Arabic Morphology (Sarf) and Verb Conjugation

Sarf and nahw: two sciences, two objects

Sarf (الصرف) studies the word before it enters the sentence: its root, its pattern, the transformations it undergoes. Nahw deals with its function and its ending once the sentence is built. Hence the old formula: sarf is the mother of the language sciences, nahw their father. In practice the two begin together, and sarf is what saves the beginner the most time: whoever knows the patterns recognises an unfamiliar word without a dictionary.

What the discipline covers

• The mizan sarfi, weighing words against the fa'ala model, which refers any word back to its root.
• The abniya: the bare triliteral and its six families, the triliteral augmented by one, two or three letters, the bare and augmented quadriliteral.
• Sound and weak verbs: mithal, ajwaf, naqis, lafif, mahmuz, mudaaf, each with its own rules.
• I'lal, ibdal and idgham: the transformations that explain why "qala" comes from "qawala". This is the hard core of the subject.
• The derived forms: active and passive participles, the assimilate adjective, the elative, nouns of time, place and instrument, and the masdars.
• Broken plurals, the diminutive and the nisba, handled at the end of the course.

The curriculum, from table to matn

One starts with Al-Amthila al-tasrifiyya and Bina' al-af'al, two very short texts, almost tables, which schools have memorised before any explanation: the pupil recites the thirty-five forms of the verb before understanding their logic, and the logic then follows on its own. Next comes Al-Tasrif al-'izzi of al-Zanjani, then, on the versified path, Ibn Malik's Lamiyyat al-af'al with the commentary of his son Badr al-Din. The standard intermediate manual remains Shadha al-'arf fi fann al-sarf by al-Hamlawi, clear and complete. At advanced level, Al-Shafiya of Ibn al-Hajib with the great commentary of Radi al-Din al-Astarabadhi, which is to morphology what Mughni al-labib is to particles.

Conjugation tables

Conjugation collections are not sarf books: they give the conjugated verb, not the rule that explains it. They are nonetheless very useful as support, to check a form without interrupting a reading, and for the student working alone. Every listing states clearly whether a book is a set of tables or a theoretical work, so that nobody buys one thinking they are buying the other.

What to check on the edition

For sarf even more than for nahw, full vowelling is not a comfort but a necessity: without it the difference between two patterns is invisible. Then check the layout of the tables, which should fit on a page without breaking, and the binding, preferably sewn, since these books are opened and closed ten times a session. Listings state the editor, the vowelling, the size and the binding.

The other language sciences

Sarf is inseparable from Arabic grammar (nahw): the two are begun together, and Ibn Malik's Alfiyya treats them in one text. Once the sentence holds, rhetoric and eloquence (balagha) explains the choice of forms rather than their formation. Arabic poetry and Arabic literature are the ground on which learned patterns turn into fluent reading. Overview: Arabic.

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