The Sound and Weak Verbs (Al-Fiʿl al-Sahih wa-l-Muʿtall)

The Sound Verb (Al-Fiʿl al-Sahih)

Examples:

Sound and salim (whole/integral): one whose sound letters are free of hamza and gemination (shadda).

Sound and mahmuz (hamzated): one whose sound root letters include a hamza.

Sound and mudaʿʿaf (geminated): one in which one of the root letters is doubled.

The Weak Verb (Al-Fiʿl al-Muʿtall)

Examples:

Types of the Weak Verb:

Mithal weak verb: one whose first root letter is a weak letter.

Ajwaf (hollow) weak verb: one whose second root letter is a weak letter.

Naqis (defective) weak verb: one whose third (last) root letter is a weak letter.

Extended Material with Examples

The Sound and the Weak Verb

The verb is divided, by reference to the type of letters that compose it, into two categories: (a) the sound verb (al-fiʿl al-sahih); (b) the weak verb (al-fiʿl al-muʿtall).

First: The Sound Verb

The sound verb is in turn divided into three types:

1 — Sound and salim: every verb whose root letters are free of hamza and gemination.

2 — Sound and mahmuz: every verb in which one of its root letters is a hamza — whether at the beginning, middle, or end of the verb.

3 — Sound and mudaʿʿaf — divided into two types:

(a) Triliteral mudaʿʿaf: one in which the middle root letter and the final root letter are of the same kind ('doubled').

(b) Quadriliteral mudaʿʿaf: one in which the first and third letters are of the same kind, and the second and fourth letters are also of the same kind.

Second: The Weak Verb

The weak verb is divided into four types:

1 — Mithal: one whose first root letter is a weak letter.

It is worth noting that mithal verbs beginning with waw are far more common than those beginning with yaʾ. Some morphologists have counted the verbs beginning with yaʾ as around twenty-four, some of which are rarely used in the language. Here are some for further enrichment:

yatana — meaning that the woman gave birth to a baby breech-first. yahata — meaning 'became putrid', as in 'the wound became putrid'. yaqaha — meaning 'he obeyed and was quick'. yaʿara — meaning 'it bleated', as in 'the sheep bleated'. yafakha — meaning 'striking on the crown of the head'. yamama — meaning 'he drowned in the sea'. yadaʿa — meaning 'he dyed'. yalla — meaning 'became short', as in 'the teeth became short'. yarra — meaning 'became hard'.

2 — Ajwaf (Hollow): one whose second root letter is a weak letter.

3 — Naqis (Defective): one whose final root letter is a weak letter.

4 — Lafif (Compound-Weak): one with two weak letters. It is divided into two types:

(a) Lafif maqrun (joined): one in which two weak letters come together with no sound consonant separating them.

(b) Lafif mafruq (separated): one with two weak letters that are not adjacent — i.e., a sound consonant comes between them.

A Note and Useful Points: