Roots and Patterns(جذور و أوزان)

Arabic is a semitic language that works on a "root" system. This means that all Arabic words are derived from a "root" set of consonants that contain the base meaning of the word. These root consonants are put into "patterns" which morph the meaning of the root to create a variety of related words. Here is an example:

Three letter roo t: ك -ت- ب

Base meaning: "write"


From the three letter root ك-ت-ب all of these words are derived, and many more as well.

Things to remember about roots:

*Most roots are trilateral meaning they consist of 3 letters. There are some four letter roots and a few roots with five or six letters, but they all are few and far between.

* The order of the root is important. The root ك-ت-ب is different from ك-
-ب ت which is different from ك -ب-ت . When studying, work hard to pick out the roots of words and remember them accurately. This will help you comprehend the meaning and spelling of words much more quickly.
* If a root consists of two of the same letter right next to one another, it will often be represented as one letter with a sukuun An example of this would be: often be represented as one letter with a sukuun - An example of this would be:


Patterns:
Patterns are the set molds of words that roots can be inserted into. Together, the root letters placed inside the patterns are words. Patterns also carry meanings, similar to how suffixes and prefixes do so.

The root ف-ع-ل , meaning "to do," is often used to model patterns and will be used here to do so. In these contexts, ف-ع-ل represents where you will insert the letters of any root into the pattern to create the full meaning. The first letter goes where ف goes, the second where ع goes and the third where ل goes.


Here we have a pattern ف-ع-ل meaning "the doer" and three different roots. Placing the roots for "write" "sleep" and "walk" into the pattern meaning "the 'do'-er" create the words for "writer" "sleeper" and "walker" respectively.

Here are some examples using another pattern:

Telling the root from the pattern cane be tricky. Some key things to look for:
*Short vowels and taa marbuuta will never be part of the root.

*The long vowels ا و ي , also called weak letters because their shape changes depending on context, can be parts of roots but they will often be altered. *The following letters are sometimes root letters but more often part of the pattern:

the weak letters ا و ي the hamza ء and ت س ل م ن ه

Identifying the root will get easier over time as you become familiar with common roots.

Dictionaries: Arabic dictionaries work based on the root system. Therefore, if you wanted to look up مَكتَب you would look alphabetically for the root - ك-ت
ب then look down into that entry for the noun of place pattern مَفعَل and find مَكتَب.