Arabic Verbs 3

4) Defective Verbs

Defective verbs are verbs whose last original letter is a weak letter.

Defective imperfective verbs can end with ى or with apparent ي y or و w. They cannot end with ا as there is no imperfective verb with less than four letters.

Imperfective defective verbs are similar to the perfective ones in that the vowel preceding the final weak letter will determine its form. The general rule is similar to that of the imperfective hollow verbs:

• If the final original weak letter (the w or y) is preceded by an u , the ending of the verb will be –uw (the corresponding long vowel).

• If the final original weak letter is preceded by an i , the ending of the verb will be –iy.

• If the final original weak letter is preceded by an a, it will be changed to a weak A, and the ending of the verb will be –aa.

 

Because form I defective verbs can have u, i or a before the final weak letter, they can end with –uw,–iy or –aa, respectively. The rest of the forms can be classified as follows:

 

• Yu–i Verbs (forms II, III, IV, & QI): always have i, so always end with –iy.

• Ya–a Verbs (forms V, VI & QII): always have a, so always end with –aa.

• Ya–i Verbs (the rest of the forms): always have i, so always end with –iy.

 

I. Verbs Ending With –iy / –uw

 

►Form I

Example, perfective:

نَمَاْ

namaa

(He) grew (intr.)

The root is: ن م وN M W I

By applying the root to the imperfective formula of form I, we get:

Since the green vowel is u, the ending of the verb will be –uw .

The final -u (the mood-sign) will be deleted because a long vowel cannot be followed by any vowel:

 

The mood-sign is said to be “estimated” مُقَدَّرَةٌ in this case, which means it is “imagined” to be there but it is not apparent.

For the rest of the conjugations, the only irregularity is that the final long vowel will be deleted in the 2nd person feminine singular and the masculine plural conjugations.

 

 

Another example:

بَكَىْ

bakaa

(He) cried

The root is: بك يB K Y I

By applying the root to the imperfective formula of form I, we get:

Since the green vowel is i, the ending of the verb will be –iy.

The final -u will be deleted because a long vowel cannot be followed by any vowel:

 

The case-sign is said to be “estimated” مُقَدَّرَةٌ in this case, which means it is imagined to be there but not apparent.

 

For the rest of the conjugations, the only irregularity is that the final long vowel will be deleted in the 2nd person feminine singular and the masculine plural conjugations.

 

Try conjugating the following u verb:

 

سَمَاْ

samaa

(He) rose solemnly

 

 

Form I perfective verbs ending with –aa that is transformed from –aw(ـَاْ) often end with –uw in the imperfective, and sometimes –aa (ـَىْ ). Verbs whose endings in the perfective are –aa that are transformed from –ay(ـَىْ) often end with –iyin the imperfective, and sometimes –aa(ـَىْ ). Note that in words with more than three letters, a final weak A will be always transcribed as (ـَىْ ).

 

►Forms Other Than Form I

 

Imperfective defective verbs of forms other than form I will all end with –iy except forms V, VI & QII which will end with –aa. There are no forms that can end with –uwother than form I.

 

Example, form VIII perfective:

اِنْتَهَىْ

‘intahaa

(He) ended, finished

The root is: ن هـ يN H Y I

By applying the root to the imperfective formula of form VIII, we get:

The final -u is deleted because a long vowel cannot be followed by any vowel:

 

For the rest of the conjugations, the only irregularity is that the final long vowel will be deleted in the 2nd person feminine singular and the masculine plural conjugations.

The conjugation process of form VIII defective verbs is the same for all the verb forms except forms V, VI & QII which end with –aa.

 

II. Verbs Ending With -aa

Those can only be forms V, VI or QII, in addition to form I verbs that havea after the second root-letter. They end only with ى but not ا as there is no imperfective verb with less than four letters. In the dual and feminine plural conjugations, the ى will be always transformed to y regardless of its true origin.

 

►Form I

 

Example:

نَسِيَ

nasiy(a)

 

(He) forgot

The root is : ن س يN S Y I

By applying the root to the imperfective formula of form I, we get:

Since the green vowel is a, the weak letter y will become a weak A, and the final -u will be deleted because a long vowel cannot be followed by any vowel:

 

For the 2nd person feminine singular conjugation, the final weak A will be deleted, but the short a before the deleted weak A will be preserved, thus making the resultant suffix -ayn(a)rather than -iyn(a).

 

For the masculine plural conjugations, the final weak A will be deleted, but the short a before it will not, thus making the resultant suffix -awn(a)rather than -uwn(a).

 

For the dual and feminine plural conjugations, the final weak A will be transformed to y when adding the suffixes.

 

 

The full conjugation:

 

Form I perfective verbs ending with –iy(a)often end with –aa(ـَىْ ) in the imperfective. Verbs whose endings are –uw(a) in the perfective are very rare and end with –uwin the imperfective.

 

►Forms Other Than Form I

 

Example, form V perfective:

تَمَنَّىْ

tamannaa

 

(He) wished

The root is : م ن يM N Y I

By applying the root to the imperfective formula of form V, we get:

 

Since the green vowel is a, the weak letter y will become a weak A, and the final -u will be deleted because a long vowel cannot be followed by any vowel:

 

 

The rest of conjugations are like those explained above for form I ending with -aa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV. Enfolding Verbs

Enfolding verbs are two types:

• Verbs that have a middle and final weak original letters C-C–C

• Verbs that have a first and final weak original letters C-C-C

The first type enfolds the definitions of both hollow and defective verbs, yet it is always treated as a defective verb only, and the middle weak letter is treated as if it were a sound letter.

Example:

أَوَىْ

‘awaa

(He) took refuge (in), stayed (at)

The root is :‘ W Y Iأ و ي

This is an i verb.

 

*The transition ‘a‘< → ‘aa is a general rule of Arabic and not related to the verb being an irregular verb. This transition was mentioned on this page.

 

Enfolding verbs of the first type that end with –aa in the perfective will end with –iy in the imperfective; the ones that end with –iy(a) in the perfective will end with –aa in the imperfective.

The second type of the enfolding verbs enfolds the definitions of both Mithaaland defective verbs. These verbs get the dealing of both Mithaal and defective verbs together.

Example:

وَعَىْ

wa“aa

(He) understood, comprehended

The root is : و ع يW ” Y I

This is an i verb.

 

Where C is a sound consonant, and C is a weak consonant.

 

Exercise

 

 

Based on these verbs, can you translate the following to Arabic?

(you need not to translate the pronouns in parenthesis)

 

 

Answers