinite cannot be used together

bayt ‘house’ (m.) Indefinite Nominative Accusative Genitive
Sg. bayt Definite bayt-u-n bayt-a-n bayt-i-n
Indefinite al-bayt-u al-bayt-a al-bayt-i
Pl. buyuut Definite buyuut-u-n buyuut-a-n buyuut-i-n
al-buyuut-u al-buyuut-a al-buyuut-i

safiin ‘ship’ (f.) Indefinite Nominative Accusative Genitive
Sg. safiin Definite safiin-at-u-n safiin-at-a-n safiin-at-i-n
Indefinite al-safiin-at-u al-safiin-at-u al-safiin-at-u
Pl. sufun Definite sufun-at-u-n sufun-at-a-n sufun-at-i-n
al-sufun-at-u al-sufun-at-u al-sufun-at-u

(Ryding 2005:184-185)

o Arabic also marks dual number by using different case markers (aani for nom,
ayni for acc and gen). The indefinite marker is not used with dual nouns.

b-y-t ‘house’ (m.) Nominative Accusative Genitive
bayt-aani
Dual bayt Indefinite al-bayt-aani bayt-ayni bayt-ayni
Definite
al-bayt-ayni al-bayt-ayni

(Ryding 2005:188)

 Adjectives show agreement with nouns for gender (if singular), case and definiteness

bustaan-u-n kabiir-u-n al-bustaan-u l kabiir-u

garden-NOM-INDEF big-NOM-INDEF the-garden-NOM the big-NOM
‘a big garden’ ‘the big garden’

(Lyovin 1997:213)

 In addition to marking possession, the genitive case marks the object of a preposition in
Arabic.

fii l-Zalaam-i (Ryding 2005:171)

in the-shade-GEN
‘in the shade’

 VSO word order (though most modern Arabic dialects are SVO)

zaara Zaydun ʕAmran (Lyovin 1997:212)

visited Zayd Amr
‘Zayd visited Amr.’

Linguistics 203 - Languages of the World
Arabic

References

Fischer, Wolfdietrich. (2002). A Grammar of Classical Arabic. Translated by Jonathan Rodgers.
New Haven: Yale University Press.

Lyovin, Anatole. (1997). An introduction to the languages of the world. New York: Oxford
University Press.

Ryding, Karin C. (2005). A Reference Grammar of Modern Arabic. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.