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Meanings of Verb Forms

Triliteral Roots

 

 

Structures of Perfective Verbs with Triliteral Roots

(Active Voice)

No additional letters

Form I

fa"al(a)

فَعَلَ

fa"il(a)

فَعِلَ

fa"ul(a)

فَعُلَ

1 additional letter

Form II

fa""al(a)

فَعَّلَ

Form III

faa"al(a)

فَاْعَلَ

Form IV

'af"al(a)

أَفْعَلَ

2 additional letters

Form V

tafa''"al(a)

تَفَعَّلَ

Form VI

tafaa"al(a)

تَفَاْعَلَ

Form VII

'infa"al(a)

اِنْفَعَلَ

Form VIII

'ifta"al(a)

اِفْتَعَلَ

Form IX

'if"all(a)

اِفْعَلََّ

3 additional letters

Form X

'istaf"al(a)

اِسْتَفْعَلَ

Form XI

'if"aall(a)

اِفْعَاْلَّ

Form XII

'if"aw"al(a)

اِفْعَوْعَلَ

Form XIII

'if"awwal(a)

اِفْعَوَّلَ

Form XIV

'if"anlal(a)

اِفْعَنْلَلَ

Form XV

'if"anlaa

اِفْعَنْلَىْ

 

 

The meanings and examples of Form I exist on this page.

 

Form II

 

Form II of Arabic Verbs

(Active Voice)

Causative

(He) made do

fa""al(a)

tr./intr.

فَعَّلَ

Also called the D-stem (D for "doubled"), this structure is obtained by doubling the middle root-letter. The additional letter in the structure is the second copy of the doubled letter.

The basic meaning of this structure is a causative meaning. This means that the agent or the performer of the verb caused the action denoted by the corresponding form I verb to be performed, whether directly or indirectly, by coercion or not.

Causative

(He) made (a/the performer) do

OR

(He) had (a/the performer) do

Examples:

 

Form II

Form I

kattab(a)

كَتَّبَ

katab(a)

كَتَبَ

(he) made/had write

(he) wrote

'akkal(a)

أَكَّلَ

'akal(a)

أَكَلَ

(he) made/had eat

(he) ate

dammar(a)

دَمَّرَ

damar(a)

دَمَرَ

(he) made vanish

(he) destroyed

(he) vanished

"allam(a)

عَلَّمَ

"alim(a)

عَلِمَ

(he) made know

(he) taught

(he) knew

ta""ab(a)

تَعَّبَ

ta"ib(a)

تَعِبَ

(he) made tired

(he) became tired

farrah(a)

فَرَّحَ

farih(a)

فَرِحَ

(he) made happy

(he) became happy

sarrar(a)

صَغَّرَ

sarur(a)

صَغُرَ

(he) made small(er)

(he) was/became small(er)

kabbar(a)

كَبَّرَ

kabur(a)

كَبُرَ

(he) made big(ger)

(he) was/became big(ger)

sahhal(a)

سَهَّلَ

sahul(a)

سَهُلَ

(he) made easy(er)

(he) was/became easy(er)

 

Notes

  • It is not necessary for every root to be used in every form. Some roots are used only in form I but not in any other form. Some roots are used in several forms but not in form I, and so on.

  • It is not possible to use a root in a certain form if you were not sure that the root is customarily used in that form; and if you know that it is used, you should find out first what the customary meaning of the verb is. You should not count on your previous knowledge of the general meaning of the form, because the verb's actual meaning can be quite different.

 

Causative form II verbs can often be directly derived from nouns (including adjectives). This is like when they derived "crystallize" from "crystal" and "brighten" from "bright" by adding the suffixes "-ize" and "-en" to them, respectively. This verbalization of nouns process is possible in Arabic via the form II verb structure among others. Of course, the nouns must have triliteral roots in order to be verbalized this way.

 

Transformative

(Causative to be noun)

(He) made be noun

(He) noun-ized

Less commonly, this structure will also mean "(he) became noun"  in addition to "(he) made be noun." This is a reflexive meaning that indicates an action directed from the agent towards himself:

Reflexive Transformative

(He) made himself be noun

→ (he) became noun

I think of it as though they reversed the order of "he" and "made" in the meaning formula:

(He) made be noun made (he) be noun (he) made himself be noun

A good thing to be aware of about Arabic is that any verb form carrying a causative meaning will also carry a reflexive causative meaning. Form II is the least causative form to show this phenomenon in formal Arabic, but it does show it much in the modern informal Arabic. We will talk more about these issues and explain what a reflexive meaning means in detail later on in this review.

Examples of the transformative meaning:

 

Form II Verb

Noun

"arrab(a)

عَرَّبَ

"arab(un)

عَرَبٌ

(he) Arabized

= (he) made Arab

Arabs (masc.)

massar(a)

مَصَّرَ

misr(un)

مِصْرٌ

(he) Egyptianized

= (he) made Egyptian

Egypt (masc.)

hajjar(a)

حَجَّرَ

hajar(un)

حَجَرٌ

(he) petrified

= (he) made stone-like

(he) became stone-like

a stone (masc.)

qawwas(a)

قَوَّسَ

qaws(un)

قَوْسٌ

(he) arched, bowed

= (he) made arch-like

(he) became arch-like

an arch (masc.)

rayyar(a)

غَيَّرَ

rayr(un)

غَيْرٌ

(he) other-ized

(he) made be another

(he) changed (tr.)

an "other than"

 (masc./fem. prep.)

The transformative meaning is not very different from the causative meaning, because we are still broadly following the formula "(he) made do" but we are using the verb "be" in place of "do" and adding a complementary noun to the formula.

In Arab mentality, and some other mentalities I guess, "he made be" can sometimes be not meant literally. "He made be beautiful" or "he beautified" can mean "he made it look beautiful whereas it was not" or "he made it look more beautiful than it was." In other words, these verbs can have a factitious transformative meaning, by which I mean that they can denote figurative transformation rather than real actual one. I made up the "factitious transformative" term, but I am going to be using it a lot from now on.

A more dangerous situation is when the factitious quality is used for accusation. E.g. "he made traitor" figuratively means "he accused with treason," etc.

Examples:

Form II Verb

Noun

jammal(a)

جَمَّلَ

jameel(un)

جَمِيْلٌ

(he) beautified

(he) embellished

(he) exaggerated the beauty of

a beautiful (masc.)

massar(a)

كَبَّرَ

kabeer(un)

كَبِيْرٌ

(he) made big(ger)

(he) exaggerated the size of

a big (masc.)

khawwan(a)

خَوَّنَ

khaa'in(un)

خَاْئِنٌ

(he) made traitor

→ (he) accused with treason

a traitor (masc.)

kaffar(a)

كَفَّرَ

kaafir(un)

كَاْفِرٌ

(he) made disbeliever

→ (he) accused with disbelief

a disbeliever (masc.)

 

When the reflexive transformative quality is used to make verbs out of time and place expressions, it can figuratively mean "(he) headed into noun"  or "(he) was in noun ."

Examples:

Form II Verb

Time/Place Expression

sharraq(a)

شَرَّقَ

sharq(un)

شَرْقٌ

(he) east-ized himself

(he) headed eastward

east (masc.)

rarrab(a)

غَرَّبَ

rarb(un)

غَرْبٌ

(he) west-ized himself

(he) headed westward

west (masc.)

sabbah(a)

صَبَّحَ

subh(un)

صُبْحٌ

(he) morn-ized himself

(he) was in morning

→ (he) spent morning

a morning (masc.)

sayyaf(a)

صَيَّفَ

sayf(un)

صَيْفٌ

(he) summer-ized himself

(he) was in summer

→ (he) spent summer

a summer (masc.)

 

Form II verbs are always transitive except when they carry a reflexive transformative meaning.

Now to another meaning of form II, the intensive meaning. This means intensifying the action denoted by the corresponding form I verb, whether by character, duration, or frequency.

Intensive

(He) did much

Examples:

Form II

Form I

kassar(a)

كَسَّرَ

kasar(a)

كَسَرَ

(he) broke much

(he) smashed

(he) broke, fractured (tr.)

hattam(a)

حَطَّمَ

hatam(a)

حَطَمَ

(he) broke much

(he) smashed

(he) broke (tr.)

qatta"(a)

قَطَّعَ

qata"(a)

قَطَعَ

(he) cut much

(he) chopped

(he) cut

harraq(a)

حَرَّقَ

haraq(a)

حَرَقَ

(he) burned much

(he) burned (tr.)

qattal(a)

قَتَّلَ

qatal(a)

قَتَلَ

(he) killed much

(he) massacred

(he) killed

rallaq(a)

غَلَّقَ

ralaq(a)

غَلَقَ

(he) closed much

(he) closed (tr.)

fajjar(a)

فَجَّرَ

fajar(a)

فَجَرَ

(he) burst much

(he) blew up (tr.)

(he) burst (tr.)

 

What I believe is that the intensive meaning is just a connotative meaning of this structure but not an original one. The initial causative meaning of these verbs evolved and became figuratively intensive.

Finally, we reiterate here the fact that it is not always easy to identify the meaning relationship between the different verb forms of one root. This is primarily due to the fact that some roots have developed multiple meanings over time, so each verb form now can pertain to one of the meanings.

Examples on form II verbs that have quite unexpected meanings compared to the corresponding form I verbs:

Form II

Form I

qabbal(a)

قَبَّلَ

qabal(a)

قَبَلَ

(he) kissed

(he) fronted

jarrab(a)

جَرَّبَ

jarib(a)

جَرِبَ

(he) tried

(he) had scabies

rannaa

غَنَّىْ*

raniy(a)

غَنِيَ

(he) sang

(he) became rich

harrar(a)

حَرَّرَ

harr(a)

حَرَّ*

(he) freed

(he) edited

(he) became hot

qarrar(a)

قَرَّرَ

qarr(a)

قَرَّ*

(he) decided (tr.)

(he) became cold

(he) stayed still

rakkaz(a)

رَكَّزَ

rakaz(a)

رَكَزَ

(he) concentrated

(he) poised well

(he) poised

sallam(a)

سَلَّمَ

salim(a)

سَلِمَ

(he) handed

(he) greeted (intr.)

(he) made safe

(he) was safe

qaddam(a)

قَدَّمَ

qadim(a)

قَدِمَ

(he) presented (tr.)

(he) brought to the front

(he) came

(he) became old

*This is an irregular defective verb. The last root letter in such a verb is turned into a weak 'alif.

*Those are irregular doubled verbs. They end with two identical letters with no vowel in between.

 

Summary of the meanings of form II:

Basic Meanings of Form II

Causative to do (he) made do
to be noun (Transformative) Simple Genuine (he) made be noun
Factitious (he) claimed to be noun
Reflexive (he) made himself be noun

→ (he) became noun

 

Connotative Meaning of Form II

Intensive

(he) did much

 

 

 

Form III

 

Form III of Arabic Verbs

(Active Voice)

Causative to be Active Participle

(He) made be doing/doer prep.

(He) made himself be doing/doer prep.

faa"al(a)

tr./intr.

فَاْعَلَ

Called the L-stem (L for "lengthened"), this is one of the most common structures of Arabic verbs, and also one of the most vague in meaning. It is formed by elongating the short A vowel after the first root letter to become a long A, or an extended 'alif. This extended 'alif is the additional letter in the structure.

Determining the exact meaning of this structure has always been a difficult task. However, the inherent meaning of this structure is really close to previous one, the D-stem. The difference here is that this structure will always have a transformative meaning (causative to be noun ).

Moreover, the difference here pertains also the type of the noun in the formula. Unlike the previous structure, the noun here will be a participle. Participles are nouns in Arabic grammar. If you don't know what a participle is, it is simply any adjective ending with -ing (like in "a dancing bear" = a bear that is dancing, or a bear that dances). Those are the present participles. Similarly, the past participles are adjectives that look like verbs after "have," like in "a spoiled brat."

 

Present (Imperfect) Participles  a walking, talking, annoying something
Past (Perfect) Participles an upset, angered, infuriated someone

In Arabic, the "active participle" corresponds to the English present participle, and the "passive participle" corresponds to the English past participle. Participles in Arabic grammar are considered nouns not verbs.

Back to the form III verbs. These verbs will mean the following in the active voice:

(He) made (the object) be doing

Or more often:

 (he) made himself be doing

→ (he) became doing

 

Form II

(he) made do

(he) made be noun

Form III

(he) made be doing/doer

(he) made himself be doing/doer

The Arabic active participle can be translated to both "doing" and "doer." The reflexive transformative meaning "(he) became doing/doer" is more common than the other one.

This is only half the meaning of the form III structure. The other half is the transitive aspect of the meaning. This structure is always transitive if understood literally, which means it will always affect an object (or sometimes two objects). However, there are form III verbs that are intransitive by custom.

The simplest way to express transitivity would be by adding an "of" to the formula:

(he) made be doing of

(he) became doing of

However, in the real world, the verbs will often have transitive meanings indicated by other prepositions than "of."

e.g.

(he) became doing with

(he) became doing at

(he) became doing to

etc.

 

For example, the verb:

شَاْهَدَ

shaahad(a)

means:

(he) became witnessing of (something)

→ (he) watched (something)

 

Whereas the verb:

كَاْتَبَ

kaatab(a)

means:

(he) became writing to (someone)

= (he) became someone who writes (=writer) to (someone)

→ (he) corresponded with (someone)

It all depends on what the guy who invented the verb meant by it. Any preposition can be meant, the only general thing is that this structure takes an object, or more than one object. Of course, verbs whose corresponding form I verbs are intransitive cannot mean "(he) became doing of."

Now the full meaning of the structure has become:

Causative to be Active Participle

(He) made be doing/doer prep.

(He) made himself be doing/doer prep.

 

This general meaning is, in fact, very unspecific. There are so many possibilities here:

  • The transformative meaning can be affecting others "(he) made be" or it can be self-affecting (reflexive) "(he) became."

  • The active participle "a doing" can mean "someone who is doing" or "someone who does," a difference that can affect the general meaning of a verb.

  • The verb to be inserted in place of "do" can be transitive or intransitive.

  • The implied relation between the action and the object (the implied preposition) is arbitrary and identified by custom.

All these variables make the possible meanings of form III verbs very diverse. This is why people often have different explanations for the meaning of this structure; some people explain it as "(he) tried to do," others as "(he) exchanged doing with," etc. In fact, all these meanings are possible depending on the specific verb.

The meaning "(he) became doing of," which is very common, can often, but not always, be translated to things like "(he) tried or sought to do." Although this is a connotative meaning and not original to the structure.

Conative

(He) made himself be doing/doer prep.

→ (he) sought to do

This meaning can be understood in light of what we explained before about the factitious transformative meaning; "(he) made himself be doing" means in this case that he was not really "a doing," but he was sincerely "making himself one" or "seeking to be one." So the factitious meaning here has a sincere motive behind it.

Examples:

Form III

Form I

maana"(a)

مَاْنَعَ

mana"(a)

مَنَعَ

(he) made himself preventing of

{(he) sought to prevent}

→ (he) opposed

(he) minded, objected

(he) prevented

naasar(a)

نَاْصَرَ

nasar(a)

نَصَرَ

(he) made himself supporting of

{(he) sought to render victorious}

→ (he) supported

(he) rendered victorious

→ (he) supported

daafa"(a)

دَاْفَعَ

dafa"(a)

دَفَعَ

(he) made himself repelling

{(he) sought to repel}

→ (he) defended (intr.)

(he) pushed, repelled

waasal(a)

وَاْصَلَ

wasal(a)

وَصَلَ

(he) made himself connecting of

{(he) sought to connect}

→ (he) continued

(he) connected

(he) arrived

haajar(a)

هَاْجَرَ

hajar(a)

هَجَرَ

(he) made himself abandoning

{(he) sought to abandon}

(he) migrated (intr.)

(he) abandoned, left

saafar(a)

سَاْفَرَ

safar(a)

سَفَرَ

(he) made himself clearing out

{(he) sought to clear out}

(he) left town, country

(he) traveled (intr.)

(he) cleared out

haarab(a)

حَاْرَبَ

harab(a)

حَرَبَ

(he) made himself robbing of

{(he) sought to rob}

(he) warred with

(he) robbed

laazam(a)

لازَمَ

lazim(a)

لَزِمَ

(he) made himself staying at/with

{(he) sought to stay at/with}

→ (he) persisted with

(he) stuck to

(he) stayed at/with

shaarak(a)

شَاْرَكَ

sharik(a)

شَرِكَ

(he) made himself partnering with (somebody) in (something)

{(he) sought to partner with (somebody) in (something)}

→ (he) participated with (somebody) in (something)

takes two objects

(he) made himself tangled

(he) partnered with

"aawan(a)

عَاْوَنَ

"aan(a)

عَاْنَ*

(he) made himself assisting of

{(he) sought to assist}

→ (he) assisted

(he) assisted

jaawaz(a)

جَاْوَزَ

jaaz(a)

جَاْزَ*

(he) made himself moving past

{(he) sought to move past}

→ (he) moved past

→ (he) exceeded

(he) crossed, moved past

→ (he) was acceptable

haawal(a)

حَاْوَلَ

haal(a)

حَاْلَ*

(he) made himself moving around

{(he) sought to move around}

→ (he) tried (tr.)

(he) rotated, moved around (intr.)

→ (he) transformed (intr.)

(he) separated

*Those are irregular hollow verbs. The middle root letter in such verbs is turned into a weak 'alif.

 

Rarely will form III verbs mean "(he) made doing" instead of "(he) made himself doing."

Form III

Form I

saa"ad(a)

سَاْعَدَ

sa"id(a)

سَعِدَ

(he) made be happy

(he) helped

(he) was happy

faa"al(a)

فَاْعَلََ

fa"al(a)

فَعَلَ

(he) made be doing

→ (he) made chemically react

(he) did

"aafaa

عَاْفَىْ*

"afaa

عَفَىْ*

(he) made be left

→ (he) cured

(he) saved from harm

(he) pardoned

original sense:

(he) left

(he) was left

jaawab(a)

جَاْوَبَ

jaab(a)

جَاْبَ*

(he) made be going through

→ (he) answered

original sense:

→ (he) helped to reach

(he) went through

(he) voyaged (tr.)

*Those are irregular defective verbs. The last root letter in such verbs is turned into a weak 'alif.

*This is an irregular hollow verbs. The middle root letter in such a verb is turned into a weak 'alif.

 

For many from III verbs, especially when the implied preposition in the meaning formula is "with," the verb can be translated to the following:

Mutual

(He) initiated mutual doing with

 

This means an action carried by more than one person, but one of them (the subject of the verb) is responsible for starting it. This is the principal meaning of form III verbs according to classical Arab grammarians. However, there are so many form III verbs that do not fit into this principal meaning.

 

I explain this meaning to myself as though they combined or couldn't separate between the simple causative "(he) made be doing" and the reflexive causative "(he) became doing."

Mutual

 

(He) made (the object) and made himself be doings/doers prep.

(he) initiated mutual doing with

 

Examples:

 

Form III

Form I

raaqas(a)

رَاْقَصَ

raqas(a)

رَقَصَ

(he) made and became dancing with

{(he) initiated mutual dancing with}

= (he) danced with

(he) danced

jaalas(a)

جَاْلَسَ

jalas(a)

جَلَسَ

(he) made and became sitting with

{(he) initiated mutual sitting with}

= (he) sat with

(he) sat (intr.)

kaatab(a)

كَاْتَبَ

katab(a)

كَتَبَ

(he) made and became writing to

{(he) initiated mutual writing with}

(he) corresponded with

(he) wrote

haasab(a)

حَاْسَبَ

hasab(a)

حَسَبَ

(he) made and became calculating with

{(he) initiated mutual calculating with}

→ (he) settled an account with

→ (he) held responsible for

(he) calculated

waa"ad(a)

وَاْعَدَ

wa"ad(a)

وَعَدَ

(he) made and became promising of

{(he) initiated mutual promising with}

→ (he) made appointment with

(he) dated

(he) promised

qaabal(a)

قَاْبَلَ

qabal(a)

قَبَلَ

(he) made and became fronting of

{(he) initiated mutual fronting with}

= (he) fronted

(he) met with

(he) fronted

"aamal(a)

عَاْمَلَ

"amil(a)

عَمِلَ

(he) made and became working with

{(he) initiated mutual working with}

= (he) worked with

→ (he) treated, behaved toward

(he) worked

naazal(a)

نَاْزَلَ

nazal(a)

نَزَلَ

(he) made and became dismounting with

{(he) initiated mutual dismounting with}

→ (he) fought with (in battle)

(he) went down, descended

in battle:

(he) dismounted

baaya"(a)

بَاْيَعَ

baa"(a)

بَاْعَ*

(he) made and became transacting with

{(he) initiated mutual transacting with}

→ (he) made deal with

→ (he) pledged allegiance to

(he) sold

classical:

(he) transacted (business)

haawar(a)

حَاْوَرَ

haar(a)

حَاْرَ*

(he) made and became going back with

{(he) initiated mutual going back with}

→ (he) conversed with

(he) was perplexed

original sense:

(he) went back

*Those are irregular hollow verbs. The middle root letter in such verbs is turned into a weak 'alif.

 

For many verbs it gets really impossible for me to decide whether the supposed meaning is one of mutuality or seeking. Therefore, I'm going to combine both.

Mutual + Conative

(He) initiated mutual seeking to do with

 

It is too long, but it is the shortest I could work out.

 

Examples:

 

Form III

Form I

daarab(a)

ضَاْرَبَ

darab(a)

ضَرَبَ

(he) made and became hitting of

{(he) initiated mutual seeking to hit with}

(he) fought

(he) hit

qaatal(a)

قَاْتَلَ

qatal(a)

قَتَلَ

(he) made and became killing of

{(he) initiated mutual seeking to kill with}

(he) fought

(he) killed

saara"(a)

صَاْرَعَ

sara"(a)

صَرَعَ

(he) made and became throwing down of

{(he) initiated mutual seeking to throw down with}

(he) wrestled

(he) threw (someone) down

laakam(a)

لاكَمَ

lakam(a)

لَكَمَ

(he) made and became punching of

{(he) initiated mutual seeking to punch with}

(he) boxed with

(he) punched

jaathab(a)

جَاْذَبَ

jathab(a)

جَذَبَ

(he) made and became pulling of (something) with (someone)

{(he) initiated mutual seeking to pull (something) with (someone)}

takes two objects

(he) pulled

naaza"(a)

نَاْزَعَ

naza"(a)

نَزَعَ

(he) made and became plucking of (something) with (someone)

{(he) initiated mutual seeking to pluck (something) with (someone)}

(he) disputed over (something) with (someone)

takes two objects

(he) plucked

naaqash(a)

نَاْقَشَ

naqash(a)

نَقَشَ

(he) made and became extracting of (something) with (someone)

{(he) initiated mutual extracting of (something) with (someone)}

(he) discussed (something) with (someone)

takes two objects

(he) extracted

(he) engraved

 

Sometimes, the verbs will have neither a meaning of conation nor of mutuality. Those are regarded to have an emphatic meaning.

Intensive

(He) did much

Examples:

Form III

Form I

baalar(a)

بَاْلَغَ

balar(a)

بَلَغَ

(he) made himself reaching

{(he) reached much}

(he) exaggerated (intr.)

(he) reached

jaahad(a)

جَاْهَدَ

jahid(a)

جَهِدَ

(he) made himself struggling

→ (he) struggled much

(he) was tired

→ (he) struggled

saa'al(a)

سَاْئَلَ

sa'al(a)

سَأَلَ

(he) made himself asking of

{(he) asked much}

→ (he) interrogated

(he) asked

shaahad(a)

شَاْهَدَ

shahid(a)

شَهِدَ

(he) made himself witnessing of

{(he) witnessed much}

(he) watched

(he) witnessed

taalab(a)

طَاْلَبَ

talab(a)

طَلَبَ

(he) made himself requesting from (someone)

{(he) requested much from}

(he) demanded (intr.) from

(he) requested

saamah(a)

سَاْمَحَ

samah(a)

سَمَحَ

(he) made himself generous with

{(he) made himself generous much}

→ (he) forgave

ultimate etymology:

(he) made happy?

(he) was generous

→ (he) allowed

 

 

Finally, there are few verbs of form III that appear to be derived from simple nouns, but this is probably not true.

Examples:

Form III

Noun

daa"af(a)

ضَاْعَفَ

di"f(un)

ضِعْفٌ

(he) became multiplying/doubling of

→ (he) multiplied, doubled

a multiplied amount

a doubled amount (masc.)

raayar(a)

غَاْيَرَ

rayr(un)

غَيْرٌ

(he) became being other than

→ (he) was/became different from

an "other than"

 (masc./fem. prep.)

haataf(a)

هَاْتَفَ

haatif(un)

هَاْتِفٌ

(he) became telephoning of

→ (he) telephoned

modernization of an archaic verb

a telephone (masc.)

 

 

Basic Meanings of Form III

Causative to be Active Participle

Simple

(he) made be doing

(he) made (the object) be (an object) that is doing

(he) made (the object) be (an object) that does

Reflexive

(he) made himself be doing

→ (he) became doing

(he) became (a subject) that is doing

(he) became (a subject) that does

 

Connotative Meanings of Form III

Conative

(he) sought to do

factitious reflexive transformative

Mutual

(initiated by one side)

(he) initiated mutual doing with

combined causative & reflexive causative

Intensive

(he) did much

 

 

Etymology Note

Arabic does not have any real long A vowel. Here is the ancestral form of the form III structure according to my guess:

فَوْعَلَ

faw"al(a)

 

 

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