ABU DHABI, 2 November, 2010 (WAM) -- The National Library of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) has published Dr. Yahya Ababnahs book "The Structure of Arabic Triliteral Verbs and the South Semitic Group."Dr. Ababnahs book is a study of the origins of Arabic verbs, and it uncovers the secrets of the verbs structure in Arabic language. It compares these verbs with their counterparts in the South Semitic Group.
The book is important because it is the first book to examine the structure of the Arabic verb in an integrated, comparative way. It also fully explains the many changes that have affected this structure. The book examines the laws that have historically ruled the movement of the group of languages to which Arabic belongs, and looks at the laws of language development that have controlled this move. The books material was gathered from texts examining the conjugation of verbs and dictionaries. The author made particular use of ibn Mandhours Arabic language dictionary, as well as two important dictionaries from the South Semitic Group of languages. The book is divided into different sections: discussions concerning linguistic factions; the location of the Southern Group dubbed as the Semitic Group and a section addressing the approaches taken to this field of study. The author also discusses the topic of studying the triliteral verb and its forms: Sahih Salim (verbs free of Arabic vowels); Modaaf (doubling the second radical); Mahmouz (Hamza included in the verb) and Modaaf (syllabically). The second section discusses the plight of the Ma'lul (ailing) verb (those which contain a vowel), its origins and historical changes. The author takes the Arabic approach to this subject and divides this section of the book into Mithal (verbs starting with an Arabic vowel), Ajwaf (where a vowel is the verbs second letter) and Naqis (where the verb finishes with a vowel). The different stages, changes and issues attached to these verbs are studied in this book. This section also depicts what Semitic scientists did in dividing the ailing verb, whose content differs from the Arabic approach. The conception is the same for most of these divisions, although they have added types of triliteral verb to it, which Arab scientists also deemed to be the correct interpretation. They also included Mahmouz, and verbs with hae (H) letter within the ailing verb. However, their concept of Naqis differs from that adopted by Arabic studies.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2010.
