The Structure of Arabic
97
Some measures transform a transitive into a middle (reflexive-intransitive)
one. This is the case of measure VIII
iftaʿala
in relation with the base verb, for
example,
jamaʿa
‘to collect’ versus
ijtamaʿa
‘to assemble’, and of measure V
tafaʿʿala
in relation with measure II
faʿʿala
, for example,
ṭawwara
‘to develop [intransitive]’
versus
taṭawwara
‘to develop [intransitive]’. A similar relationship exists between
measure X
istafʿala
and measure IV
ʾafʿala
. The augment
-s
- in
istafʿala
goes back to
an earlier form of measure IV,
safʿala
, which has survived in a few archaic verbs
in Classical Arabic, for example,
salqā
‘to throw down’ (cf.
ʾalqā
‘id.’). The relation
-
ship between II/III and V/VI may also involve non-reciprocity versus reciprocity,
as in
ḥaddaṯa
‘to tell someone’ versus
taḥaddaṯa
‘to have a conversation’;
kātaba
‘to
notify someone in writing’ versus
takātaba
‘to correspond’.
In addition to their role in the assignment of valency, verbal measures may
denote various other meanings, which makes it difficult to predict the exact
meaning of a specific verb in a specific measure. Measure V
tafaʿʿala
, for instance,
sometimes has the connotation of simulation or adaptation, as in
taʿarraba
‘to
Arabicise’ or
taṭabbaba
‘to be a quack’,
tanabbā
‘to be a pseudo-prophet’. Again, this
is lexically specified and could hardly be called a productive use.
Some grammars mention even more measures, up to XV, than the current ten
(Wright [1859–62] 1964: I, 46–7); they all involve reduplication or the insertion of
a glide or an augment
-n-
:
XI
ifʿālla
, for example,
ibyāḍḍa
‘to be white’ (variant of IX
ibyaḍḍa
)
XII
ifʿawʿalā
, for example,
iḥdawdaba
‘to be humpbacked’ (variant of IX
iḥdabba
)
XIII
ifʿawwala
, for example,
iʿlawwada
‘to be heavy’ (variant of I
ʿalida
‘to be
hard’)
XIV
ifʿanlala
, for example,
iḥlankaka
‘to be jet black’ (variant of I
ḥalika
‘id.’)
XV
ifʿanlā
, for example,
iḥbanṭā
, ‘to be swollen’ (variant of I
ḥabiṭa
‘id.’)
The meaning of most of these verbs is lexically specified. Some of them resemble
the
ad hoc
formations we have encountered in
rajaz
poetry (see above, p. 71),
which are likely to be nothing more than ghost words in the dictionaries.
In the modern dialects the system of measures has been drastically reduced:
the causative (measure IV) has disappeared from most dialects (except some of
the Bedouin dialects; see p. 193). The
t-
(measure V) and
n-
(measure VII) forms
are often modified into new passive formations instead of the internal passive of
Classical Arabic (see Chapter 8, p. 135).
Dostları ilə paylaş: