The Arabic Language

Partly as the result of phonological changes, there are a number of morphological 
differences between the dialects and Classical Arabic:
• 
The use of the vowel 
-i-
instead of 
-a-
in the prefixes of the imperfect verb, for 
example, Classical Arabic 
yaḥmilu
‘he carries’ > 
yiḥmil
> Syrian Arabic 
yǝḥmel
; 
some of the pre-Islamic dialects exhibited this feature, which was known as 
taltala 
(see above, Chapter 4, p. 49).
• 
The use of the pattern 
fuʿāl
instead of 
fiʿāl
in the plural of adjectives (Classical 
Arabic 
kibār
‘large [plural]’ > 
kubāṛ
> Syrian Arabic 
kbāṛ
).
• 
The absence of the consonant 
-h-
in the pronominal suffix of the third-person 
masculine after consonants (Classical Arabic 
qatala-hu
, Syrian Arabic 
ʾatal-o
).
• 
The use of the pattern 
fʿālil
instead of 
faʿālīl
in quadriradical plural patterns 
(Classical Arabic 
sikkīn
, plural 
sakākīn
‘knife’, Syrian Arabic 
sǝkkīn
, plural 
sakakīn
).
• 
The use of the ending 
-i
in 
nisba
adjectives instead of 
-iyy
or 
-īy
(Classical 
Arabic 
masīḥiyyun
‘Christian’, Syrian Arabic 
masīḥi
).
The morphology of the dialects is characterised by a considerable reduction of 
morphological categories:
• The sedentary dialects do not have a gender distinction in the second- 
and the third-person plural of pronouns and verbs, whereas the Bedouin 
dialects exhibit this distinction, cf. Cairene Arabic 
humma 
‘they [masculine/
feminine]’ with Najdi Arabic 
hum 
‘they [masculine]’, 
hin 
‘they [feminine]’.

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The Emergence of New Arabic 
135
• 
In verbs and pronouns the category of the dual has disappeared; in nouns 
the names for parts of the body have retained the historical dual ending, 
which came to be used for the plural as well (pseudo-dual, cf. below); most 
dialects have developed a new category of dual with strictly dual meaning, 
which may be used with many nouns.
• 
The internal passive (Classical Arabic 
fuʿila
, 
yufʿalu
) has been replaced by 
either an 
n-
form or a 
t-
form, for example, in Syrian Arabic 
nḍarab
‘to be 
hit’; Moroccan Arabic 
ttǝḍṛǝb
‘to be hit’; in some of the Bedouin dialects, the 
internal passive is still productive.
• 
The causative of the verb (
ʾafʿala
) has been replaced in most dialects by 
analytical expressions with the help of verbs meaning ‘to make, to let’; only 
in some Bedouin dialects does the causative pattern remain productive (cf. 
Chapter 11, p. 193).
• 
Of the three patterns of the perfect verb in Classical Arabic (
faʿala
, 
faʿila
, 
faʿūla
), 
faʿula
has disappeared; verbs of this pattern, which in Classical Arabic 
was used for permanent qualities, have merged with 
faʿila
, or been replaced 
with other forms, for example, Classical Arabic 
ḥamuḍa
‘to be sour’, Syrian 
Arabic 
ḥammaḍ.
• 
The three feminine endings of Classical Arabic,