verb paradigms

At the topmost level, verbal paradigms are divided into two groups

· those that work with 3-base-lettered verbs
· those that work with 4-base-lettered verbs

Each of these is then further divided into two categories

· those in which the base letters are the only letters
· those with extra letters apart from the base, used to enhance the verbs’ meanings

The paradigms that work on 3-lettered verbs that have extra letters are further divided as follows.

· the general: those whose extra letters do not cause them to resemble 4-lettered paradigms
· the resembling: those whose extra letters cause them to resemble 4-lettered paradigms

The hierarchy looks something like this:

رباعي
works with 4-lettered verbs
ثلاثي
works with 3-lettered verbs
مزيد فيه
extra letters added
مجرد
only base letters
مزيد فيه
extra letters added
مجرد
only base letters


ملحق
resemb.
مطلق
general


3-Lettered with no Extra

All of these fall under Form I in the Hans Wehr dictionary.

Cmd.
Passive Part.
Active Part. or Common Substitutes
Common Gerunds
Imperfect
Perfect


Intransitive
Transitive
Intransitive
Transitive


اُفْعُلْ
مَفْعُوْل
فَاعِل
فَاعِل
فِعَال، فَعَلاَن، فُعَال، فُعُوْل، فَعِيْل
فَعْل
يَفْعُل
فَعَلَ
اِفْعِلْ
يَفْعِل
فَعَلَ
اِفْعَلْ
يَفْعَل
فَعَلَ
اِفْعَلْ
فَعِل، فَعْلاَن، أَفْعَل
فَعَل
يَفْعَل
فَعِلَ
اِفْعِلْ
يَفْعِل
فَعِلَ
اُفْعُلْ

فَعِيْل، فَعْل، فَعَل، أَفْعَل

فُعُوْلَة، فَعَالَة

يَفْعُل
فَعُلَ

3-Lettered with General Extra

Cmd.
Passive Part.
Active Part.
Gerunds
Imperfect
Perfect
#
أَفْعِلْ
مُفْعَل
مُفْعِل
إِفْعَال
يُفْعِل
أََفْعَلَ
IV
فَعِّلْ
مُفَعَّل
مُفَعِّل
تَفْعِيْل، فِعَّال، فِعَال، تَفْعِلَة
يُفَعِّل
فََعَّلَ
II
فَاعِلْ
مُفَاعَل
مُفَاعِل
مُفَاعَلَة، فِعَال
يُفَاعِل
فَاعَلَ
III
تَفَعَّلْ
مُتَفَعَّل
مُتَفَعِّل
تَفَعُّل، تِفِعَّال
يَتَفَعَّل
تَفَعَّلَ
V
تَفَاعَلْ
مُتَفَاعَل
مُتَفَاعِل
تَفَاعُل
يَتَفَاعَل
تَفَاعَلَ
VI
اِفْتَعِلْ
مُفْتَعَل
مُفْتَعِل
اِفْتِعَال
يَفْتَعِل
اِفْتَعَلَ
VIII
اِسْتَفْعِلْ
مُسْتَفْعَل
مُسْتَفْعِل
اِسْتِفْعَال
يَسْتَفْعِل
اِسْتَفْعَلَ
X
اِنْفَعِلْ

مُنْفَعِل
اِنْفِعَال
يَنْفَعِل
اِنْفَعَلَ
VII
اِفْْعَلَِّ

مُفْعَلّّ
اِفْعِلاَل
يَفْعَلّ
اِفْعَلَّ
IX
اِفْْعَالَِّ

مُفْعَالّ
اِفْعِيْلاَل
يَفْعَالّ
اِفْعَالَّ
XI
اِفْعَوْعِلْ

مُفْعَوْعِل
اِفْعِيْعاَل
يَفْعَوْعِل
اِفْعَوْعَلَ
XII
اِفْعَوِّلْ

مُفْعَوِّل
اِفْعِوَّال
يَفْعَوِّل
اِفْعَوَّلَ
XIII
اِفَّعَّلْ

مُفَّعِّل
اِفَّعُّل
يَفَّعَّل
اِفَّعَّلَ
XIV
اِفَّاعَلْ

مُفَّاعِل
اِفَّاعُل
يَفَّاعَل
اِفَّاعَلَ
XV

3-Lettered with Resembling Extra

Verbs from these paradigms are to be looked up alphabetically in Hans Wehr.

Cmd.
Passive Part.
Active Part.
Gerunds
Imperfect
Perfect
فَعْلِلْ
مُفَعْلَل
مُفَعْلِل
فَعْلَلَة
يُفَعْلِل
فَعْلَلَ
تَفَعْلَلْ

مُتَفَعْلِل
تَفَعْلُل
يَتَفَعْلَل
تَفَعْلَلَ
فَعْوِلْ
مُفَعْوَل
مُفَعْوِل
فَعْوَلَة
يُفَعْوِل
فَعْوَلَ
تَفَعْوَلْ

مُتَفَعْوِل
تَفَعْوُل
يَتَفَعْوَل
تَفَعْوَلَ
فَوْعِلْ
مُفَوْعَل
مُفَوْعِل
فَوْعَلَة، فِيْعَال
يُفَوْعِل
فَوْعَلَ
تَفَوْعَلْ

مُتَفَوْعِل
تَفَوْعُل
يَتَفَوْعَل
تَفَوْعَلَ
فَعْيِلْ
مُفَعْيَل
مُفَعْيِل
فَعْيَلَة
يُفَعْيِل
فَعْيَلَ
تَفَعْيَلْ

مُتَفَعْيِل
تَفَعْيُل
يَتَفَعْيَل
تَفَعْيَلَ
فَيْعِلْ
مُفَيْعَل
مُفَيْعِل
فَيْعَلَة
يُفَيْعِل
فَيْعَلَ
تَفَيْعَلْ

مُتَفَيْعِل
تَفَيْعُل
يَتَفَيْعَل
تَفَيْعَلَ
فَعْنِلْ
مُفَعْنَل
مُفَعْنِل
فَعْنَلَة
يُفَعْنِل
فَعْنَلَ
تَفَعْنَلْ

مُتَفَعْنِل
تَفَعْنُل
يَتَفَعْنَل
تَفَعْنَلَ
فَعْلِ
مُفَعْلىً
مُفَعْلٍ
فَعْلاَة
يُفَعْلِيْ
فَعْلَى
تَفَعْلَ

مُتَفَعْلٍ
تَفَعْلٍ
يَتَفَعْلَي
تَفَعْلَى
مَفْعِلْ
مُمَفْعَل
مُمَفْعِل
مَفْعَلة
يُمَفْعِل
مَفْعَلَ
تَمَفْعَلْ

مُتَمَفْعِل
تَمَفْعُل
يَتَمَفْعَل
تَمَفْعَلَ
فَنْعِلْ
مُفَنْعَل
مُفَنْعِل
فَنْعَلَة
يُفَنْعِل
فَنْعَلَ
اِفْعَنْلِلْ

مُفْعَنْلِل
اِفْعِنْلاَل
يَفْعَنْلِل
اِفْعَنْلَلَ
اِفْعَنْلِ

مُفْعَنْلٍ
اِفْعِنْلاَء
يَفْعَنْلِيْ
اِفْعَنْلَى
اِفْتَعْلِ

مُفْتَعْلٍ
اِفْتِعْلاَء
يَفْتَعْلِيْ
اِفْتَعْلَى

4-Lettered with no Extra

Cmd.
Passive Part.
Active Part.
Gerunds
Imperfect
Perfect
#
بَعْثِرْ
مُبَعْثَر
مُبَعْثِر
فَعْلَلَة، فِعْلاَل
يُبَعْثِر
بَعْثَرَ
I

4-Lettered with Extra

Cmd.
Passive Part.
Active Part.
Gerunds
Imperfect
Perfect
#
تَفَعْلَلْ

مُتَفَعْلِل
تَفَعْلُل
يَتَفَعْلَل
تَفَعْلَلَ
II
اِفْعَنْلِلْ

مُفْعَنْلِل
اِفْعِنْلاَل
يَفْعَنْلِل
اِفْعَنْلَلَ
III
اِفْعَلِلَِّ

مُفْعَلِلّ
اِفْعِلْلاَل
يَفْعَلِلّ
اِفْعَلَلَّ
IV



Paradigm Specific Rules

Now we take the interesting paradigms from above and analyze them a bit further. Some of these paradigms necessarily elicit morphophonemic changes in their verbs. Others have restrictions as to which verbs they may include. Yet others have other interesting features. We will take a look at each of these idiosyncrasies.

فعَل/يفعَل
· Most verbs are such that either their first base letter or second base letter is one of the six throat letters: ء، ه، ع، ح، غ، خ.
فُعل/يفعُل
· All verbs are intransitive and connote qualities (e.g. being happy).
فعِل/يفعِل
· This paradigm contains very few verbs; only a couple dozen or so.
إفعال
· If the verb which is being considered is اجوف (e.g. أقام) then the gerund of this paradigm will be altered in the following way: The weak letter will change to match the letter before it (إِقوام becomes إققام). The changed letter then drops (إقام). The deletion is then mitigated by the addition of a تاء (إقامة). Sometimes this تاء is omitted (إقام).

· The همزة of the pattern drops in all places except the perfect tense and the active second-person command. This is due to the fact that the همزة would gather with the sign of the imperfect tense in conjugation #13. So the همزة of this verb paradigm was dropped. It was dropped from almost every other conjugation as well due to the grammatical rule which dictates that if one instance of something causes trouble, then the solution will be applied to all instances, whether they cause trouble or not.

· This paradigm should be counted amongst those that resemble the four-lettered verbs, but it isn’t because the condition for those paradigms is that their gerunds must match the gerund of the verb which they resemble.
تفعيل
· The تفعلة pattern for the gerund is used mostly when the verb is مهموز or ناقص. Sometimes even a normal verb can adopt this pattern (تجربة).

· When the verb being considered is اجوف يائي (e.g. ميز) and the gerund is on the تفعيل pattern (تمييز), then the following rule may be (and according to some, must be) applied: The base letter ياء will transfer its vowel to the preceding letter, ridding itself of the vowel. Now there is a gathering of ساكن so the base letter ياء will drop and we end up with one ياء (تميز).
مفاعلة
· The verbs of this paradigm (like many others with multiple gerunds) will not adopt one of the gerunds but both of them simultaneously (e.g. جدال and مجادلة). The difference is that جدال, for example, indicates on a particular occurrence while مجادلة is abstract.

· The الف in the passive form of this paradigm for the imperfect tense will become a واو (قوتل).
تفعّل
· Those conjugations of the imperfect tense that start with a تاء are such that they cause two same letters to follow; the sign of the imperfect tense and the تاء of the paradigm. In this case, it is permissible to drop one of the two تاء (تتنزل becomes تنزل). Which تاء exactly is dropped is disputed.

· If the same situation as above occurs, it is also permissible (but highly rare) to merge the two تاء, in which case there would be the need for a همزة الوصل. For example تتجلى becomes اتجلى. This is the only instance in which there is an initiating همزة in the imperfect tense.

· If the first base letter of a verb from this paradigm is تاء, ثاء, جيم, دال, ذال, زاى, سين, شين, صاد, ضاد, طاء, or ظاء then the تاء of this paradigm may be changed to match that letter. The two would then gather and a joining همزة would be needed. For example تطهر may become اطَّهَّر.
تفاعل
· The الف in the passive form of this verb for the imperfect tense will become a واو ((تقوبل.

· If the first base letter of a verb from this paradigm is تاء, ثاء, جيم, دال, ذال, زاى, سين, شين, صاد, ضاد, طاء, or ظاء then the تاء of this paradigm may be changed to match that letter. The two would then gather and a joining همزة would be needed. For example تثاقل may become اثَّاقل.
افتعال
· If the verb being considered is مثال (e.g. وحد) then the weak letter will change into a تاء to match the تاء of the paradigm. The two will then join (اتحد). This weak letter must be original and not changed from a همزة (e.g. اكل in this paradigm is اأتكل which becomes ايتكل which will not become اتكل). This restriction has some counterexamples (e.g. اتخذ).

· If the first base letter of the verb is a دال, ذال, or زاى then the تاء of the paradigm will become a دال (e.g. ازتان become ازدان). In the case where the first base letter is a دال, the two دال will of course mix (e.g. اددخل becomes ادخل). In the case where the first base letter is a ذال, the ذال may change to match the دال of the paradigm then the two will mix (e.g. اذتكر must change to اذدكر which may then become اددكر which necessarily becomes ادكر).

· If the first base letter of the verb under consideration is one of the اطباق letters (صاد، ضاد، طاء، ظاء) then the تاء of the verb paradigm must change to a طاء (e.g. اصتاد must become اصطاد, and اضتجع must become اضطجع).

· If the second base letter of the verb is a ذال, دال, or زاى then the تاء of the paradigm may change to match it (e.g. اهتدى may become اهددى). The two will then mix (اهدى). The first base letter and the new changed letter will both be ساكن thus the first base letter (the هاء in our example) should be made مكسور (اهِدَّى) but it is actually made مفتوح and there will thus be no need for the initiating هزة. The final product will be هَدَّى، يَهِدِّيْ، هِدَّاء. Notice the resemblance between this altered verb and the تفعيل paradigm.

· If the second base letter of the verb is one of the اطباق letters then the تاء of افتعال may change to match (e.g. اختصم becomes اخصصم which mixes to become اخْصَّم). Similar to the previous rule, the first base letter will be given a فتحة and the initiating همزة will be removed resulting in خَصَّم، يخِصِّم، خِصَّام.

· If the second base letter of the verb is a تاء then the two may mix and what happened in the two previous rules will take place here as well. So استتر, for example, becomes سَتَّر.
استفعال
· If the verb which is being considered is اجوف (e.g. استقام) then the gerund of this paradigm will be in a manner similar to that of the gerund of افعال (e.g. استقامة). This تاء may not drop.
انفعال
· If the first base letter of the word being considered is one of the letters of يرملون then the verb may not be inaugurated into this paradigm; rather the connotation of this paradigm will have to be reflected by افتعال.
افعلال، افعيلال
· The verbs from these paradigms are either colours or bodily defects.