اِندِماج
root: د-م-ج / verbal noun of form VII / definition: merging
I’m super excited as I begin this post, because not only is it part of my beloved Arabic Observations series, it’s all about quadriliteral roots!
Quadriliteral Arabic verbs (i.e. those from four-letter roots) can fall into different categories. For example, some are reduplicated (like عَسعَسَ / يُعَسعِسُ, to darken) and some are derived from other languages (like تَلفَنَ / يُتَلفِنُ, to telephone).
There’s also a category of quadriliteral verbs that are compounds—i.e. they’re formed by merging two different roots together.
In one of my favourite grammar books, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic, the author mentions two examples of form I compound quadriliterals:
- عَبشَمَ / يُعَبشِمُ (to worship the sun): derived from the root ع-ب-د (the root of worship) and ش-م-س (the sun)
- جَلمَدَ / يُجَلمِدُ (to be petrified): derived from ج-ل-د (to freeze) and ج-م-د (to harden)
This made me think: how many other quadriliteral verbs are derived from two three-letter roots? Is this how all of the quadriliteral verbs (that aren’t reduplicated, nor derived from other languages) came about?
So I decided to do some dictionary exploration, and discovered the following possible derivations:
طَمأَنَ / يُطَمئِنُ
root: ط-م-ء-ن
form: I
meaning: to reassure, set someone’s mind at rest
derived from:
- م-ء-ن: to supply with
- ط-م-ن: calm
What’s interesting with this verb is that in the Hans Wehr dictionary, it’s noted that طَأمَنَ / يُطَأمِنُ has the same meaning as طَمأَنَ / يُطَمئِنُ. Now, in the case of طَأمَنَ, the root would be ط-ء-م-ن (a different order from ط-م-ء-ن) and therefore could be a compound derived from ط-م-ن and ء-م-ن (to reassure).
تَبَهرَجَ / يَتَبَهرَجُ
root: ب-ه-ر-ج
form: II
meaning: to adorn yourself
derived from:
- ب-ه-ج: to be beautiful
- ب-ر-ج: to display your beauty, make yourself beautiful
تَدَحرَجَ / يَتَدَحرَجُ
root: د-ح-ر-ج
form: II
meaning: to roll down, deteriorate
derived from:
- د-ح-ر: to collapse
- د-ر-ج: to do gradually
After all, deterioration is essentially a gradual collapse!
فَرقَعَ / يُفَرقِعُ
root: ف-ر-ق-ع
form: I
meaning: to explode
derived from:
- ف-ق-ع: to burst
- ف-ر-ق: to separate, scatter
اِقشَعَرَّ / يَقشَعِرُّ
root: ق-ش-ع-ر
form: IV
meaning: to shudder, have goosebumps
derived from:
- ق-ش-ر: the skin or external shell of something
- ش-ع-ر: to feel
The alternatives to ش-ع-ر could also be ق-ع-ر (to hollow out, to scream) or ق-ش-ع (to dissolve)—it depends on how you want to metaphorise the feeling of a shudder!
اِبرَنشَقَ / يَبرَنشِقُ
root: ب-ر-ش-ق
form: III
meaning: to bloom, flourish
derived from:
- ر-ش-ق: elegance
- ب-ر-ق: to brighten
عَرقَلَ / يُعَرقِلُ
root: ع-ر-ق-ل
form: I
meaning: to obstruct
derived from:
- ع-ر-ق: to be deep-rooted
- ع-ق-ل: to detain
When I think of “obstruct”, I think of “obstacles”, which are things that hold you back and are firmly in place, right?
تَدَهوَرَ / يَتَدَهوَرُ
root: د-ه-و-ر
form: II
meaning: to decline, sink
derived from:
- ه-و-ر: to fall down, crash
- د-ه-ر: a stretch of time or د-و-ر: to move, take a turn
Sinking or declining can be described as a crashing over a period of time, or moving down.
I’m sure there’s a lot more of these to explore, but these are just the ones I’ve looked up this evening!
Do you know of any more compound quadriliteral verbs, and from which roots they’ve possibly been derived? Let us know in the comments below!
I’ll see you on my next post, إلى اللقاء!
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