"Ilḥāq" as a Morphological Tool in Arabic Grammar

Authors

  • Ramzi Baalbaki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4563

Abstract

The Arab grammarians differentiate between the ziyāda (augment) that introduces an element of meaning and the ziyāda that appends (yulḥiq) one morphological form to another. Having realized the potential of the concept of ilḥāq (appending) as an analytical tool in morphology, the grammarians divided appended words into several types according to the number of the radicals in their roots and the type of ziyāda that is involved, and tried to justify forms and patterns with reference to a set of detailed rules which they elaborately describe. This paper deals with the issues the grammarians tackle in their study of ilḥāq, such as its purpose, the possibility of analogically extending its examples, and the inapplicability of idġām (gemination) to its patterns. It also examines how the grammarians use ilḥāq to reduce considerably the number of morphological patterns that form a closed system, to explain away anomalous and rare patterns, and thus to limit deviation from the norm (qiyās) and to test the validity of a host of morphological issues.

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How to Cite

Baalbaki, R. (2017). "Ilḥāq" as a Morphological Tool in Arabic Grammar. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 4, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4563

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