The “Would-Be” Active Participle in Arabic

مُتَفَلْسِف

root: ف-ل-س-ف / form II quadriliteral active participle / definition: philosophaster

There’s something comforting about being in this library as the Sun goes down and spills through the vast windows in waves of golden orange light, deluging everything around me in a soft, forgiving glow. Or maybe I’m just a would-be academic romanticising this place as I type.

Speaking of would-bes… Did you know there’s a word pattern in Arabic to refer to them?

We were speaking about the great Arab poet, al-Mutanabbi المُتَنَبِّي, in class a few weeks back when my teacher pointed out how this epithet of his means “would-be prophet”.

مُتَنَبِّي is the form V active participle (pattern: مُتَفَعِّل) from the root ن-ب-ء. It’s linked to the word نَبِيّ (“prophet”).

If you’re wondering why the ء of the hamzated root ن-ب-ء disappears in نبيّ (and, later, متنبّي), it’s because the word was originally نَبيء. But it was mostly pronounced نبيّ in dialects, so that became the widely accepted form.

And there are other form V active participles that carry this “would-be” or “wannabe” meaning too:

For example, مُتَكَبِّر from the root ك-ب-ر means “arrogant”. It refers to someone who considers themselves to be great (كَبير).

Or مُتَطَبِّب: it means “quack”, i.e. someone who claims to be a doctor (طَبيب) but has no medical training.

And when it comes to quadriliterals, the form II quadriliteral (تَفَعلَلَ / يَتَفَعلَلُ) correlates to the form V triliteral (تَفَعَّلَ / يَتَفَعَّلُ) in general meaning. So their active participles (on the patterns مُتَفَعلِل and مُتَفَعِّل, respectively) also correspond.

Thus, the form II quadriliteral active participle مُتَفَلسِف from the root ف-ل-س-ف refers to a would-be philosopher (فَيلَسوف) or philosophaster.

Do you know any other form V active participles (or form II quadriliteral ones!) that convey the same idea? Let us know in the comments below!

!مع السلامة