Elementary Arabic Morphology 2

The Imperative

51. What is an imperative?

52. What is an imperative formed from?

53. Is the last syllable of an imperative declinable or indeclinable?

54. What vowel sign does the glottal stop of an imperative receive?

55. What is a wasl glottal stop?

56. What is a qat‛ glottal stop?

57. What should be done if the speaker wants to use the imperative in the first or third person?

58. The imperative verb is used to ask something from the listener in the present or in the future. For example: کُن (be) and اُکتُب (write)

59. The imperative is formed from the aorist tense by:

• erasing the aorist letter from the beginning of the word, for example: تَتَقَدَّمُ becomes تَقَدَّم (precede)

• then, adding a glottal stop if the verb is a single triliteral verb or starts with an added glottal stop. The glottal stop is a qat‛ glottal stop if the verb has four letters and a wasl glottal stop if it has more or less than four letters. For example: ضَرَبَ becomes یَضرِبُ then becomes اِضرِب (hit) or أحسَنَ becomes یُحسِنُ then becomes أحسِن(act well)

53. The last syllable of an imperative is indeclinable, it does not change. It is indeclinable upon:

• a sakūn if the last letter is not a weak letter, for example: اُنصُر (help)

• erasing the weak letter of defective verbs, for example یَرمي becomes اِرمِ (throw) or یُعطِي becomes أعطِ(give)

• erasing the nūn if the verb is connected to the dual alif, the plural wāw or the yā' personal pronoun, for example: اُنصِرَا (you two people help)

54. The imperative glottal stop:

• is given a dummah if the second root letter of a three letter verb has a dummah in the aorist tense. For example: اُنظُر (look)

• is given a fathah if it is a four letter verb. For example: أکرَم(be generous)

• is given a kasrah in other than these two cases. For example: اِعلَم (know) and اِضرِب (hit) and اِنطَلِق (begin) and اِستَعلِم (seek knowledge).

55. A wasl glottal stop is pronounced at the beginning of a sentence, for example: اِجلِس یا رَجُلُ (Sit, oh man.), but is not pronounced in the middle of a sentence, for example: یا رَجُلُ اجلِس (Oh man, sit.)

56. A qat‛ glottal stop is pronounced in the beginning of a sentence, for example: أقبِل یا رَجُلُ(Accept, oh man.), and in the middle of a sentence, for example: یا رَجُلُ أقبِل (Oh man, accept.)

57. The imperative used for the first or third person has a special form which is called the imperative by lām where a jussive lām is added to the beginning of the aorist tense verb and takes a kasrah, for example: لِیَضرِب لأُوَدِّب (He must hit to teach manners), except if it is after a fā' or wāw, in this case it is given a sakūn, for example: فَلتَطِب نفسک (feel comfortable).