Sarf – The rules for تَعلِیل – A summary of اجوف and ناقِص

We already know that there are three letters in the Arabic alphabet which are called ﺣﹹﺮﹸﻭﻑﹺ ﻋﹻﻠﳲﺖ (or the weak letters), namely ﻭ and ﺍ and ﻱ. The presence of these letters within the base letters of a verb will cause certain changes to occur which can change the final form of the verb. In this post, Insha Allah, I will list down the rules which deal with ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ occurring at the  ﻻﻡ position and the  ﻉ position of the verb. Most of these rules have already been encountered when we discussed the ﺃﺟﹿﻮﹶﻑ and the ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ verb (discussed here and here). Since there are quite a few of these rules,  and because we will see many of them in future ﺻﹷﺮﹾﻑ discussions, therefore it is beneficial to list these at one place for reference purposes.

Rules for ﺃﺟﻮﹶﻑ:

1. Simple Change to Alif rule: Whenever there is a ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ weak letter i.e. a واو or a ﻱ preceded by a ﻣﹷﻔﹿﺘﹹﻮﺡ letter, change the واو or ﻱ to ﺍ. See here for examples of this rule
2. The ﻣﹻﻴﺰﺍﻥﹲ rule: Any واو which is ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ and is preceded by a ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ will change to ﻯ. See here for examples of this rule
3. Whenever the ﻉ position of a passive ﻣﺎﺿﻰ is a واو or ﻱ remove the vowel from the letter before it and transfer the ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ to this letter. See here for examples of this rule
4. Whenever there is a ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ weak letter i.e. a واو or a ﻱ preceded by a ﺳﹹﻜﹹﻮﻥ , transfer the vowel from the weak letter to the letter before it. Now, if the vowel being transfered is a ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ then change this letter to an ﺍ. See here for examples of this rule

Rules for ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ:

1. 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 is depicted by the first ﻣﺎﺿﻰ conjugation of ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ which was originally ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻮﹶ. See here for examples of this rule
2. Fourth Position or Beyond Rule: If a ﻭ comes in the fourth position or later in a word and it is not preceded by a ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ or a ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ ﻭ, it changes into a ﻯ. See here for examples of this rule
3. Whenever there is a ﻻﻡ position ﻭ or ﻯ preceded by a ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ or a ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ, make the ﻭ or the ﻯ as ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ. Now, if the ﻭ or ﻯ is preceded by an appropriate short vowel and followed by an appropriate long vowel (see here for this discussion) then drop this ﻭ or ﻯ. The change of ﻳﹷﺪﹾﻋﹹﻮﹸﻭﹾﻥﹶ to ﻳﹷﺪﹾﻋﹹﻮﹾﻥﹶ is handled by this rule
4. If there is a ﻭ or ﺍ or ﻱ at the end of a verb then they are dropped in case of ﺟﹷﺰﹶﻡﹾ. For example, ﻟﹷﻢﹾ ﻳﹷﺮﹾﻡﹺ which was originally ﻟﹷﻢﹾ ﻳﹷﺮﹾﻣﹻﻰ or ﻟﹷﻢﹾ ﻳﹷﺪﹾﻉﹸ which was originally ﻟﹷﻢﹾ ﻳﹷﺪﹾﻋﹹﻮﹾ

Hopefully this list will come in handy for the students of ﺻﹷﺮﹾﻑ when dealing with ﺃﺟﻮﹶﻑ and ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ verbs. Insha Allah, in the future, I will post about other هفتِ أقسام and their governing rules as well.