The lexical semantics of the arabic verb peter john glanville - The ebook is available for instant d

Page 1


https://ebookmass.com/product/the-lexical-semantics-of-the-

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) ready for you

Download now and discover formats that fit your needs...

The Cartesian Semantics of the Port Royal Logic John N. Martin

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-cartesian-semantics-of-the-portroyal-logic-john-n-martin/

ebookmass.com

The Cartesian Semantics of the Port Royal Logic John N. Martin

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-cartesian-semantics-of-the-portroyal-logic-john-n-martin-2/

ebookmass.com

The Semantics of Knowledge Attributions Michael BlomeTillmann

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-semantics-of-knowledge-attributionsmichael-blome-tillmann/

ebookmass.com

Children’s Speech: An Evidence Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention (What’s New in Communication Sciences & Diaorders) 1st Edition, (Ebook PDF)

https://ebookmass.com/product/childrens-speech-an-evidence-basedapproach-to-assessment-and-intervention-whats-new-in-communicationsciences-diaorders-1st-edition-ebook-pdf/ ebookmass.com

The Stolen Bones of St. John of Matha: Forgery, Theft, and Sainthood in the Seventeenth Century A. Katie Harris

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-stolen-bones-of-st-john-of-mathaforgery-theft-and-sainthood-in-the-seventeenth-century-a-katie-harris/ ebookmass.com

Vendetta Tony Park

https://ebookmass.com/product/vendetta-tony-park-2/

ebookmass.com

The Party House Lin Anderson

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-party-house-lin-anderson/

ebookmass.com

Foundations of Low Vision: Clinical and Functional Perspectives 2nd Edition

https://ebookmass.com/product/foundations-of-low-vision-clinical-andfunctional-perspectives-2nd-edition/

ebookmass.com

Film, Negation and Freedom: Capitalism and Romantic Critique Will Kitchen

https://ebookmass.com/product/film-negation-and-freedom-capitalismand-romantic-critique-will-kitchen/

ebookmass.com

Successful Psychopharmacology: Evidence-Based Treatment Solutions for

https://ebookmass.com/product/successful-psychopharmacology-evidencebased-treatment-solutions-for/

ebookmass.com

TheLexicalSemanticsoftheArabicVerb

TheLexicalSemantics oftheArabicVerb

PETERJOHNGLANVILLE

GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford, , UnitedKingdom

OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries

©PeterJohnGlanville 

Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted

FirstEditionpublishedin 

Impression: 

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove

Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer

PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress  MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY ,UnitedStatesofAmerica

BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData

Dataavailable

LibraryofCongressControlNumber: 

Printedandboundby

CPIGroup(UK)Ltd,Croydon,

LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork.

ForChelsea

Contents

Acknowledgments x

Listof figures xii

Listofabbreviationsandsymbols xiii

Anoteonprimarysources xvi

 Introductionandoverview

. Introduction

. Overview

 Words,roots,andpatterns

. Introduction

  Roots,patterns,andwordfamilies

. Roots,patterns,andderivation

  Words,structure,andcontent

. Wordsfromverbs

 Verbsfromwords

. Summaryandconclusion

 Groundformverbpatterns

  Introduction

Verbmarkingandprototypetheory

PatternI(a)

.

Energytransfer

Symmetricalstates

Cognitionverbs

Locativeconfigurations

One-participantactions

PatternI(i)

.

.

Experiencedstates

Subjectaslocation

Sequenceverbs

Influence

PatternI(u)

Summaryandconclusion

 Reflexivemarking

  Introduction

. Reflexivemarkingontheverb

 Alternations

.. Subjectasbeneficiary

  Actionsontheself

..

.

Symmetry

. Subjectaspatient

.. Anagencycontinuum

. Averbpattern

.. Denominals

.

.

.

Resultstates

Verbbuilding

Consistentmarking

Summaryandconclusion

 Symmetry

. Introduction

 Symmetry

.. Resistance

Risk

Competition

.

.

Interaction,exchange,andsharing

.. Helping,hugging,shakinghands

  Co-action

.. Inherentsymmetry

Implementingsymmetry

. Symmetryandreflexivity

.. Reciprocity

.

..

. Counterfactuals

Chainingsituations

.. Co-action(again)

.. Progressivechange

 Co-symmetry

. Summaryandconclusion

 Causationandactionalization

 Introduction

. Markedcausatives

 Givingandsending

. Activatedstates

  Baseasproduct

. Baseasgoal

 Actionsontheself

. Causer-orientedactions

 Resultstates

. Transfer

 Conclusion

Repetition

. Introduction

. Repetitionandlinguisticmarking

.

Gemination

.

Repeateddivision

Repeatedcon

gurationandmotion

Incrementality

Repeatedtaking

. Reduplicationofthe firstandsecondconsonants

Repeatedsound

Rhythm

.

.

Soundsymbolism,etymons,andphonesthemes

.. Onthedirectionofderivation

  Overlappingfunctions

.. Causationandrepetition

   Expansionof faʕfaʕa

. Summaryandconclusion

 Thebeginningsofasystem

. Introduction

. Asystemofconstructions

. Accountingforthesystem

.. Mergingwords

.. Abstractionofrelationalstructures

.. Analogy,categorization,andshape-invariantmorphology

. Derivationandconceptualblending

. Lookingforward

Primarysources

References

Index

Acknowledgments

ThisbookistheresultofmycuriosityaboutandlovefortheArabiclanguage,and thisissomethingthathasbeenencouragedinonewayoranotherbyalargenumber ofpeople.MystudentsandcolleaguesatSultanQaboosUniversityinOmanwere fantasticteacherswhomademewanttolearnmore,andafterleavingIwasluckyto continuemyeducationwithsomeofthebestteachersworkinginthe fieldofArabic languagepedagogy.LikethousandsoflearnersofArabic,Iowespecialthanksto MahmoudAl-Batal,whohasworkedtirelesslyandwithgreatdedicationtotransformthewaythatArabicasasecondlanguageistaught,producingmaterials, trainingteachers,workingonassessment,andconvincingdecision-makersthat Arabicmustbetaughtforcommunication.IwouldalsoliketothankMohammad Mohammadforhisconstantencouragementandsupport,usuallyprovidedunderhis favoriteshadetreeattheUniversityofTexasatAustin,allofmyteachersin Damascus,especiallyManalYosefandGhadaHousen,theShadeedfamilyof Damascus,andmyfriendOsamaShamieh.AttheUniversityofMarylandIam gratefultoDinaHefnawy,LutfAlkebsi,ZeinElamine,HebaSalem,andAhmad Hanafyforbeinghappytoanswermyrandomquestionsaboutrootsandpatternsat thedropofahat.

Manypeoplehavealsosupportedtheresearchandwritingprocess.AttheinstitutionalleveltheUniversityofMarylandGraduateSchoolfundedmyresearchwitha ResearchandScholarshipAward(RASA)in ,andtheSchoolofLanguages, LiteraturesandCulturesprovidedasemesterofleave.Iamthankfultomycolleagues intheSchoolforprovidingvaluableadvice,mostnotablyMicheleMason,Alene Moyer,SteveRoss,andRyanLong.MycolleagueinArabic,ValerieAnishchenkova, hasbeenagoodfriendandsourceofmoralsupport,andourcoordinator,Lianne Berne,hasbeenfantasticineveryway.OutsideofMaryland,IamgratefultoVicki SunteratOxfordUniversityPressforbeingpositive,efficient,andprofessional throughoutthewholesubmissionandreviewprocess,toKarinRydingforinsightful commentsonthedraftbookproposal,AngelaHarmonforreadingearlydraft chapters,andanumberofanonymousreviewerswhohaveencouragedmetobe bolderinplaces,andlessoutrageousinothers.TheresearchIhaveundertakenfor thisworkwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithouttheexcellentArabiccorpusdevelopedandmaintainedbyDilworthParkinsonatBrighamYoungUniversity,andlike manyotherresearchersIamindebtedtohimforthis.

I firstencounteredthenameKristenBrustadwhenIboughtanArabiclanguage textbookinMorocco.ManyyearslaterwhenIwasagraduatestudentatUTshe turnedupandchangedmylife.Icouldneverhavewrittenthisbookwithoutthe

Acknowledgments xi

linguistictrainingsheprovided,orwithouttheconfidencethatsheinstilledinmeto dowhatIthinkshouldbedone.Thisistosaynothingofherconsiderableinputinto thisbookatallstages.

Finally,Iwouldliketothankmyfamily:myparents,forkeepingmeonthestraight andnarrowandforeventuallyrefrainingfromaskinghowmuchlongerallthisis goingtotake;mydogs,pastandpresent,forourwalks;myson,formakingmelaugh everyday;andmywifeChelsea,whoIlovewithallmyheart.

Listof figures

. Contentandstructureof ʕadda ‘tocount’ , ʕadiid ‘ numerous ’,and ʕadad ‘number’

  Contentandstructureof qatala ‘tokill’

. Contentandstructureof samiʕa ‘tohear’

. Contentandstructureof wasala ‘toconnect’

  Contentandstructureof wasala ‘toarrive’

. Contentandstructureof qaruba ‘tobenear’

  Contentandstructureof istawaa ‘tolevelout’

. Contentandstructureof tasaawaa ‘tobeequal’

  Theadjective ʤayyid ‘good’ contrastedwiththeverb ʔaʤaada ‘todowell’

. Theconceptualblendrepresentedby qadam ‘foot’

Listofabbreviationsandsymbols

(a)Transcription

IntransliteratingdatafromModernStandardArabicIusethefollowingsymbols:

ArabicCharacterTransliterationSymbolArticulatoryFeatures

ﺀ ʔ Glottalstop

ﻯ ,ﺍ aaLongopenfrontvowel

ﺏ bVoicedlabialstop

ﺕ tVoicelessdentalstop

ﺙ θ Voicelessinterdentalfricative

ﺝ ʤ Voicedalveolarfricative

ﺡ h Voicelesspharyngealfricative

ﺥ xVoicelessvelarfricative

ﺩ dVoiceddentalstop

ﺫ ðVoicedinterdentalfricative

ﺭ rAlveolarliquid

ﺯ zVoiceddentalfricative

ﺱ sVoicelessdentalfricative

ﺵ ʃ Voicelessalveolarfricative

ﺹ s Voicelessemphaticdentalfricative

ﺽ d Voicedemphaticdentalstop

ﻁ t Voicelessemphaticdentalstop

ﻅ z Voicedemphaticinterdentalfricative

ﻉ ʕ Voicedpharyngealfricative

ﻍ ġ Voicedvelarfricative

ﻑ fVoicelesslabiodentalfricative

ﻕ qVoicelessuvularstop

ﻙ kVoicelessvelarstop

ﻝ lDentalliquid

ﻡ mLabialnasal

ﻥ nAlveolarnasal

ﻩ hVoicelessglottalfricative

ﻭ w,uuVoicedlabialfricative,longclosebackvowel

ﻱ y,iiVoicedpalatalfricative,longclosefrontvowel aOpenfrontvowel uClosebackvowel iClosefrontvowel

TheArabiccharacter ﺓ appearsontheendoffemininenounsandistranscribedas/a/unless thenounisanon-finalnouninapossessiveconstruction,whenitistranscribedas/at/.

Ingivingthecitationformofverbs,innamingverbpatterns,andintranscribingexamples,Ido nottranscribe hamzatal-wasl,theglottalstopthatisaddedatthebeginningofawordtoavoid havingavowelasanonset.

(b)Glossingandtranslation

Followingestablishedconvention,thecitationformofaverbisthethirdmasculinesingular perfective.InwordliststhisistranslatedusinganEnglishinfinitive.Forexample: dahika ‘tolaugh’ Grammaticallabelsinwordlistsindicatewhetherornottheverbtakesanobject.Theyare abbreviatedasshown:

trnsTransitive.Theverbtakesadirectobject.Forexample: kasara ‘tobreak’ trns intIntransitive.Theverbdoesnottakeanobject.Forexample: rakada ‘torun’ int oblOblique.Theverbisfollowedbyapreposition,thenanobject.Forexample: iʕtamada ‘todepend’ obl ditrnsDitransitive.Theverbtakestwodirectobjects.Forexample: ʔaʕtaa ‘togive’ ditrns Intheinterestsofspace,wordlistsareonlyprovidedintranscriptionandtranslation. ContextualizeddataappearinArabictextwithatranscription,agloss,andatranslation. Theabbreviationsusedareasfollows:

 firstperson

 secondperson

 thirdperson

 accusative

 collective

 definite

 dual

 feminine

 genitive

 indicativemood

 masculine  negative

 nominative

 plural

 singular

 subjunctivemood

(c)Highlighting

Arabicwordsareinitalics;translationsareinsinglequotes.Forexample: kabiir ‘big’

Thevowels,affixes,orconsonantsofanArabicwordmaybehighlightedinbolddepending onthepointbeingmade.Thetextwillstatewhatishighlightedinagivenexample.

Semanticnotionsareinsmallcapitals.Forexample:theaction ;thenotionof

Anoteonprimarysources

Unlessotherwisestated,datainwordlistsarefoundinHansWehr’ s DictionaryofModern WrittenArabic,editedbyJ.M.Cowan, thedition(Weisbaden:Harrassowitz, ),orLane’ s Arabic–EnglishLexicon,originallypublishedin  (Beirut:LibrairieduLiban).ContextualizedexamplesofmodernusagearedrawnfromtheBrighamYoungUniversityOnlineArabic Corpus.Thisisa -million-wordcorpusconsistingoftextsfromnewspaperspublishedin Egypt,Syria,Morocco,Kuwait,Jordan,andtheUnitedKingdom,novelsbywritersfrom Egypt,Algeria,Palestine,SaudiArabia,Sudan,Syria,andLebanon,andnon-fictionworks foundontheInternetorinprint,someofwhichconsistofreligiousorpoliticalcommentary. Thecorpusalsocontainspremodernworks,includingtheQuran,andsomeEgyptiancolloquialtexts.WhenIusedatafromthiscorpus,thefootnoteidentifiesitascomingfrom BrighamYoungUniversity(BYU),andincludesareferenceusedinthecorpustoidentify thespecifictext.Forexample,BYU:SPO:.Othercontemporarydataaretakenfrom thenovel mudunal-milh ‘CitiesofSalt’ byAbdulRahmanMunif(thedition, ).These dataareidentifiedinfootnotesusingtheauthor’slastnameandthepagenumber.ContextualizedexamplesofolderusagearefromIbnManzuur’ s LisaanAl-Arab (Cairo:DarElHadith, ).ThiscomprehensivedocumentationofArabicusagedrawsfromanumberof oldersources,andisdatedaroundtheyear .

Introductionandoverview

. Introduction

Thisbookisaboutthementalconstructionandlinguisticconstrualofmeaning. MyprimaryfocusistheverbpatternsofArabic:recurringphonologicalmaterial interlacedwithwhatistraditionallyreferredtoasaconsonantalroot.Whilethereisa greatdealofscholarshipproblematizingthestatusofroots,theverbpatternsin whichtheyarearrangedhavereceivedmarkedlylessattention.Standardgrammars ofArabiclabelpatternsas ‘intensive ’ , ‘causative’ , ‘middle ’ , ‘ reflexive’ , ‘reciprocal’,and soon,withlittlefurtherexplanationoftheseterms.Inmanycasesagivenpatternis assignedseveralsemanticfunctionsinordertoaccountforavarietyofseemingly unrelatedverbtypesthatneverthelessallreceivethesamelinguisticmarking.Hence tahaadaθa ‘toconverse’ and taʃaakasa ‘toquarrel’ areheldtohavethesamephonologicalshapebecausetheyarebothreciprocal,butinordertoexplain tamaarada ‘to feignsickness’,adifferentfunctionmustbeattributedtothis ‘reciprocal’ verbpattern. Similarly, ʔanzala ‘tolower’ and ʔadxala ‘toinsert’,from nazala ‘todescend’ and daxala ‘toenter’ respectively,aresupposedlyformedinacausativeverbpattern,and non-causativeverbslike ʔabhara ‘togotosea’ or ʔataaʕa ‘toobey’ areeitheroverlooked ortreatedseparately.Reflexiveverbslikeintransitive iġtasala ‘towash’,from ġasala ‘to wash(something)’,areexplainedas ‘middle’,butreflexivemarkingonaverblike ihtaaʤa ‘toneed’,whichdoesnotalternatewithatransitivebase,isnotaddressed.

Theanalysispresentedinthecomingchaptersexamineswhatissharedbyallverbs bearingthesamemarking,arrivingatasinglesemantictypologyforeachverb pattern.Myworkinghypothesisisthateachpatternbegan,mostlikelyinsome ancestorofArabic,asacollectionofindependentwords,andthatovertimethese becamephoneticallyreducedandmergedinaprocessofgrammaticalization.An importantconsequenceofthisprocessisthatapatternbecomesanindependent lexicalunitthatmarksacertainsemanticfeature,andisnolongerexactlyequivalent tothemeaningoftheonce-independentwordsthatcompriseit.Assuch,theverb patternsofArabicnowrepresentasetofsemanticstructures,andareiconic(Haiman , ),bearingadirectrelationtothetypesofparticipantinvolvedina situationandtheirrelationshipstoeachother.

Thisargumentrestsonaword-to-wordaccountofderivationinwhichtheSemitic rootfunctionsasaproxyforabasewordandisneveritselfasemanticbase.Thefact thatmultipleverbssharingthesamerootofferdifferentpresentationsofashared meaninghasledtothefrequentclaimthatrootsandpatternsarediscontinuous morphemes,oneencodinglexicalmeaning,theothergrammatical.Whileverb patternshavecertainlybecomemorphemichowever,theideathatarootcontributes anabstractmeaningtoaderivedwordisproblematic,sinceitcannotaccountfor relationshipsbetweenwords.Ifallwordsarederivedsemanticallyfromaroot,they shouldallpresentvariationsofasingleabstraction,anditshouldnotbethecasethat therearelayersofderivationinwhichsomewordsclearlyincorporatethemeaningof others.Inillustratingnumerousword-to-wordrelationships,asecondaryaimofthe bookistoestablishtherootasaconsonantalstringthatmaybeextractedfrommore thanonesourceword,andwhichmaythereforehavemultiplemeanings. 

Overview

Thebookisorganizedasfollows.Chapter  establishesadistinctionbetweencore meaningontheonehand,andthewayinwhichitisviewedorframedontheother.It illustratesthatameaningcomponentrecursinagivensetofwords,andthateach wordpresentsthiscomponentslightlydifferently.Italsosituatesthecurrentwork withinthedebateoverthestatusoftheconsonantalrootinderivationalprocesses. Chapter  beginstheanalysisoftheverbpatterns,focusingonthreegroundform variantsdistinguishedonlybyasinglevowel.Iproposeaprototypicalorderingof participantrolesinaneventorsituation,andarguethatagroundformverb representsthestructuringofsemanticcontentinawaythateithermatchesthis orderorthatdeviatesfromit.Deviationsfromtheprototypearesemantically marked,andtheArabicverbsthatconstruethemarethereforemarkedmorphologically.Chapter  turnstoreflexivemarking.Iarguethattheaffixationofreflexive morphemestobaseverbshascreatedagrammaticalizedstructure:amorpheme pairedwithacertainsemanticfeature.Ishowthatthismorphemenowappearson verbswhoseactionterminatesatthesubject,andisnolongerdependentonanonreflexivebaseverbtomodify.InChapter  Iarguethattwoverbpatternscharacterizedbyalongvoweldenoteasymmetricsemanticstructureinwhichtwoparticipant rolesareorientedrelativetoeachother.Recognizingthefunctionofthesepatterns allowsforasingletreatmentofagreatrangeofverbsthatbearthesamelinguistic markingbutwhichotherwiseappeartohavenothingincommon.Iillustratethat symmetryisaconceptualcategorythatincorporatesbutismuchlargerthanreciprocity,discernableinavarietyofeventsandsituations,andshowthatitismarked onverbscrosslinguistically.Chapter  examinesverbsthatcausativizesimplespontaneousactions,andthosethatturnstaticconceptsintoactivities.Twoverbpatterns andtheirreflexivecounterpartsareaddressed,eachdenotingthepresenceofanagent

thatistypicallynotfoundinthebaseconcept.Chapter  treatstwoverbpatternsthat signalrepetitiveactionwithrepetitionoflinguisticform,eitherthroughreduplicationofthesecondconsonant,orofthe firstsyllable.Thechapterinvestigatesthe typesofrepeatedactionconstruedbyverbsformedineachpattern,distinguishing betweenderivedverbsthatdoubleuptheactionofthebaseverb,andnon-derived verbsthatencodeasoundorrhythmnoticedintheenvironment.Intheconcluding chapterIconsiderhowthederivationalsystemofArabicmayhavecomeinto existence,presentingevidencefromstudiesofgrammaticalizationandanalogyin otherlanguagestostrengthenmyclaimthatArabicverbpatternsaretheresultof thesesameprocesses.

Words,roots,andpatterns

. Introduction

Thefocusofthischapteristhesemanticmake-upofwordmeaningingeneral.My aimistoestablishthatallwordmeaningiscomprisedoftwoelements:asemantic structureandconceptualcontentthat fleshesoutthatstructurewithspecificdetail (Langacker , , ;RappaportHovavandLevin ;Levin ).Every wordframesconceptualcontent,andthederivationofonewordfromanother producesasetofwordsinwhichthiscontentisframedslightlydifferently.

Section . familiarizesthereaderwiththeideaofrootsandpatterns,illustrating thatArabicwordsformfamilieseitherbecausetheyshareaconsonantalstringor becausetheiroverallshapeisthesame.Section . providesanoverviewofthe currentdebateregardingthestatusofrootsandpatternsaslexicalunits,andsituates thecurrentworkwithinthisdebate,outliningmyapproachtoword-to-wordderivationandtheroleofrootsandpatternswithinit.Theanalysisofwordmeaning beginsinSection .,whereIillustratethedistinctionbetweenconceptualcontent andsemanticstructurewithavarietyofArabicdata.Thefollowingtwosections establishadirectionofderivation.Section   treatswordsderivedfromverbs,and Section . illustratesthatverbsmaybederivedfromavarietyofnouns,adjectives, andotherverbs.IsummarizethemainpointsofthechapterinSection   and concludebyconsideringtheimplicationsoftheanalysissofarforthetreatmentof theverbpatternsinthecomingchapters,andforthedevelopmentofacoherent theoryoftheArabicverb.

. Roots,patterns,andwordfamilies

StandardanalysesofArabicmorphologytypicallystatethat,withtheexceptionofa closedclassofgrammaticalfunctionwords,everyArabicwordconsistsoftwo components:aconsonantalrootandsometypeofpatternwithwhichitcombines (seeforexampleFischer

;Watson ;Holes a;Ryding , ). Arootmostcommonlyconsistsofthreeorderedconsonants,althoughrootswith twoandfourconsonantsarealsoattested.Followingaconventiondevelopedby

Pesetsky(),Iwillprefacearootwiththesymbol √.Asanexample,thewords in()formawordfamilywhosemembersallcontainthetriconsonantalroot √hdr, highlightedinbold.

() hadara ‘toattend,bepresent’ int/trns

hadaara ‘sedentariness;civilization’

hadar ‘acivilizedregion’

haadara ‘tolecture’ trns

hadra ‘ presence ’

istahadara ‘tosummon ’ trns

Theverb hadara,glossedin()as ‘toattend’,literallymeans ‘heattended’,butthe thirdmasculinesingularperfectiveofagivenverbistraditionallyalsoitscitation form,andisusedingrammarsinthewaythattheinfinitiveisusedinEnglish. Imaintainthisconventionthroughoutthisbook.

Asyoulookedoverthewordsin(),youprobablysearchedforasemantic connectionbetweenthem.Thissuggeststhatwhenthesamethree-letterstringis repeatedwerecognizeitasadiscreteextractableelement,andanumberofstudiesby BoudelaaandMarslen-Wilson(a, 

,

)haveshownthatnative speakersofArabicrecognizerootsinthiswaytoo(althoughseeBohas ). Consonantalstringsarealsomaintainedwhenforeignwordsareimportedinto Arabic,wheretheycometorepresentthemeaningofthesourceword.Theexamples in()arefromRyding(: ).

(

) talfana ‘totelephone’ talfaza ‘totelevize’ balʃafa ‘toBolshevize’ taʔamraka ‘tobecomeAmericanized’

Zeroinginonarootinvolvesbackgroundingtheremainderoftheword,andwhatis leftoverisalinguisticpatternthatrecurstoproduceadifferenttypeofwordfamily. Thesewordpatternsconsistofvowels,non-rootconsonants(sometimes),andslots fortherootconsonantsto fill.Theyoccurwithdifferentrootsresultinginsetsof wordsthatsharethesameshape.Forexample,theword hadaara ‘civilization’ exhibitsacommonpatterncharacteristicofnounsdescribingabstractentitiesor states.Thispattern,nottheroot,ishighlightedin().

() hadaara ‘sedentariness;civilization’ hadaaθa ‘modernity’

θaqaafa ‘culture ’

kaθaafa ‘density’

baraaʔa ‘innocence’

badaana ‘obesity’

Manypropertystateadjectivesareformedinanotherfrequentlyrecurringpattern, highlightedinboldin().

() kabiir ‘big’

saġiir ‘small’

tawiil ‘tall’

hadiiθ ‘modern’

badiin ‘fat’

bariiʕ ‘innocent’

Forverbstherearetheoretically fifteendifferentpatterns.Severaloftheseare extremelyrarehowever,andinthisbookIfocusontheninemostcommonpatterns. InwesterngrammarsofArabictheverbpatternsarenumbered,whiletheearly grammariansofthelanguagereferredtopatternsusingtheroot √fʕlasanexemplar, spellingouttheformofthepatternitself(seeOwens  andSuleiman ).In() theroot √qtʕ appearsinninedifferentpatterns.Thepatternnumberisgiveninthe westerntradition,andthepatternnameisalsoprovided.Iwillusenamesand numbersofpatternsinterchangeablyfromthispointforward.

(

)PatternNameExample

I faʕalaqataʕa ‘tosever,tocutthrough’ trns

II faʕʕalaqattaʕa ‘tochopup’ trns

III faaʕalaqaataʕa ‘tointerrupt;toboycott’ trns

IV ʔafʕala ʔaqtaʕa ‘togiveland’ ditrns

V tafa ʕʕalataqattaʕa ‘tobreakup;cutinandout’ int

VI tafaaʕalataqaataʕa ‘tointersect’ int/obl

VII infaʕalainqataʕa ‘toterminate,cutout’ int

VIII iftaʕalaiqtataʕa ‘tocutforoneself;toglean’ trns

X istafʕalaistaqtaʕa ‘todeduct’ trns

Ryding(: )assertsthatwordpatternspresenta ‘semanticslant’ onaconsistent lexicalcorethatismanifesteddifferentlydependingonthepattern.Determining thenatureofboththecoreandits ‘slant ’ orviewisacentralaimofthisbook.

Fromamorphologicalperspectivetherefore,Arabicwordscanbegroupedinone oftwoways:wordsthatshareacommonpattern,andwordsthatsharethesameroot. Wordsthatshareapatternwillbedistinguishedfromeachotherbytheirdifferent roots,asin()and()above.Wordsthatsharearootwillbedistinguishedfromeach otherbecausethatrootwillbeorganizedindifferentpatterns,asin().

Aroot-and-patterncombinationisnotalwaysafree-standingword.Verbsare builtaroundaverbstemconsistingofrootandpattern,butthismustbeinflectedin ordertobearticulated.Forexample,theroot √hdrarrangedinpatternXresultsin thestem stahdir ‘ summon ’.Thisstemneverappearsalone,butcombineswith inflectionalaffixestoproduceafullyinflectedverb,asin().

() ʔa-stahdir ‘Isummon’

ya-stahdir ‘Hesummons’

ya-stahdir-uun ‘Theysummon’

Thesedifferentaffixescontributetheagreementfeaturesoftheverb,buttheydonot alterthemeaningattributedtothestem.Thedividinglinebetweenderivationaland inflectionalmorphologyisnotalwaysclearinagivenlanguage(seeHaspelmathand Sims ),butausefuldistinctioncanbemadeforArabicbetweenderivation the creationofonewordfromanotherwithanaccompanyingchangeinmeaning and inflection theattachingofaffixestoawordorstemwithoutaffectingthemeaning attributedtoit(Shimron ).

.

Roots,patterns,andderivation

AcommonlyheldviewofSemiticmorphology,assummarizedbyShimron(: ), isthatrootsandpatternsarediscontinuousmorphemesthataremergedtoform words.ThisviewisassociatedwithCantineau(a, b),whoassertsthat virtuallyallwordsarederivedbycrossingarootwithapattern.Inmodernwestern accountsofArabicmorphologyaconceptionoftherootassomekindofmorphologicalbaseisfoundinFleisch(),Goldenberg(),McCarthy(, ), Ryding(, ),Versteegh(),andYip().Inparticular,McCarthy’ s (, )influentialworkonprosodicmorphologyassertsthatwordsarecomposedofthreediscontinuousmorphemesarrangedonthreemorphemictiers:the patternorCVskeleton,consistingofslotsforrootconsonants(C)andslotsfor vowels(V),theconsonantalroottier,andthevowelmelodytiercomprisedofthe vowelsthat fillthevowelslotsinthepattern,markingactiveorpassivevoice.Thus thepassiveverb kuttib ‘tobemadetowrite’,forexample,isanamalgamationofthese threemorphemes,asillustratedin().

() Vowel Melodyuiperfective passive

CV SkeletonCVCCVCcausative (Form 2)

Rootk t b‘write’

(McCarthy and Prince 1990a: 5)

Thisroot-and-patternapproachtomorphologyrepresentsabreakwithtraditionalArab thought.InareviewoflinguistictreatisesonArabicwrittenbetween  and , Owens(: –)remarksthatseveralwritersassumedabasicmeaningforthe root,notablyIbnJinniiandIbnFaaris(tenthcentury),buttheydidnotviewitas playingaroleinderivation.Asometimesvaguedistinctionwasmadebetweenthe tasriif ‘circulation’ ofaroot,whichaccordingtoIbn ʕusfuur(thirteenthcentury)referstoall permutationsofarootinvariouswordpatterns,and iʃ tiqaaq ‘derivation’ ofaword

fromits ʔasl ‘origin’,whichmaybeasimplenoun,oragerund/infinitivereferredto asa mas dar ‘ source ’.Therewasadistinctionhere,therefore,betweenbasicunderivedwordsandthosethatarederivedfromthem,andtheideaofrootsand patternsasdiscontinuousmorphemeswaslacking.IbnYaʕiiʃ (twelfth–thirteenthcentury)andAstaraabaadii(thirteenth)usetheterm kalima torefertoboth ‘word’ and ‘morpheme’,butthenotionofamorphemeisrestrictedtoinflectionalaffixes.Thereis nosuggestionthataverbitself,withoutaninflectionalaffix,consistsoftwomorphemes. Thereareseveralproblemswiththeideathateverywordisacombinationofaroot andapattern.Heath(: )pointsoutthattheseparationofconsonantsfrom vowelsinnounslike xubz ‘bread’ , ðahab ‘gold’ , kabʃ ‘ ram ’,and hifz ‘preservation’ leavesvowelsthathavenoconsistentfunction,andsocannotbeconsideredmorphemic.Thereisnoreason,heargues,toassertthat kalb ‘dog’ isdecomposedin thementallexiconintoaroot √klbandapatterncontainingasinglemeaningless vowel.Likewise,henotesthatthevowelinimperfectiveverbssuchas ya-ktub ‘he writes’ , ya-drib ‘hehits’,and ya-bhaθ ‘heresearches’ iseitherunpredictableordeterminedbyanadjacentconsonant,anddoesnotfunctionasameaning-bearingelement. Heath’sconclusionisthatArabichasacoreofunderivedstems,andthatthesefunction asbasesforderivation,beingmodifiedbyvowelchanges,affixation,orboth.Asimilar argumentismadebyBatEl(, )andUssishkin(, , )forHebrew. Logically,itcannotbethecasethatallwordsarederivedfromaroot,sincetheonly waythatmultiplewordscontainingthesamerootcouldcomeaboutwithoutone beingabaseforanotherisiftherewasprioragreementonwhatthatrootmeans. Suchasituation,wherebyearlyspeakersofArabicagreedonthemeaningofaroot priortoitsappearanceinaword,isclearlyabsurd.Somewordmustbethe firstto containagivenroot,andthatrootthenrecurswhenanotherwordiscoinedthat sharessomeaspectofitsmeaningwiththe first.Semantically,thisisword-to-word derivation.Importantly,itneednotbethecasethatonlyasinglewordinaword familyisthebaseforalltheothers.Forexample,Larcher(, )pointsoutthat thenounofplace maktab ‘office,desk’ appearstobederivedfromtheverb kataba ‘to write’,sincethenoundescribesaplacewherewritingiscarriedout.However, Larchernotesthatasecondnoun, maktaba ‘library,bookshop’,islinkedto kitaab ‘book’,sinceitdescribesaplacewherebooksarefound.Ifboth maktab and maktaba areroot-derived,itisnotpossibletoexplainwhyoneframesthenotion , whiletheotherbuildsonthemeaning  .Thiscaneasilybeexplainedwithwordbasedderivation,whereboth maktab ‘office ’ and kitaab ‘book’ arederivedfromthe verb kataba ‘towrite’,with kitaab thenservingasabasefor maktaba ‘library’ . Thefactthattherootmustultimatelycomefromaworddoesnotautomatically excludeitentirelyfromderivationalprocesseshowever(cf.Watson ).Larcher ()makesanextremelyusefuldistinctionbetweenderivationonthesemantic level,wherethereisalwaysasourceword,andderivationasamorphological operation.Whilethereisalwaysabasewordinanyderivation,therearetwo

possibilitiesatthemorphologicallevel.Oneisthatthederivedwordresultsfroma changemadetothebase,andtheotheristhattherootconsonantsofthebaseare extractedandarrangedinanewpattern.Asemanticbaseisalwaysawordor uninflectedstemwhileamorphologicalbasecouldtheoreticallybeeitherawordor anextractedroot.Animportantquestionfacingphonologistsandmorphologists thereforeiswhetherderivationaloperationsaccessaconsonantalroot,orsimplya wordorstem.

Thereisagreatdealofevidencethatderivationdoesnotaccessaconsonantalroot.

Ratcliffe()showsthattheArabic ‘brokenplural’ isnotassociatedwitha fixedword pattern,butratherthatpluralsaremarkedbythelongvowel/aa/inthesecondsyllable.

()SingularPlural kalbkilaab ‘dog’ daftardafaatir ‘notebook’ xaatimxawaatim ‘seal’ damiirdamaaʔir ‘ pronoun ’ sultaansalaatiin ‘sultan’

(Ratcliffe :

)

Becausethepluralnounsin()donothaveaconsistentshape,aroot-and-pattern analysiscanonlyaccountforthembyproposingseveraldifferentbrokenpluralpatterns towhichrootsareassignedapparentlyatrandom.Incontrast,infixationofalongvowel tothesingularnoun,togetherwithaccompanyingvowelchanges,isaconsistentrule. Inaddition,asDavis()illustrates,thebrokenpluralpreservesnon-rootphonologicalmaterialfromthesingularnounbase.Theaffixalconsonantsofasingularnoun transfertotheplural,whichisunexpectedifthepluralisformedbyextractingonly therootfromthesingular.Rootconsonantsarehighlightedinboldin().

()SingularPlural

maktab makaatib ‘office ’ miftaah mafaatiih ‘key’ taqdiir taqaadiir ‘evaluation’

Theconclusionisthatbrokenpluralsarenotformedbycombininganextractedroot withapluralnounpattern,butthroughanoperationthatmodifiesthesinglebase noun.Similarly,Benmamoun(: )illustratesthatactiveparticiplesandsome nounsofplacemaintainthesamevocalicmelodyasthecorrespondingimperfective verb,suggestingthattheyareformedbymodifyingtheimperfectiveverbstemrather thanbypluggingarootintoapattern.

() yu-ʕallim ‘heteaches’ mu-ʕallim ‘teacher’ yu-saaʕid ‘heassists’ mu-saaʕid ‘assistant’ ya-ʤlis ‘hesits’ ma-ʤlis ‘conferenceroom,councilmeeting ’ ya-sbah ‘heswims’ ma-sbah ‘swimmingpool’

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.