Sound verbs (past)

Sound verbs are those verbs which have ‘sound’ consonants – i.e. not y or – as all their root letters. For all intents and purposes, certain verbs which are technically probably ‘hollow’ verbs – those with y or w as their middle root letter – or assimilating verbs – those with y or w as their first root letter – act exactly like sound verbs; this includes all form II, III, IV and V hollow verbs, some form I hollow verbs, and all non-form-I assimilating verbs.

Form I sound verbs

Form I sound verbs can have one of two kinds of internal vowelling in the past – fa3al and fé3el. We’ll illustrate the first kind with a verb you’re probably quite familiar with:

 

درس daras
‘study’

ana darast (drast)

درست

انا

inte darast (drast)

درست

انت

inti darasti (drasti)

درستي

انتي

huwwe daras

درس

هو

hiyye darset (darsat, -it)

درس

هي

ni7na darasna (drasna)

درسنا

نحنه

intu darastu (drastu)

درستو

انتو

hinen darasu

درسو

هنن

 

This is probably the most common internal vowelling for verbs in Levantine.

Generally speaking, for these kinds of verbs suffixes that begin with a consonant (-t -ti -na -tu) have no effect on the internal vowelling, although they do cause a predictable stress shift to the second syllable. For some speakers (like Marcel Khalife in this song, so perhaps it’s a Lebanese thing), however, these suffixes cause the first internal vowel to be dropped (drasna, for example).

In most dialects, the suffix -et causes the second internal vowel to be dropped, in line with the normal rules of unstressed vowel loss. Some speakers do not drop this vowel.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: أخدت akhad@t.

For speakers who have the contracting -et, these verbs display it: درسته dar@sto ‘she studied it’.

طلع Téle3
‘go, come up’

ana Tlé3t (Tle3t)

طلعت

انا

inte Tlé3t (Tle3t)

طلعت

انت

inti Tlé3ti (Tle3ti)

طلعتي

انتي

huwwe le3 (Tile3)

طلع

هو

hiyye Tél3et (Til3et, -at, -it)

طلعت

هي

ni7na Tlé3na (Tle3na)

طلعنا

نحنه

intu Tlé3tu (Tle3tu)

طلعتو

انتو

hinen Tél3u (Til3u)

طلعو

هنن

 

The other possibility for internal vowelling is fé3el. This pattern is approximately equivalent to the a-i and a-u patterns in MSA. As such, it includes the vast majority of verbs of becoming and being – تعب té3eb ‘become tired’, for example. It also includes some forms which are probably descended from the internal u-i passive which you learn in MSA (خلق khéle2 ‘be born’, for example, is probably from the same form as MSA khuliqa ‘be created’).

Some verbs whose roots are hollow, like طول Téwel ‘lengthen, get long, longer’ conjugate as sound verbs on this pattern.

In dialects which do not have the é vowel – like Palestine, Jordan and some dialects in Syria and Lebanon (including Homsi), these verbs have the internal vowelling i-e instead.

In these verbs the suffixes beginning with vowels (-et and –u) cause the second internal vowel to be dropped (طلعو Tél3u), in line with the normal rules of unstressed vowel loss. The suffixes beginning with consonants cause the stress to shift to the second syllable as you would expect, and also cause the first internal vowel to drop (Tlé3na).

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: طلعت Tlé3@t.

For speakers that have contracting -et, these verbs display it: شربته shér@bto ‘she drank it’

Form II sound verbs

Form II sound verbs only have one possible internal vowelling, fa33al:

 

 لزّق بـ lazza2 bi-
‘stick to’

ana lazza2t

لزّقت

انا

inte lazza2t

لزّقت

انت

inti lazza2ti

لزّقتي

انتي

huwwe lazza2

لزّق

هو

hiyye lazza2et

لزّقت

هي

ni7na lazza2na

لزّقنا

نحنه

intu lazza2tu

لزّقتو

انتو

hinen lazza2u

لزّقو

هنن

Most verbs of form II are causatives: نزّل nazzal ‘lower’. Some are verbs of becoming: شوّب shawwab ‘get hot’. A small number mean ‘believe (s.o., s.th.) to be X’, where X is a related adjective: صدّق Sadda2 ‘believe, think honest’ < صادق Saadi2 ‘honest’.

Form II verbs whose roots are technically hollow or assimilating conjugate exactly like form II sound verbs.

These sorts of verbs (along with form V) have the most straightforward conjugation. Suffixes simply attach directly, with no change to internal vowelling other than the expected stress change.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: شوبت shawwab@t ‘I’m hot, have got hot’.

These verbs cannot take contracting -et. When a suffix beginning with a vowel is added after the -et suffix, it becomes -ét and takes the stress: درسته darraséto ‘she taught him’.

Form III sound verbs

Form III sound verbs only have one possible internal vowelling: faa3al.

طالع Taala3
‘raise’

ana Taala3t

طالعت

انا
inte Taala3t

طالعت

انت

inti Taala3ti

طالعتي

انتي

huwwe Taala3

طالع

هو

hiyye Taal3et

طالعت

هي

ni7na Taala3na

طالعنا

نحنه

intu Taala3tu

طالعتو

انتو

hinen Taala3u

طالعو

هنن

Verbs of form III have a range of meanings. A few are causatives, like طالع above, but these are comparatively rare.

These verbs are similar to form I fa3al verbs in their conjugation. The suffix -et causes the second internal vowel to be dropped, in line with the normal rules of unstressed vowel loss. The first vowel – which is of course long – is never dropped. All suffixes except -et cause no changes to the internal vowelling except the expected stress shift.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: طالعت Taala3@t.

These verbs do not take the contracting -et. Instead, if followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel (-o, -ak, -ik-et becomes -ét and takes stress: طالعته Taal3éto.

Form IV sound verbs

أحسن a7san
‘be able to’

ana a7sant

أحسن

انا

inte a7sant

أحسنت

انت

inti a7santi

أحسنت

انتي

huwwe a7sanet

أحسن

هو

hiyye a7sant

أحسنت

هي

ni7na a7sanna

أحسننا

نحنه

intu a7santu

أحسنتو

انتو

hinen a7sanu

أحسنو

هنن

 

There are only a few form IV verbs in common use in Levantine, and almost all of them are reasonably formal vocabulary. Most MSA form IV verbs are either a) generally replaced by a form II equivalent, as happens to the vast majority of causatives in particular, b) replaced by a form I verb, or c) conjugated like normal quadriliteral verbs (أسلم aslam ‘become a Muslim’, which looks like a form IV in the past but doesn’t lose its prefix in the present: يأسلم y2aslim). There are a few, however, which still lose their a- prefix in the present. This is, of course, irrelevant to their past tense forms, which conjugate exactly like form II quadriliterals.

Suffixes are attached straightforwardly, with no changes to internal vowelling.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: أعلنت a3lan@t ‘I announced’.

These verbs do not take the contracting -et. Instead, if followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel (-o, -ak, -ik-et becomes -ét and takes stress: أعلنته a3lanéto.


Form V sound verbs

Form V sound verbs only have one possible internal vowelling, tfa33al:

 تلزّق بـ tlazza2 bi-
‘be stuck to’

ana tlazza2t

تلزّقت

انا

inte tlazza2t

تلزّقت

انت

inti tlazza2ti

تلزّقتي

انتي

huwwe tlazza2

تلزّق

هو

hiyye tlazza2et

لزّقت

هي

ni7na tlazza2na

تلزّقنا

نحنه

intu tlazza2tu

تلزّقتو

انتو

hinen tlazza2u

تلزّقو

هنن

Many verbs of form V are passives of form IIs or extensions of that basic meaning: تخرّج ‘graduate from’ < خرّج ‘make graduate’, تعلم t3allam ‘learn’ < علّم ‘teach’. Some are behavioural verbs meaning ‘act like’: تكبّر tkabbar ‘act arrogantly’.

Form V verbs whose roots are technically hollow or assimilating conjugate exactly like form V sound verbs: تبوّل tbawwal ‘urinate’.

These sorts of verbs (along with form IIs) have the most straightforward conjugation. Suffixes simply attach directly, with no change to internal vowelling other than the expected stress change.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: تفتشت tfattash@t ‘I was searched’.

These verbs cannot take contracting -et. When a suffix beginning with a vowel is added after the -et suffix, it becomes -ét and takes the stress: تعلّمته t3allaméto ‘she learnt it’.

Form VI sound verbs

Form VI sound verbs only have one possible vowelling, tfaa3al:

تخانق مع tkhaana2 ma3
‘argue with’

ana tkhaana2t

تخانقت

انا

inte tkhaana2t

تخانقت

انت

inti tkhaana2ti

تخانقتي

انتي

huwwe tkhaana2

تخانق

هو

hiyye tkhaan2et

تخانقت

هي

ni7na tkhaana2na

تخانقنا

نحنه

intu tkhaaUtu

تخانقتو

انتو

hinen tkhaana2u

تخانقو

هنن

Form VIs are usually passives or reciprocals of form IIIs like تخانق above or تبادل tbaadal ‘exchange’.
Form VI verbs whose roots are technically hollow or assimilating conjugate exactly like form V sound verbs: تناول tnaawal ‘discuss’.

These verbs are similar to form I fa3al verbs in their conjugation. The suffix -et causes the second internal vowel to be dropped, in line with the normal rules of unstressed vowel loss. The first vowel – which is of course long – is never dropped. Suffixes that begin with consonants cause no changes to the internal vowelling except the expected stress shift.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: تخانقتtkhaana2@t ‘I quarrelled’.

These verbs do not take the contracting -et. Instead, if followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel (-o, -ak, -ik-et becomes -ét and takes stress: تناولته tnaawto ‘she discussed it’.

Form VII sound verbs

There is only one possible past vowelling for form VII: nfa3al.

انمسك nmasak
‘be caught, grabbed’

ana nmasakt انمسكت انا
inte nmasakt انمسكت انت
inti nmasakti انمسكتي انتي
huwwe nmasak انمسك هو
hiyye nmasket انمسكت هي
ni7na nmasakna انمسكنا نحنه
intu nmasaktu انمسكتو انتو
hinen nmasaku انمسكو هنن

Almost all form VIIs are passives of form Is (انمسك nmasak < مسك mések ‘grab’).

These verbs are similar to form I fa3al verbs in their conjugation. The suffix -et causes the second internal vowel to be dropped, in line with the normal rules of unstressed vowel loss. Suffixes that begin with consonants cause no changes to the internal vowelling except the expected stress shift.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: انضربت nDarab@t ‘I was hit’.

I can’t think of a form VII that takes a direct object, although I might be missing something obvious. Regardless, I don’t think they take contracting -et.

Form VIII sound verbs

Form VIII verbs only have one possible internal vowelling, fta3al:

احترق ‪7tara2
‘be burned’

ana 7tara2t

احترقت

انا

inte 7tara2t

احترقت

انت

inti 7tara2ti

احترقتي

انتي

huwwe 7tara2

احترق

هو

hiyye 7tar2et

احترقت

هي

ni7na 7tara2na

احترقنا

نحنه

intu 7tara2tu

احترقتو

انتو

hinen 7tara2u

احترقو

هنن

Form VIII verbs are generally a bit of a mess semantically. Some of them, like احترق or استلم stalam ‘receive’, are passives. The rest generally have no particularly obvious semantics, although one use seems to be to derive more ‘abstract’ forms of a form I verb, like افتتح ftata7 ‘open (a meeting, a building)’ < فتح ‘open’.

Form VIII sound verbs conjugate very similarly to form VII and form Is on the pattern fa3al. The suffix -et causes the second internal vowel to be dropped, in line with the normal rules of unstressed vowel loss. Suffixes that begin with consonants cause no changes to the internal vowelling except the expected stress shift.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: انتقلت nta2al@t ‘I moved’.

Form IX sound verbs

Form IX verbs only have one possible internal vowelling, f3all:

احمرّ ‭7marr
‘turn red, blush’

ana 7marreet

احمريت

انا

inte 7marreet

احمريت

انت

inti 7marreeti

احمريتي

انتي

huwwe 7marr

احمر

هو

hiyye 7marret

احمرت

هي

ni7na 7marreena

احمرينا

نحنه

intu 7marreetu

احمريتو

انتو

hinen 7marru

احمرو

هنن

Form IXs, which are pretty rare, conjugate exactly like doubled verbs. Whilst in MSA, doubled verbs with a suffix beginning with a consonant split apart the doubled consonant – احمررت i7marartu ‘I went red’ – in most (all???) colloquials a long vowel -ee- appears between the doubled consonant at the end of the root and the suffix, presumably by analogy with weak verbs (7marr-ee-t). The other suffixes are attached quite normally to the end of the verb with no extra complications.

Form IX verbs are predominantly verbs of becoming derived from adjectives on the form af3al, ‘colours and defects’. Although in principle form IX verbs may exist for words like أعمى ‘blind’, in practice the only form IXs which occur with any regularity are derived from colours. Even then, they’re not enormously common.

All form IX verbs are intransitive so the contracting –et does not apply.

Form X sound verbs

Form X sound verbs only have one possible past vowelling, staf3al:

استجدب stajdab
‘pretend, deem to be an idiot’

ana stajdabt

استجدبت

انا

inte stajdabt

استجدبت

انت

inti stajdabti

استجدبتي

انتي

huwwe stajdab

استجدب

هو

hiyye stajdabet

استجدبت

هي

ni7na stajdabna

استجدبنا

نحنه

intu stajdabtu

استجدبتو

انتو

hinen stajdabu

استجدبو

هنن

Form X verbs are semantically messy. Some of them mean ‘deem something to be’ – استغرب staghrab ‘think strange’. Others mean ‘act like’ – استعرب sta3rab ‘act like an Arab, become Arabised’ (also ‘be an Arabist’, like مستشرق ‘orientalist’). Some of them, like استجدب, have a dual meaning – when used intransitively, استجدب (from أجدب ajdab ‘idiot’) means ‘pretend to be an idiot, pretend not to know what is going on’; when used transitively, it means ‘think somebody is an idiot’ (see this post for a similar example in Egyptian). For some reason in al Kitaab it explains form X as meaning ‘seek X’. This sort of works some of the time, but not all the time! It works particularly well for verbs like استأذن sta2zan ‘ask to be excused, excuse oneself’, which seems to be a sort of causative of the passive of أذن ‘permit’.

In terms of conjugation, form X verbs work pretty much like form IV verbs – suffixes are attached straightforwardly with no changes to internal vowelling.

The final consonant of the root and the suffixes -t -t are often broken apart with a helping vowel: استجدبت stajdab@t ‘I pretended to be an idiot’.

These verbs do not take the contracting -et. Instead, if followed by a suffix beginning with a vowel (-o, -ak, -ik-et becomes -ét and takes stress: استجدبته stajdabét‘she deemed him to be an idiot’.