their Reflexes in the Modern Arabic Dialects '
By Peter Abboud, Austin, Texas
Classical Arabic and all modem Arabic dialects show a clear perfect-
imperfect distinction in their verb forms; the latter, in both forms of
Arabic, differs from the former in that it has, in addition to a stem,
suffixes as well as prefixes, while the former has sufiixes only. In the
imperfect. Classical Arabic has two stems for certain types of verbs,
while the modem dialects, with at least one known exception, have only
one stem for the imperfect for all verb t3^e8, which also serves as the
stem of the imperative. The exception is the group of dialects spoken
today in the Najd of Saudi Arabia (henceforth referred to collectively as
Najdi Arabic) , which exhibit imperative stems which are different from
those of the imperfect and have thus maintained ancient features that
are remarkably similar to Classical Arabic. This paper will examine
these stems in terms of their stmcture and synchronic derivation, first
for Classical Arabic, then for the modern Arabic dialects and for Najdi;
in addition it will attempt to discuss their historical development.
1. Classical Arabic
The Arab grammarians distinguish three modes for the imperfect:
al-marßi' 'the indicative', al-mansüb 'the subjunctive', and al-majzüm
'the jussive'. The forms, which in each case consist of a prefix, a stem,
and may end in a suffix, may be divided into two groups. (1) The
members ofthe paradigm that always have a suffix are: (i) the f p. (2nd
and 3rd persons), whose suffix is/-na/ in all three modes; and (ii) the
d. (m. and f , 2nd and 3rd persons), the m.p. (2nd and 3rd persons), and
the 2 f.s., whose sufiixes consist ofa long vowel, /ä, ü, i,/^ respectively,
' An abridged version of part of this paper was read at the 118th annual
meeting ofthe American Oriental Society, held in Toronto, Canada, in 1978. I
am indebted to Ernest McCarus ofthe University of Michigan for reading the
paper and for many valuable comments.
^ Some of these vowels may, of course, assimilate to a preceding vowel in the
case of the final-weak verbs. For details see W. Wright: A grammar of the
Arabic Language-^. Cambridge 1967, 1 88 ff. and Henri Fleisch: Traite de philo¬
logie arabe. Beirut 1956, I 118-139.
and in the indicative only, of an /n/ and short vowel of inverse height.
(2) The other members i.e., the 3 m.s., 3 f s., 2 m.s., and I (s. and p.),
have a sufiix in the indicative and subjunctive, which is the short vowel
/u, a/, respectively, but have no suffixes in the jussive.
For the strong and initial-weak verb, there is only one stem in the
paradigms of all three modes. For the hollow and final- weak verbs,' two
stems exist for the second group above, one when there is a suffix, i.e.,
in the indicative and subjunctive, and the other when there is no sufiix,
i.e., in the jussive. These are illustrated in the following examples,
which give the 2 m.d., 2 f p., and 2 m.s., for each verb in that order.
Indicative Subjunctive Jussive
taktubani taktubä taktubä 'write'
taktubna taktubna taktubna
taktubu taktuba taktub
tamuddäni tamuddä tamuddä ' stretc
tamdudna tamdudna tamdudna
tamuddu tamudda tamuddV/tamdud"
tazüräni tazürä tazürä ' visit'
tazuma tazuma tazuma
tazüru tazüra tazur
tamiläni tamllä tamilä 'bend'
tamilna tamilna tamilna
tamilu tamila tamil
' The doubled verbs, i.e., verbs whose second and third radicals are identical, are not strictly relevant to the discussion that follows and will not be discussed
in this paper. As is well-known, in Classical Arabic they have two stems: an
uncontracted stem (i.e., where a vowel appears between the two identical conso¬
nants) which occurs with a consonant-initial suffix, as in /yamdudna/'they (f p.) stretch', and a contracted stem (i.e., where there is no vowel between the two
consonants), which occurs with a vowel-initial suffix, as in /yamuddu/ 'he
stretches'. (Also, see footnote 16 below). All Arabic dialects reported use the
contracted stem in verb forms (exceptions are made in the case of VC2VC2 and
C2C2VC2) ; when a consonant-initial suffix is added (as in the 1st and 2nd person forms of the perfect) , instead of using the non-contracted stem, they all have a
long vowel increment attached to the contracted stem, as in /maddena/ 'we
stretched'.
'' For V, see footnote 16 below.
7*
Indicative Subjunctive Jussive
taijuwäni tarjuwä tarjuwä 'hope'
tarjüna tarjüna tarjüna
tarjü' tarjuwa tarju
tarmiyäni tarmiyä tarmiyä 'throw'
tarmina tarmina tarmina
tarmi tarmiya tarmi
tansayäni tansayä tansayä 'forget'
tansayna tansayna tansayna
tansä tansä tansa
As is well known, the imperative stem is identical to that of the
jussive, and so does not require separate treatment.
1.1 It will be noted that the difference in the stems, where it exists,
basically involves short vs. long vowels, i.e., contracted vs. full stems.
Interesting questions arise immediately. Why is this so? Assuming one
starts with the full stem, how does one obtain the contracted one from it,
i.e., are there phonological rules that can explain why the long vowels in
the non-jussive shorten in the jussive?* To put it more concretely, how
does one explain 1 and 2 below:
A B
1. tazüru tazur
tamilu tamil
tanämu tanam
2. tarjü tarju
tarmi tarmi
tansä tansa
In the case of 1 (i.e., the hollow verbs), it can be seen that when no
suffix is added to the stem, a long vowel is left in closed syllable. An
important rule of Classical Arabic prose is immediately responsible for
^ In the case of final-weak verbs the stems of the indicative and the subjunc¬
tive are identical; the assimilation processes referred to in footnote 2 and others lead to the actual forms: /tarjü, tarmi, tansä/.
' It is interesting to note that Wbight uses phonological criteria to explain
the contracted form ofthe hollow verbs, Wright I 82B, but when it comes to
the final-weak verbs, he says, "the significance of the form produces the
abbreviation". Ibid. I 90C.
forms 1 (B): with a few clearly defined exceptions,' a long vowel in a
closed syllable must be shortened (this is henceforth referred to as the
shortening rule).
The rule is widely attested in the language, both word-finally-and
elsewhere. It applies in the following cases, among others:
(1) the f p. forms of hollow verbs in the imperfect. Thus:
tazuma 'you (f.p.) visit' not ""taziima cf. tazüm, tazürüna
(2) the energetic forms of verbs ending in the suffixes /-Ü, i/ ofthe m.p.
and 2fs. respectively. Thus:
Non-energetic tafliamü(na) taniami(na) tarjü (na) tarji(na) tansaw(na) tansay(na)
Ist energetic 2nd energetic
'you (m.p.) understand 'you (f s.) understand 'you (m.p.) hope' 'you (f s.) hope' 'you (m.p.) forget' 'you (f s.) forget'
tafhamuima talhaminna taijunna tarjinna tansawurma tansajrinna
tafhamun talhamin taijun tarjin tansawun tansayin
It should be noted, however, that the suffix /ä/ of the dual and the /ä/
of the energetic form of the f p. do not shorten, which will make them
exceptions to the shortening rule, and in neither case is there a 2nd
energetic. Thus:
Non-energetic tafhamä(ni) tarjuwä(ni) tafhamna tarjüna
'you (d.) understand 'you (d.) hope' 'you (fp.) understand' 'you (fp.) hope'
1st energetic tafhamäimi tarjuwänni tafhamnäniü tarjünänni
the (3) f s. form ofthe perfect final-weak verbs ofthe type CaCaC. Thus:
raj at ramat
'she hoped' 'she threw'
not ""rajat not ""ramat
cf raja cf ramä
The mle would not reject the form ""rajata of the 3 f d., but, as is well-
known, the d. takes its point of departure from the s. form to give the
' Basically, a syllable ofthe type CVC is allowed in (1) pause forms, as in
/muslimün/ 'Moslems', the pause form of/ muslimüna/, and /käf/ 'k', the pause
form of /käfun/, and (2) those stems where the long vowel is followed by a
doubled consonant, as in /hämmat/ 'important' (f s.). For a fuUer discussion, seelbn Ya'ish: Sharh al-Mufa^sal. Cairo: al-Tibä'a al-Muniriyan.d., IX 120, and al-'Astaräbädhi: Sharh Shäfiyat Ibn al-Ifäjib. Beirut: Där al-Kutub al-'Ilmiya 1975, Part I, II 210ff!
correct form /rajatä/, though the form with the long vowel is known to
have occurred in some of the ancient dialects.*
(4) the nunated forms of nouns and participles whose roots are final-
weak. Thus:
hudan jawärin rämin
'a guided path' 'slave girls' 'throwing' (m.s.
not '•'hudan not '•'jawärin not ""rämin
cf al-hudä cf al-jawari cf. al-rämi
The application of this shortening rule thus clearly explains the
contracted stems of hollows verbs. Those of final-weak verbs are much
more difficult to account for. The cases (3) and (4) of the shortening
rule, given immediately above, suggest that the shortening of final long
vowels in final-weak roots occurs as a result ofthe addition of a sufiix of
the shape -VC to the stem. To account for the actual forms, one would
then presume a glide deletion rule, followed by vowel assimilation
(where applicable) and shortening.' Thus, to take two examples,
/ramat/ and /hudan/, the derivations would be as follows:
ramay + at
rama -I- at
ramat
huday -I- un huda -I- un hudaan hudan
glide deletion vowel assimilation shortening
The only such suffix that can conceivably be added directly to the
stem of verbs is that of the energetic (the object pronouns, which could
also be added, are all consonant-initial) . It is natural then to look to the
energetic for an explanation. '" Here are examples illustrating the 2 m.s.
in both forms of the energetic of final-weak verbs:
non-energetic tarjü tarmi tansä
'yo (m.s.) hope' 'you (m.s.) throw' 'you (m.s.) forget'
1st energetic 2nd energetic
tarjuwanna tarjuwan
tarmiyanna tarmiyan
tansayanna tansayan
' See Wright I 89A, and Carl Brockelmann: Grundriss der vergleichenden
Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen. Berlin 1908 and 1913, p. 619.
' For a more detailed discussion, see Michael K. Brame: Arabic Phonology:
Implications for Phonological Theory and Historical Semitic. Unpublished
Dissertation, M.l.T. 1970.
It is beyond the scope of this paper to explain how the energetic forms
themselves are to be derived. The question that is answered in the argument
that follows is: can the energetic forms, however derived, explain the contracted stems of final-weak verbs?
Note that as they stand these energetic forms are not iimnediately
conducive to shortening the vowel. Also, according to the regular
phonological rules, a sequence /aya/ as in /tansayanna/ is not permis¬
sible and should normally lead to *tansanna by glide deletion, cf
/ramä/ (derived presumably from *ramaya)." If this deletion rule
somehow is forced to operate here, however, then the shortening of the
resultant long vowel, triggered by the shortening rule, and a rule
deleting the /n/ ofthe second energetic, would give the required form of
the jussive. Thus, the derivation would be as follows:
tansayan
tansaan glide deletion
tansan shortening
tansa n-deletion
Paradoxically, though, we have exactly the reverse problem in the
energetic forms ofthe two other verbs. Here the sequences /uwa, iya/
are perfectly acceptable, cf /lan yarjuwa/ 'he will never hope', /lan
yarmiya/'he will never throw'. To get the desired jussive forms, we
would have to posit a special ad-hoc rule to require progressive assimi¬
lation of the vowels in this environment only, allow glide deletion to
generate long vowels, shorten them by the vowel shorting rule, and then
delete the /-n/. Thus, the derivation would be as follows:
taijuwan tarmiyan
tarjuan tarmian glide deletion
tarjuun tarmiin vowel assimilation
tarjun tarmin shortening
tarju tarmi n-deletion
Even if we were to find a way around this difficulty, we still get for the
2 m.s. forms like ""tarjun, ""tarmin which are identical with the 2 m.p.
and 2 f s. forms, respectively. Obviously, somehow, we must ensure this
does not happen; otherwise how will we ascertain that after the deletion
of the /-n/, we get a short vowel in one case, a long one in the other?
Several points about this suggestion for obtaining the jussive forms of
finaf-weak verbs by starting from the energetic have to be made. First,
the cases (3) and (4) of the shortening rule deal with a suffix that is
obligatory, i.e., a regular indefinite noun must have tanwin, and a verb
" Wright I 88 fT.; other sequences that are not permissible, such as /-awu-, -ayi-/, do occur in the m.p. and 2 f.s. ofthe energetic of final-weak verbs. It may well be the case that the energetic preserves older forms of the language where such sequences were not reduced.
must have a subject marker. The energetic, on the other hand, is, in
historical Classical Arabic, mostly optional, and in some contexts very
rarely used. In trying to explain a structure synchronically, what valid
justification is there for positing an underljdng form which is at best a
stylistic variant of the surface form? Secondly, though the energetic
often overlaps with the jussive in its functions, (the energetic is used in
commands, prohibitions etc.) , it is also used where the indicative is indi¬
cated, (i.e., where no particle or S3mtactic construction suggests an
occurrence ofthe jussive) . That is to say that though the energetic forms
are the same, the syntactic context may indicate jussive or indicative."
What justification is there, then, for suggesting that the energetic
underlies solely the jussive? Thirdly, there is no independent motivation
for dropping the /n/ of the energetic to get the jussive. In actual prac¬
tise, this /n/ ofthe second energetic is deleted either when followed by
a word having an initial CC-, or in pause. '" Even if we were to generalize
the pause form so as to use it as the context form, we would not get the
requisite result, since the pausal forms of /tarjuwan, tarmiyan,
tansayan/ are /tarjuwä, tarmiyä, tansayä/. Finally, even if the ener¬
getic form were to be used to explain the shortening ofthe vowel in final-
weak verbs, it would not explain it in hollow verbs, since the energetic of
these has long vowels. Thus:
1st energ. 2nd, energ.
yazüru 'he visits' yazüranna yazüran
To explain the form /yazur/, we would have to assume that the
shortening rule applies twice, once at the word level (to shorten the
vowel of final-weak verbs), then following the deletion of the /n/ or
/-an/, a second time at the word level (to shorten the vowel of the
hollow verbs). Thus:
tarjuwan tazüran
tarjuan glide deletion
tarjuun vowel assimilation
On the uses of the energetic, obligatorily (following the particle /la/ of oath), very rarely (e.g., after /lam/), or optionally, see Sibawayhi: al-Kitäb. Ed.
Hartwig Derenbourg. Paris 1881 and 1889 H 152iT.; Ibn Ya'ish IX 37ff.;
and also Wright II 41-43.
This being the case, the energetic is then not a separate (fourth) mood, as stated in traditional westem grammars. The energetic suffixes are clearly used with other moods to indicate the semantic feature [emphasis], though the state¬
ment usually found in grammars that the energetic fo rm s are derived from the
jussive forms, might obscure this point.
Sibawayhi ll 157-158; Ibn Ya'ish IX 43-45.
tarjun
tarju tazur
tazur
shortening
energetic suffix deletion shortening
In view of all of this and of the problems with derivation given in the
previous section, it seems clear that positing the energetic as the under¬
lying form for the derivation of the jussive is fraught with serious diffi¬
culties and is hard to justify.
There are hypotheses for suffixes other than the energetic that can be
suggested: (1) A neat way to circumvent the difficulty vsdth vowel -t-
glide + vowel sequences discussed above is to assume that the vowel
(V) ofthe posited suffix (-VC) is high, or better still, homophonous with
the stem vowel." (In the case of/u/, it would amount to adding a con¬
sonantal suffix after the indicative marker rather than directly to the
stem. We need to do that, anyway, for the forms with final vowels) . This
will work for final-weak verbs, but we will still have the difficulty with
hollow verbs discussed in the last point above. (2) A second hj^othesis
is to assume that a consonantal suffiix is added to the stem. This will
give the desired shortening in hollow verbs (the shortening rule would
have to be extended to apply to doubly closed long syllables as well),
will work for verbs like /tarjü, tarmi/, but will create a problem for the
generation of the proper form for verbs like /tansä/, whose stem
/-nsay-/ usually preserves the glide when followed by a consonant, as in
/tansayna/ 'you (fp.) forget'. (3) Finally, we may propose a solution
that incorporates both of these hypotheses: a vowel-initial or a conso¬
nantal suffix, depending on the particular verb or verb form."
None of these solutions is really viable in a synchronic treatment of
Classical Arabic, because the suggested suffixes are purely hypothetical
and because, even if they were not, we must still find natural non-ad hoc
solutions to the serious derivation problems alluded to earlier, including
the deletion of the consonant of the proposed suffix.
" Wright suggests that the vowel of the jussive "seems originally to have been i" (I 60D) and alludes to such usage by the poets (II 385D, 386). See
Sibawayhi II 329-330. A vowel alone, however, would not provide the environ¬
ment for shortening. For a case of homophony, see the following footnote.
In this regard it is interesting to observe the behavior of doubled verbs. In the jussive without suffixes, either the contracted or the non-contracted stem
may be used, suggesting both types of suffixes. As is well known, with the
contracted stems a vowel is added, which may be /a/ or /i/ for all doubled
verbs, and may, in addition, be /u/ for verbs whose stem vowel is /u/.
Sibawayhi suggests that some dialects use a vowel that is homophonous with
the stem vowel, except when the object pronoun ofthe 3 f s. /hä/ is used. (See Sibawayhi II 163).
To summarize: though a suffix—that ofthe energetic or some other-
may indicate a way for accounting for the shortening of the long vowel
of final-weak verbs, there is no justification or validity for it in historical
Classical Arabic in our present state of knowledge; such a suffix must be
assigned, if at all, to some earlier state. For Classical Arabic as we know
it, we are then resigned to a morphological/syntactic formulation for
the shortening of these vowels for final-weak verbs. On the other hand,
the shortening of the long vowel in hollow verbs follows naturally from
the shortening rule.
1.2 A second question, related to the above discussion, arises. How
did the contracted stems of final-weak verbs develop historically?
Taking our cue from the shortening rule of Arabic, we would assume
that contraction took place as a result of an early, less constrained, but
similar rule. Two facts have now to be explained. (1) The stems of both
jussive and non-jussive verbs end in -VG (where G is a glide), but only
those ofthe former shorten in Classical Arabic. To explain this, consider
the following forms of a strong verb and those of final-weak verbs
obtained by analogy with the strong verb. (The -I- marker sets off the
stem from prefixes and suffixes).
Stem Indicative Subjunctive Jussive
-ktub- ya-l-ktub+u ya-t-ktub-l-a ya-l-ktub
-rmiy- *ya-l-rmiy-l-u ya-t-rmiy-l-a ya-t-rmiy
-rjuw- *ya-(-rjuw-l-u ya-l-rjuw-l-a ya-t-rjuw
-nsay- *ya+nsay-(-u *ya-l-nsay-l-a *ya-t-nsay
It will be seen that the non-jussive stem is followed by a vowel, the
jussive is not. By assuming these to be the earlier forms of Classical
Arabic," we can then explain how the jussive forms alone, after
developing into forms with long vowels, are then shortened by the
shortening rule.
(2) In Classical Arabic the contracted and the full stems occur both in
context and in pause. Since forms drop their inflectional suffixes in
pause (by a rule that will be referred to henceforth as the pause apoco-
pation rule) but not in context, this second fact can be explained by
assuming that historically the shortening rule came first and shortened
final long vowels (presumably it applied in two stages: in pause, to
" Credence is lent to the validity of these forms both as earlier historical
fonns and as underlying synchronic forms by the fact that, as was pointed out
earlier, sequences such as /-aya-, -awu-/, occur in energetic forms in Arabie.
Evidence from Comparative Semitic can also be adduced for the historical forms
(See Brockelmann 618ff.).
begin with, and then in context) and that only at a later stage did the
pause apocopation phenomenon develop.'*
As is well known, a similar shortening rule applied to a final long
closed syllable, so we might assume that the same processes were at
work in final-weak and hollow verbs. The forms of a final-weak and a
hollow verb at the end of each of these two stages are presented in the
following table.
Stage 1 Stage 2
context pause context pause
Indicative ya-t-rmiy-)-u ya-(-rmiy-l-u ya-Hrmiy-l-u ya-l-rmiy-l-u
Subjunctive ya-l-rmiy-)-a ya-t-rmiy-l-a ya-l-rmiy-l-a ya-t-rmiy-l-a
Jussive ya-l-rmi-l-" ya-l-rmi-l- ya-l-rmi-l- ya-l-rmi-l-
Indicative ya-1-zürfu ya-1-zür-l-u ya-1-zür-l-u ya-1-zür-l-u
Subjunctive ya-t-zür-t-a ya-1-zür-t-a ya+zür-l-a ya-t-zür-l-a
Jussive ya-t-zür-t- ya-l-zur-t- ya-fzur-l- ya-l-zur-t-.
As a result, at the end of Stage 2, we have the following shortening rule:
V -> V / - (C) #
where # is word-end marker. The rule states that a long vowel in an
open or a closed syllable shortens when followed by a word boundary.
Following Stage 2, two sets of rules set in: pausation (i.e., the deve¬
lopment of special forms, distinct from context fonns, and used exclusi¬
vely when there is a cessation of speech) and the various glide
processes. Of the different pausation rules, by far the most important
Harris Birkeland: Allarabische Pausalformen. Oslo 1940, pp. 79, 80,
102-104, argues that the shortening is to be viewed in the general historical
context of the shortening (and apocopation) of the long vowels of pronoun
suffixes such as /-humü, -hü, -hi, -kä, ki/, etc., and the enclitic /mä/ (See
Sibawayhi II 318-320; Ibn Ya'ish IX 86-87), a stage which reflects a general
West-Semitic phenomenon. Pause apocopation, on the other hand, is strictly
Arabic.
" Here and with /yarjü/, / -iy, -uw/ produce long vowel in a natural way. In the case of /yansä/, we have to assume an earlier rule ay -> ä. We could circum¬
vent this problem, if we adopted the suggestion that the jussive is marked by the
vowel /i/ (See footnote 11), which, following vowel assimilation and glide
deletion would give us the correct forms. We would then have to assume that
there was an early rule deleting final /i/, but not /a/ and /u/. In a private communication McCarus indicated that if the heavy cluster stress assignment rule has any validity in Arabic, and it does, then he finds it necessary to posit such a vowel in order to account for the stress on some jussive fonns in Arabic poetry, though this might create a problem with the ordering and reapplication ofthe stress rule. It is also interesting to note the rendering of some final /-ä/ at
pause as /-ay/ (See Sibawayhi II 314).
was pause apocopation, which consisted in dropping inflectional
suffixes, including final short inflectional vowels at pause.The short
vowel of the jussive, e.g., /i/ of /yarmi/, does not drop at pause in the
best usage ofthe language (but rather is followed by an /h/), however,
because, as stated by Sibawayhi^' (and other grammarians) it repre¬
sents a deleted radical, i.e., it is not an inflectional suffix but part of the
stem. As to the glide processes, they involve, as we have seen, the dele¬
tion of the glide, assimilation of contiguous vowels, shortening and
other niles.^^
In the case ofthe final-weak verbs, the pausation and glide rules give
rise to long vowels both in context and in pause, which now contrast
vrith the short vowels of the jussive. As a result, the shorter option (the
one that disregards the parenthetical material) of the shortening rule
given above ceases to operate. Instead, we now have the following rule:
This rule tums /yarmi/ to /yarmi/.
For the hollow verbs, the pause apocopation mle creates a distinction
long versus short vowel in closed syUable, only in pause. Thus we get
both /tazür/ 'you (m.s.) visit' (indicative and subjunctive) and /tazur/
(jussive) in pause, but only the latter in context (we, of course, get
/tazüm/ in context, but the long vowel here is not in closed syllable) .
The shortening mle, on the other hand, operates in context and in
pause. As we have seen, it also works vrithin words. Thus:
The mle states that a vowel shortens when followed by a consonant and
either word boundary (e.g. /""ramat) becomes /ramat/ 'she threw';
/""hudan/ becomes /hudan/'guidance') or another consonant (e.g.
/""yazürna/ becomes /yazuma/ 'they (fp.) visit'.
For a discussion of pausation, al-waqj, see Sibawayhi II 294 and 302-323;
Ibn Ya'ish IX 66-90; al-'Astaräbädhi II 271-324; and Birkeland.
^' See Sibawayhi II 302 (hnes 5-7), and 303 (lines 15-17). An alternate pause form is discussed below.
" For an in-depth, rigorous presentation of these processes, see Brame, op. • cit. This sophisticated study, which is often brilliant and ingenious, is never¬
theless incomplete in that it fails to account for the jussive and energetic forms of weak verbs (which the author acknowledges) and for the pausal phenomena.
No attempt is made here to account for all cases of shortening in Classical
Arabic. These include instances where the shortening is not indicated in the
script, as when a long vowel in a word is followed by two consonants in the next word (See Sibawayhi II 300-302).
V -> V / — # / jussive
The following table now gives the actual forms of Classical Arabic for
a final-weak and a hollow verb, in eontext and in pause.
context Pause
Indicative yarmi yarmi
Subjunctive yarmiya yarmi
Jussive yarmi
j^armih
Indicative yazüru yazür
Subjunctive yazüra yazür
Jussive yazur yazur
2. The Modern Arabic Dialects
As indicated above, the vast majority of dialects have only one stem for
the imperfect, which is the same for the imperative, i.e., they have no
jussive-non-jussive stem distinction. Thus to take Cairo Arabic as an
example (the first column in each case gives the imperfect, the second
the imperative):
2 m.s. 2 f s.
tiktib iktib tiktibi iktibi 'write'
timidd midd timiddi middi 'stretch'
tizür zür tizüri züri 'visit'
timil mil timili mili 'turn'
tinäm näm tinämi nämi 'sleep'
tirmi irmi tirmi irmi 'throw'
tins a ins a tinsi insi 'forget'
The p. forms differ from the f s. above only in having /u/ instead ofthe
final /i/.
As for the suffixes of the imperfect, the situation in the Arabic dialects
is as follows: (1) Most urban dialects have lost the fp. as a distinct
marker and thus have gender distinction in the s. only; for those that
have maintained the f p. marker, mainly the bedouin and some rural
dialects, the suffix is vowel-initial /-an/ or /-in/, unlike Classical
Arabic. (2) The vowels /ü, i/, which usually shorten when word-final,
are the markers ofthe 2nd and 3rd persons p. (m.p. for the dialects that
have maintained the fp.) and of the 2 fs., respectively. In some
dialects, again mainly the bedouin dialects but also Baghdadi, this
As indicated above, final short vowels that are not inflectional are not
dropped in pause, but have an /h/ added to them. In many cases, as Birke¬
land, op. cit., pp. 36 and 45, points out, this happens with vowels that were
historically long.
feet; and (III) the suffixes ofthe imperative are the same as those ofthe
vowel is followed by an /-n/ in the imperfect, which is maintained
wherever the imperfect form is used. This /-n/ is dropped in the impera¬
tive. (3) The other persons, i.e., the 3 m.s., 3 f s., 2 m.s., and 1 (s. and
p.)^' have no suffixes at all in the imperfect or (in the case ofthe 2 m.s.)
the imperative.
One dialect group seems to have an imperative stem different from the
corresponding imperfect. In Damascus Arabic, for example, the m.s.
imperative form of strong Form I verbs has a long vowel, whereas the
2 m.s. imperfect has a short one.^' Thus:
Imperfect Imperative
m.s. m.s. f.s.
taktob 'write' ktob ktabi
tamsek 'hold' msek msaki
tsftah 'open' ftäh ftahi
It is to be noted that the long vowel of the imperative shortens as soon
as a suffix of any kind is added. This is seen in the f s. example given
above and also when object pronouns are added to the m.s. as in,
ktob but ktaba 'write it (f )
msek msakon 'hold them'
ftäh ftaho 'open it (m.)
It is clear from these examples that the long vowels are formed
secondarily, most probably in order to avoid an unusual monosyllable
CCVC.
To summarize: in the vast majority of modem Arabic dialects (I) the
imperfect forms do not show a mode distinction, either in their stem or
in their suffixes^'; (II) the imperative has the same stem as the imper-
" The dialects spoken in North Africa and as far east as Alexandria, Egypt,
use the plural marker /u/ for the lp.
The phenomenon extends in some Lebanese dialects to the final-weak
verbs. See Mabk W. Cowell: A Reference Grammar of Syrian Arabic. George¬
town: Univ. Pr. 1964, pp. 198-199.
Though the mode distinction is not formally marked, the syntactic context in which the imperfect is used very often signals the meanings of the various
modes. Thus, the use of the /bi-/ or /ha-/ prefixes in the dialects that have
them, indicates indicative, while the mandatory absence of the use indicates
subjunctive or jussive. Thus, again taking examples from Cairo Arabic:
biykallimu 'He speaks/is speaking to him' (indicative)
'aawiz yikallimu 'He wants to speak to him' (subjunctive)
not ""aawiz biykallimu
ma ykallimu 'Let him speak to him, then!' (jussive)
cf. ma biykallimu 'He indeed speaks/is speaking to ium' (indicative)
imperfect, except for the /-Vn/ suffixes, which lose the /n/ in the
imperative in the dialects that have it.
What must have happened in the dialects historically (assuming they
once had a full-contracted stem distinction) is the following. Pause
forms were first generalized and used in context. Since a large number
of verbs in pause show no formal mode distinction, such distinction for
these verbs ceased to exist. This ultimately was extended by analogy to
the verbs where such a distinction existed even in pause, i.e., to the
final-weak and hollow verbs, so that now there was one form the imper¬
fect and hence for the imperative. The indicative-subjunctive stem is the
one that survived, since it is by far the most common. The only vestige
ofthe older mode system is in the preservation in the bedouin dialects of
the /n/ in the suffixes of the imperfect with long vowels, but not in the
imperative.
3. Najdi Arabic
Consider the following example from Najdi (the first column in each
case gives the imperfect, the second, the imperative):
2 m.s. 2 f S./2 m.p. 2 f P-
taktib iktib taktbin/ün iktbi/u taktbin iktbin 'write'
timidd midd timiddin/ün middi/ u timiddin middin 'stretch
tizür zir^* tizürin/ün züri/u tizürin zürin 'visit'
timil mil timilin/ün mili/ u timllin milin 'tum'
tarmi irm tannin/ ün irmi/u tarmin irmin 'throw'
tansa ins tansen/ön insay/w tansan insan 'forget'
It is clear from the above that, as in Classical Arabic, Najdi has, for the
hollow and final-weak verbs, two forms in the 2 m.s. For all the other
forms, the imperl'ect and imperative are identical^' and must follow
In Najdi, there is no front-back distinction in the high short vowel. This vowel, indicated by /i/ in this paper, is colored by adjacent consonants and its
quality may slide the whole gamut from front to back, depending upon those
consonants.
" There are a few verbs that in certain areas of the Najd are aberrant. (1) The verbs /näm/ 'sleep', /xäf/ 'be afraid', have /yanäm/, /yaxäf/ for their imper¬
fect, as expected, but /nim, mmi, nimu, nimin/ and /xif, xüfi, xüfu, xüfin/ for
their imperative. (2) The verbs /('a)kal/ 'eat', /Ca)xaö/ 'take', have
/yäkil/, /yäxid/, for their imperfect, as expected, but /kil, küli, külu, külin/ and /xiö, xüöi, xüöu, xüflin/, for their imperative. (As indicated in the previous foot¬
note, Najdi generally has no front-back distinction for the high short vowel; the /Ü/ in /küli/, however, might indicate that the neutralization in some cases is
not complete). The other hamza-initial verbs are more regular. Thus, for
/'amar/ 'command', we have /yämir/ in the imperfect, /imir/ in the imperative.
112 Peter Abboud
similar derivations.'" However, the f.s. and m.p. imperative forms have
no /n/ in their suffixes, so their final long vowels /i, Ü/ are shortened by
the well-attested shortening rule; the diphthongs /ay, aw/ are main¬
tained in the imperative, being in final position, but go to /e, 0/ when
followed by the /n/ in the imperfect by another well-known rule."
3.1 A consideration of these forms leads to a number of questions.
First, is there a need or justification for setting up a jussive for Najdi?
The answer must be in the negative because of the following two facts
which, as can be seen, do not obtain in Classical Arabic. (1) There is no
instance where the contracted stem of the imperative is used with the
prefixes of the imperfect (thus there is never a form like *yarm or
*tazur); with these prefixes it is always the uncontracted form that
occurs. (2) Whenever the imperfect, i.e., the form with the prefixes is
used, the /n/ of the m.p. and the 2 f s. suffixes always appears (thus
there is never a form like *yarmu, *yazüru); only in the imperative is it
lost. The prohibition forms, for example, of the verbs given above are:
2 m.s. 2 f S./2 m.p.
lä tizür lä tizürin/ün 'do not visit'
lä timil lä timilin/ün 'do not tum'
lä tanäm lä tanämin/ün 'do not sleep'
lä tarmi lä tarmin/ün 'do not throw'
lä tansa lä tansen/ön 'do not forget'
These same forms are used in the negation of the non-past, i.e., /lä
tizür/ means both 'do not visit' as well as 'you do not visit, are not
visiting' .
It is clear then that Najdi agrees with the majority of modem Arabic
dialects, with respect to point I above, (i.e., the imperfect stems do not
show a mode distinction), and III, (i.e., the imperfect suffixes of the
imperative are the same as those of the imperfect without the /n/, with
the exception noted in footnote 31); that is, it agrees with them in that
there is an imperfect-imperative, and not a jussive-non-jussive distinc¬
tion. Where it differs from them is in the fact that in the 2 m.s. it has two
'° A discussion of the underlying forms and the various processes of deriva¬
tion of final-weak verbs is beyond the scope of this paper.
" In one subdialect of Central Najdi, that of Majma'a, to the northwest of Riyadh, the suffixes in the imperative for all final-weak and hollow verbs in the f s., m.p., and f p. are / -ay, -aw, -an/, respectively, no matter what the stem is of
the imperfect; those of the imperfect are the regular /-in, -ün, -in/. Here of
course the derivations of the imperfect and the imperative sufiixes will be
different.
forms for the hollow and final-weak verbs, one for the imperfect (with
prefixes), and the other for the imperative (with no such prefixes).
Before we discuss these forms, a few further clarifications about them
are in order. (1) The contracted forms of hollow and final-weak verbs
are found not only in the simple verb but in the derived pattems as well.
(2) The vowel ofthe hollow verb is a high short one and as such elides in
open syllable (i.e., when a vowel-initial suffix is added). Thus:
m.s. f s.
Sif 'see' Sfih 'see him' cf Siifi süfih
(3) There is no vowel at all in the final-weak verbs, even when suffixes
are added. Thus:
m.s. fs.
irm 'throw' irmih 'throw him' cf irmi irmih
irmah 'throw her' irmiyah
ins 'forget' insih 'forget him' insay inseh
insah 'forget her' insiyah
3.2 S econdfy , how do we explain the m.s. imperative of final-weak
and hollow verbs? How are these to be related, if at all, to the corre¬
sponding imperfect forms? More specificaffy, how are the forms in B
related to those of A below?
A B
1. tazür zir
tamil mil
2. tarmi irm
tansa ins
As for the hollow verbs, there is no mle in Najdi that will shorten long
vowels in closed syllables as in Classical Arabic. Nor can we invoke the
principle of preferred syllable stmcture, since the m.s. imperative of
hollow verbs seems to defy that principle, seeing that the syllable CVC
is far more common than CVC in monosyllabic words. Here, therefore,
we seem to need a unique shortening mle.
For the final-weak verbs, there are no other cases in Najdi of a final
(short or long) vowel deletion. If we are to assume similar derivation for
both imperfect and imperative forms, then here again we have to have
unique syntactically constrained mle for deleting the vowel.
A consideration of the imperative paradigm strongly suggests a diffe¬
rent mechanism, however. For a very large number of verbs, the catego¬
ries ofthe imperative, i.e., m.s., f s., m.p., and f p., are distinguished on
the basis of the oppositions: zero, i, u, in, respectively. We can directly
8 ZDMG 132/1
obtain the forms 2B if zero is to be interpreted not as the addition of zero
suffix but as maximum reduction, i.e., as the absence of all vowels (or
diphthongs) for final-weak verbs and as short vowel for hollow verbs.
As a learning strategy this certainly is far more appropriate than the
unique case of final vowel deletion suggested earlier.
This seems to be supported by the development in the aberrant forms
ofthe verbs /('a)kal/ 'eat', /('a)xaö/ 'take' (see footnote 22), which are
very interesting because they are obviously more recent innovations
and thus reflect the speaker's intuitions about these linguistic
processes. In the paradigm /kil, küli, külu, külin/ ofthe imperative, it is
only /kil/that is related to the imperfect /täkil/ (actually ""ta'kil), the
imperfect forms corresponding to the others being /täklin, täklün,
taklin/. But now /kil/ is interpreted as a form to which maximum
reduction has applied, hence the other forms of the imperative. Also of
great interest is the fact that through a process of back formation an
alternate paradigm of the perfect has developed in this dialect for these
two verbs, namely /kala, kalat, kalaw, kalan, kalet/ etc., i.e., a para¬
digm of final-weak verbs.
To summarize: in order to explain the m.s. imperative forms of final-
weak and hollow verbs in Najdi synchronically, we do not have a purely
phonological rule, but have to resort to a morphological-syntactical
formulation such as the maximum reduction mechanism suggested
earlier.
3.3 Thirdly, how did these forms of hollow and weak verbs in Najdi
develop historically? What historical stages could they have gone
through and what historical evidence, if any, is there for such stages?
For the final-weak verbs, we can suggest two hypotheses:
(A) The first is that at some early stage the imperative formation rule
deleted the long vowels ofthe imperfect directly. This, followed by the
(historical) rule that shortens (the remaining) long vowels, would give
the present forms in Najdi. But is there any historical evidence in Arabic
for the apocopation of long vowels? Indeed there is. Some ofthe more
important cases include the following:
(1) the pause forms of final-weak nouns, whose indefinite nouns have
no vowels, e.g., the pausal form of /qä(hn/ is /qäcj/ 'a judge'. The
definite forms in the nominative and genitive have long vowel in
pause, e.g., /alqä(Ji/, but Sibawayhi cites examples of dialects
" It is interesting to note that in a bedouin dialect of the Hedjaz, which has many features similar to Najdi, the reduction applies to final-weak verbs but not to hollow verbs. This dialect thus occupies a middle position between Najdi and the other Arabic dialects.
which give /al-qäd/ as the pause forms." Such pausal examples also occur in some readings of the Qur'än;'"
(2) the pause form ofthe 1 s. suffixed pronoun." It is very interesting to
note that it is precisely this apocopated form of the 1 s. suffix that
has survived as the object pronoun in Northern Najdi, cf , /OribAN/
'he beat me';'*
(3) pause forms of isolated examples of verbs in poetry and in some
readings of the Qur'än."
The basic assumptions of this hypothesis, then, are that long vowels
were first dropped in pause, and that later the pause form of the
imperative was used in context.
There are a number of difficulties vrith these assumptions. First, all
the cases cited for the apocopation of long vowels are examples of final
/-i, Ü/, never final /-ä/. In other words, /tarmi, irm/ might be
accounted for in this way, but not /tansä, ins/. Secondly, with a very
few exceptions in poetry and in some readings of the Qur'än, the pheno¬
menon of long vowel apocopation applied mostly to non-verbs and
consistently only in case (1) above. Thus, if this hypothesis for explai¬
ning the imperative forms of final-weak verbs is accepted, then we have
to make further assumptions, i.e., that the process started vrith non-
verbs, spread to verbs like /tarmi/, and then by analogy, applied to /
tansä/. Finally, it is difficult to explain why long vowel apocopation
applied to the imperative only, why it was the imperative alone that
appeared apocopated in context, and why there are no reflexes in Najdi
of an apocopated imperfect. It is to be noted that all the Najdi dialects
that I have worked on so far show no evidence for the vowelless form of
fmal-weak nouns, such as /qä(J/ above. They all have the form vrith the
vowel.
For these reasons, this hypothesis is rejected, in favor of the
follovring:
(B) The second hypothesis is suggested by evidence from ancient
dialects. Sibawayhi indicated that there are two ways to handle the
suffixless jussive forms in pause: the first, already referred to in foot¬
note 18, is by the addition of M' al-sakt, e.g., /'irmih, 'irjuh, 'insah/; the
second is by the deletion ofthe short vowel, e.g., /'irm, 'urj, 'ins/. He
" Sibawayhi II 315 (line llff.).
'" Sibawayhi II 316 (lines 9, 10); Ibn Ya'iä, IX, 78.
" Sibawayhi II 316 (line 14fT.); Ibn Ya'iä, IX 83ff.
" See my article The Verh in NoHhem Najdi Arabic. In: BSOAS 42 (1979),
467-599.
" Sibawayhi II 316 (lines 9, 10).
8'
does not specify where the latter treatment is to be found; he simply
asserts that 'some Arabs' may say these forms in pause, but that this
treatment is less common 'aqallu al-luyatayni?^ He further adds that
certain Arabs say /'id'ih/ (from /da'awtu, 'ad'ü/) instead of /'id'uh/
on the assumption that the ' ayn is vowelless, and hence a kasra is added
to break the consonant cluster 'because two quiescents do not meet'
Wannahu la, yaltaqi säkinäni. It seems clear that for these Arabs, the
contracted stem had by the time of Sibawayhi come to be used
regularly, even in context. To Sibawayhi, this was bad usage, luya
radf a and yalat?''
The evidence from these ancient dialects, then, suggests the following
historical developments. In the lirst stage, the imperative in context
and pause had a short vowel, and the imperfect a long one. This is of
course the stage of Classical Arabic as described by the grammarians,
but for those 'less common' dialects of Sibawayhi, this stage occurred
prior to the grammarians' time. Next came the dropping of the final
short vowels, any short vowels, first in pause and then on to context.
Note that this development is a generalization ofthe pause apocopation
rule given earlier: for Classical Arabic inflectional final vowels only
were deleted, but here all final short vowels are deleted. The 'less
common' dialects of Sibawayhi had reached this second stage by his
time (at least for final-weak verbs), whereas one assumes that the
dialects that conformed better to Classical Arabic usage reached it in
post-Classical times. Some aspects at least of the second stage were
already attested in the luya radt'a of Sibawayhi.
This stage, the generalization of pause forms, triggered the collapse of
case distinctions in nouns (it must be remembered, however, that in
addition there was a process of analogical extension; for wherever
pause forms showed case distinctions, such as with nouns, the final
form that was generalized was the one which represented the largest
number of categories) .'"' It was also responsible for the imperative forms
of Najdi. The disappearance of formal mode distinctions was the result
'" Sibawayhi II .302 (lines 9, 10). This is also repeated in Ibn Ya'ish IX 45 and
77-78, which also adds examples of imperfect jussive forms.
The rejection of the form with hä' may well be due to the fact that it is
ambiguous in that /irmih/, for example, is the pause form of both /'irmi/ 'throw' (m.s.) and /'irmihi/ 'throw (m.s.) it (m.s.)'. It has survived in Najdi with the latter meaning.
" Sibawayhi II 302 (lines 17-20).
'"' See Febguson's review of Harris Birkeland's Growth and Structure of
the Egyptian Arahic Dialect in: Language 30 (1954), 564.
of a process of analogical extension, whereby the indicative-subjunctive
forms were generalized into an imperfect with no mode distinction. In
most dialects, the imperative forms followed from the imperfect. In
Najdi, the indicative forms were generalized into an imperfect with no
mode distinction, but the imperative maintained the earlier jussive
forms.
The apocopation of final short vowels in pause and context was
followed by the shortening of the final long vowels (in pause and in
context), which had to occur after apocopation, not before, as other¬
wise, this rule would have dropped the vowels of both the imperfect and
imperative.'" There is no evidence to show whether the shortening rule
occurred in stages or simultaneously in pause and context.
As for hollow verbs, the Najdi dialects obviously maintain the older
situation intact. Again here, the contracted stem must have developed
at the stage when long closed syllables were not allowed in context, i.e.,
before the deletion of final short vowels in context (as it was in pause),
which made it possible for long closed syllables to occur freely every¬
where and cancelled the earlier rule of shortening long vowels in final
closed syllables.
The outline of historical development given above is obviously in¬
complete in that it deals with the verb only; for a complete picture, the
developments in the noun must be taken into consideration. It is also
very sketchy since the major stages were obviously arrived at through a
number of intermediate stages which are not always clear. One must not
assume, either, that dialects in the Najd today have all reached the
same historical stages or are unifonn; startling features reflecting a
number of independent developments are undoubtedly present and
need to be brought to light.
3.4 By way of overall perspective, two interesting observations can
be made. First, at least as far as the features discussed in this paper are
concemed, in the Najdi dialects of today we clearly see not only the
'" This follows closely, for the verb, the stages 2-5 that Birkeland, op. cit.
pp. 104-106, working from a different perspective, posits for historical develop¬
ments within Arabic, which he traces in ancient as well as modern dialects. His
statement about the existence of uncontracted forms (only?) of weak verbs in
Central Arabia "In Zentralarabien erscheinen noch heute langvokalige Formen dieser Verba" (p. 81), is clearly wrong, if he intends his statement in the previous paragraph to apply to Central Arabia: "Danach fielen die Apokope- formen auch im Imperativ, der ja dem Imperfectum folgt". He nowhere indicates
he is aware of the existence of apocopated fonns of weak verbs today, which is
surprising since some of his sources for Central Arabia do mention it, albeit just in passing; had he known it, it clearly would have given support for his thesis.
preservation of ancient features but also the results of processes that
were already at work when Classical Arabic was recorded, studied and
codified. These dialects, with respect to not only the features discussed
here but other features as well, such as passivization by internal vocalic
change, are the descendants of the dialects on which Classical Arabic
was based and of other dialects which did not conform to the norms of
Classical Arabic. Secondly, it is interesting to note the crucial role
played by juncture phenomena, namely the rise of a pause feature and
its spread to context. This was seen in the development of the
contracted stems of the jussive, which also attested in West-Semitic
and then in the apocopation of final short vowels. In Classical Arabic
such apocopation remained restricted mainly to inflectional vowels and
to pause only, but in the dialects the process was generalized and
spread to context, as is widely attested in the Arabic dialects of today.
By Richard Salomon, Seattle, WA
I. Introduction: The Problem of the Language
1. Räjasekhara' s Karpura-manjan (henceforth KM), written in the
late 9th or early 10th century A.D., is one ofthe most important works
of Prakrit literature. It is the first drama known to have been composed
entirely in Prakrit, and the only such one of any consequence.
Moreover, its essential importance is enhanced by the edition and
translation with glossary and extensive notes by Sten Konow and C.
R. Lanman. ' This edition has served as an introductory Prakrit text for
generations of American Indologists (and, I believe, for others as well),
and it is therefore all the more regrettable that, as will be shown below,
it presents a highly distorted view of the Prakrit dialects. Subsequent
editions, most notably that of Manomohan Ghosh, ^ have been impro¬
vements, but none is entirely satisfactory.
2. Specifically, the long-standing question of which of the several
Prakrit dialects the KM was composed in has never been conclusively
answered. Despite the acknowledged literary and linguistic importance
of the text, one may read, in various studies of Indian or Middle Indo-
Aryan literature, that the KM was written in Sauraseni,' in Sauraseni
and Mahärästri," or in Avanti Prakrit.' Other writers decline to take a
' Räja-9ekhara's Karpüra-manjari. Ed. Sten Konow and tr. Charles
Rockwell Lanman. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. 1901. (Harvard Oriental
Series. 4.); Repr. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 1963.
^ RäjaÄekhara's Karpüramanjari. A Prakrit Play. Calcutta: The World Pr.
Private Ltd. 1972. Other recent editions are those of R. P. Poddar: An Intro¬
duction to Karpüramanjari. Vaishali: Research Inst, of Prakrit, Jainology, and
Ahimsa 1974. (Prakrit Jain Institute Research Publication Series. 2.) with
Ghosh's text; and Rämkumär Ächärya's Karpüramanjari. Varanasi: Chowk¬
hamba Vidyäbhavan, 1963. (Vidyäbhavan Sanskrit Granthamala. 12.)
' ViSvANÄTH Bandyopädhyäy: Poll o Präkrt Sähityer Itihäs. Kalikätä:
Särasvat Laibreri [B.S.] 1379, p. 179.
" Syämä Varmä: Acärya Räjasekhara [Hindi] . Bhopal: Madhya Pradeä Hindi
Granth Akademi 1971, p. 139.
^ Surendranath Majumdar Sastri: Avanti Präkrit of the Karpüramanjari.
In: Indian Antiquary 50 (1921), pp. 80-2.
