Lesson 73 · B2

Roots and patterns

If you know z-r-3 means “sow” and m-CCaCa means “place”, you know mezra3a before you've ever seen it: “the place where you sow”, a farm. It's a B2 reader's best tool. Today we use it on Ibn Battuta, describing how the Nile rises when every other river is dry.

Split a new word into root and pattern.
Recognise the place, participle, trade and “seeking” patterns.
Guess the meaning of words you don't know.
Read a classical passage using roots as a guide.

Twenty-four words

Grouped by root, not topic. Inside each family, see what changes and what stays.

z-r-3, sow

زْرَعْ zre3 to sow
الزّْرِيعَة z-zri3a seed
الْمَزْرَعَة l-mezra3a farm
m-CCaCa: place.
مَزْرُوعْ mezru3 sown
m-CCuC: passive participle.
الزَّرَّاعْ z-zerra3 sower
CaCCaC: trade.

s-q-y, water

سْقَى sqa to water; irrigate
السَّاقْيَة s-saqya irrigation channel
Spanish acequia comes from this.
سْتَسْقَى stasqa to pray for rain
sta-: seek.
الِاسْتِسْقَاءْ l-istisqa' rain prayer

The river

جْرَى jra to flow
الْمَجْرَى l-majra course; channel
فَاضْ fad to overflow
الْفَيْضَانْ l-faydan flood
زَادْ ← الزِّيَادَة zad → z-ziyada to increase → increase
نْقَصْ ← النُّقْصَانْ nqes → n-nuqsan to decrease → decrease

Benefit and harm

نْفَعْ nfe3 to be useful
الْمَنْفَعَة l-manfa3a benefit
ضَرّْ derr to harm
الضَّرَرْ d-darar harm; damage
سْتَافْدْ stafed to benefit from
sta- from f-y-d.

Talking about words

الرَّحَّالَة r-ra77ala great traveller
CaCCaCa: intensive.
الْعْجَايْبْ l-3jayeb wonders
الْجَّذْرْ j-jidr root
الْوَزْنْ l-wazn pattern; template
“Weight”, as grammarians call it.

Three consonants and a mould

Four sentences. Find words that share consonants. What do zre3 and mezra3a have in common?

الْفْلَّاحْ زْرَعْ الْقْمَحْ فْالْمَزْرَعَةl-fellah zre3 l-qme7 f l-mezra3a
الْمَا كَيْجْرِي فْالسَّاقْيَة حْتَّى لْلْمَزَارِعْl-ma kayjri f s-saqya 7tta l l-mazari3
مْلِّي مَا كَتْطِيحْشْ الشْتَا، النَّاسْ كَيْسْتَسْقَاوْmlli ma-katti7sh sh-shta, n-nas kaystasqaw
الْفَيْضَانْ فِيهْ الْمَنْفَعَة وْ فِيهْ الضَّرَرْl-faydan fih l-manfa3a u fih d-darar

What does the m- in mezra3a add? And the sta- in kaystasqaw?

The rule

Nearly every Arabic word is a root of three consonants, carrying the meaning, set in a pattern, carrying the function.

m-CCaC(a): place or tool. mezra3a, mekteb, majra, metbekh.

m-CCuC: passive participle, “having been …ed”. mezru3, mektub.

CaCCaC: trade. fellah, ferran, khebbaz.

(i)sta-CCaC: seek or ask for. stasqa, ask for water (rain); stafed, seek benefit.

Weak roots (with w or y) hide a consonant: s-q-y → sqa, j-r-y → majra.

One root, many words

Form	Say it	Means
ز-ر-ع: زْرَعْ · مَزْرَعَة · مَزْرُوعْ · زَرَّاعْ	z-r-3: zre3 · mezra3a · mezru3 · zerra3	sow · farm · sown · sower
ك-ت-ب: كْتَبْ · مَكْتَبْ · مَكْتُوبْ · كَتَّابْ	k-t-b: kteb · mekteb · mektub · kettab	write · office · written · scribe
س-ق-ي: سْقَى · سَاقْيَة · سْتَسْقَى	s-q-y: sqa · saqya · stasqa	water · channel · pray for rain
ج-ر-ي: جْرَى · مَجْرَى	j-r-y: jra · majra	flow · course
ن-ف-ع: نْفَعْ · مَنْفَعَة · سْتَنْفَعْ	n-f-3: nfe3 · manfa3a · stanfe3	be useful · benefit · profit from
مَ-CCَC-ة = بْلَاصَة	ma-CCaC-a = blasa	m-CCaC-a = place
CَCّاC = حِرْفَة	CaCCaC = 7irfa	CaCCaC = trade
سْتَ-CCَC = طْلَبْ	sta-CCaC = tleb	sta-CCaC = seek

The last three rows are moulds: C stands for any root consonant.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: the habit of guessing from roots. “Agriculture”, “aqueduct”: you already decode Latin that way.

Costly: the mechanics. English adds pieces at the edges; Arabic changes the inside of the word too.

Costly: vowels. The root is consonants only; the pattern's vowels tell you whether it's a place or a participle.

Your mistake, not someone else's

You see the m- and think “place”, without checking the vowel. ma-CCaC is a place; ma-CCuC, a participle.

×مَزْرُوعْ = بْلَاصَة دْ الزّْرِيعَةParticiple read as a place.

✓مَزْرَعَة = بْلَاصَة دْ الزّْرِيعَة“Farm = place where you sow”.

Always check the inside vowel: -a- or -u-.

Ibn Battuta and the Nile

A real extract from the Rihla, 14th century, where the traveller from Tangier describes the Nile flood. Look for the lesson's roots: z-y-d, n-q-s, z-r-3, s-q-y, d-r-r.

وَنِيلُ مِصْرَ يَفْضُلُ أَنْهَارَ الْأَرْضِ عُذُوبَةَ مَذَاقٍ، وَاتِّسَاعَ قُطْرٍ، وَعِظَمَ مَنْفَعَةٍ.

وَلَا يُعْلَمُ نَهْرٌ يُزْرَعُ عَلَيْهِ مَا يُزْرَعُ عَلَى النِّيلِ. […] وَمَجْرَى النِّيلِ مِنَ الْجَنُوبِ إِلَى الشَّمَالِ، خِلَافًا لِجَمِيعِ الْأَنْهَارِ.

وَمِنْ عَجَائِبِهِ أَنَّ ابْتِدَاءَ زِيَادَتِهِ فِي شِدَّةِ الْحَرِّ عِنْدَ نَقْصِ الْأَنْهَارِ وَجُفُوفِهَا، وَابْتِدَاءَ نَقْصِهِ حِينَ زِيَادَةِ الْأَنْهَارِ وَفَيْضِهَا.

[…] فَإِذَا بَلَغَتْ زِيَادَتُهُ سِتَّةَ عَشَرَ ذِرَاعًا تَمَّ خَرَاجُ السُّلْطَانِ. فَإِنْ زَادَ ذِرَاعًا كَانَ الْخِصْبُ فِي الْعَامِ وَالصَّلَاحُ التَّامُّ.

فَإِنْ بَلَغَ ثَمَانِيَةَ عَشَرَ ذِرَاعًا أَضَرَّ بِالضِّيَاعِ وَأَعْقَبَ الْوَبَاءَ. وَإِنْ نَقَصَ ذِرَاعًا عَنْ سِتَّةَ عَشَرَ نَقَصَ خَرَاجُ السُّلْطَانِ، وَإِنْ نَقَصَ ذِرَاعَيْنِ اسْتَسْقَى النَّاسُ، وَكَانَ الضَّرَرُ الشَّدِيدُ.

[…] وَأَهْلُ كُلِّ بَلَدٍ لَهُمْ خُلْجَانٌ تَخْرُجُ مِنَ النِّيلِ، فَإِذَا مَدَّ أَتْرَعَهَا فَفَاضَتْ عَلَى الْمَزَارِعِ.

Ibn Battuta's Rihla: the Nile

Ibn Baṭṭūṭa, Tuḥfat an-nuẓẓār fī gharāʾib al-amṣār (s. XIV), el Nilo. Texto de ar.wikisource.org con cortes marcados […]; vocalización de Learning Darija · dominio público

Did you follow?

How does the Nile surpass other rivers?
Show answers
In the sweetness of its water, its breadth and the benefit it brings.
Which way does it flow?
Show answers
South to north, unlike all others.
What happens if it rises eighteen cubits?
Show answers
It damages the estates and brings epidemic.
And if it falls two cubits short of sixteen?
Show answers
People pray for rain, and there's great harm.

Check

Two here, three more in the B2 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the B2 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Sort

Place or passive participle?

مَزْرَعَةمَزْرُوعْمَكْتَبْمَكْتُوبْمَجْرَىمَغْلُوبْمَطْبَخْمَطْبُوخْ

Place (ma-CCaC)

Participle (ma-CCuC)

2Match

Verb to noun from the same root.

1	زْرَعْ	a	الْمَجْرَى
2	سْقَى	b	الْمَزْرَعَة
3	جْرَى	c	الْمَنْفَعَة
4	نْفَعْ	d	السَّاقْيَة
5	ضَرّْ	e	الضَّرَرْ

3True or false?

According to Ibn Battuta.

The Nile flows from south to north.

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

4Build the word

Put the root in the mould asked for.

ط-ب-خ (بْلَاصَة)

The rest is in the B2 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The B2 book

5Water

In five sentences, tell a story of land and water, using words from the same roots.

الْمَزْرَعَةالسَّاقْيَةالْفَيْضَانْالضَّرَرْسْتَسْقَى

The rest is in the B2 book

The B2 book

Show answers

1. Sort	Place (ma-CCaC): مَزْرَعَة · مَكْتَبْ · مَجْرَى · مَطْبَخْ / Participle (ma-CCuC): مَزْرُوعْ · مَكْتُوبْ · مَغْلُوبْ · مَطْبُوخْ
2. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-e

The B2 book: In preparation

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Split root from pattern.
Recognise place, participle, trade and sta-.
Guess new words.
Read a classical passage with roots as a guide.