Sarf - The Irregular Verb - ‫ناق ص‬- Part 1

Disclaimer: This post is due to a major contribution from Humairah (blogging here). Any mistakes, of
course, are mine.
As we have already learned, ‫ ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ‬verb is one which has ‫ ﻭ‬or ‫ ﻯ‬at its ‫ ﻻﻡ‬position. For the purpose of

illustration we will take three examples of a ‫ ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ‬verb: ‫( ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ‬he called) , which comes from

‫ ﻧﹷﺼﹷﺮﹶ‬baab , ٰ‫( ﺭﹶﻣﻰ‬he threw), which comes from ‫ ﺿﹷﺮﹶﺏﹶ‬baab, and ‫( ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ‬he was pleased), which

comes from ‫ ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻊﹶ‬baab. In this post I will, Insha Allah, deal with the ‫ ﻣﺎﺿﻰ‬conjugations of the

‫ ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ‬verb.

‫ ﻣﺎﺿﻰ‬of ‫ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ‬:

Below, I will list the ‫ ﻣﺎﺿﻰ‬conjugations for both ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ‬and ٰ‫ﺭﹶﻣﻰ‬. Note that the ‫ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬only occurs in the

first 5 conjugations of both these verbs. I will Insha Allah also explain why the ‫ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬occurs in each

case. We will deal with ‫ ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ‬separately later in this post, Insha Allah.

1 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ‬ ٰ‫ﺭﹶﻣﻰ‬
2 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺍ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹷﺎ‬
3 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺍ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹹﻮﹾﺍ‬
4 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺖﹾ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﺖﹾ‬
5 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺘﹷﺎ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﺘﹷﺎ‬
6 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﻥﹶ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﻦﹶ‬
7 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺕﹶ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺖﹶ‬
8 ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﺘﹹﻤﹷﺎ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻤﹷﺎ‬
9 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻢﹾ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﺘﹹﻢﹾ‬
10 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺕﹺ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺖﹺ‬
11 ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺘﹹﻤﹷﺎ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻤﹷﺎ‬

12 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺗﹹﻦﱠ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﺘﹹﻦﱠ‬
13 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺕﹸ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﺖﹸ‬
14 ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﻧﹷﺎ‬ ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻴﹿﻨﹷﺎ‬
In the Arabic Language certain pronunciation issues arise when weak letters are preceded by

inappropriate vowels. For example, it is difficult to pronounce a ‫ ﻭ‬which is ‫ ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ‬and is preceded

by a ‫ ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ‬or a ‫ ﻯ‬which is ‫ ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ‬and is preceded by a ‫ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ‬. In such cases we implement

rules which change these weak letters to other, pronounceable, letters coupled with a shift in the vowel

itself from one letter to another. Thus, for ‫ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬to occur the ‫ ﻭ‬or ‫ ﻯ‬need to be ‫ ﻣﹹﺘﹷﺤﹷﺮﱢﻙ‬and need

to be preceded by inappropriate vowels.

On the other hand, a ‫ ﻭ‬which is ‫ ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬and is preceded by a ‫ ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ‬is very normal; similarly a ‫ﻯ‬

which is ‫ ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬and is preceded by a ‫ ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ‬is very normal. Moreover, a ‫ ﻭ‬or ‫ ﻯ‬preceded by a

‫ ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ‬is also considered normal for pronunciation. Now, if you note that in the above table there is no

‫ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬from the 6th conjugation downwards because in there the ‫ ﻭ‬or ‫ ﻯ‬is ‫ ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬and is preceded by

a normal vowel i.e. a ‫ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ‬.

First conjugation: Recall that whenever a ‫ ﻭ‬or ‫ ﻯ‬is preceded by a letter with a ‫ ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ‬on it the ‫ ﻭ‬or ‫ ﻯ‬is
changed to ‫ ;ﺍ‬thus, the first conjugation was actually ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶ‬which changed into ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ‬due to the simple

change to alif rule. The same is true for ٰ‫ ﺭﹶﻣﻰ‬which was initially ‫ﺭﹶﻣﹷﻰﹶ‬

Second conjugation: This should actually be ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺍ‬rhyming with ‫ ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻼﹶ‬. However, the simple

change to alif rule will cause it to become ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﺍ‬which is difficult to pronounce and thus the final alif

will drop leaving us with ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎ‬. Note that this is exactly the same as the first conjugation so there is

actually no ‫ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬allowed here. Thus the final form remains ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺍ‬

Third conjugation: Rhyming with ‫ ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻠﹹﻮﹾﺍ‬this should be ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹸﻭﹾﺍ‬. The first ‫ ﻭ‬changes to ‫ ﺍ‬due to the

simple change to alif rule, leaving us with ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﻭﹾﺍ‬. This form, however, has two ‫ ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬letters

coming together in it therefore we drop the first ‫ ﺍ‬leaving us with ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹾﺍ‬

Fourth Conjugation: This was originally ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺕﹾ‬rhyming with ‫ ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻠﹷﺖﹾ‬. The ‫ ﻭ‬changed to ‫ ﺍ‬causing

it to become ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﺕﹾ‬. Because of the gathering of ‫ ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬letters the ‫ ﺍ‬is dropped leaving us with

‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺖﹾ‬

Fifth Conjugation: This was originally ‫ ﺩﹶﻋﹷﻮﹶﺗﹷﺎ‬rhyming with ‫ ﻓﹷﻌﹷﻠﹷﺘﹷﺎ‬. The ‫ ﻭ‬changed to ‫ ﺍ‬giving

us ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺎﺗﹷﺎ‬. It is important to note here that in this last form the ‫ ﺕ‬is actually ‫ ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬but has to carry a

‫ ﻓﹷﺘﹿﺤﺔ‬because of the final ‫ ﺍ‬which is the pronoun of duality. Thus the ‫ ﺍ‬in the middle will drop
because of gathering of two ‫ ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬letters leaving us with ‫ﺩﹶﻋﹷﺘﹷﺎ‬

All the above rules can be equally applied to the first five conjugation of the ٰ‫ ﺭﹶﻣﻰ‬table.

As for ‫ ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ‬the only major ‫ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬is in the 3rd conjugation, all other rhyming with the

corresponding conjugations of ‫ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻊﹶ‬

1 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ‬
2 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹷﺎ‬
3 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹹﻮﹾﺍ‬
4 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹷﺖﹾ‬
5 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹷﺘﹷﺎ‬
6 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﻦﹶ‬
7 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺖﹶ‬
8 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻤﺎ‬
9 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻢﹾ‬
10 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺖﹺ‬

11 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻤﹷﺎ‬

12 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺘﹹﻦﱠ‬

13 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﺖﹸ‬

14 ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹿﻨﹷﺎ‬

First conjugation: It was actually ‫ ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻮﹶ‬but changed its form due a rule which is called the edge rule.

It states that “any ‫ ﻻﻡ‬position ‫( ﻭ‬i.e. occurring at the edge of a word) preceded by a ‫ ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ‬will

change to ‫“ ﻯ‬. This rule deals with the concept of ‘ small ‫ ‘ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬whereby one letter changes to
another but the form of the verb is not disfigured: ‫ ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ‬still rhymes with ‫ ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻊﹶ‬.

Note: this ’small ‫ ‘ ﺗﹷﻌﻠﹻﻴﻞ‬happens in all 14 conjugations for ‫ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻰﹶ‬

Third conjugation: The 3rd conjugation was originally ‫( ﺭﹶﺿﹻﻴﹹﻮﹾﺍ‬rhyming with ‫ ) ﺳﹷﻤﹻﻌﹹﻮﹾﺍ‬which is

hard for pronunciation since the ‫ ﻯ‬is preceded by a ‫ ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ‬. Moreover, this ‫ ﻯ‬here is then followed by

a ‫ ﻭ‬which makes it even harder on the tongue. In this case, the ‫ ﺿﹷﻤﳲﺔ‬moved from ‫ ﻯ‬to ‫ﺽ‬, which lost

it ‫ﻛﹷﺴﹿﺮﹶﺓ‬. The ‫ ﻯ‬is then dropped because it is left with a ‫ ﻭ‬which is ‫ﺳﹷﺎﻛﹻﻦ‬. The ‫ ﻭ‬cannot be

dropped since it is a pronoun (denoting ‘they, group of males’).

This concludes our discussion of introducing the ‫ ﻣﺎﺿﻰ‬for the ‫ ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ‬verb. The next post, Insha Allah,

will deal with the ‫ ﻣﹹﻀﹷﺎﺭﹺﻉ‬of the ‫ ﻧﹷﺎﻗﹻﺺﹾ‬verb.