Sarf - L1 v3

Shariah Program Online - Sarf 1

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is the science of Classical Arabic that deals with: 1. Patterns of Vowellization ( ) which convey

the tense and voice of verbs, and 2. Suffixes which reflect aspects of the subject (gender, plurality, and person)


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BackgroundIn Arabic, 3-letter groups of consonants have an associated root meaning:

= + helping = helping +

writing writing

+ +

But, But, consonants without vowels cannot be pronounced, and in Arabic, these vowels also carry a meaning, a nonnonword meaning.


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Conveying MeaningIn addition to the root, there are several nonnonword meanings that are conveyed via vowels, nonnon-base letters, prefixes, suffixes etc. (tense, voice, added connotations, and much more) In order to get a grasp on these non-word nonmeanings, heavy emphasis is placed on mastering the essentials of Arabic Morphology in classical teaching methodologies.Shariah Program Online - Sarf 1 4

The Arabic Alphabet

In the Arabic language we have 29 letters and they are all consonants.

The short vowels are not considered separate letters and therefore are not part of the alphabet.Shariah Program Online - Sarf 1 5

Short Vowels

: - corresponds to a short o or u in English. A letter that has a over it is said to be : - corresponds to a short a in English. A letter that has a over it is said to be : - corresponds to a short e or i in English. under it is said to be

A letter that has a


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Absence of Vowels and Duplication

The absence of vowel is called ( ). If a (i.e. has a on it), this would letter is mean it is the final consonant in a syllable. Pronouncing of the letter twice, first with a , and then with a , is called or , and the letter is said to be (e.g. the in is ).Shariah Program Online - Sarf 1 7

Aspects of Subject

In all languages, verbs are conjugated to reflect three aspects of their subjects: Gender Masculine or Feminine Plurality Singular, Dual (unlike English, Arabic also has separate forms to indicate on two of something) and Plural (3 or more), and (3 Person Third person, Second person and First person.Shariah Program Online - Sarf 1 8

Conjugation TablesA great portion of Arabic Morphology is devoted to memorizing the tables that result from MULTIPLYING the three aspects mentioned above (i.e. gender, plurality, and person).


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3rd Person Conjugation LayoutPerson Gender Plurality English Equivalent #1

Singular Masculine Dual (2) Plural (>2) 3rd Singular Feminine Dual (2) Plural (>2)

He They (M2) They (M>2) She They (F2) They (F>2)

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3

4

5

6


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2nd Person Conjugation LayoutPerson Gender Plurality English Equivalent #7

Singular Masculine Dual (2) Plural (>2) 2nd Singular Feminine Dual (2) Plural (>2)

You (M) You (M2) You (M>2) You (F) You (F2) You (F>2)

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9

10

11

12


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1st Person Conjugation LayoutPerson Gender Plurality English Equivalent #13

Singular Masculine Dual (2) Plural (>2) 1st Singular Feminine Dual (2) Plural (>2)

I (M/F) We (M/F2) We I We We

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15

16

17

18


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Table of 14 Conjugations

Due to the fact that EVERY subject will need a gender, plurality AND a person, we look at the total combinations that result from multiplying the above. It comes to 18, six for each of the third, second and first persons.

In the first person, separate dual and feminine forms do not exist. This will reduce the number in the first person group from six to just two: #13 I (male or #13 female) and #14 We #14 (males or females; two or more than two)13


Active vs. Passive Voice

For all actions that require objects (transitive verbs), the verb can either be active or passive. Active is when the action of the verb is directed at the subject which is also mentioned e.g. he helped. Passive voice is for the verb whose action is directed towards the object, and the subject is missing e.g. he was helped. In Sarf, there are separate gardaans for each of the active and passive voices, 14 conjugations per gardaan.Shariah Program Online - Sarf 1 14

Model Base-letters Base

For simplification purposes, in order to isolate the pattern meanings (subject matter of Sarf) from the meaning coming from the base letters (which are found in dictionaries; not directly a concern of Sarf), the scholars of Sarf have used the most basic base letters in terms of meaning as models for all of the patterns to be discussed through out the science. The three model letters are , , and .Shariah Program Online - Sarf 1 15

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Sarf - L1 v3