Re: about semitic morphology

On Sun, 16 Jun 2002 05:03:21 EDT David Peterson <DigitalScream@...>
writes:
>     In Arabic, the form for this type of noun is called the masDar
> (that's a
> pharyngealized /d/, not a dental fric.), and it has different forms.
>  Of
> course, now I'm forgetting all my Arabic...  For example, I think
> the masDar
> of s-f-r is /as-safaarii/, whereas the masDar of q-r-? is
> /al-qiraa?a/,
> though don't quote me on that.  The point is, they're the same noun
> type, but
> they have different forms, depending on something or other (what
> type of verb
> it is, I think).  Of course, within each verb type, there's no
> irregularity,
> save phonologically conditioned irregularity.  The most irregular
> part of the whole bit is the semantics, really.
> -David
-

Maybe i'm forgetting all my Arabic, too, but i thought it was |maSdar|,
with the S being pharyngealized... and i'm pretty sure the ma(Sd/sD)ar of
SFR, assuming it's the one i learned - |yusaafir| "he travels" - is
|(al)safar|.  Unless you're thinking of a different paradigm of SFR,
which is a distinct possibility since i only too two semesters of Arabic,
and they were pretty slow semesters.


-Stephen (Steg)
 "watashiwakankokujinjyaarimasen."
 "senkouwanandesuka?"
 "tsukuenouenisenseigaimasu."