The Reason for Omission of the First Letter of Verb (mitāl alwaw ī)

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to examine the opinions of Arab grammarians from the Basra and Kufa linguistic schools regarding the phenomenon of the omission of the first letter of verb (mitāl alwawī) in some patterns, and not deleting it in other patterns, and to interpret this variation by tracing such types of verbs in lingustiv dictionaries.
 Methods: The study employed an inductive approach in tracing the present tense verb with the ‘waw’ root consonant in linguistic dictionaries. In addation, a descriptive-analytical methodology was utilized to describe the forms of the mitāl verb, analyze them, and provide interpretations based on contemporary phonological principles.
 Results:. The deletion of the ‘waw’ from the present tense verb form (يَفْعِلُ) is caused by the heavy phonological sequencing, characterized by the juxtaposition of semi-vowel (y) with the short vowel (ɑ) in the first syllable, alongside the semi-vowel (w) in the first segment and the short vowel (i) in the second segment.
 Conclusions: The study concludes that grammarians' explanations for this issue are different, and that the rationale for the deletion of the ‘waw’ in certain patterns of the present tense (mitāl alwawī) verb is predominantly a phonological defect, stemming from the sonorous weight resulting from phonological sequences within the verb's segments.