Introduction to inflection

Inflectional morphology examines the nature and processes of word-change within syntactic structures. It examines inflectional paradigms (conjugations, declensions) and the types of inflectional change realized on words-in-use. That is, it examines the range of inflectional possibilities available to particular word-stems (their paradigms) and it examines the nature of their roles in context (their syntagmatic relations). Paradigms can be compared to wardrobes of choices for particular words (options for dress), whereas syntagmatic relations can be compared to events which determine the wardrobe selection of particular words (a particular event requires a particular wardrobe choice – black tie, casual, come-as-you-are). Therefore, a word in context which is filling a particular syntactic role bears a paradigm mark determined both by the word’s inherent nature (an Arabic diptote, for example) and also by its contextual relations (object of a preposition, for example). Here are three instances of a prepositional phrase whose noun object inflects for the genitive case in different ways:

1. fii dimashq-a

2. in Damascus

3. fii l-madrasat-i

4. at the school

5. fii l-mustashfaa

6. at the hospital

Every noun falls into a particular inflectional class or declension, which allows or restricts its ability to exhibit the full range of inflectional distinctions. There are eight noun declensions in Arabic. See Appendix C for these declensions.

Arabic inflection

Compared to English, words in Arabic are highly inflected. This was partially illustrated in Chapter 5 where two words, maktab-un and ya-ktub-u were analyzed down to their most basic morphological components, maktab-un showing six morphemes (four of which were inflectional), and ya-ktub-u showing eight (six of which were inflectional). Western linguistics recognizes inflectional grammatical categories such as number, gender, case, person, mood, tense, and voice – all essential elements in marking word-function within syntax. Arabic grammatical theory, however, designates that case and mood belong to a separate category which is determined by or governed by syntactic rules (ʕawaamil).