The Pattern of fiʕlaːʔ in Arabic: A Morphological and Linguistic Study

Abstract

Abstract:

This paper aimed to extrapolate the words that were formed according to the fiʕlaːʔ pattern in Arabic from the descriptive approach perspective. The paper addressed a number of words that followed this pattern, varying from nouns, to adjectives and from singular to plural. It also addressed the (in)declinability (diptotes) of this pattern, as well as the emergence of fiʕlaː, faʕlaːʔ, and fiʕlajaːʔ as a variation. The results include the variation of this pattern (fiʕlaːʔ): nouns, adjectives, and plurals, Sibawayh and others’ mention of this pattern not being used for masculine or feminine; the research concluded that it was used for masculine adjectives as in “ʕizhaːʔ”, and for the feminine ones as in “zizaːʔ” and “qiqːaʔ”, the possibility of some words that followed the pattern the fiʕlaːʔ, as in “diʔdaːʔ”, “qiqaːʔ”, and “tinaːʔ”, and the emergence of this pattern alternating with other patterns such as fiʕlaː in “hirdaː”,  faʕlaːʔ as in “zajzaːʔ”, and fiʕlajaːʔ as in “siːmjaːʔ”.

Keywords: pattern, fiʕlaːʔ, fiʕlaːl, ʕilbaːʔ.