Root Exploration: ج-ن-ح

طائِرة

root: ط-ي-ر / active participle of form I / plural: طائِرات / definition: airplane

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A wise woman I met in the Jordanian desert told me to always have my next flight booked before the end of a trip. Good advice that I didn’t take at the time, and that now has me searching for flights and hotels to ease the post-travel blues that have taken hold.

And I think the ocean, rather than the desert, is calling me this time.

I was just about to type a corny segue about wings and travelling to bring us to the topic of this post, but I decided to save you all from the cringe.

Today we’re exploring the root ج-ن-ح, which might bring to mind the noun جَناح (“wing”). We’ll come across some interesting collocations here too.

Let’s begin:

ج-ن-ح

Form I

الفعل / verb:

جَنَحَ / يَجنَحُ لِـ أو إلى = to incline, be inclined, tend, lean to/towards

جَنَحَ / يَجنَحُ إلى = to turn, go over to, to join, to associate with

جَنَحَ / يَجنَحُ إلى أو على = to strand (a ship) on a coast

جَنَحَ / يَجنَحُ عن = to diverge, deviate, depart from, to turn away from

المصدر / verbal noun:

جُنوح (إلى) = inclination, leaning, tendency (towards)

nouns:

جِنح = side

جُنح أو جِنح = darkness, gloom

collocations:

• في جنحِ اللَّيل = in the dark of the night, the the cover of night
• بَينَ جنحَيْ الكَرى = at night when everyone is asleep (literally: “between the two halves of slumber”)

جُنحة / جُنَح = misdemeanour

(as the Hans Wehr notes, this is less than a felony, جِناية, and more than an infraction, مُخالَفة)

جُناح = misdemeanour, sin

collocations:

• لا جُناحَ عَلَيهِ إن = it won’t be held against him if he…, it won’t do any harm if he… (note that لا جُناحَ is an example of the absolute negation)

جَناح / أَجنِحة أو أَجنُح = wing (of a bird, plane, building, army), side, flank (see The Plural of Few and the Plural of Many for the difference between the plurals أجنحة and أجنح)

collocations:

• أنا في جناحِهِ = I am under his protection
• على جناح الأَثير = over the ether, by radio
• على جناح السُّرعة = with winged haste (has anyone heard of this phrase in English?)
• جناح الهُجوم = wing forward (sports)
• جناح الأَيمَن / الأَيسَر = outside right/left (sports)

(We know that words from the same root are related semantically, so take a little time to reflect on the nouns above: how are sides, darkness, and wings linked? And how do they relate to the meanings of the form I verb?)

اسم الفاعل / active participles:

جانِح = side, flank, wing

جانِحة / جَوانِح = rib, (plural =) heart, soul

collocations:

• بين جوانحي = at heart, in my heart
• طَفَرَت جوانحها = she became happily excited, she trembled with joy

adjective:

جَنوح إلى = inclined to

superlative:

أَجنَح إلى = more inclined to

Form II

الفعل / verb:

جَنَّحَ / يُجَنِّحُ = to provide something with wings

اسم المفعول / passive participle:

مُجَنَّح = winged

Form IV

الفعل / verb:

أَجنَحَ / يُجنِحُ لِـ أَو إلى = to incline, be inclined, tend, lean to/towards, to turn to

أَجنَحَ / يُجنِحُ = to strand (a ship)

That’s all for today’s post, but don’t forget to check out the other posts in the Root Exploration series!

!إلى اللقاء

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