Some verbs are irregular, meaning they deviate from the regular conjugation patterns. Verbs with specific characteristics in their radicals are more likely to be irregular. In this lesson, we will discuss two types of irregular tri-consonantal verbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic, classified according to their radical characteristics:
- Verbs with ء (hamzah) as one of the three radicals. A verb of this type is called فِـعْـل مَـهْـمُـوْز (fi‘l mahmūz) ‘hamzated verb.’
- Verbs with identical middle and final radicals. A verb of this type is called فِـعْـل مُـضَـعَّـف (fi‘l muḍa‘‘af) ‘doubled verb.’
Table of Contents
- Verbs with Hamzah as an Initial Radical
- Verbs with Identical Middle and Final Radicals
- Common Doubled Verbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic
- Summary of Doubled Verb Forms
- Level V – Advanced I (C1)
Verbs with Hamzah as an Initial Radical
Unlike in MSA, a hamzah at the end of a verb in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic is often dropped. For example, the verb ‘he read’ is قَـــرَأ (qara’) in MSA, but قَـــرَا (qara) in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic. As a result, most hamzated verbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic have an initial or medial hamzah.
Most verbs with ء (hamzah) as one of their radicals are conjugated regularly. Here are some examples of hamzated verbs in the third-person singular masculine indicative and the second-person singular masculine imperative:
| Past | Present | Imperative |
| أَمَـــــر ’amar he ordered | بُـــؤْمُــــر bu’mur he orders | اُؤْمُـــــر u’mur Order! |
| سَــــأَل sa’al he asked | بِــسْـــأَل bis’al he asks | اِسْـــأَل is’al Ask! |
| بَـــطَّــأ baṭṭa’ he slowed down | بِــبَـــطِّـــئ bibaṭṭi’ he slows down | بَـــطِّـــئ baṭṭi’ Slow down! |
There are two important hamzated verbs that are irregular in both the present tense and imperative: أَكَـــل (’akal) ‘he ate’ and أَخَـــذ (’akhadh) ‘he took.’
In the present tense, the ء (hamzah) and the preceding vowel are replaced with the diphthong vowel “ow,” as follows:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person m/f | أَنَــا بُـــوكِـــل/بُـــوخِـــذ ’ana bowkil/bowkhidh I eat/take | إحْــنَــا مْـــنُــوكِـــل/مْـــنُــوخِـــذ ’iḥna mnowkil/mnowkhidh We eat/take |
| 2nd person masculine | إِنْــتَ بْـــتُــوكِـــل/بْـــتُــوخِـــذ ’inta btowkil/btowkhidh You eat/take | إنْــتُــوْ بْــتُــوكْـــلُــوْ/بْــتُــوخْـــذُوْ ’intu btowklu/btowkhdhu You (all) eat/take |
| 2nd person feminine | إِنْــتِ بْـــتُــوكْـــلِــيْ/بْـــتُــوخْـــذِيْ ’inti btowkli/btowkhdhi You eat/take | إنْــتِــنْ بْـــتُــوكْـــلِــن/بْـــتُــوخْـــذِن ’intin btowklin/btowkhdhin You (all) eat/take |
| 3rd person masculine | هُـــوِّ بُـــوكِـــل/بُـــوخِـــذ huwwe bowkil/bowkhidh He eats/takes | هُـــمِّ بُـــوكْـــلُــوْ/بُـــوخْـــذُوْ humme bowklu/bowkhdhu They eat/take |
| 3rd person feminine | هِــيِّ بْـــتُــوكِـــل/بْـــتُــوخِـــذ hiyye btowkil/btowkhidh She eats/takes | هِـــنِّ بُـــوكْـــلِــن/بُـــوخْـــذِن hinne bowklin/bowkhdhin They eat/take |
In the imperative, both verbs drop the initial ء (hamzah) in all forms. The following are the imperative forms of the two verbs أَكَــل (’akal) ‘he ate’ and أَخَــذ (’akhadh) ‘he took’:
| Sing. m. | Sing. f. | Plural m. | Plural f. |
| كُــل kul | كُــلِــيْ kuli | كُــلُــوْ kulu | كُــلِــن kulin |
| خُــذ khudh | خُـــذِيْ khudhi | خُـــذُوْ khudhu | خُـــذِن khudhin |
The active participles of أَكَــل (’akal) and أَخَــذ (’akhadh) in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic are مَــاكِــل (mākil) and مَــاخِــذ (mākhidh), respectively.
Verbs with Identical Middle and Final Radicals
Another type of verb that is always irregular only in the past tense is called the فِـعْـل مُـضَـعَّـف (fi‘l muḍa‘‘af) ‘doubled verb.’ Verbs in this group have identical middle and final radicals, and a شَــدَّة (shaddah) always marks the middle radical in the third-person singular conjugation.
In Arabic, the tri-consonantal root ف – ع – ل (f – ‘ – l) serves as a word template, where:
ف (f) – Represents the first radical of a root.
ع (‘) – Represents the second radical of a root.
ل (l) – Represents the third radical of a root.
The base verb form derived from this root is فَــعَـل (fa‘al), which is in the third-person singular masculine past tense.
In the case of a فِـعْـل مُـضَـعَّـف (fi‘l muḍa‘‘af) ‘doubled verb,’ the middle and final radicals, i.e., ع (‘) and ل (l), are identical, and the base verb form of a doubled verb is فَـــلّ (fall).
Note that doubled verbs in their past verb base form have only one vocalization pattern, that is, فَـــلّ (fall). For example:
| ظَــــلّ ẓall he remained | حَـــبّ ḥabb he liked | مَــــرّ marr he passed |
On the other hand, the base forms of the present tense of a doubled verb can take one of three vocalization patterns:
| I-A | I-B | I-C |
| بِـــفَــــلّ bif all bi◌a◌◌ | بِـــفِــــلّ bif ill bi◌i◌◌ | بُـــفُــــلّ buf ull bu◌u◌◌ |
| بِــظَــلّ biẓall he remains | بِـــحِـــبّ biḥibb he likes | بُـــمُـــرّ bumurr he passes |
With the exception, of the present verb بِــظَــلّ (biẓall) ‘he remains,’ Form I-A, i.e., بِـــفَــــلّ (bifall), is rarely used with doubled verbs in the present tense in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic. Most doubled verbs in the present form follow Forms I-B and I-C.
Consider the doubled verb مَــرَّ (marra) in the past tense:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person m/f | أَنَــا مَـــرِّيــت ’ana marreyt I passed | إحْــنَــا مَـــرِّيــنَــا ’iḥna marreyna We passed |
| 2nd person masculine | إِنْــتَ مَـــرِّيــت ’inta marreyt You passed | إنْــتُــوْ مَـــرِّيــتُــوْ ’intu marreytu You (all) passed |
| 2nd person feminine | إِنْــتِ مَـــرِّيــتِ ’inti marreyti You passed | إنْــتِــنْ مَـــرِّيــتِــن ’intin marreytin You (all) passed |
| 3rd person masculine | هُـــوِّ مَـــرّ huwwe marr He passed | هُـــمِّ مَـــرُّوْ humme marru They passed |
| 3rd person feminine | هِــيِّ مَــرَّت hiyye marrat She passed | هِـــنِّ مَـــرِّن hinne marrin They passed |
Notice that the diphthong vowel “ey” is added to the end of the stem مَـــرّ (marr-) in all first- and second-person forms.
In the present tense, doubled verbs are conjugated regularly.
The imperative of the verb مَــرّ (marr) is conjugated regularly, as follows:
| Sing. m. | Sing. f. | Plural m. | Plural f. |
| مُــــرّ murr | مُـــرِّيْ murri | مُـــرُّوْ murru | مُـــرِّنْ murrin |
Consider the following three doubled verbs: مَـــرّ (marr) ‘he passed,’ حَـــبّ (ḥabb) ‘he liked,’ and ظَـــلّ (ẓall) ‘he remained.’
We conjugate the three verbs in the third-person singular masculine present indicative, and in the second-person singular masculine imperative, as follows:
| Past | Present | Imperative |
| مَــــرّ marr he passed | بُـــمُـــرّ bumurr he passes | مُــــرّ murr Pass! |
| حَـــبّ ḥabb he liked | بِـــحِـــبّ biḥibb he likes | حِـــبّ ḥibb Like! |
| ظَــــلّ ẓall he remained | بِــظَــلّ biẓall he remains | ظَــــلّ ẓall Remain! |
Note that the imperative form is derived from the present tense by dropping the prefix marker.
The rules explained in this section regarding the فِـعْـل مُـضَـعَّـف (fi‘l muḍa‘‘af) apply to base verbs—also known as مُـجَـرَّد ثُـلَاثِـيْ (mujarrad thulāthī) ‘triliteral abstract’—such as those encountered thus far, and to the derived forms that add prefixes, suffixes, and infixes to the triliteral abstract verb.
Here are examples of the verb حَــــلّ (ḥall) ‘he solved,’ along with two derived forms VIII and X. We conjugate the three verbs in the third-person singular masculine present indicative, and in the second-person singular masculine imperative, as follows:
| Past | Present | Imperative |
| حَــــلّ ḥall he solved | بِـــحِــــلّ biḥill he solves | حِــــلّ ḥill Solve! |
| اِحْــتَــــلّ iḥtall he occupied | بِـــحْــتَـــلّ biḥtall he occupies | اِحْــتَــــلّ iḥtall Occupy! |
| اِسْـــتَـــحَــــلّ istaḥall he deemed permissible | بِـــسْـــتَـــحِــــلّ bistaḥill he deems permissible | اِسْـــتَـــحِــــلّ istaḥill Deem permissible! |
Common Doubled Verbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic
| ظَــــلّ ẓall he remained | حَـــبّ ḥabb he liked | مَــــرّ marr he passed |
| مَــــلّ mall he got bored | حَـــسّ ḥass he felt | حَـــطّ ḥaṭṭ he put |
| رَدّ radd he replied | ظَـــنّ ẓann he thought | شَــــدّ shadd he tightened |
| مَــــدّ madd he extended | صَــــبّ ṣabb he poured | عَــــدّ ‘add he counted |
| هَــــدّ hadd he demolished | شَــــكّ shakk he doubted | كــــبّ kabb he threw away |
| دَلّ dall he guided | رَصّ raṣṣ he lined up tightly | عَــــضّ ‘aḍḍ he bit |
| سَـــدّ sadd he blocked | قَــــصّ qaṣṣ he cut | طَـــبّ ṭabb he fell suddenly |
| لَـــفّ laff he wrapped or turned | دَقّ daqq he knocked | جَــــرّ jarr he dragged |
| حَــــلّ ḥall he solved | هَــــزّ hazz he shook | مَـــصّ maṣṣ he sucked |
| نَـــطّ naṭṭ he jumped | حَـــكّ ḥakk he rubbed | خَـــفّ khaff he became lighter |
Summary of Doubled Verb Forms
The ten most common past verb forms in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic are:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| فَـــــلّ fal l | فَـــلَّــل fallal | فَـــــالّ fāl l | أَفَـــــلّ ’afal l | تْــفَــلَّـــل tfall al |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| تْـــفَـــالّ tf ā l l | اِنْـــفَــــلّ infal l | اِفْــــتَــــلّ iftal l | اِفْــــلَــــلّ if l all | اِسْـــتَـــفَــــلّ istafal l |
The past tense of doubled verbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic is irregular in all forms except II and V, and is conjugated by suffixing the above past verb forms as follows:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person m/f | أَنَــا ____يــت ’ana ____eyt | إحْــنَــا ____يــنَــا ’iḥna ____eyna |
| 2nd person masculine | إِنْــتَ ____يــت ’inta ____eyt | إنْــتُــوْ ____يــتُــوْ ’intu ____eytu |
| 2nd person feminine | إِنْــتِ ____يــتِــيْ ’inti ____eyti | إنْــتِــنْ ____يــتِــنْ ’intin ____eytin |
| 3rd person masculine | ____ هُـــوِّ huwwe ____ | هُـــمِّ ____وْ humme ____u |
| 3rd person feminine | ____ هِــيَ hiyye ____at | هِـــنِّ ____نْ hinne ____in |
Doubled verbs in their past verb base form have only one vocalization pattern, that is, فَـــلّ (fall).
On the other hand, the base forms of the present tense of a doubled verb can take one of three vocalization patterns:
| I-A | I-B | I-C |
| بِـــفَــــلّ bif all bi◌a◌◌ | بِـــفِــــلّ bif ill bi◌i◌◌ | بُـــفُــــلّ buf ull bu◌u◌◌ |
The ten most common verb forms of doubled verbs in the present tense in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic are:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| بــــفــــلّ bxf xll | بِــفَــلِّــل bifallil | بِــفَــالّ bifāll | بِــــفِــــلّ bif ill | بِــتْــفَــلَّــل bitfallal |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| بِـــتْـــفَـــالّ bitfāll | بِــنْــفَــلّ binfall | بِــفْــتَـــلّ biftall | بِــفْــلَــلّ bif lall | بِــسْــتَــفِــلّ bistaf ill |
Here is a summary of the different verb forms in the second-person singular masculine affirmative imperative:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| فــــلّ f xll | فَـــلِّـــل fallil | فَـــالّ fāll | أَفِــــلّ ’af ill | تْــفَــلَّــل tfallal |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| تْـــفَـــالّ tfāll | اِنْـــفَـــلّ infall | اِفْـــتَــــلّ iftall | اِفْــلَــلّ f lall | اِسْــتَــفِــلّ istaf ill |
The ten most common patterns of the active participle are:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| فَـــالّ fāll | مُــفَــلِّــل mufallil | مُــفَـــالّ mufāll | مُـــفِـــلّ mufill | مِــتْــفَــلِّــل mitfallil |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| مِــتْـــفَـــالّ mitfāll | مِــنْـــفَـــلّ minfall | مِــفْـــتَــــلّ miftall | مِـــفْــلَــلّ mif lall | مُــسْــتَــفِــلّ mustafill |
The ten most common patterns of the passive participle are:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| مَــفْــلُــوْل maf lūl | مْـــفَــلَّـــل mfallal | مُــفَـــالّ mufāll | مُـــفَـــلّ mufall | مِــتْــفَــلَّــل mitfallal |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| مِــتْـــفَـــالّ mitfāll | مِــنْـــفَـــلّ minfall | مِــفْـــتَــــلّ miftall | مِـــفْــلَــلّ mif lall | مُــسْــتَــفَــلّ mustafall |
Consider the past verb رَدّ (radd) ‘he replied’ as an example. The root of this doubled verb is ر – د – د (r – d – d ). Only Forms I, II, V, VIII, and X are commonly used in the past tense.
| Form | Past | Active Participle | Passive Participle |
| I | رَدّ radd he responded | رَادّ rādd responding | مَـــرْدُوْد mardūd responded |
| II | رَدَّد raddad he repeated | مُـــرَدِّد muraddid repeating | مُـــرَدَّد muraddad repeated |
| V | تْــــرَدَّد traddad he hesitated | مِــتْـــرَدِّد muraddid hesitant | – |
| VIII | اِرْتَــــدّ irtadd he/it reflected | – | مُـــرْتَــــدّ † murtadd reflected |
| X | اِسْـــتَـــرَدّ istaradd he retrieved | – | مُـــسْـــتَـــرَدّ mustaradd retrievable |
† مُـــرْتَــــدّ (murtadd) also means ‘apostate.’
The first-person singular masculine past tense of the five verbs in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic is irregular in all forms except II and V, and are conjugated as follows:
| I | II | V | |
| رَدِّيــت raddeyt I responded | رَدَّدِت raddadit I repeated | تْــــرَدَّدْت traddad(i)t I hesitated | |
| VIII | X | ||
| اِرْتَــــدِّيــت irtaddeyt I reflected | اِسْـــتَـــرَدِّيــت istaraddeyt I retrieved | ||
The following are examples of active participles in context:
| .هُـــوِّ مِــش رَادّ عَــلَــيّ huwwe mish rādd ‘alayy He is not responding to me. | لِــيــش لِــسَّــا مِــتْـــرَدِّد؟ leysh lissa mitraddid Why are you still hesitant? |
Finally, here are examples of passive participles in context:
| إِدِّعَـــاء مَـــرْدُوْد عَــلِــيــه iddi‘ā’ mardūd ‘aleyh refuted (Lit. responded to) claim | كَـــلَام مُـــرَدَّد كْــثِــيْــر kalām muraddad kthīr speech that is repeated a lot |
| هَـــجْـــمِـــة مُـــرْتَـــدِّة hajmeh murtaddeh counter (Lit. reflected) attack | مَـــبْـــلَـــغ مُـــسْـــتَـــرَدّ mablagh mustaradd refundable amount |
Other lessons in Level V: