Reconsidering the ‘perfect’–‘imperfect’ opposition in the Classical Arabic verbal system
-
Michal Marmorstein
Abstract
A basic premise that prevails in Western grammatical descriptions is that the Classical Arabic verbal system is based on an asymmetrical opposition between two basic components: the ‘perfect’ faʿala and the ‘imperfect’ yafʿalu. The present study re-examines the validity of this premise, in view of several paradigmatic and syntagmatic characteristics of the verbal forms, in particular their syntactic distribution at the level of the clause and at the level of the text, their compatibility with modifying particles and with (verbal or nominal) clause patterns, and their interaction with various lexical classes. The study shows that the opposition between faʿala and yafʿalu is restricted to only some environments that, besides these two forms, comprise other verbal forms as well. The (a priori) postulation of an invariable meaning of each form and a fixed opposition between them is replaced by the delineation of various syntactic environments (‘contexts’) that include or preclude an opposition between the forms.
Abstract
A basic premise that prevails in Western grammatical descriptions is that the Classical Arabic verbal system is based on an asymmetrical opposition between two basic components: the ‘perfect’ faʿala and the ‘imperfect’ yafʿalu. The present study re-examines the validity of this premise, in view of several paradigmatic and syntagmatic characteristics of the verbal forms, in particular their syntactic distribution at the level of the clause and at the level of the text, their compatibility with modifying particles and with (verbal or nominal) clause patterns, and their interaction with various lexical classes. The study shows that the opposition between faʿala and yafʿalu is restricted to only some environments that, besides these two forms, comprise other verbal forms as well. The (a priori) postulation of an invariable meaning of each form and a fixed opposition between them is replaced by the delineation of various syntactic environments (‘contexts’) that include or preclude an opposition between the forms.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Afroasiatic 1
-
Part I. Afroasiatic
- Did Proto-Afroasiatic have marked nominative or nominative-accusative alignment? 11
- The limits and potentials of cladistics in Semitic 23
- Lexicostatistical evidence for Ethiosemitic, its subgroups, and borrowing 41
-
Part II. Forms and functions
- Reconsidering the ‘perfect’–‘imperfect’ opposition in the Classical Arabic verbal system 61
- The imperfective in Berber 85
- Condition, interrogation and exception 105
- The semantics of modals in Kordofanian Baggara Arabic 131
-
Part III. Predication and beyond
- Insubordination in Modern South Arabian 153
- Possessive and genitive constructions in Dahālik (Ethiosemitic) 167
- The characterization of conditional patterns in Old Babylonian Akkadian 185
- Locative predication in Chadic 203
- Unipartite clauses 235
- The Interaction of state, prosody and linear order in Kabyle (Berber) 261
- Index 287
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Afroasiatic 1
-
Part I. Afroasiatic
- Did Proto-Afroasiatic have marked nominative or nominative-accusative alignment? 11
- The limits and potentials of cladistics in Semitic 23
- Lexicostatistical evidence for Ethiosemitic, its subgroups, and borrowing 41
-
Part II. Forms and functions
- Reconsidering the ‘perfect’–‘imperfect’ opposition in the Classical Arabic verbal system 61
- The imperfective in Berber 85
- Condition, interrogation and exception 105
- The semantics of modals in Kordofanian Baggara Arabic 131
-
Part III. Predication and beyond
- Insubordination in Modern South Arabian 153
- Possessive and genitive constructions in Dahālik (Ethiosemitic) 167
- The characterization of conditional patterns in Old Babylonian Akkadian 185
- Locative predication in Chadic 203
- Unipartite clauses 235
- The Interaction of state, prosody and linear order in Kabyle (Berber) 261
- Index 287
