الصَّحِيح وَالمُعْتَلّSound and weak roots

• The AlfiyyaIbn MālikSubstitution (al-Ibdāl) (vv. 943–963)Section [on substituting and weakening the weak letters wāw and yāʾ, and related changes] (vv. 964–990)Assimilation (al-Idghām) of Identical Consonants (vv. 991–998)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
• al-ShāfiyaIbn al-ḤājibSound and weak rootsLightening of the hamzaChanges to weak letters (iʿlāl)Substitution of letters (ibdāl)Assimilation (idghām)Elision of letters
• Sībawayh, al-KitābSībawayhAssimilation (idghām)The hamza
• DisputedIbn al-Anbārī, al-Inṣāf
  • Why does the wāw drop from yaʿidu and yazinu (roots w-ʿ-d, w-z-n)?Kufa: to tell transitive verbs from intransitive · Basra: because it falls between a yāʾ and a kasra · he sides with Basra›

    Question 112: مسألة علة حذف الواو من يعد ونحوه

    ذهب الكوفيون إلى أن الواو من نحو يعد ويزن إنما حذفت للفرق بين الفعل اللازم والمتعدي

    KufaThe Kufans held that the wāw of yaʿidu and yazinu was dropped to distinguish the intransitive verb from the transitive. al-Inṣāf, lines 8505–8506 (vol. 2, p. 782) ↗

    وذهب البصريون إلى أنها حذفت لوقوعها بين ياء وكسرة

    BasraThe Basrans held that it was dropped because it falls between a yāʾ and a kasra. al-Inṣāf, line 8506 (vol. 2, p. 782) ↗

    VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:

    واما الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين

    As for the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, line 8530 (vol. 2, p. 783) ↗

    English: AI translation ✦AI The summary lines are ours.

    Ibn al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil al-khilāf bayna al-naḥwiyyīn al-Baṣriyyīn wa-l-Kūfiyyīn, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr; year not recorded by OpenITI). Digital text: 0577AbuBarakatAnbari.InsafFiMasail.JK001424-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

  • What is the pattern of sayyid and mayyit?Kufa: faʿīl (originally suwayd, muwayt) · Basra: fayʿil · he sides with Basra›

    Question 114: مسألة وزن سيد وميت ونحوهما

    ذهب الكوفيون إلى أن وزن سيد وهين وميت في الأصل على فعيل نحو سويد وهوين ومويت

    KufaThe Kufans held that sayyid, hayyin and mayyit are originally on the pattern faʿīl, as suwayd, huwayn, muwayt. al-Inṣāf, lines 8699–8700 (vol. 2, p. 795) ↗

    وذهب البصريون إلى أن وزنه فيعل بكسر العين

    BasraThe Basrans held that its pattern is fayʿil, with i on the middle radical. al-Inṣāf, line 8701 (vol. 2, p. 796) ↗

    VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:

    الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين

    …the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, line 8774 (vol. 2, p. 802) ↗

    English: AI translation ✦AI The summary lines are ours.

    Ibn al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil al-khilāf bayna al-naḥwiyyīn al-Baṣriyyīn wa-l-Kūfiyyīn, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr; year not recorded by OpenITI). Digital text: 0577AbuBarakatAnbari.InsafFiMasail.JK001424-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

• al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt · 9 definitions

  • الصحيح: هو الذي ليس في مقابلة الفاء والعين واللام حرف علة وهمزة وتضعيف، وعند النحويين هو اسم لم يكن في آخره حرف علة.

    The sound [al-ṣaḥīḥ]: that in which, in the positions of the fāʾ, the ʿayn and the lām, there is no weak letter [ḥarf ʿilla], hamza, or doubling [taḍʿīf]. Among the grammarians it is a noun that has no weak letter at its end. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 2646

  • المعتل: هو ما كان أحد أصوله حرف علة، وهي الواو والياء والألف، فإذا كان في الفاء، يسمى: معتل الفاء، وإذا كان في العين، يسمى: معتل العين، وإذا كان في اللام، يسمى: معتل اللام.

    The weak [al-muʿtall]: that one of whose radicals is a weak letter [ḥarf ʿilla], these being wāw, yāʾ, and alif. If it is in the fāʾ position, it is called weak-initial [muʿtall al-fāʾ]; if it is in the ʿayn position, weak-medial [muʿtall al-ʿayn]; and if it is in the lām position, weak-final [muʿtall al-lām]. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4473

  • المثال: ما اعتل فاؤه، كوعد، ويسر، وقيل: ما يذكر لإيضاح القاعدة بتمام إشارتها.

    The assimilated [al-mithāl]: that whose first radical is weak, such as waʿada and yasara. It is also said: that which is cited to clarify a rule, with full indication of it. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4029

  • الأجوف: ما اعتل عينه كقال وباع.

    The hollow [al-ajwaf]: that whose middle radical [ʿayn] is weak, such as qāla and bāʿa. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 108

  • الناقص: ما اعتل لامه، كدعا، ورمى.

    The defective [al-nāqiṣ]: that whose final radical is weak, such as daʿā and ramā. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4843

  • اللفيف المقرون: ما اعتل عينه ولامه، كقوى.

    The joined doubly weak [al-lafīf al-maqrūn]: that whose middle and final radicals are weak, such as qawiya. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3849

  • اللفيف المفروق: ما اعتل فاؤه ولامه، كوقى.

    The separated doubly weak [al-lafīf al-mafrūq]: that whose first and final radicals are weak, such as waqā. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3851

  • المهموز: ما كان في أحد أصوله همزة؛ سواء أبقيت في حالها، كسأل، أم قلبت، كسال، أم حذفت، كسل.

    The hamzated [al-mahmūz]: that which has a hamza among its radicals, whether it remains as it is, as saʾala, or is changed, as sāla, or is elided, as sal. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4825

  • الإعلال: هو تغيير حرف العلة للتخفيف. فقولنا تغيير شامل له، ولتخفيف الهمزة والإبدال، فلما قلنا: حرف العلة، خرج تخفيف الهمزة، وبعض الإبدال مما ليس بحرف علة، أو كأصيلال، في أصيلان؛ لقرب المخرج بينهما، ولما قلنا: للتخفيف، خرج نحو: عالم، في: عالم، فبين تخفيف الهمزة والإعلال مباينة كلية؛ لأنه تغيير حرف العلة، وبين الإبدال والإعلال عموم وخصوص من وجه، إذ وجدا في نحو. قال: ووجد الإعلال بدون الإبدال في: يقول، والإبدال بدون الإعلال في: أصيلان.

    Weak-letter change [al-iʿlāl]: the alteration of a weak letter [ḥarf al-ʿilla] for the sake of lightening [al-takhfīf]. Our saying 'alteration' covers it, and also covers the lightening of the hamza [takhfīf al-hamza] and substitution [al-ibdāl]. When we said 'a weak letter', the lightening of the hamza was excluded, as well as some substitution involving what is not a weak letter, such as uṣaylāl in uṣaylān, owing to the closeness of the point of articulation [makhraj] of the two letters. When we said 'for the sake of lightening', the like of ʿālim in ʿālim was excluded. Hence between the lightening of the hamza and weak-letter change [al-iʿlāl] there is total divergence [mubāyana kulliyya], because iʿlāl is the alteration of a weak letter; and between substitution [al-ibdāl] and weak-letter change [al-iʿlāl] there is partial generality and particularity [ʿumūm wa-khuṣūṣ min wajh], since both are found in the like of qāla; iʿlāl is found without ibdāl in yaqūlu, and ibdāl is found without iʿlāl in uṣaylān. ✦AI

    OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 596

Arabic texts from OpenITI (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); English titles and translations are AI. All the classics →

• W. Wright, A Grammar of the Arabic Language, 3rd ed., rev. W. Robertson Smith & M. J. de Goeje, vol. 1 (Cambridge, 1896) ↗