Ma Jaa Ala Faaltu wa Afaltu bimaana Wahid
- Author died
- 540 AH
- Editions
- دار الفكر
Ma Jaa Ala Faaltu wa Afaltu bimaana Wahid (What Occurs on the Patterns of Fa'altu and Af'altu with a Single Meaning) is an Arabic philological treatise by the Baghdadi grammarian and lexicographer Abu Mansur Mawhub ibn Ahmad al-Jawaliqi (466–540 AH / 1073–1145 CE; another report gives his death year as 539 AH) . The work is also cited simply under the title Faaltu wa-Afaltu .
Subject and Scope
The book is devoted to documenting verbs where the base trilateral pattern (fa'ala / fa'altu) and the augmented form prefixed with a hamzah (af'ala / af'altu) share an identical meaning in Arabic usage without any semantic divergence . While the primary function of the hamzah in the af'ala measure is typically to alter transitivity or introduce distinct semantic values, the treatise gathers verified lexical examples establishing that af'ala frequently occurs synonymously with fa'ala .
This topic formed a distinct subgenre within Arabic lexical literature, addressed in independent monographs by early authorities such as Qutrub, al-Farra', Abu Ubaydah, al-Asma'i, Abu Zayd al-Ansari, Abu Hatim al-Sijistani, and Abu Ishaq al-Zajjaj . Al-Jawaliqi's work serves as a specialized contribution within this tradition, countering the stance of certain linguists who claimed that instances of af'ala retaining the simple meaning of fa'ala were negligible or restricted strictly to variant tribal dialects .
Publication
The text was edited by Majid al-Dhahabi and published under the title Faaltu wa-Afaltu (Ma Jaa ala...) by Dar al-Fikr in Damascus in 1402 AH .
Answer updated