Derived stem explained

Derived stems (also called D stems) are a morphological feature of verbs common to the Semitic languages. These derived verb stems are sometimes called augmentations or forms of the verb, or are identified by their Hebrew name binyan (literally meaning "construction"), and sometimes correspond with additional semantic meaning such as passive or causative action.

Semitic languages make extensive use of nonconcatenative morphology, and most words share a set of two, three or four consonants[1] which comprise a root[2] wherein each root may be the basis for a number of conceptually related words. Traditionally, words are thought of as being derived from these root consonants, but a view increasingly held by contemporary linguists sees stem words being the source of derivations rather than consonantal roots. Regardless, each language features a number of set patterns for deriving verb stems from a given root or underived stem. Stems sharing the same root consonants represent separate verbs, albeit often semantically related, and each is the basis for its own conjugational paradigm. As a result, these derived stems are considered part of the system of morphological derivation, and not conjugation or inflection.

Typically, one stem is associated with the ordinary simple active verbs while others may be canonically associated with other grammatical functions such as the passive, the causative, the intensive, the reflexive, etc., or combinations thereof. These functions should not be taken as universal or absolute, but are better understood as relational, depending on the particular source of the derived stem.[3] These grammatical functions are also not present in all Semitic languages. Some Neo-Aramaic languages, for example, have only two stems, one for monosyllabic verbs and the other for disyllabic verbs, with hardly any cases of related verbs in each stem.[3] [4]

Synchronic examples

For example, in Arabic and Hebrew, words containing the root √k-t-b have a meaning related to writing (in Hebrew, a phonological process known as begadkefat, alters the quality of certain consonants when they follow a vowel, so b becomes v and k becomes (a voiceless velar fricative like German Bach); the symbol ː indicates the preceding consonant is doubled or geminate). Thus:

The following two tables show the full paradigm of templates for the nine most common Arabic stems and the seven most common Hebrew stems, and illustrate some of the different meanings and functions that stems can have.

The first column gives the traditional stem abbreviation used by Comparative Semiticists and the second column gives typical stem names used in Arabic and Hebrew grammars; the Arabic system uses Roman numerals, and the Hebrew uses binyanim forms with the root letters √p-ʕ-l (with p sometimes becoming f by begadkefat). The next columns give the canonical functions of each stem, and their templates (the three Cs stand in for the three Consonants of the root, and V stands for some Vowel). Finally, the meaning and form of the stems with the √k-t-b root is given in the 3rd person masculine singular perfect, which lacks inflectional affixes.[3]

Standard Arabic[5] !Stem!Form!Grammatical Function!Template!Meaning!√k-t-b ك-ت-ب
GIbaseCaCVCahe wroteKaTaBa كتب
GtVIIIreflexive of GiCtaCaCahe copiediKtaTaBa => iKtaBa اكتتب => اكتب
DIImultiplicative, transitivizingCaCːaCahe made to writeKaTːaBa كتتب
tDVreflexive of DtaCaCːaCa--
LIIIconative, associativeCāCaCahe correspondedKāTaBa كاتب
tLVIreflexive of LtaCāCaCahe exchanged letterstaKāTaBa تكاتب
C or ŠIVcausativeʔaCCaCahe dictatedʔaKTaBa أكتب
ŠtXreflexive of ŠistaCCaCahe asked to writeistaKTaBa استكتب
NVIIpassive, reflexive of GinCaCaCahe subscribedinKaTaBa انكتب
Hebrew[6] !Stem!Binyan!Grammatical Function!Template!Meaning!√k-t-b כ-ת-ב
Gqal קל or paʕal פעלbaseCaCVChe wroteKaTaV כתב
Dpiʕel פיעלtransitivizing, intensiveCiCːēChe addressed/inscribed[7] [8] KiTːēV כיתב
Dupuʕal פועלpassive of DCuCːaChe was addressed/inscribedKuTːaV כותב
tDhitpaʕel התפעלreflexive of DhitCaCːēChe correspondedhitKaTːēV התכתב
C or Šhifʕil הפעילcausativehiCCīChe dictatedhiḴTīV הכתיב
Cu or Šuhufʕal הופעלpassive of ŠhuCCaCit was dictatedhuḴTaV הוכתב
Nnifʕal נפעלpassive/reflexive of GniCCaCit was writtenniḴTaV נכתב
The tD Stem for Arabic is not given for the √k-t-b root because it does not occur, illustrating that not each root has an actual form for each stem; in fact, √k-t-b has a more complete stem paradigm than many other roots.

In each Semitic language, the number of derived stems is different. In Hebrew, both biblical and modern, there are seven common ones,[9] and in Arabic there are nine common forms and at least six rare ones;[10] Akkadian has thirteen common patterns, Ugaritic has ten, Syriac has eight common ones, Modern Aramaic languages range from two-four,[4] [3] and so on.

Comparative morphology

There are different ways of naming stems, most systems classify stems by their morphological patterns but others simply number them. In Arabic, a system using Roman numerals is frequently used, as well as a more traditional system where the forms with the root letters √f-ʕ-l (roughly meaning "to do") are used as names of each stem. Hebrew also uses this latter system, although the cognate root used is √p-ʕ-l (with p sometimes surfacing as f by begadkefat). In Akkadian, forms with the √p-r-s root "to decide" are most often used. The convention using Latin letter abbreviations (such as G, Dt and Š) is a morphological shorthand used most often by comparative Semiticists, and emphasizes the relationships between stems within and between languages.

The following table compares some of the important stems of six different Semitic languages: Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew, Syriac, Standard Arabic, Geʿez, and Shehri (aka Jibbali), representing different Semitic subfamilies. By examining these and a few other forms, and using the comparative method and internal reconstruction, the Grammatical Function and Template for the Proto-Semitic derived stems have been reconstructed. The asterisk (*) in the Proto-Semitic Template column indicates that these forms are hypothetical and reconstructed.

Stem! rowspan="2"
Proto-Semitic Function(Reconstructed)Proto-Semitic TemplateEast SemiticNorthwest SemiticArabicSouth Semitic
Akkadian Bibl. Hebrew SyriacStd. Arabic GeʿezShehri[11]
G base
  • CaCVCa
iCaCːVCCaCVC CCVCCaCVCaCaCVCaCVCVC
tG reflexive/mediopassive of G
  • tCVCVCa
iCtaCːiC- ʔitCCiCiCtaCaCataCaCCaəCteˈCeC
D multiplicative/transitivizing of G
  • CaCːaCa
uCaCːaCCiCːēCCaCːiCCaCːaCa CaCːaCa-
tD reflexive of D
  • tCaCːVCa
uCtaCːaChitCaCːēCʔitCaCːaCtaCaCːaCa - -
Lassociative/intensive/causative- - - - CāCaCaCāCaCaeˈCoCəC
tLreflexive/mediopassive of L- - - - taCāCaCa- -
Š causative
  • šaCCaCa
ušaCCaChiCCīCʔaCCiCʔaCCaCaʔaCCaCaeCˈCeC
Št reflexive/mediopassive of Š
  • štaCCVCa
uštaCCaC- ʔitːaCCaCistaCCaCa ʔastaCCaCaŝəCˈCeC
ŠtG causative of tG
  • šatCVCVCa
uštaCaCːaC- - - - ŝəˈCeCəC
N reciprocal/passive of G
  • nCaCVCa
inCaCːiCniCCaC- inCaCaCa - -
Because the L Stem is only attested in the geographically and genetically proximate Arabic and South Semitic languages, it is thought to be a later innovation, not present in Proto-Semitic. By contrast, since separate but morphologically similar Št and ŠtG Stems are attested in the relatively distantly related Akkadian and Shehri, these are posited to have been different stems in Proto-Semitic, but to have merged in most later Semitic languages.

External links

Notes and References

  1. McCarthy. John J.. 1981-01-01. A Prosodic Theory of Nonconcatenative Morphology. 4178229. Linguistic Inquiry. 12. 3. 373–418.
  2. Web site: The Origin and Development of Nonconcatenative Morphology. 2009. 2 January 2014. Andrew Kingsbury Simpson.
  3. Bat-El, Outi. "Semitic Templates." The Blackwell Companion to Phonology. van Oostendorp, Marc, Colin J. Ewen, Elizabeth Hume and Keren Rice (eds). Blackwell Publishing, 2011. Blackwell Reference Online.
  4. Book: Hoberman, Robert D.. 49–64. en. 10.1007/978-94-011-2516-1_5. Yearbook of Morphology 1991. Yearbook of Morphology. 1992. 978-94-010-5110-1. Formal properties of the conjugations in modern Aramaic.
  5. Book: Wehr, Hans. A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: (Arab.-Engl.). 1979. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. 9783447020022. en.
  6. Ussishkin. Adam P.. The Emergence of Fixed Prosody. 2000. UC Santa Cruz. Ph.D..
  7. Web site: המונח במילוני האקדמיה מונחי האקדמיה. terms.hebrew-academy.org.il. 2019-09-20.
  8. Web site: 'כִּתֵּב' on Morfix Dictionary. www.morfix.co.il. 2017-04-13.
  9. Rubin. Aaron D.. 2008-03-01. The Paradigm Root in Hebrew. Journal of Semitic Studies. 53. 1. 29–41. 10.1093/jss/fgm043. 0022-4480.
  10. Book: Wright, W.. A grammar of the Arabic language: translated from the German of Caspari, and edited with numerous additions and corrections. Cambridge. 1896.
  11. Book: M., Johnstone, Thomas. Jibbali lexicon. 1991-01-01. Univ. Press. 978-0197136027. 612174986.