šafʿala-Verbs in Jordanian and Standard Arabic: A Lexical and Etymological Study in Light of Semitic and Classical Arabic Philology

Abstract

Abstract The article discusses the etymological origin of verbs like šaqlaba, šaḥtafa and šaḥṭaṭa, which are relatively common in Jordanian and other Arabic dialects of the Levant. While Arabic grammarians and philologists have identified these verbs as quadriliteral and mostly colloquial, the article contends that they could often be regarded as augmented or linked (mulḥaq) triliteral verbs, which are also found in Classical Arabic, and that the letter šīn is not a root letter but a prefix, which is common in many Semitic languages.