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Intensive stem (Ⅲ)
Stem Ⅲ fȃʕala, yufȃʕilu فاعَلَ، يُفاعِلُ (called the L-stem, L for “lengthened vowel”) has an intensive or causative meaning. Verbs of this stem are always transitive, even if derived from intransitive verbs.
Intensive
Following are examples of intensive Stem Ⅲ verbs.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅲ | ||
| saʔala | سَأَلَ | sȃʔala | ساءَلَ |
| he asked (tr.) | he asked for a long time, he interrogated (tr.) | ||
| dafaʕa | دَفَعَ | dȃfaʕa | دافَعَ |
| he pushed, repelled (tr.) | he defended against [obj.] (tr.) | ||
| ǵahida | جَهِدَ | ǵȃhada | جاهَدَ |
| he was/became exhausted, he struggled (intr.) | he struggled against [obj.] (tr.) | ||
The intensity of duration or frequency expressed by Stem Ⅲ gave rise to a secondary meaning of mutuality, whereby both the subject and object of the verb are thought to be engaged in the action.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅲ | ||
| qatala | قَتَلَ | qȃtala | قاتَلَ |
| he killed (tr.) | he fought with (tr.) | ||
| ṣaraʕa | صَرَعَ | ṣȃraʕa | صارَعَ |
| he threw to the ground (tr.) | he wrestled with (tr.) | ||
| ǵalada | جَلَدَ | ǵȃlada | جالَدَ |
| he hit (tr.) | he fought with (tr.) | ||
| qabala | قَبَلَ | qȃbala | قابَلَ |
| he fronted (tr.) | he met with (tr.) | ||
Causative
Causative Stem Ⅲ verbs are denominal.
| Noun | Stem Ⅲ | ||
| ḍiʕfuṋ | ضِعْفٌ | ḍȃʕafa | ضاعَفَ |
| an equal additional amount | he doubled, he multiplied (tr.) | ||
| ʕuqȗba·tuṋ | عُقُوْبةٌ | ʕȃqaba | عاقَبَ |
| a punishment | he punished (tr.) | ||
| wafquṋ | وَفْقٌ | wȃfaqa | وافَقَ |
| same [thing] | he agreed with (tr.) | ||
The last example has a middle-voice meaning because, like we said, causative verbs are frequently middle-voice.
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