User:40bus/Conlangs/Namor

Derivational categories, conjugations

The system of verb conjugations in Arabic is quite complicated, and is formed along two axes. One axis, known as the form (described as "Form I", "Form II", etc.), is used to specify grammatical concepts such as causative, intensive, reciprocal, passive or reflexive, and involves varying the stem form. The other axis, known as the weakness, is determined by the particular consonants making up the root. For example, defective (or third-weak or final-weak) verbs have a و w or ي y as the last root consonant (e.g. ر-م-ي r-m-y 'throw', د-ع-و d-ʿ-w 'call'), and doubled (or germinated) verbs have the second and third consonants the same (e.g. م-د-د m-d-d 'extend'). These "weaknesses" have the effect of inducing various irregularities in the stems and endings of the associated verbs.

Examples of the different forms of a sound verb (i.e. with no root weaknesses), from the root ك-ت-ب k-t-b 'write' (using ح-م-ر ḥ-m-r 'red' for Form IX, which is limited to colors and physical defects):

Form	Past	Meaning	Non-past	Meaning
I	kataba كَتَبَ	'he wrote'	yaktubu يَكْتُبُ	'he writes'
II	kattaba كَتَّبَ	'he made (someone) write'	yukattibu يُكَتِّبُ	'he makes (someone) write'
III	kātaba كاتَبَ	'he corresponded with, wrote to (someone)'	yukātibu يُكاتِبُ	'"he corresponds with, writes to (someone)'
IV	ʾaktaba أَكْتَبَ	'he dictated'	yuktibu يُكْتِبُ	'he dictates'
V	takattaba تَكَتَّبَ	nonexistent	yatakattabu يَتَكَتُّبُ	nonexistent
VI	takātaba تَكَاتَبَ	'he corresponded (with someone, esp. mutually)'	yatakātabu يَتَكَاتَبَ	'he corresponds (with someone, esp. mutually)'
VII	inkataba اِنْكَتَبَ	'he subscribed'	yankatibu يَنْكَتِبُ	'he subscribes'
VIII	iktataba اِكْتَتَبَ	'he copied'	yaktatibu يَكْتَتِبُ	'he copies'
IX	iḥmarra اِحْمَرَّ	'he turned red'	yaḥmarru يَحْمَرُّ	'he turns red'
X	istaktaba اِسْتَكْتَبَ	'he asked (someone) to write'	yastaktibu يَسْتَكْتِبُ	'he asks (someone) to write'