Semitic root
The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "". Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowels and non-root consonants which go with a particular morphological category around the root consonants, in an appropriate way, generally following specific patterns. It is a peculiarity of Semitic linguistics that a large majority of these consonantal roots are triliterals.
Triconsonantal roots
A triliteral or triconsonantal root is a root containing a sequence of [|three consonants].The following are some of the forms which can be derived from the triconsonantal root k-t-b in Hebrew and Arabic:
Note: The Hebrew fricatives transcribed as "ḵ" and "ḇ" can also be transcribed in a number of other ways, such as "ch" and "v", which are pronounced and, respectively. They are transliterated "ḵ" and "ḇ" on this page to retain the connection with the pure consonantal root k-t-b. Also notice that in Modern Hebrew, there is no gemination.
| Semitological abbreviation | Hebrew name | Arabic name | Morphological category | Hebrew Form | Arabic form | Approximate translation |
| G verb stem | pa‘al | fa‘ala فَعَلَ | 3rd. masc. sing perfect | kataḇ | kataba كتب | "he wrote" |
| G verb stem | pa‘al | fa‘ala فَعَلَ | 1st. plur. perfect | kataḇnu | katabnā كتبنا | "we wrote" |
| G verb stem | pa‘al | fa‘ala فَعَلَ | 3rd. masc. sing. imperfect | yiḵtoḇ | yaktubu يكتب | "he writes, will write" |
| G verb stem | pa‘al | fa‘ala فَعَلَ | 1st. plur. imperfect | niḵtoḇ | naktubu نكتب | "we write, will write" |
| G verb stem | pa‘al | fa‘ala فَعَلَ | masc. sing. active participle | koteḇ | kātib كاتب | "writer" |
| Š verb stem | hip̄‘il | af‘ala أَفْعَلَ | 3rd. masc. sing perfect | hiḵtiḇ | aktaba أكتب | "he dictated" |
| Š verb stem | hip̄‘il | af‘ala أَفْعَلَ | 3rd. masc. sing. imperfect | yaḵtiḇ | yuktibu يكتب | "he dictates, will dictate" |
| Št verb stem | hitpa‘el | istaf‘ala استَفْعَلَ | 3rd. masc. sing perfect | hitkatteḇ | istaktaba استكتب | "he corresponded", "he asked to write, had a copy made" |
| Št verb stem | hitpa‘el | istaf‘ala استَفْعَلَ | 3rd. masc. sing. imperfect | yitkatteḇ | yastaktibu يستكتب | |
| Noun with m- prefix and original short vowels | mip̄‘al | maf‘al مَفْعَل | singular | miḵtaḇ | maktab مكتب | "letter", "office" |
In Hebrew grammatical terminology, the word binyan is used to refer to a verb derived stem or overall verb derivation pattern, while the word mishqal is used to refer to a noun derivation pattern, and these words have gained some use in English-language linguistic terminology. The Arabic terms, called وزن wazn for the pattern and جذر jaḏr for the root have not gained the same currency in cross-linguistic Semitic scholarship as the Hebrew equivalents, and Western grammarians continue to use "stem"/"form"/"pattern" for the former and "root" for the latter—though "form" and "pattern" are accurate translations of the Arabic grammatical term wazn, and "root" is a literal translation of jaḏr.
Biliteral origin of some triliteral roots
Although most roots in Hebrew seem to be triliteral, many of them were originally biliteral, cf. the relation between:as well as between:
The Hebrew root - √sh-q-p "look out/through" deriving from - √q-p "bend, arch, lean towards" and similar verbs fit into the shaCCéC verb-pattern.
This verb-pattern sh-C-C is usually causative, cf.
History
According to a study of the Proto-Semitic lexicon, biconsonantal roots are more abundant for words denoting Stone Age materials, whereas materials discovered during the Neolithic are uniquely triconsonantal. This implies a change in Proto-Semitic language structure concomitant with the transition to agriculture. In particular monosyllabic biconsonantal names are associated with a pre-Natufian cultural background, more than 16,500 years ago. As we have no texts from any Semitic language older than 5,500 years ago, reconstructions of Proto-Semitic are inferred from these more recent Semitic texts.Quadriliteral roots
A quadriliteral is a consonantal root containing a sequence of four consonants. A quadriliteral form is a word derived from such a four-consonant root. For example, the abstract quadriliteral root t-r-g-m / t-r-j-m gives rise to the verb forms tirgem in Hebrew, ترجم tarjama in Arabic, ተረጐመ "täräggwämä" in Amharic, all meaning "he translated". In some cases, a quadriliteral root is actually a reduplication of a two-consonant sequence. So in Hebrew digdeg means "he tickled", and in Arabic زلزال zilzāl means "earthquake".Generally, only a subset of the verb derivations formed from triliteral roots are allowed with quadriliteral roots. For example, in Hebrew, the Piʿel, Puʿal, and Hiṯpaʿel, and in Arabic, forms similar to the stem II and stem V forms of triliteral roots.
Another set of quadriliteral roots in modern Hebrew is the set of secondary roots. A secondary root is a root derived from word that was derived from another root. For example, the root m-s-p-r is secondary to the root s-p-r. saphar, from the root s-p-r, means "counted"; mispar, from the same root, means "number"; and misper, from the secondary root, means "numbered".
An irregular quadriliteral verb made from a loanword is:
- – "we will sprinkle", from English and Yiddish spritz
Quinqueliteral roots
Other examples are:
- , via the English word from Greek
- , from the English or Yiddish past tense of the English word