Brief Introduction to Arabic Roots

Introduction to the Use of Arabic Roots:

Arabic words are generally based on a "root" which uses three consonants to define the underlying meaning of the word. Additionally, various vowels, prefixes and suffixes are emloyed to accompany those three root letters in order to convey the desired inflection of meaning.

Each set of root letters can lead to a vast number of words, all predictable in form and all related to the basic meaning of the three root letters.

For example, the root k-t-b has the basic meaning of marking, inscribing or writing. The root may be conjugated in simple past tense (perfect) verb forms such as:

kataba	he wrote
katabū	they wrote
katabat	she wrote
katabnā	we wrote

Similarly, there are simple and predictable rules for present (imperfect) and imperative forms of  the basic root, such as:

yaktubu	he writes
yaktabunā	they write
taktubu	you write
naktubu	we write
'uktub	write!

And then the vastness really begins to be seen as additional forms such as verbal nouns are created from the same simple root k-t-b to describe things such as:

katīb	writer
kitāba	the act of writing
kitāb	some writing, book
kutub	books
kutubī	bookdealer
kutayyib	booklet
maktūb	letter
maktab	school, office
maktaba	library, literature
maktabī	individual office
miktāb	typewriter
mukātaba	correspondence
iktitāb	registration
istiktāb	dictation

.... and on and on. This is only a limited sample of the immense variety of words that can be formed by simple and predictable usage of the basic root which was only the three consonants k-t-b.

A Brief List of some Arabic Roots:

The following list of roots is sorted according to the English alphabet, ignoring any diacritical marks.

Examples of typical usage of the root are shown in parenthesis.

References:

An Arabic-English Lexicon, Edward W. Lane... an eight volume masterpiece of classical Arabic which includes plentiful examples of classical usage and the meanings of the words during the time period that the Qur'ān was revealed. Indexed by Arabic roots, with definitions in English.

Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, edited by J.M. Cowan.

Dictionary of the Holy Qur'ān, Abdul Mannān Omar... truly a precious gift to those who speak English, this magnificent dictionary translates every Arabic word used used in the Qur'ān into English, giving the Arabic root word followed by English translations of every form of that root which appears in the Qur'ān. This dictionary is easy to use, is relatively inexpensive and is based on classical Arabic as used in the Qur'ān.

Diacritical marks:

In Arabic, just as in English, many words have similar sounds and similar spelling, so the proper use and interpretation of the diacritical marks is often very important.

Consider for example the following three words which might all be found written simply damma in some English texts: