Language is a systematic combination of individual words. These words have meanings which express what is happening, by whom, when, and how. Knowing how to recognise and form these words is the scope of the science of Morphology.
In Arabic, a single root word is taken and altered in many ways to imbue it with particular meanings. This alteration is called ‘Sarf’ in Arabic, which can be understood to mean ‘changing’ or ‘morphing.
A strong grasp of this science is important for anyone wishing to successfully study Arabic, or any science which is taught through Arabic. It is also a crucial ingredient in gaining a deep appreciation of the beauty of the Qur’an.
- Teacher: Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
This text, known as ‘Matan al ‘Izzi, authored by ‘Izz al Din, ‘Abd al Wahhab b. Ibrahim al Zanjani, has been taught as the foundational text in this science for hundreds of years. With its clear and gradually progessive layout, it is an excellent place to start to learn the foundation principles of the science.
- This course is cross-listed in Step Two and Learn Arabic
- This is an advanced course in the
- Learning Arabic curriculum
- Students who register for this course must be able to:
(a) conjugate verbs in each of their ten morphological forms;
(b) identify the ism fāʿil, ism mafʿūl, ism tafḍīl, al-ṣifa al-mushabbaha, the ism ẓarf, ism āla, and the maṣdar;
(c) know all important rules related to masculine, feminine, singular, dual, and plural nouns;
(d) comfortably work with nominal sentences (jumla ismiyya), verbal sentences (jumla fiʿliyya), and conditional sentences (shart and jawab al-shart); and
(e) use the Hans Wehrdictionary. Some Arabic vocabulary is also required.
This course is a key prerequisite for all courses in Level Three and Four- About the text and its author.
- What Morphology is.
- The standard form (al Mujarrad) and its variants for words which have a three, and a four-letter root.
- How to conjugate the past, present, and future verbs for all of them.
- What verbs with sound letters are, and what verbs with weak letters are.
- How verbs with weak letters are categorized and conjugated.
- What the various forms of nouns are, and how to alter them to suit the context.
