Most Arabic verbs and nouns are derived from a three-letter root, consisting only of consonants. Some words have two- or four-letter roots.
From these roots, words are created by adding letters to the root through a set of patterns. For example, the root كَتَبَ (k-t-b) embodies the general idea of writing. The word أَكْتُبُ (aktubu) means "I write", كَتَبْتُ (katabtu) means "I wrote", and مَكْتَبٌ (maktab) means "office" (or "place of writing").
Many Arabic dictionaries list words under their roots. For example, to find the meaning of the word مَتَوَسِّطٌ (mutawassit), you would have to look it up under its root: وَسَطَ (w-s-t).
In weak verbs, the roots undergo further modification. Such roots have a weak letter as one of their three letters. The weak letters are: و ء ي
Arabic words are additive in nature, meaning that words are often combined; many prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions are actually joined to the words they modify.
|
Noun |
Noun+pronoun |
Preposition+Noun |
Conjunction+Preposition |
|
House |
their house |
to their house |
and to their house |
|
Manzilun |
manziluhum |
limanzilihim |
Walimanzilihim |
|
مَنْزِلٌ |
مَنْزِلُهُمْ |
لِمَنْزِلِهِمْ |
وَلِمَنْزِلِهِمْ |
Identifying which parts of an Arabic word are modifiers and which are derived from a root takes practice. However, when you become familiar with the logic behind Arabic word construction, you will have the tools to decipher the general meaning of almost any word. As you learn new Arabic words, looks for similarities in meaning between words with the same root.
See also: