Derived Nouns and Adjectives

Derived Nouns and Adjectives Prerequisite for ALL GCL Intermediate and Advanced Arabic Courses Prepared by CTI2 Doris Espelien

Why do I need to know this? • Many words in Arabic are descended from verbal roots. • Understanding the patterns can expand your vocabulary without having to resort to those pesky little vocab drill cards.

What will I learn in this lesson? • Nouns of Place and Time • Nouns of Instance • Nouns of Intensity and Profession • Nouns of Instruments, Vehicles or Vessels • Relative Adjectives (Nisba) • Nouns of Concepts (Feminine Nisba)

First, a few ground rules… • Arabic does not have as many classifications for grammar as English does. Thus, most words can be broken into three categories: Verbs, Nouns and Particles. • These items can be easily identified by their Arabic names: افعال اسماء حروف • Just because something is labeled “noun” does not mean it will always behave as a noun. It can also behave verbally or adjectively. Just keep these ideas in the back of your head as you progress through the presentation.

Nouns of Place and Timeاسماء المكان والزمان • These nouns indicate the place or time of the action of their root verb: قعد مقعد To sit A place of sitting (chair) استشفى مستشفى To seek a cure A place of seeking a cure (hospital) طلع مطلع To rise A time of rising, start سبّق مسبّق To precede Preceding, previous

Forming the Noun of Place and Time: • Measure I has three common patterns for this noun: • مَفْعَلٌ مَقْعَدٌ • مَفْعِلٌ مَجْلِسٌ • مَفْعَلَةٌ مَدْرَسَةٌ • Measures II – X follow the same pattern as the passive participle (covered in class), which means you will have to use common sense in your translation: “Does this word mean ‘a place to seek treatment’ or ‘treatment was sought’?” • The pattern is as simple as starting with a “Moo”, adding the verb in its current measure (less any alifs at the beginning), and putting a fatha over Radical 2 (the 2nd letter of the root). • استشفى مُسْتَشْفَى

مَصْنَعٌfactory مَرْكَزٌcenter مُسْتَقْبَلٌ future Application!Convert the verb root to a common noun of place and time! • صنع • ركب • ركز • استقبل مَرْكَبٌ vessel

مُخْتَبَرٌlaboratory مَصْرِفٌ bank مَدْخَنَةٌchimney مَخْرَجٌexit More Application! • اختبر (مُفْتَعَلٌ) • صرف (مَفْعِلٌ) • دخن (مَفْعَلَةٌ) • خرج (مَخْرَجٌ)

Nouns of Instance اسماء المرة • These nouns indicate one instance of the action being done. • ضرب ضربة A hit to hit These nouns are very simple to form: Take the verb as it is found in Measure I and add a ة on the end. لَكْمَةٌa hit/punch جَلْسَةٌa session لكم to hit/punch جلسto sit

Nouns of Intensity and Professionاسماء المبالغة • These nouns, which also sometimes function as adjectives, indicate that something is done very well or is done as a profession. • Verb Active participle Noun of Intensity • To do Doer Effective (done very well) • فَعَلَ فَاعِلٌ فَعَّالٌ • طَبَخَ طَابِخٌ طَبَّاخٌ • To cook cook/cooking chef • The other most common pattern is فَعِيلٌ: • طَبَّ طَبِيبٌ For other, less common patterns, see A Student Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic by Eckehard Schulz, pg. 74.

Application: carry these verbs through the progression of meaning from verb to active participle to noun of intensity. • خَبَزَ • To bake • قَنَصَ • To shoot • جَمَلَ • To be pretty • خَبَرَ • To know well خَابِزٌ s.o. who bakes قَانِصٌ Shooter جَمِيلٌ Pretty خَبِيرٌ Expert (s.o. who knows a lot) خَبَّازٌ baker قَنَّاصٌ sniper

Nouns of Instruments, Vehicles and Vessels (Device)اسماء الآلة والوعاء • The feminine form of the اسم مبالغة often denotes the device used for performing that action: • To dive = professional diver = submarine • غَوَّاصة = غَوَّاص = غاص (غوص) • To wash = launderer (profession) = washing machine • غَسَّالة = غَسَّال = غَسَلَ • There are several other common patterns, available in the Schulz book, pg. 77-79. However, using the above pattern usually indicates that the device being used is the largest and most powerful: Look upجرفand notice the difference betweenجرّافة, which comes from the noun of intensity, andمجرفة, which does not. * Some common patterns include the active participle,مِفْعَلٌ , مِفْعَالٌ, مِفْعَلَةٌ,فِعَالٌ

Application! • If فتح means to open, the مِفتاحٌ most likely means: • If قدح means to strike fire (with a flint), قدّاحة most likely means: • If كنس means to sweep, مكنسة most likely means: key lighter broom

The Relative Adjectiveالنسبة • One of the easiest and most common ways to form an adjective is to add a يّ or يّة to the end of a noun. (Make sure the adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in gender!) • بغداد بغداديّ \ بغداديّة • If a noun ends in ة, drop the ة and add the appropriate ending: • جامعة جامعيّ \ جامعيّة • If a noun ends in ا, drop the ا and add the appropriate ending: • امريكا امريكيّ \ امريكيّة • If a noun takes ال, but the noun it modifies does not, drop the ال and add the appropriate ending: • القاهرة رجل قاهريّ اللهجة القاهريّة

Nouns of Conceptالنسبة المؤنّثة • The noun of concept looks EXACTLY like the feminine form of the relative adjective, which is why it is known as the feminine nisba. • You must be careful when you look at a word to determine if you are looking at a noun or an adjective, and this will aid your translation. • A noun of concept is an abstract noun, which in English usually ends in –ism, -ence, -ance, -ness, -ty and –cy • الرأسمالية Capitalism • أهميّة Importance

R.A. N.O.C. N.O.C. R.A. N.O.C. N.O.C. Determine whether the following are nouns of concept or relative adjectives: • الاشتراكيّة نظريّة سياسيّة. • Socialism is a political theory. • العبوديّة كانت سائدة في روما أيام الإمبراطوريّة الرومانيّة. • Slavery was prevalent in Rome during the days of the Roman Empire.

Bibliography • All the Arabic You Never Learned the First Time Around by Jim Price • A Student Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic by Eckehard Schulz

Please proceed to the assessment. Don’t forget to print your certificate!  * All students will be expected to demonstrate applied knowledge on the first day of all MSA and Arabic dialect courses. Last updated: Dec. 2007

Derived Nouns and Adjectives