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Middle-voice stems (Ⅶ, Ⅷ, Ⅴ & Ⅵ)
A middle-voice verb فِعْلٌ مُطاوِعٌ is a verb whose subject is a semantic patient, that is, it denotes an action that affects semantically the subject of the verb rather than an object. An example from English is The ice melts. A middle-voice verb is intransitive if derived from a monotransitive active-voice verb.
Stem Ⅶ ʔ⋅infaʕala, yanfaʕilu اِنْفَعَلَ، يَنْفَعِلُ (the n-stem) and Stem Ⅷ ʔ⋅iftaʕala, yaftaʕilu اِفْتَعَلَ، يَفْتَعِلُ (the Gt-stem) form middle-voice derivatives of Stem Ⅰ.
Stem Ⅴ tafaʕʕala, yatafaʕʕalu تَفَعَّلَ، يَتَفَعَّلُ (the tD-stem) forms middle-voice derivatives of Stem Ⅱ.
Stem Ⅵ tafȃʕala, yatafȃʕalu تَفاعَلَ، يَتَفاعَلُ (the tL-stem) forms middle-voice derivatives of Stem Ⅲ.
Following are examples.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅶ | ||
| ṣahara | صَهَرَ | ʔ⋅inṣahara | اِنْصَهَرَ |
| he melted (tr.) | he became melted (intr.) | ||
| qalaba | قَلَبَ | ʔ⋅inqalaba | اِنْقَلَبَ |
| he turned over, he transformed (tr.) | he became turned over, he became transformed (intr.) | ||
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅷ | ||
| rafaʕa | رَفَعَ | ʔ⋅irtafaʕa | اِرْتَفَعَ |
| he raised (tr.) | he rose (intr.) | ||
| ǵamaʕa | جَمَعَ | ʔ⋅iǵtamaʕa | اِجْتَمَعَ |
| he gathered (tr.) | he became gathered (intr.) | ||
| Stem Ⅱ | Stem Ⅴ | ||
| kassara | كَسَّرَ | takassara | تَكَسَّرَ |
| he smashed (tr.) | he became smashed (intr.) | ||
| ʕallama | عَلَّمَ | taʕallama | تَعَلَّمَ |
| he taught (ditr.) | he learned (tr.) | ||
| Stem Ⅲ | Stem Ⅵ | ||
| sȃʔala | ساءَلَ | tasȃʔala | تَساءَلَ |
| he asked for a long time (tr.) | he wondered (intr.) | ||
| qȃtala | قاتَلَ | taqȃtala | تَقاتَلَ |
| he fought with (tr.) | he fought [with] (intr.) | ||
Like we said before, causative verbs can be middle-voice on their own. For example, the Stem Ⅱ verb ħaǵǵara, yuħaǵǵiru حَجَّرَ، يُحَجِّرُ can have exactly the same meaning as the Stem Ⅴ verb taħaǵǵara, yataħaǵǵaru تَحَجَّرَ، يَتَحَجَّرُ “petrify (intr.).”
Stem Ⅵ forms verbs with the meaning “pretend to do” or “feign doing.”
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅵ | ||
| ǵahila | جَهِلَ | taǵȃhala | تَجاهَلَ |
| he was/became ignorant of (tr.) | he pretended to be ignorant of, he ignored (tr.) | ||
| mariḍa | مَرِضَ | tamȃraḍa | تَمارَضَ |
| he was/became sick (intr.) | he pretended to be sick (intr.) | ||
Some verbs of middle-voice stems are identical in meaning to their active-voice counterparts. This is especially common for stems with a t affix.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅶ | ||
| daθara | دَثَرَ | ʔ⋅indaθara | اِنْدَثَرَ |
| he faded away (intr.) | he faded away (intr.) | ||
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅷ | ||
| fataħa | فَتَحَ | ʔ⋅iftataħa | اِفْتَتَحَ |
| he opened (tr.) | he opened (tr.) | ||
| qalaʕa | قَلَعَ | ʔ⋅iqtalaʕa | اِقْتَلَعَ |
| he plucked (tr.) | he plucked (tr.) | ||
| Stem Ⅱ | Stem Ⅴ | ||
| fakkara | فَكَّرَ | tafakkara | تَفَكَّرَ |
| he thought (intr.) | he thought (intr.) | ||
| ħaddaθa | حَدَّثَ | taħaddaθa | تَحَدَّثَ |
| he talked to (tr.) | he talked (intr.) | ||
| Stem Ⅲ | Stem Ⅵ | ||
| xȃðala | خاذَلَ | taxȃðala | تَخاذَلَ |
| he failed to support (tr.) | he failed to support (intr.) | ||
Sȋbawayhi indicated an intensive meaning for active-voice Stem Ⅷ verbs such as ʔ·iktasaba, yaktasibu اِكْتَسَبَ، يَكْتَسِبُ “earn with effort (tr.),” ʔ·intazaʕa, yantaziʕu اِنْتَزَعَ، يَنْتَزِعُ “pull out forcefully and quickly (tr.),” and ʔ·istalaba, yastalibu اِسْتَلَبَ، يَسْتَلِبُ “take away forcefully and quickly (tr.),” as opposed to their Stem Ⅰ counterparts kasaba, yaksibu كَسَبَ، يَكْسِبُ “earn (tr.),” nazaʕa, yanziʕu نَزَعَ، يَنْزِعُ “pull out, pluck (tr.),” and salaba, yaslibu سَلَبَ، يَسْلِبُ “take away, rob (tr.).” Other linguists challenged Sȋbawayhi on this point and maintained that, e.g. ʔ·iktasaba meant exactly the same thing as kasaba. However, the Qurʔȃn seems to make a distinction between kasaba and ʔ·iktasaba in 2:286 similar to the one indicated by Sibawayhi. Also the Qurʔȃn generally uses samiʕa, yasmaʕu سَمِعَ، يَسْمَعُ for the meaning “hear” but ʔ·istamaʕa, yastamiʕu اِسْتَمَعَ، يَسْتَمِعُ for the meaning “listen,” which goes against the opinion of those who said that ʔ·istamaʕa, yastamiʕu was just a synonym of samiʕa, yasmaʕu “hear, listen.” Given that the Qurʔȃn is our oldest and best source for CA, and given that Sȋbawayhi was particularly gifted in his ability to determine the best conservative or archaic usages, it seems that active-voice Stem Ⅷ verbs had originally an intensive capacity that was later not appreciated by many speakers of CA.
When a Stem Ⅶ verb and a Stem Ⅷ verb are both from the same root, usually the Stem Ⅶ verb is middle-voice and the Stem Ⅷ verb is active-voice (rarely it is the other way around).
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅶ | Stem Ⅷ |
| كَشَفَ | اِنْكَشَفَ | اِكْتَشَفَ |
| kašafa | ʔ⋅inkašafa | ʔ⋅iktašafa |
| he uncovered (tr.) | he became uncovered (intr.) | he discovered (tr.) |
Like the intensive Stem Ⅲ, the active-voice Stem Ⅷ can have a meaning of mutuality.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅷ | ||
| qatala | قَتَلَ | ʔ⋅iqtatala | اِقْتَتَلَ |
| he killed (tr.) | he fought [with] (intr.) | ||
| sabaqa | سَبَقَ | ʔ⋅istabaqa | اِسْتَبَقَ |
| he came before, he outran (tr.) | he raced [with] (intr.) | ||
Note
In the modern vernacular dialects, the middle voice has become also a passive voice (i.e. it has become a mediopassive voice), and the original passive voice has mostly disappeared. Some dialects (e.g. Aleppo) use the n-stem to form passives of the G-stem. Other dialects (e.g. Cairo) use a tG-stem corresponding to the Classical Gt-stem for this purpose.
For example, in Aleppo:
Active Passive ʕəmel, biʕmel
(ʔə)nʕamal, binʕəmel
do be done In Cairo:
Active Passive ʕimil, biyiʕmil
(ʔi)tʕamal, biyitʕimil
do be done
Assimilation of the prefix to the first radical
When Stem Ⅶ is derived from a root Ⅰ=m/l/r/w/y, the prefix n– assimilates completely to the first radical.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅶ | ||
| maħaqa, yamħaqu |
مَحَقَ، يَمْحَقُ | ʔ⋅immaħaqa, yammaħiqu |
اِمَّحَقَ، يَمَّحِقُ |
| greatly diminish (tr.) | be(come) greatly diminished (intr.) | ||
The same can happen when Stem Ⅷ is derived from a root Ⅰ=t/d/ṭ/θ/ð/ð̣/s/z/ṣ/ḍ.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅷ | ||
| ṭalaʕa, yaṭluʕu |
طَلَعَ، يَطْلُعُ | ʔ⋅iṭṭalaʕa, yaṭṭaliʕu |
اِطَّلَعَ، يَطَّلِعُ |
| be(come) aware (intr.) | become aware (intr.) | ||
| ðakara, yaðkuru |
ذَكَرَ، يَذْكُرُ | ʔ⋅iððakara, yaððakiru |
اِذَّكَرَ، يَذَّكِرُ |
| remember (tr.) | remember (tr.) | ||
| samiʕa, yasmaʕu |
سَمِعَ، يَسْمَعُ | ʔ⋅issamaʕa, yassamiʕu |
اِسَّمَعَ، يَسَّمِعُ |
| hear (tr.) | listen (intr.) | ||
| zaħama, yazħamu |
زَحَمَ، يَزْحَمُ | ʔ⋅izzaħama, yazzaħimu |
اِزَّحَمَ، يَزَّحِمُ |
| crowd (tr.) | be(come) crowded (intr.) | ||
| ṣabara, yaṣbiru |
صَبَرَ، يَصْبِرُ | ʔ⋅iṣṣabara, yaṣṣabiru |
اِصَّبَرَ، يَصَّبِرُ |
| be(come) patient (intr.) | be(come) patient (intr.) | ||
| ḍaǵaʕa, yaḍǵaʕu |
ضَجَعَ، يَضْجَعُ | ʔ⋅iḍḍaǵaʕa, yaḍḍaǵiʕu |
اِضَّجَعَ، يَضَّجِعُ |
| lie down (intr.) | lie down (intr.) | ||
However, if the first radical in Stem Ⅷ is a sibilant s/z/ṣ or a lateral fricative ḍ, the standard way is to have only partial assimilation. This is the Qurʔȃn’s way.
| Stem Ⅷ | |
| ʔ⋅istamaʕa, yastamiʕu |
اِسْتَمَعَ، يَسْتَمِعُ |
| ʔ⋅izdaħama, yazdaħimu |
اِزْدَحَمَ، يَزْدَحِمُ |
| ʔ⋅iṣṭabara, yaṣṭabiru |
اِصْطَبَرَ، يَصْطَبِرُ |
| ʔ⋅iḍṭaǵaʕa, yaḍṭaǵiʕu |
اِضْطَجَعَ، يَضْطَجِعُ |
If the result of assimilation is interdental θθ/ðð/ð̣ð̣ or lateral fricative ḍḍ, it may be fortified to the corresponding dental. In the Qurʔȃn this is used for ðð.
| Stem Ⅰ | Stem Ⅷ | ||
| ðakara, yaðkuru |
ذَكَرَ، يَذْكُرُ | ʔ⋅iddakara, yaddakiru |
اِدَّكَرَ، يَدَّكِرُ |
| remember (tr.) | remember (tr.) | ||
Stems Ⅴ & Ⅵ have the variant forms ʔ⋅itfaʕʕala, yatfaʕʕalu اِتْفَعَّلَ، يَتْفَعَّلُ and ʔ⋅itfȃʕala, yatfȃʕalu اِتْفاعَلَ، يَتْفاعَلُ . In these forms complete assimilation happens between the affix t and the first radical if it is a coronal sound. The Qurʔȃn has such forms as ʔ⋅iṣṣaddaqa, yaṣṣaddaqu اِصَّدَّقَ، يَصَّدَّقُ for taṣaddaqa, yataṣaddaqu تَصَدَّقَ، يَتَصَدَّقُ “give charity,” and ʔ⋅iθθȃqala, yaθθȃqalu اِثّاقَلَ، يَثّاقَلُ for taθȃqala, yataθȃqalu تَثاقَلَ، يَتَثاقَلُ “be(come) heavy.”
