Mohammed V University

Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences

Department of English

The Underlying Representation of Hollow Verbs in

Moroccan Arabic

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

License Degree in English Studies

Submitted by: Supervisor:

Abdeljabar Taoufikallah Prof. Karim Bensoukas

Module 38: End-of-Studies Project

Seminar: Word-Formation in Moroccan Languages

Spring 2015

i

DEDICATION

I dedicate this piece of work to my family,

To my father and mother,

To my brothers and sisters,

To my nephews and nieces,

To my cousins,

To my newborn nephew,

To all my family members, close or remote,

And to all my friends.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would love to thank my supervisor, Prof. Karim Bensoukas, for his hard work

and great contribution in this work; his patience, presence and corrections were

invaluable. Without him, this work would have been a bit more difficult and perhaps

unbearable.

I am truly indebted to my dear professor, Ms. Emily Pollokoff, whom I had in

Paragraph Writing in S1, for showing me how to excel at writing. Her comments were

mostly helpful in helping me promote my writing skills.

I would also like to thank the rest of the professors; among whom are Prof.

Amrous and Prof. Zeddari. Thanks to all the professors I had in the faculty I learned and

sharpened my English skills.

I would love to thank all my seminar classmates with whom I had valuable

discussions concerning this work.

I cannot express enough gratitude to my dear parents for standing by my side

during all the years I have spent in the university.

iii

ABSTRACT

The present paper aspires to deal with one aspect of Moroccan Arabic

morphology namely hollow verbs. The major role is to investigate their roots. The reason

behind choosing this topic is the need of tackling a real issue in MA, such as identifying

the root of HVs from a morphological and a phonological perspective.

There was no need to collect data from individuals other than myself because HVs

are very few in MA and can be collected in a short amount of time. To help identify the

root of HVs in MA, I was required to start by collecting HVs in the perfect tense in the

third person singular, or to use Harrells term dictionary form of HVs and then

conjugate these verbs in the imperfect tense to inspect the changes that occur along the

conjugation. Then, we investigate the changes that occur in verbal nouns and causatives

derived from HVs.

iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

HV Hollow Verb

MA Moroccan Arabic

VN Verbal noun

v

TTaabbllee ooff CCoonntteennttss

DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... I

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. II

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... III

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... IV

GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1

PART ONE: ........................................................................................................................ 4

1. THE ROOTS AND THE PATTERNS ............................................................................... 5 1.1. Types of roots ................................................................................................. 5

1.2. Types of patterns ............................................................................................. 6 2. VERBAL MORPHOLOGY ........................................................................................... 6

2.1. Finite Verbs ..................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Participles ...................................................................................................... 10 2.3. Derived verbs ................................................................................................ 11

3. NOMINAL MORPHOLOGY ....................................................................................... 12 3.1. Gender ........................................................................................................... 12

3.2. Verbal nouns ................................................................................................. 12

3.3. The plural ...................................................................................................... 13

4. ADJECTIVAL MORPHOLOGY ................................................................................... 20 4.1. Gender ........................................................................................................... 20

4.2. Agreement between noun and adjective ....................................................... 20 4.3. Number ......................................................................................................... 20

5. THE NISBA ............................................................................................................. 21

6. THE DIMINUTIVE .................................................................................................... 22 7. THE COMPARATIVE ................................................................................................ 23

PART TWO: ..................................................................................................................... 25

1. DATA DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................ 26

1.1. HVs in the imperfect tense ............................................................................ 26 1.2. Verbal Nouns ................................................................................................ 27 1.3. The causative ................................................................................................ 29

2. DATA ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................... 31

2.1. HVs in the Imperfect Tense .......................................................................... 31 2.2. Verbal Nouns ................................................................................................ 32 2.3. The causative ................................................................................................ 33

GENERAL CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 36

vi

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 38

APPENDIXES .................................................................................................................. 40

1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

2

As a native speaker of Moroccan Arabic, I resorted to work on its morphology,

specifically on finding out the root of hollow verbs. To find out the root of HVs in MA, I

will have to consider them in the imperfect tense as well as investigate the derivation of

their corresponding verbal nouns and causatives.

As we are going to focus on the morphology of MA in this paper, and on hollow

verbs specifically, it is only natural to provide a definition of morphology, MA and HVs.

Morphology, according to Lieber (2009:2), is the study of word formation,

including the ways new words are formed in the languages of the world and the way

forms of words are varied depending on how theyre used in sentences.

MA, as Ennaji et al. (2004:25) characterizes, Moroccan Arabic has a typically

Semitic morphology in which morphological categories are represented not only by

prefixes and suffixes but also by non-concatenative structures built on non-concatenative

stems, each of which is being composed if a radical made up of non-syllabics

(consonants and semi-vowels).

HVs, according to Harrell (1962:30), are based on a triliteral middle-weak root

system. That is, they consist of two consonants and a vowel in the middle: the vowel a.

This vowel changes into i or u or is retained in the imperfect tense; i and u change

into j and w in causatives derived from HVs, and in some verbal nouns also derived

from HVs.

The data analyzed in this paper is collected computationally. I created a small

computer program, an algorithm, to list all the words with the pattern CaC sorted

alphabetically, and then filtered them out manually. I kept those I recognized as verbs in

MA and left out the rest.

3

We will provide evidence for the fact that HVs in MA are composed of

consonants and semi-vowels (glides), and not composed of consonants and vowels as

most words in Semitic languages are based on a consonantal skeleton.

Data description and analysis are divided into three categories. First, we check

whether HVs are based originally on the pattern CaC or CuC, CiC, and CaC for some

verbs which keep the medial /a/. We then investigate the causatives and VN that are

derived from HVs to verify whether the stems of the HVs are CuC, CiC and Cac or CwC

and CjC. On the basis of causative verb formation, it is better to consider the underlying

forms of VHs as consisting of medial glides.

This monograph consists of two parts. In the first part, we will discuss the major

features of MA morphology, verbs derivation, nouns derivation, adjectival inflection, the

comparative, and the Nisba.

In the second part, we will focus on HVs in MA, as the main topic of this

monograph, to find out their root system. We will have to investigate HVs in the

imperfect, VNs derived from HVs, and causatives derived from HVs in order to

determine the root system of HVs in MA.

4

PART ONE:

MMOORROOCCCCAANN AARRAABBIICC MMOORRPPHHOOLLOOGGYY

5

This part aims to deal with the morphology of MA. We will identify the verbal

inflection and see how the perfect and imperfect tenses work; we will also see how the

participles work in MA. We will examine the nominal inflection, considering gender and

number. We will consider adjectival inflection, the Nisba, the diminutive and the

comparative in MA. We start with the root and pattern conception of MA morphology.

1. The roots and the patterns

MA words are constructed on a basic consonantal skeleton called the root which

appears in different patterns according to the grammatical function of the word (Harrell:

1962). The root has to do with a general meaning which is expanded by the pattern. For

example, FR is a basic root having to do with joy. With various patterns, this root

gives fr he got happy, fru they got happy, and fran being happy, for example.

1.1. Types of roots

There are three basic types of roots in MA. Triliteral roots are composed of three

consonants. They are divided into two categories: strong and weak. Strong triliteral roots

are divided into two categories. They are called sound if all the consonants are different

as in XF of xf he kidnapped, and are called doubled if the second sound is doubled

as in MDD of mdd he handed. Weak triliteral roots are also divided into two categories.

Middle-weak triliteral roots have a vowel in the middle as af to see, and final-weak

triliteral roots have a vowel in the end. Based on Harrell (1962), quadriliteral roots are

composed of four consonants, and they are also divided into two categories: strong and

weak. In strong quadriliteral roots, the first two consonants are reduplicated as in SRSR

to ring. In weak quadriliteral roots, there are two categories; second element weak in

6

which the second sound is a vowel, or a fourth element weak in which the fourth sound is

a vowel.

1.2. Types of patterns

There are two types of patterns in MA. According to Ennaji et al (2004, the

simple pattern has none, one or two vowels inserted in the root as is the case with the

verb qtl to kill which has a vowel between the second and third consonants. The

complex pattern is a pattern joined with an affix. For example, qiti you read (past) is a

complex pattern because it has the suffix [+ti] in it.

2. Verbal Morphology

2.1. Finite Verbs

2.1.1. Perfect Tense

The perfect tense in MA is realized by adding suffixes to the main root of the

verb.

1)

First person singular -t I

Second person singular -ti you sing.

Third person singular masc. -no change he

Third person singular fem. -at / -t she

First person plural -na we

Second person plural -tiw / -tu you pl.

Third person plural -u / -w they

7

A few changes occur in the perfect tense with different stem endings.

In stems ending in -C, the schwa moves backwards after the first consonant.

This change occurs in the third person singular feminine and the third person plural only

as is the case in the example below:

2)

ktb-t I wrote ktbna we wrote

ktb-ti you wrote ktbtu you pl. wrote

ktb he wrote ktbu they wrote

ktbat she wrote

In stems ending in -aC, the last -a changes to a - in the first and second

person as shown in the example below:

3)

bt I sold bna we sold

bt you sold btu you pl. sold

b he sold bu they sold

bt she sold

In stems ending in a doubled consonant, an -i is inserted between the stem and

the endings of the first and second person as shown in the example below:

4)

mmit I smelt mmina we smelt

mmiti you smelt mmitu you pl. smelt

mm he smelt mmu they smelt

mmat she smelt

8

In stems ending in -a, in the first and second person singular and plural the final -

a is changed to -i before the endings as is the case in the example below:

5)

qit I read qina we read

qiti you read qitu you pl. read

qa he read qaw they read

qat she read

2.1.2. The imperfect tense

The imperfect tense in MA is realized by adding prefixes to the main root of the

verb, and in the plural we add suffixes to indicate the plural as shown below:

6)

First person singular n- I

Second person singular t- you sing.

Second person singular t- + -i you sing. fem.

Third person singular masc. i- he

Third person singular fem. t- she

First person plural n- + -u / -w we

Second person plural t- + -u / -w you pl.

Third person plural i- + -u / -w they

In Stems ending in eC, a schwa is inserted between the prefix and the stem in the

first and second person singular. In the second person singular feminine and the first,

second and third plural, the - is moved from the third position to the second position.

9

7)

nktb I write nktbu we write

tktb you write tktbu you pl. write

tktbi you fem. write

iktb he writes iktbu they write

tktb she writes

In most of the HVs, the medial -a- changes to -i- or -u- as is the case with the

verb mal to tend and the verb daz to pass in the examples below:

8)

nmil I tend nmilu we tend

tmil you tend tmilu you pl. tend

tmili you fem. tend

imil he tends imilu they tend

tmil she tends

9)

nduz I pass nduzu we pass

tduz you pass tduzu you pl. pass

tduzi you fem. pass

iduz he passes iduzu they pass

tduz she passes

A category in which there is no change is that of the stems ending in a as is the case

with the verb tma to walk:

10

10)

ntma I walk ntmaw we walk

ttmea you walk ttmaw you pl. walk

ttmeai you fem. walk

itma he walks itmaw they walk

ttma she walks

However, in some verbs the final -a changes to -i as in ea to cover in the example

below:

11)

ni I cover niwwe cover

ti you cover tiw you pl. cover

ii he covers iiw they cover

ti she covers

2.1.3. The imperative

To form the imperative in MA, we take the imperfect tense form without the

prefixes for example:

12)

ba to sell tbi you sell bi sell (you sing.) biu sell (you pl.)

2.2. Participles

In MA, participles are of three kinds: active participles, passive participles and the

flan participles.

The general pattern of the active participle in MA is fal as in za planting. In

double verbs, the schwa is deleted between the last two consonants; for example, sadd

11

closing is the active participle of sdd to close. In HVs, j is inserted before the schwa

as in ba to sell / baj selling. In defective verbs, the final -a is replaced by -i as in

ma / mai.

The general pattern of the passive participle in MA is mful as in mrub. In

HVS a -j is inserted after the first consonant to function as the second consonant in

mful as is the case with the verb ba / mbju. In defective verbs the final u is

replaced by an -i as in ra to buy/ mri sold.

The flan participle is mostly derived from intransitive verbs, and the following

is a set of examples:

13)

brd brdan feeling cold

ja jjan getting tired

f fan happy

2.3. Derived verbs

There are three derived verbs in MA: causatives, reflexives and reciprocals.

Causative verbs show a relation of cause and effect. In MA they are formed by

infixation and gemination. In triconsonantal verbs, a - is inserted after the first

consonant, and second consonant is doubled. Here are a few examples:

14)

hb escape hb make someone escape

ktb write kttb make someone write

b drink b make someone drink

qa read qa make someone read

12

Reflexive verbs are formed by adding the prefix n- to the stem and inserting an a

after the first consonant. For example, na he slaughtered becomes na he

committed suicide, and kf he discovered becomes nkaef he got discovered.

Reciprocal verbs are formed by adding the prefix t- to the stem and inserting an a

after the first consonant. For instance, the verb fhm he understood becomes tfahm he

made an agreement with someone.

3. Nominal Morphology

3.1. Gender

The feminine in MA is formed by adding the suffix a(t) to the root; however, some

nouns do not have feminine counterparts or have irregular feminine formation. The

examples below show how the feminine is formed in MA:

15)

klb male dog klba female dog

bib male doctor biba female doctor

drri boy drrija girl

Some nouns are originally feminine and do not have masculine counterparts:

16)

misara ruler

aia jacket

abbua blackboard

3.2. Verbal nouns

VN are derived from verbs and are formed in a variety of ways; these forms are

unpredictable. The following are examples showing different forms of VN:

13

17)

sl to wash sil washing

rkab to ride rkub riding

mad to get sick mard sickness

kla to eat makla eating, food

3.3. The plural

There are three types of plurals in MA: plurals with suffixes, internal plurals and mixed

ones.

3.3.1. Plurals with the suffix in

Nouns referring to parts of the body are likely to take the suffix in to form the plural.

18)

jd hand jddin hands

rl foot rlin feet

Nouns referring to crafts also take the suffix in to form the plural.

19)

xjja xjja-in tailors

ar ar-in perfume vendor

ab ab-in herbage seller

Nouns borrowed from Standard Arabic also form their plurals this way:

20)

muhndis muhndis-in engineers

muami muami-in lawyers

muallim muallim-in teachers

14

3.3.2. Plurals with the suffix a(t)

The suffix a(t) is used to form the plural of masculine substantives with the CCCaC

stem:

21)

gzzar gzzara butchers

xjja xjjaa tailors

flla fllaa peasants

Feminine nouns also end in a(t) as is shown by the following:

22)

mlaja mlaja blankets

maa maat combs

warqa warqat papers

kswa kswat dresses

3.3.3. Internal plurals

3.3.3.1. Triconsonantal stems

There are various patterns that are used to form the plurals of MA.

i. The CCC stem

23)

CCC mel mal camels

CCC wld wlad boys

CuC2C2 mu ma cats

CCC bnt bnat girls

CCCa wqa waq papers

CCiC(a) mri mra sick

15

ii. The CwC stem

24)

CuC suq swaq

CuC2C2 fumm ffam

CaC xal xwal

iii. The CjC stem

This stem is used particularly to form the plural of the singular stem CiC.

25)

id jad feasts

kis kjas bags

Other patterns are also used:

iv. The CwC-a(t) stem

The CwC-a(t) stem is the plural of the singular stem CuCi as indicated in the example

below.

26)

fuqijja fuqijjat

v. The CwCi stem

The singular stem CaCi-a becomes CwaCi in the plural as shown in the examples below.

27)

sarja swari pillars

afja wafi fires

buqa bqai pieces of land

vi. The CwCC stem

This stem functions as the plural of the following singular stems:

28)

16

CaCC xatm xwatm rings

CaCC-a makla mwakl meals

CCuC anut want stores

CaCuC-a(t) naura nwar wheels

CaCuCi-ja namusijja nwams beds

CaCiC-a(t) kasia kwas tapes

CaCaC-a(t) alaqa walq earrings

vii. The plural stem CjuC

This stem functions as the plural of the singular stem CiC as shown in the example

below.

29)

CiC ir jur birds

in jun eyes

viii. The plural stem CjiC

This stem is used to form the plural of the singular stem CaC-a(t) as shown in the

examples below.

30)

Taqa Tjiq small window

ala jil rooms

ix. The plural stem CC2C2

Most nouns with doubled roots and the stem CC2C2a form the plural by inserting a

schwa between the geminated consonant and deleting the ending a. The following is a

set of examples:

31)

17

drra drr scarfs

xa x fountains

3.3.3.2. Internal plurals of quadriliteral stems

In MA, internal plurals of quadriliteral stems have the same pattern CCaCC for

all nouns. The following is a set of examples showing all the different quadriliteral in the

plural:

i. The CCCuC stem

32)

xnfu xnaf ugly

gnfud gnafd hedgehogs

ii. The CCCaC stem

33)

mnar mnar knives

msmar msamr nails

iii. The stem CCCaCi

34)

sddari sdadr mattresses

iv. The stem CeCCaCij-a

35)

beTTanijja bTaTn blankets

18

v. The stem CeCCiC

36)

qndil qnadl candle-stick

brmil braml barrel

vi. The stem CuCCaC

37)

ukkaz kakz crutches

vii. The stem CCCC

rm ram windows

mnl mnal

viii. The stem CCCC-a(t)

38)

slsla slasl chains

nra nar pressure-cooker

3.3.3.3. Mixed plurals

Mixed plurals consist of two morphological processes: internal change and

suffixation. Ennaji et al. (2004:69) state that the mixed plural in MA consists of the two

mechanisms involved in internal plurals and external plurals. The following is a set of

examples showing the different forms nouns and adjectives take to form the plural.

i) The CC-(t) / CCCC-(t) stem

39)

rifi rjafa people from the Rif

bli bala people from the Jbel

19

tunsi twansa Tunisians

mribi marba Moroccans

ii) The CCuC-t stem

40)

fur furat breakfasts

zjut zjutat oils

smn smunat hot butter

bl bulat mountains

iii) The CiC-an stem

41)

kas kisan cups

fas fisan axes

bab biban doors

iv) The CCC-an stem

42)

CCaC blad bldan countries

CCiC riq rqan roads

CCuC xruf xrfan sheep

In summary, the plural in MA is divided into three categories: external plurals,

internal plurals, and mixed plurals. External plurals are formed by adding a suffix to

nouns or adjectives; internal plurals are formed by an internal change in the stem, and

mixed plurals are formed by an internal change plus adding a suffix.

20

4. Adjectival Morphology

4.1. Gender

In MA, gender in adjectives is marked by the suffix a as is the case with the

adjectives sxun/sxuna, jjan/jjana and fran/frana.

4.2. Agreement between noun and adjective

i. Attributive adjective

The attributive adjective occurs after the noun it modifies; however, in a

construct-state it occurs after the last element of this construct.

43)

had lam zin this year is great.

falsafa djal aflaon siba Platos philosophy is hard.

ii. Predicative adjective

Predicative adjectives occur either as a predicate complement or as an adjective

complement as shown in the example below:

44)

kanu msajin they were crazy

rathum dad. I turned them new again

4.3. Number

Adjectives in MA take on plural forms just the same way nouns do. There are a

few patterns adjectives follow to form the plural, and here are a few examples:

21

i) The plural stem CuCC

45)

rq urq blue

sfr sufr yellow

ii) The plural stem CiCC/CiwC

46)

wr iwr blind

5. The Nisba

The nisba in MA is formed by adding the suffix i to a stem. For example, the

nisba of the stem fas Fes is formed by adding an i to get fas-i a person from Fes.

However, a few morphological changes occur when forming the Nisba in MA. These are

listed below:

i. Adding aw before the suffix i

47)

rb rbawi from the west

ra rawi a person from the desert

ii. Dropping the ending a

48)

qahwa qahwi coffee-colored

sma smawi sky blue

iii. Adding ni and ani instead of i

49)

luwwl luwwlani first

lxxr lxxrani last

22

6. The diminutive

In MA, both nouns and adjectives take the diminutive form. In general, as Harrell

(1962) states, the diminutive is formed by a cluster of the first two consonants followed

by /i/. The following are examples of different patterns in MA; some are taken from

Ennaji et al (2004):

i. Triliteral monosyllables

50)

bl bijjl mule

klb klijjb dog

ii. Middle-weak triliterals

51)

bab bwijjb door

far fwijjr mouse

iii. Triliteral monosyllables with a schwa

52)

bnt bnita girl

rl rila foot

iv. Adjectives of color, defect adjectives of the pattern fila

53)

kl kil black

wil wiwl tall

23

v. The stems fl and fl + vowel

54)

bgra bgira cow

nmi nimi lamb

The stems fla / fila

55)

blaa blija a place

daa dija chicken

vi. Quadriliteral roots

56)

kskas ksiks couscous pot

zrbijja zribijja carpet

7. The comparative

In MA, very few adjectives take the comparative form. The general form of the

comparative is by clustering the first two consonants followed by a schwa. Here are a few

examples of how different patterns form the comparative in MA:

i. The stems fil and fal

57)

ir r smaller

was ws wider

ii. The fijjl stem

58)

xir xjr better

iii. The stem fil

24

59)

dida dd

xfif xff

iv. The stem fi and fu

60)

nqi nqa cleaner

lu la sweeter

v. The stem fl

61)

kl kl blacker

bj bj whiter

To conclude, this part has sought to examine the different aspects of MA

morphology. We have seen how verbal inflection works in MA by illustrating the forms

and examples of the perfect, imperfect tenses, and the three different types of participles:

the active participle, the passive participle, and the flan form. We have also checked

nominal inflection by demonstrating how gender and number function in MA. We have

seen that the plural in MA is expressed by three categories: the internal plural, the

external plural, and the mixed plural. We have also seen adjectival inflection and shown

how the attributive and predicative adjectives work. Finally, we have described the Nisba,

the diminutive and the comparative in MA. In the next part, we will deal with HVs in the

imperfect, VNs, and causatives derived from HVs. We will attempt an analysis of the

underlying structure of HVs in MA.

25

PART TWO:

DDAATTAA DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN AANNDD AANNAALLYYSSIISS

26

1. Data description

In this part, we are going to describe the data collected during this research. The

data is divided into three categories: HVs conjugated in the imperfect, VNs derived from

HVs, and causative verbs derived also from HVs.

1.1. HVs in the imperfect tense

We start with HVs in the imperfect. Our data is organized in three sets:

a) Verbs whose internal /a/ changes into /u/

1)

Perfect Imperfect Gloss

bal ibul To urinate

dab idub To melt

aq iuq To taste

a iu To spread

ag iug To drive

b) Verbs whose internal /a/ changes into /i/

2)

Perfect Imperfect Gloss

ba ibi To sell

a ii To be lost

qas iqis To measure

ab iib To be cooked

zad izid To add

c) Verbs whose internal /a/ is retained

3)

27

Perfect Imperfect Gloss

ban iban To appear

bat ibat To stay over

sal isal To ask

xaf ixaf To fear

In order to conjugate HVs in the imperfect tense in MA the medial /a/ needs to be

changed into /i/, /u/ or kept as it is. As the data shows in the table above, there is no way

to tell when a certain verb will change /a/ into /i/ or /u/, or retain it.

1.2. Verbal Nouns

We shall now move on to the VNs and describe the changes that occur while

converting HVs to nouns. Our data is again organized in three sets:

a) Verbs with the medial /i/ in the imperfect

4)

Perfect Imperfect Verbal noun Gloss

ba ibi bi Selling

ab iib ijab Absence

ar iir iran Flying

faq ifiq fjaq Waking up

ab iib jab Cooking

qas iqis qjas measuring

aq iiq jaqa Showing off

b) Verbs with the medial /u/ in the imperfect

5)

28

Perfect Imperfect Verbal noun Gloss

bal ibul bul Urine

dab idub duban Melting

mat imut mut Death, dying

af iuf ufan Seeing

al iul ulan Travelling around

ra iru awa Salability

af iuf awaf Turning/walking around

ar iur jjara Visit

c) Verbs that retain /a/ in the imperfect

6)

Perfect Imperfect Verbal noun Gloss

bat ibat mbata Staying over

ban iban (*)

xaf ixaf xuf fear

To derive nouns from HVs in MA a few changes occur. Verbs that have the vowel

/u/ in the middle in the imperfect tense tend to convert it to the semi-vowel /w/ or keep it

as it is in order to get the VN. Nouns that keep the vowel /u/ tend to have the patterns

CuC, CuCa, and CuCan, while verbs that change /u/ to the semi-vowel /w/ tend to have

the pattern CawaC and very rarely the pattern CawCa.

(*) could not find the verbal noun that is derived from the verb ban/iban to appear.

29

Verbs that have /i/ in the middle tend to convert it to the semi-vowel /i/ or keep it

the same. Nouns that retain /i/ have the patterns CiC, CiCa and CiCan, while nouns that

change the /u/ into /w/ tend to have the pattern CjaC and CjaCa.

Last, there are very few verbs that keep the /a/ in the imperfect tense of which the

patterns of their derived VN are mCaCa and CuC. The verb zar he visited izur he

visits should derive a verbal noun with the pattern CuC, CuCa, CuCan or CawaC but it

does not; instead it has the pattern CjaCa, which is found mostly in verbal nouns derived

from verbs that have /u/ in the middle.

1.3. The causative

We now consider causative verbs derived from HVs.

a) Verbs turning /u/ into /w/

7)

Perfect Imperfect causative Gloss

bal ibul bwwl to make someone urinate

dab idub dwwb to melt something

aq iuq awwq to make someone taste something

ar iur awwr to turn something

mat imut mwwt to kill

ad iud awwd to make someone get up

qam iqum qawwm to fix something

a iu aww to take someone out

a iu aww to make something spread

zal izul zwwl to remove

30

zar izur zawwr to make someone visit

a iu ww to starve someone

b) Verbs turning i into j

8)

Perfect Imperfect causative Gloss

ab iib ajjb to make fun of someone

a ii ajj to make someone live

sal isil sjjl to make something leak out

zad izid zjjd to make something pass

a idi ajj to lose

faq ifiq fajjq to wake someone up

ab iib ajjb to be absent

ar iir ajjr to perplex

mal imil mjjl to make something incline

ar iir ajjr to make something fly

c) Verbs turning a either into j or w

9)

Perfect Imperfect causative Gloss

xaf ixaf xawwf to scare

ban iban bjjn to show

bat ibat bjjt to make someone stay

31

To derive the causative from HVs in MA, we need to start from the imperfect

tense. The middle vowel changes into its corresponding glide and is then geminated.

Verbs that have /u/ in the middle tend to change it into /w/, while verbs that have /i/ tend

to change it into /j/. However, verbs that keep the vowel /a/ in the imperfect tend to

change it either to /j/ or /w/. Therefore, the patterns of the causatives derived from HVs

are CjjC and CwwC.

2. Data analysis

To account for the HV stems internal changes in MA, we need to examine these

verbs in the imperfect tense, the verbal nouns and the causatives. Why does /a/ always

change into another vowel or a semi-vowel? Let us first consider the data in the imperfect

tense.

2.1. HVs in the Imperfect Tense

Let us now analyze the data above. Harrell (1962) says that HVS in MA change

/a/ into either /i/ as in a/ii it gets wasted or /u/ as in mat/imut he dies, or retain it

in some verbs as in bat/ibat he stays over. If we consider that this hypothesis is true,

then /a/ should always change into /i/ or /u/ or always stays the same, but this does not

seem to be the case. We cannot maintain this hypothesis because we cannot predict when

/a/ will change into /i/ or /u/. Therefore, we have got a problem of predictability. Let us

now suggest another possibility.

Another hypothesis would be that /i/ and /u/ are original sounds in HVs. In order

to conjugate HVs in the perfect tense in MA, we need to change /i/ and /u/ into /a/ in the

third person, i.e. both /u/ and /i/ change into /a/ in the third person in the perfect tense.

32

The problem of predictability is solved. So far, the patterns of HVs in MA are CuC, CiC,

and CaC in verbs that retain /a/ both ways. The process involved is vowel change.

In brief, we have shown that moving from CaC to CiC or CuC is unpredictable.

Therefore, we claim, in contrast with Harrell (1962), that CaC is not the root stem of HVs

in MA but rather CiC, CuC, and CaC depending on the behavior of the verb. We shall

now move on to verbal nouns and investigate the changes that occur while deriving

verbal nouns from HVs in MA.

2.2. Verbal Nouns

In the data above under 1.2), we notice that most nouns keep the vowels /u/ and

/i/; however some change /u/ and /i/ into the semi-vowels /w/ and /j/.

Let us first start with verbs that have /u/ in the middle in the imperfect. As we

found in the previous part, the VN that keep the vowel /u/ have the patterns CuC as in

mut death, and CuCan as in ulan touring around; and a very small number of nouns

change /u/ into its corresponding glide /w/ with the pattern CawaC as in awaf turning

around. The reason /w/ appears in the pattern CawaC could be that /u/ changes into /w/

only to avoid a vowel sequence; i.e. we cannot have a structure like CauaC in MA.

Therefore, we move from CauaC to CawaC. While some nouns keep the vowel /u/, other

nouns change into the semi-vowel /w/ in order to avoid a vowel sequence.

Likewise, HVs that have /i/ in the imperfect either keep it or change it into /j/.

Nouns that keep /i/ have the patterns CiC as in bi selling and CiCan as in iran flying.

Verbs that change /i/ into the corresponding glide /j/ have the patterns CjaC as in as in

jab cooking and CjaCa as in jaqa arrogance. The vowel /i/ changes into the semi-

33

vowel /j/ for the same reason /u/ changes into /w/: to avoid a vowel sequence and the

process involved here is glide formation.

Therefore, since /i/ and /u/ are the underlying sounds in verbal nouns, we can still

say that CiC, CuC and CaC are the stems of HVs in MA. Let us now account for the

changes that occur in causatives that are derived from HVs.

2.3. The causative

Generally in MA, to derive the causative from verbs, we take the root and

geminate the second consonant and insert a schwa before and after the geminated

consonant. Vowels cannot be geminated. Therefore, we move from the perfect to the

imperfect and then change the medial vowel in the imperfect to its corresponding glide

and geminate it. However, there are two hypotheses that we can explore. Let us examine

the first hypothesis.

In HVs, the vowels /i/ and /u/ change into /j/ and /w/, respectively, and the latter

are geminated to derive the causative. Take for example, the verbs ba to sell and gal

to say:

10)

ba he sold ibi he sells bjj make someone sell

gal he said igul he says gwwl make someone say

The phonological process involved in changing /i/ into /j/ and /u/ into /w/ is vowel

devocalization. Vowel devocalization consists of changing the vowels /i/ and /u/ into their

corresponding glides. The rule to account for this change is as follows:

34

11)

+ syllabic _ syllabic / C _ C _ consonant

+ high

{HV in the {causative}

imperfect}

However, verbs that have the medial /a/ in the imperfect change it into either /j/ or

/w/. The vowel /a/ should correspond to one glide only, but it does not. Therefore, we

have got a problem of predictability. The only explanation for this issue is that the medial

/a/ in xaf he feared and ixaf he fears is originally the vowel /u/ as found in the verbal

noun xuf fear; in bat he stayed over and ibat he stays over, it is originally an /i/ as in

bit room, and in ban he appeared and iban he appears it is originally the vowel /i/ as

in the verbal noun tbjan making clear. Thus, this shows that /a/ cannot be an original

sound in HVs.

This hypothesis encounters many difficulties. The first one is that what seems to

be a simple process is accounted for in a quite complex way. A rule is needed to

transform a vowel into a glide and then morphological gemination, responsible for

causative verb derivation applies. The second problem is that a rule like (11) above is

difficult to justify. What would force a vowel occurring between two consonants to

change into a glide, another consonant?

The second hypothesis consists in considering the medial segment in HVs to be a

glide underlyingly. Accordingly, the class of HVs would be a special class of CCC verbs.

in causative verb derivation, the medial consonant is geminated just like normal

consonants (ktb/kttb write; bj/ bjj sell).

35

If /j/ and /w/ are the original sounds in the stem instead of /i/ and /u, then how do

they change to the corresponding vowels in the imperfective? The phonological processes

to account for this change are syllabification and vocalization. /i/ and /u/ are syllabified

and vocalized whenever they occur mid-consonantly. The rule postulated is as follows:

12)

_ syllabic + syllabic / C _ C _ consonant

+ high

{causative} {HV in the

imperfect}

Therefore, in order to avoid a cluster of a semi-vowel between two consonants in HVs in

MA, the semi-vowel is changed into a vowel.

In summary, /j/ and /w/ are the original sounds in HVs; this leads us to the

assertion that CiC, CuC and CaC are not the underlying representations of HVs in MA.

The second hypothesis seems to account for the facts in a better way.

To conclude this part, we have investigated the HVs in MA in order to find out

their root patterns. We have found that HVs cannot be based on the stem CaC but rather

on the stems CiC, CuC and CaC in verbs that keep the medial /a/ even in the imperfect

tense. We have also investigated the causative and the verbal nouns derived from HVs to

find out the root of HVs. Causative formation facts suggest that the underlying form of

HVs is one which contains a glide rather than a vowel.

36

GENERAL CONCLUSION

37

This paper has dealt with one aspect of the morphology of MA, attempting to

investigate the root of HVs. In order to do so, I have investigated HVs in the imperfect

tense, and investigated the derivation of verbal nouns and causatives.

The data provided in this paper has been collected using a computer program, a

basic algorithm to list all the HVs in MA. As the algorithm cannot tell whether a given

entry is a real word in MA or not, I had to filter the data manually.

We have investigated and illustrated the morphology of MA, inspecting how

words are formed. We have dealt with the verbal inflection, the noun inflection, and the

adjectival inflection. We have shown that words in MA are based on a root-pattern

schema.

We have provided evidence of the fact that HVs in MA are composed of

consonants and semi-vowels (glides), and not composed of consonants and vowels. This

is supported by the fact that most words in Semitic languages are based on a consonantal

root.

The data description and analysis part has been divided into three categories.

First, we have checked whether HVs are based on the pattern CaC only or the different

patterns CuC, CiC, and CaC for some verbs which keep the medial /a/. We have then

investigated the causatives and verbal nouns derived from HVS to verify whether the root

of the HVS is CuC, CiC and CaC or CwC and CjC. We have found that it is better to

consider the medial segment in HVs in MA a glide.

38

REFERENCES

39

Ennaji, M., Makhoukh A., Es-Saiydy H., Moubtassime M., and Slaoui S. (2004). A

Grammar of Moroccan Arabic. Fs: Publications of the faculty of Letters, Dhar El

Mehraz.

Harrell, Richard S. (1962). A Short Reference Grammar of Moroccan Arabic.

Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press.

Lieber, Rochelle (2009). Introducing Morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

40

APPENDIXES

41

Perfect Imperfect Gloss

ba ibu to reveal bal ibul to urinate ban iban to appear bas ibus to kiss bat ibat to stay over ba ibi to sell dab idub to melt aq iuq to taste dar idir to do ar iur to turn ax iux to be dizzy daz iduz to pass a ii to be lost faq ifiq to wake up fat ifut to pass faz ifuz to win ab iib to be absent gal igul to say ar iir to be perplexed kal ikul to eat kan ikun to be la ilu to throw lam ilum to blame lan ilin to be soft mal imil to lean, to incline mat imut to die ad iud to get up qal iqul to say qam iqum to stand qas iqis to touch rab irib to crumble ab iib (of milk) to ferment a iu to move aside a iu to go a iu to spread ab iib to grow grey hair af iuf to see ag iug to drive a iu to redact sal isil to leak aq iiq to care ar iir to mention at iut to shoot a ii to be left

42

a ii to spread tab itub to repent ab iib to be cooked af iuf to turn around a ii to fall al iul to take long ar iir to fly a ii to obey xab ixib to be disappointed xad ixud to take xaf ixaf to fear xan ixun to betray zad izid to add za izi to be bold zal izul to disappear zar izur to visit ab iib to bring al iul to wander a iu to be hungry ab iib to fault ad iud to return aq iiq to see through a ii to live

43

Perfect Verbal Noun Gloss

bal Bul urine bas Busan kissing bat Mbata staying over ba bi selling daq Duqan tasting dar Djar doing ar uran turning ax uxa dizziness a ja losing faq Fjaq waking up ab iba absence ar ira perplexity lam Luma blame mat Mut death ad udan getting up a awa saleability ab ib growing grey hair af ufa look sag Sugan driving a jaa leftover tab Tuba repentance ab jab cooking af awaf turning around al ul length ar iran flying a aa obedience xab Xiba deception xaf Xuf fear zad Zjada addition za zjaa boldness zar zjjara visit al ula tour ab ib fault ad awda return aq jaqa arrogance a ia living

44

Perfect causative Gloss

bal bwwl to make someone urinate ban bjjn to show bat bjjt to make someone stay ba bjj to sell someone out dab dwwb to melt something aq awwq to make someone taste something ar awwr to turn something ax awwx to dizzy someone daz dwwz to make someone pass a ajj to lose faq fajjq to wake someone up fat fwwt to make someone pass ab ajjb to be absent ar ajjr to perplex kan kwwn to create lan ljjn to soften mal mjjl to make something incline mat mwwt to kill ad awwd to make someone get up qam qawwm to fix something qas qajjs to try on rab rjjb to demolish ra raww to move something aside ra raww to take someone out ra raww to make something spread sal sjjl to make something leak out aq awwq to care ab jjb to make someone grow grey hair af wwf to make someone see ar jjr to throw a ajj to leave something for later use ab ajjb to cook af awwf to take someone on a tour a ajj to trip someone down al awwl to lengthen ar ajjr to make something fly xab xajjb to deceive, to make something ugly xaf xawwf to scare xan xawwn to accuse someone of betrayal zad zjjd to make something pass zal zwwl to remove zar zawwr to make someone visit a ww to starve someone ab ajjb to make fun of someone

45

ad awwd to make someone adopt a habit aq ajjq to act arrogantly a ajj to make someone live

DEDICATIONACKNOWLEDGMENTSABSTRACTLIST OF ABBREVIATIONSGENERAL INTRODUCTIONPART ONE:1. The roots and the patterns1.1. Types of roots1.2. Types of patterns

2. Verbal Morphology2.1. Finite Verbs2.1.1. Perfect Tense2.1.2. The imperfect tense2.1.3. The imperative

2.2. Participles2.3. Derived verbs

3. Nominal Morphology3.1. Gender3.2. Verbal nouns3.3. The plural3.3.1. Plurals with the suffix in3.3.2. Plurals with the suffix a(t)3.3.3. Internal plurals3.3.3.1. Triconsonantal stems3.3.3.2. Internal plurals of quadriliteral stems3.3.3.3. Mixed plurals

4. Adjectival Morphology4.1. Gender4.2. Agreement between noun and adjective4.3. Number

5. The Nisba6. The diminutive7. The comparative

PART TWO:1. Data description1.1. HVs in the imperfect tense1.2. Verbal Nouns1.3. The causative

2. Data analysis2.1. HVs in the Imperfect Tense2.2. Verbal Nouns2.3. The causative

GENERAL CONCLUSIONREFERENCESAPPENDIXES