| Stem | Thematic Role | Proto-Semitic
(Reconstructed) |
East Semitic | Northwest Semitic | Arabic | South Semitic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akkadian | Biblical Hebrew | Syriac | Standard Arabic | Geʿez | Jibbali | ||||||||||
| G | base | *CaCVCa | *yVCCVCu | iCaC:VC | iCCVC | CāCVC | yiCCVC | CCVC | niCCVC | CaCVCa | yaCCVCu | CaCVCa | yəCCVC | CVCVC | yVCCVC |
| tG | refl. of G | *tCVCVCa | *yitCVCVCu | iCtaC:iC | iCtaCiC | - | - | ʔitCCiC | nitCCiC | iCtaCaCa | yaCtaCiCu | taCaCCa | yətCaCaC | əCteˈCeC | yəCˈtɔCuC |
| D | mult./trans. | *CaC:aCa | *yuCaC:iCu | uCaC:aC | uCaC:iC | CiC:ēC | yCaC:ēC | CaC:iC | nCaC:iC | CaC:aCa | yuCaC:iCu | CaC:aCa | yəCaC:əC | - | - |
| tD | refl. of D | *tCaC:VCa | *yitCaC:VCu | uCtaC:aC | uCtaC:iC | hitCaC:ēC | yitCaC:ēC | ʔitCaC:aC | nitCaC:aC | taCaC:aCa | yataCaC:aCu | - | - | - | - |
| L | assoc./intens. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | CāCaCa | yuCāCiCu | CāCaCa | yəCāCəC | eˈCoCəC | yˈCɔCəCC |
| tL | refl. of L | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | taCāCaCa | yataCāCaCu | - | - | - | - |
| Š | causative | *šaCCaCa | *yušaCCiCu | ušaCCaC | ušaCCiC | hiCCīC | yaCCīC | ʔaCCiC | naCCiC | ʾaCCaCa | yuCCiCa | ʔaCCaCa | yāCCəC | eCˈCeC | ˈyɛCəCC |
| Št | refl. of Š | *štaCCVCa | *yštaCCVCu | uštaCCaC | uštaCCiC | - | - | ʔit:aCCaC | nit:aCCaC | istaCCaCa | yastaCCiCu | ʔastaCCaCa | yāstaCCəC | ŝəCˈCeC | yˈŝɛCCəC |
| ŠtG | caus. of tG | *šatCVCVCa | *yVšatCVCVCa | uštaCaC:aC | uštaCCiC | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ŝəˈCeCəC | yəŝˈCɛCɛC |
| N | recip./pass. of G | *nCaCVCa | *yVnCaCiCu | inCaC:iC | inCaCiC | niCCaC | yiC:āCēC | - | - | inCaCaCa | yanCaCiCu | - | - | - | - |
Suffix Tenses:
| Stem | Thematic-Syntactic Property | Proto-Semitic
(Reconstructed) |
East Semitic | Northwest Semitic | Arabic | South Semitic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akkadian | Bibl. Hebrew | Syriac | Std. Arabic | Geʿez | Jibbali | |||
| G | base | *CaCVCa | iCaC:VC | CaCVC | CCVC | CaCVCa | CaCVCa | CVCVC |
| tG | reflexive/mediopassive of G | *tCVCVCa | iCtaC:iC | - | ʔitCCiC | iCtaCaCa | taCaCCa | əCteˈCeC |
| D | multiplicative/transitivizing of G | *CaC:aCa | uCaC:aC | CiC:ēC | CaC:iC | CaC:aCa | CaC:aCa | - |
| tD | reflexive of D | *tCaC:VCa | uCtaC:aC | hitCaC:ēC | ʔitCaC:aC | taCaC:aCa | - | - |
| L | associative/intensive/causative | - | - | - | - | CāCaCa | CāCaCa | eˈCoCəC |
| tL | reflexive/mediopassive of L | - | - | - | - | taCāCaCa | - | - |
| Š | causative | *šaCCaCa | ušaCCaC | hiCCīC | ʔaCCiC | ʔaCCaCa | ʔaCCaCa | eCˈCeC |
| Št | reflexive/mediopassive of Š | *štaCCVCa | uštaCCaC | - | ʔit:aCCaC | istaCCaCa | ʔastaCCaCa | ŝəCˈCeC |
| ŠtG | causative of tG | *šatCVCVCa | uštaCaC:aC | - | - | - | - | ŝəˈCeCəC |
| N | reciprocal/passive of G | *nCaCVCa | inCaC:iC | niCCaC | - | inCaCaCa | - | - |
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Each stem has a different characterized by a different morphological template, comprised of a syllable shape, vowel melody, and affixes.
which is composed of a particular syllable structure
The thematic-syntactic properties of the configurations are relational rather than absolute, such that the property assigned by a configuration is largely contingent upon the base of the derived verb (Berman 1978; Horvath 1981; Doron 2003; Laks 2007). For example, the Hebrew configuration hitCaCeC assigns deaccusative in [hirˈgiz] ‘to make someone angry’ → [hitraˈgez] ‘to become angry’, but reciprocal in [xiˈbek] ‘to hug’ → [hitxaˈbek] ‘to hug each other’. Moreover, [hitˀaˈlel] ‘to torture’ is neither deaccusative nor reflexive, as it is not derived from another verb. Similarly in Arabic, ˀaCCaC assigns causative in [ˈʥalas] ‘to sit down’ → [ˈˀaʥlas] ‘to bid one to sit down’, but [ˈˀarsal] ‘to send’ is not causative, since it does not have a base verb (Wright 1962). Verbs sharing a configuration may also share a semantic property, as is the case with Arabic (t)CajCaC verbs. Watson (2006: 192) reports that in most dialects these verbs refer to “physical state with pejorative overtones of pretence,” but in Sanˈani Arabic they denote “harmless childish naughtiness.”
The grammatical function of the configuration is apparent in various Semitic languages, but not in all. In Modern Aramaic, which has only two verb classes (as opposed to five in Hebrew, 11 in Maltese, and 14 in Standard Arabic), the configurations have only structural properties, to the extent that there are hardly any related verbs from the two classes (Hoberman 1992).
Typically, one stem is associated with the ordinary simple active verbs while others may be canonically associated with other grammatical functions such as the passive, the causative, the intensive, the reflexive, etc., or combinations thereof. These functions should not be taken as universal or absolute, but are better understood as relational, depending on the particular source of the derived stem.[1] These grammatical functions are also not present in all Semitic languages, Modern Aramaic, for example has only two stems, one for monosyllabic verbs and the other for disyllabic verbs, with hardly any cases of related verbs in each stem.[1][2]
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For example, in Arabic and Hebrew, words containing the root √k-t-b have a meaning related to writing (In Hebrew, a process known begadkefat, alters the quality of certain consonants when they follow a vowel, so b becomes v and k becomes ḵ (pronounced [[[Voiceless velar fricative|x]]]; the symbol ː indicates the preceding consonant is doubled or geminate). Thus:
- In the basic stem, "he wrote" in Arabic is "kataba", and in Hebrew is "katav".
- In a causative stem, "he dictated" in Arabic is "ʔaktaba" and in Hebrew is "hiḵtīv".
- In the passive stem, "it was written" in Arabic is "inkataba" and in Hebrew is "niḵtav".
- In a reflexive stem, "he corresponded" in Arabic is "kātaba" and in Hebrew is "hu hitkatːēv".
The following two tables show the full paradigm of templates for the 9 most common Arabic stems and the 7 most common Hebrew stems, and illustrate some of the different meanings and functions that stems can have.
The first column gives the traditional stem abbreviation used by Comparative Semiticists and the second column gives typical stem names used in Arabic and Hebrew grammars; the Arabic system uses Roman numerals, and the Hebrew uses binyanim forms with the root letters √p-ʕ-l (with p sometimes becoming f by begadkefat). The next columns give the canonical functions of each stem, and their templates (the 3 Cs stand in for the 3 Consonants of the root, and V stands for a Vowel which can vary). Finally, the meaning and form of the stems with the √k-t-b root is given in the 3rd person masculine singular perfect, which lacks inflectional affixes.[1]
| Stem | Form | Grammatical Function | Template | Meaning | √k-t-b |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | I | base | CaCVCa | he wrote | KaTaBa |
| Gt | VIII | reflexive of G | iCtaCaCa | he copied | iKtaTaBa |
| D | II | multiplicative, transitivizing | CaCːaCa | he made to write | KaTːaBa |
| tD | V | reflexive of D | taCaCːaCa | - | - |
| L | III | associative | CāCaCa | he corresponded | KāTaBa |
| tL | VI | reflexive of L | taCāCaCa | he exchanged letters | taKāTaBa |
| Š | IV | causative | ʔaCCaCa | he dictated | ʔaKTaBa |
| Št | X | reflexive of Š | istaCCaCa | he asked to write | istaKTaBa |
| N | VII | passive, reflexive of G | inCaCaCa | he subscribed | inKaTaBa |
| Stem | Binyan | Grammatical Function | Template | Meaning | √k-t-b |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | paʕal | base | CaCVC | he wrote | KaTaV |
| D | piʕel | transitivizing, intensive | CiCːēC | he addressed[5] | KiTːēV |
| Du | puʕal | passive of D | CuCːaC | he was addressed | KuTːaV |
| tD | hitpaʕel | reflexive of D | hitCaCːēC | he corresponded | hitKaTːēV |
| Š | hifʕil | causative | hiCCīC | he dictated | hiḴTīV |
| Šu | hufʕal | passive of Š | huCCaC | it was dictated | huḴTaV |
| N | nifʕal | passive/reflexive of G | niCCaC | it was written | niḴTaV |
In each Semitic language, the number of derived stems is different. In Hebrew there are seven common ones,[6] and in Arabic there are nine common forms and at least six rare ones[7]; Akkadian has thirteen common patterns, Ugaritic has ten, Syriac has six, Modern Aramaic has two[2][1], and so on.
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add Bennett Refs to Arabic & Hebrew tables
number of stems
Stems - Comparative Semitic
3ms
a * marks reconstructed/hypothetical form
Suffix & Prefix
Accents?
Akkadian St (passive of S)
bold - consonantal reflex + geminates
colon geminate
Nouns derived from nouns, not consonantal roots?
Double check Syriac, Ge'ez.
- ^ a b c d Bat-El, Outi. "Semitic Templates." The Blackwell Companion to Phonology. van Oostendorp, Marc, Colin J. Ewen, Elizabeth Hume and Keren Rice (eds). Blackwell Publishing, 2011. Blackwell Reference Online.
- ^ a b Hoberman, Robert D. Formal properties of the conjugations in modern Aramaic. pp. 49–64. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-2516-1_5.
- ^ Wehr, Hans (1979). A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: (Arab.-Engl.). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 9783447020022.
- ^ Ussishkin, Adam P. (2000). The Emergence of Fixed Prosody (PDF) (Ph.D.). UC Santa Cruz.
- ^ "Check out the translation for 'כִּתֵּב' on Morfix Dictionary". www.morfix.co.il. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ Rubin, Aaron D. (2008-03-01). "The Paradigm Root in Hebrew". Journal of Semitic Studies. 53 (1): 29–41. doi:10.1093/jss/fgm043. ISSN 0022-4480.
- ^ Wright, W. (1896). A grammar of the Arabic language: translated from the German of Caspari, and edited with numerous additions and corrections (PDF). Cambridge.