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South-Semitic Languages. Arabic.
The Arabic language with its various dialects is used to-day by a much greater number of people than is any other Semitic tongue. This preeminence it owes to the influence of Islam. Although its literary monuments are much younger than those of several of the other Semitic languages, scholars recognize in the classical Arabic (of which the Koran is the chief example) the dialect which has retained most fully the forms of the primitive Semitic speech. These were preserved in Arabic owing to the isolated position of the Arabian people. Living in the desert fastnesses of central Arabia, they were not subjected to the disintegrating influences of foreign contact. In both verb-and noun-forms, accordingly, classical Arabic is much richer than the other Semitic languages. The development of its verb may be comprehended by a glance at the verb-stems. They are as follows:
LANGUAGES:">see table
Of these forms, I. denotes the simple action; II., the intensive of I.; III., an attempted or indirect action; IV., a causative action; V. is reflexive of II.; VI. is reflexive or reciprocal of III.; VII. and VIII. are reflexive or passive of I.; IX. and XI. areused to denote inherent qualities or bodily defects; X. is a reflexive of IV.; and XII.-XV., while rare and obscure, seem to indicate the doing of a deed, or the possession of a quality, in intensity. All the forms except IX. and XI.-XV. possess a passive as well as an active voice, whence it will be seen that the characteristic of the Semitic verb in contrast with the Aryan has here its fullest expression. In the imperfect of the verb, also, Arabic is more fully developed than the other languages, having the following modes in both the active and the passive voices:
Indicative.
Subjunctive.
Jussive.
First Energic.
Second Energic.
Moreover, in the richness of its development of infinitives or verbal nouns Arabic far surpasses the other Semitic tongues. This is not easily illustrated in a short article; but it has led grammarians to make the Arabic forms the standard by which to measure and explain all Semitic nouns. In the modern dialects of Arabic many of the refinements of form and syntax are neglected, and much phonetic decay is apparent.
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What thinkest thou, droogs?
South-Semitic Languages. Arabic.
The Arabic language with its various dialects is used to-day by a much greater number of people than is any other Semitic tongue. This preeminence it owes to the influence of Islam. Although its literary monuments are much younger than those of several of the other Semitic languages, scholars recognize in the classical Arabic (of which the Koran is the chief example) the dialect which has retained most fully the forms of the primitive Semitic speech. These were preserved in Arabic owing to the isolated position of the Arabian people. Living in the desert fastnesses of central Arabia, they were not subjected to the disintegrating influences of foreign contact. In both verb-and noun-forms, accordingly, classical Arabic is much richer than the other Semitic languages. The development of its verb may be comprehended by a glance at the verb-stems. They are as follows:
LANGUAGES:">see table
Of these forms, I. denotes the simple action; II., the intensive of I.; III., an attempted or indirect action; IV., a causative action; V. is reflexive of II.; VI. is reflexive or reciprocal of III.; VII. and VIII. are reflexive or passive of I.; IX. and XI. areused to denote inherent qualities or bodily defects; X. is a reflexive of IV.; and XII.-XV., while rare and obscure, seem to indicate the doing of a deed, or the possession of a quality, in intensity. All the forms except IX. and XI.-XV. possess a passive as well as an active voice, whence it will be seen that the characteristic of the Semitic verb in contrast with the Aryan has here its fullest expression. In the imperfect of the verb, also, Arabic is more fully developed than the other languages, having the following modes in both the active and the passive voices:
Indicative.
Subjunctive.
Jussive.
First Energic.
Second Energic.
Moreover, in the richness of its development of infinitives or verbal nouns Arabic far surpasses the other Semitic tongues. This is not easily illustrated in a short article; but it has led grammarians to make the Arabic forms the standard by which to measure and explain all Semitic nouns. In the modern dialects of Arabic many of the refinements of form and syntax are neglected, and much phonetic decay is apparent.
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What thinkest thou, droogs?
???Do not give up, for that is ignorance and not according to the rules of this art... Like the lover, you cannot hope to achieve success without infinite perseverance.???