Bahth fi Sighat Afal bayn al-Nahwiyyin wa al-Lughawiyyin wa Istimalatiha fi al-Arabiyya
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- Majallat al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmīyah bi-al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah
Bahth fi Sighat Afal bayn al-Nahwiyyin wa al-Lughawiyyin wa Istimalatiha fi al-Arabiyya ("A Study on the Pattern Af‘al Among Grammarians and Lexicographers and Its Uses in Arabic") is a linguistic study by the Egyptian scholar and Azhari lecturer Mustafa Ahmad al-Nammas . The work investigates the morphological and syntactic functions of the pattern af‘al (and the derived verb form af‘ala) in Arabic grammar and lexicography, compiling scattered rulings regarding transmitted usage (samā‘), analogy (qiyās), irregularities (shudhūdh), and rare occurrences (nudūr) .
Background and Scope
The study was prepared by al-Nammas during his tenure as a lecturer at the Faculty of Arabic Language at Al-Azhar University and was published across multiple installments in the Journal of the Islamic University of Madinah . Al-Nammas aimed to synthesize the dispersed discussions of the pattern across grammatical and lexical treatises to make them accessible to linguists and students of Arabic .
The treatise divides the examination of the af‘al pattern into its verbal (fi‘liyyah) and nominal (ismiyyah) applications . In its verbal dimension, it covers standard causative and transitive functions, special syntactic roles such as the verbs aṣbaḥa and amsā (sisters of kāna) and a‘lama and arā (which take three objects) . In its nominal and adjectival dimensions, it addresses superlative forms (af‘al al-tafḍīl), expressions of exclamation and wonder (al-ta‘ajjub), proper names, diptotes (mā lā yanṣarif), and plural structures (al-jumū‘) .
Comparative Semitic Context
Al-Nammas situates the pattern within the broader Semitic language family, noting that cognate patterns are utilized across related ancient and regional tongues . He observes that af‘al is attested in Ge'ez (Ethiopic), Syriac, Nabataean, Palmyrene, Sabaic, and pre-Islamic Arabian scripts such as Safaitic, Lihyanite, and Thamudic . He also contrasts it with corresponding causative patterns in other Semitic dialects, such as haf‘al in Aramaic, Thamudic, and Lihyanite; shaf‘al in Akkadian and Syriac; and saf‘al in Hadramitic, Qatabanic, and Awsanic .
Early Literature and Lexical Debates
The study traces the history of specialized grammatical monographs titled Fa‘altu wa-Af‘altu or Fa‘ala wa-Af‘ala, examining works compiled by classical authorities including:
- Abu Zayd al-Ansari, Abu Ubaydah, al-Asma'i, al-Farra', Tha'lab, al-Zajjaj, Abu Ali al-Qali, and Ibn Durayd
- Abu Muhammad Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Tawwazi, Ibn al-Sikkit in Iṣlāḥ al-Manṭiq ("The Rectification of Speech"), Sahl ibn Muhammad al-Sijistani, Abu al-Abbas al-Ahwal, and Ibn Qutaybah in Adab al-Kātib ("The Etiquette of the Scribe")
- Later grammarians and lexicographers such as Ibn Durustawayh, Ibn al-Qutiyyah, Ibn Sidah in al-Mukhaṣṣaṣ ("The Specialized Lexicon"), Ibn al-Qatta' in Kitāb al-Af‘āl ("Book of Verbs"), al-Maydani in Majma‘ al-Amthāl ("Collection of Proverbs"), Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Anbari, al-Qasim ibn al-Qasim al-Wasiti, and Ibn Malik
A central inquiry in the work is whether fa‘ala (the unaugmented base form) and af‘ala (the augmented form with hamzah) can be semantically identical (bi-ma‘nan wāḥid) within the same dialect, detailing the argument of Ibn Durustawayh that apparent synonyms stem from distinct tribal dialects or conceal semantic nuances . Al-Nammas categorizes these verbs into four major linguistic relationships: where af‘ala and fa‘ala are reported with identical meanings; where af‘ala is used without an attested or common triliteral base form; where fa‘ala and af‘ala have completely distinct meanings; and where the base form fa‘ala is preferred over af‘ala . He evaluates these patterns through specific Quranic verses and lexical cases, such as the debate over ḥassa and aḥassa, as well as morphological shifts involving weak verbs and consonant substitutions like haraqa and ahraqa .
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