Sarf – The Irregular Verb – ناقِص – Part 1

Disclaimer: This post is due to a major contribution from Humairah (blogging here). Any mistakes, of course, are mine.

As we have already learned, ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ verb is one which has ﻭ or ﻯ at its ﻻﻡ position. For the purpose of illustration we will take three examples of a ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ verb: ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ (he called) , which comes from ﻧﹷﺼﹷﺮﹶ baab , ﺭﹶﻣﻰٰ (he threw), which comes from ﺿﹷﺮﹶﺏﹶ baab, and ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ (he was pleased), which comes from ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻊﹶ baab. In this post I will, Insha Allah, deal with the ﻣﺎﺿﻰ conjugations of the ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ verb.

ﻣﺎﺿﻰ of ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ:

Below, I will list the ﻣﺎﺿﻰ conjugations for both ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ and ﺭﹶﻣﻰٰ. Note that the ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ only occurs in the first 5 conjugations of both these verbs. I will Insha Allah also explain why the ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ occurs in each case. We will deal with ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ separately later in this post, Insha Allah.

1	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ	ﺭﹶﻣﻰٰ
2	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺍ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹷﺎ
3	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺍ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻮﹾﺍ
4	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺖﹾ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﺖﹾ
5	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺘﹷﺎ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﺘﹷﺎ
6	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﻥﹶ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﻦﹶ
7	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺕﹶ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺖﹶ
8	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻤﹷﺎ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﺘﹹﻤﹷﺎ
9	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻢﹾ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﺘﹹﻢﹾ
10	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺕﹺ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺖﹺ
11	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻤﹷﺎ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺘﹹﻤﹷﺎ
12	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻦﱠ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﺘﹹﻦﱠ
13	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺕﹸ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺖﹸ
14	ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﻧﹷﺎ	ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﻨﹷﺎ

In the Arabic Language certain pronunciation issues arise when weak letters are preceded by inappropriate vowels. For example, it is difficult to pronounce a ﻭ which is ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ and is preceded by a ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ or a ﻯ which is ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ and is preceded by a ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ. In such cases we implement rules which change these weak letters to other, pronounceable, letters coupled with a shift in the vowel itself from one letter to another. Thus, for ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ to occur the ﻭ or ﻯ need to be ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ and need to be preceded by inappropriate vowels.

On the other hand, a ﻭ which is ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ and is preceded by a ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ is very normal; similarly a ﻯ which is ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ and is preceded by a ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ is very normal. Moreover, a ﻭ or ﻯ preceded by a ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ is also considered normal for pronunciation. Now, if you note that in the above table there is no ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ from the 6th conjugation downwards because in there the ﻭ or ﻯ is ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ and is preceded by a normal vowel i.e. a ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ.

First conjugation: Recall that whenever a ﻭ or ﻯ is preceded by a letter with a ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ on it the ﻭ or ﻯ is changed to ﺍ; thus, the first conjugation was actually ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶ which changed into ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ due to the simple change to alif rule. The same is true for ﺭﹶﻣﻰٰ which was initially ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻰﹶ

Second conjugation: This should actually be ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺍ rhyming with ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻼﹶ . However, the simple change to alif rule will cause it to become ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﺍ which is difficult to pronounce and thus the final alif will drop leaving us with ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ . Note that this is exactly the same as the first conjugation so there is actually no ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ allowed here. Thus the final form remains ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺍ

Third conjugation: Rhyming with ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻠﹹﻮﹾﺍ this should be ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹸﻭﹾﺍ . The first ﻭ changes to ﺍ due to the simple change to alif rule, leaving us with ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﻭﹾﺍ . This form, however, has two ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ letters coming together in it therefore we drop the first ﺍ leaving us with ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺍ

Fourth Conjugation: This was originally ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺕﹾ rhyming with ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻠﹷﺖﹾ . The ﻭ changed to ﺍ causing it to become ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﺕﹾ. Because of the gathering of ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ letters the ﺍ is dropped leaving us with ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺖﹾ

Fifth Conjugation: This was originally ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺗﹷﺎ rhyming with ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻠﹷﺘﹷﺎ . The ﻭ changed to ﺍ giving us ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﺗﹷﺎ. It is important to note here that in this last form the ﺕ is actually ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ but has to carry a ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ because of the final ﺍ which is the pronoun of duality. Thus the ﺍ in the middle will drop because of gathering of two ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ letters leaving us with ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺘﹷﺎ

All the above rules can be equally applied to the first five conjugation of the ﺭﹶﻣﻰٰ table.

As for ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ the only major ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ is in the 3^rd conjugation, all other rhyming with the corresponding conjugations of ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻊﹶ

1	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ
2	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹷﺎ
3	ﺭﹶﺿﹹﻮﹾﺍ
4	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹷﺖﹾ
5	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹷﺘﹷﺎ
6	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﻦﹶ
7	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺖﹶ
8	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻤﺎ
9	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻢﹾ
10	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺖﹺ
11	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻤﹷﺎ
12	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻦﱠ
13	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺖﹸ
14	ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﻨﹷﺎ

First conjugation: It was actually ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻮﹶ but changed its form due a rule which is called the edge rule. It states that “any ﻻﻡ position ﻭ (i.e. occurring at the edge of a word) preceded by a ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ will change to ﻯ “. This rule deals with the concept of ‘ small ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ ‘ whereby one letter changes to another but the form of the verb is not disfigured: ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ still rhymes with ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻊﹶ .

Note: this ‘small ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ ‘ happens in all 14 conjugations for ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ

Third conjugation: The 3^rd conjugation was originally ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹹﻮﹾﺍ (rhyming with ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻌﹹﻮﹾﺍ ) which is hard for pronunciation since the ﻯ is preceded by a ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ . Moreover, this ﻯ here is then followed by a ﻭ which makes it even harder on the tongue. In this case, the ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ moved from ﻯ to ﺽ, which lost it ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ. The ﻯ is then dropped because it is left with a ﻭ which is ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ. The ﻭ cannot be dropped since it is a pronoun (denoting ‘they, group of males’).

This concludes our discussion of introducing the ﻣﺎﺿﻰ for the ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ verb. The next post, Insha Allah, will deal with the ﻣﹹﻀﹷﺎﺭﹺﻉ of the ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ verb.