Introduction

This joint research deals with semantic classification of verbs in the following languages: English and
Arabic, it highlights the points of similarities and differences showing these facts within the employment of
examples. The first part of this paper is dedicated to Tense and Aspect, it is the grammatical system in a
language in which tense covers the (location in time), aspect (fabric of time a single block of time,
continuous flow of time, or repetitive occurrence), , the nature of tenses, and aspects in languages, types and
the use of tenses and aspects as well. The simple present tense of English is similar to Arabic one in
meaning and functioning, but the Arabic system copies the tense of the verb in the sentences, perfective
form refers to the fact that the action has some sort of impact upon the present or putting emphasis on the
action, futurity is time not tense because its system does not make any change in the formation of verb.
The second part of the paper is about causative verbs take place in all languages, however, within the body
of this joint term paper we are tackling them within two languages : English and Arabic language.for sure
there are certain differences due to the fact that we are dealing with two distinct languages each of a
different language family. grammatically speaking, four main supporting verbs are used in English to
perform the function of causative verbs : have, make, let, get.however there are many other verbs used as
causatives. If we deal with them from a semantic perspective we would have certain concepts such as the
embedded situation, the Inchoative/ Causative verb pairs. In such concepts we are dealing with two elements
the causer and the caused situation. Concerning Arabic language, causative verbs are resulted by the process
of gemination, and are derived from simple verbs and adjectives.
The third part of this paper modals and the researcher extended her research about modals by explaining the
types of English modals and their semantic meaning. She also mentioned the two semantic categories of
English modals and these are "Epistemic" and "Denotic". Finally she shed the light on the differences
between English and Arabic modals.
The fourth part of this paper is devoted to discussing the transitivity verbs, from both syntactic and semantic
point of view. The paper is arranged to deal first with general syntactic classification of transitivity and
general difference concepts of transitivity between Arabic and English.
First approach maintained in the paper is to define the forms and patterns of transitivity in both Arabic and
English and then, the paper expands its perspective by discussing ergative or liable verbs ( the verbs that can
be both transitive or intransitive ) with more attention paid to the patterns and semantic denotations, since
this kind of verbs represent both aspects of the paper.
These semantics aspect are also shown in relation to semantic type system. Finally another type of
transitivity is introduces, i.e. gradient transitivity, and it is shown how transitivity can be measured through
specific parameters to denote the scale of transitivity.

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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation

Semantic Classification of English and Arabic

Tense and Aspect

A Term paper For the Academic Year

2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester

Submitted by Ibrahim Talaat Ibrahim

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Tense and Aspect

The verb system of a language expresses semantic distinctions such as tense and aspect. Tense is of two
parts (Present), (Past), while futurity is not a tense but it is a time, because there is no change in the form of
the verb, when futurity is applied.
In this section we shed light on the meanings and uses of tenses in English and Arabic languages.
Meaning of English tenses with their Arabic counterparts:
English has two types of simple tenses: simple present and simple past, whereas futurity or future time is
expressed by various constructions. English language has two aspects: perfective and progressive. Tenses
and aspects combine together to form complex tenses as follows:

Present perfective.
Present perfective progressive.
Past perfective.
Past perfective progressive.
Present progressive.
Past progressive.
Future progressive.

(SeeKhalil, 2010:197f198)

1.0 Tense
1.1.The simple present

Use:

Action in the present taking place once, never, several times.

Facts.
Actions taking place one after another.
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Actions set by a time table or schedule.

-Signal words:
Always, every, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually.
Examples:
1. The earth goes around the sun. (E)/ Fact.
/Tadoor al-ard hawala ashamis/(Arabic Transliteration(AT)).
.
2. We visit Egypt every year. / Habitual action.
/Nazoor misr kula sanatii/
.
(http//www.ego4v.com/en/cram-up/grammar/tenses)
Similarities and differences between the English simple present and the Arabic indicative:
The English simple present and the Arabic indicative or imperfective are similar in function and
meaning. They own situational function and indicate simultaneously with the moment of speaking. The
use of former is similar to the latter except for the fact that the Arabic use copies the timing of the main
verb, whereas English requires "sequencing of tenses" as in the following example:
3. I saw him as he was eating.
/Raetahu wahowa yak'ul/.
.
1.2.The simple past
Use:

Actions in the past taking place once, never, several times.

Actions taking place one after another.
Action taking place in the middle of another action.

Signal words:
Yesterday, the other day, last Friday.
(Leech et al, 1989:374)
Examples:
4. They visited France last year. /.Action took place for one time in the past.
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/Zaaro faransa asana al-maadia/

.
5. He visited us every Sunday. /. Habitual past action.
/Kana yazoorana kula ahad/
.
6. He used to visit us every Sunday last month. / habitual past action.
/Kana yazoorana kula ahad ashahir al-madi/
.
2.0.Arabic perfect tense
Whereas the Arabic perfect tense /AL-madi/ has the following strict uses are rendered into English
difficultly:
2.1. Optative use:
This occurs with wishes: the form of the verb is perfect, but it refers to the present or future time as in
the following instance.
Example:
7. May God forgive you.
/Samahaka Allah/
.
(Khalil, 2010:203)
2.2. Performative use:
The Arabic perfect tense can refer to the present time, where the reference is to act that concluded with
the uttering of the verb. It is used for describing transscations or deals.
(Britannca Encyclopaedia, 2011)
Examples:
8. I accept this.
/Kabilto hada/
.
9. I give you my daughter in marriage.
/Zawajtuka Ibnati/
.
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2.3. Reference to the future time, this is common in Glorious Qur'an.

Example:
"The unbelievers will be led to hell in groups".
/waseeka aladeena kafaru ila jahinma zumara/ (AT)
""
""
2.4. Reference to an act that has just been completed
Example:
10. Ali has just arrived.
/hadara alun alaan/
.
(Khalil, 2010: 204 f 205)
1.3Future Time
English language has no future tense, since (will) is not a marker of a verbal category. So, futurity in
English can be highlighted by a number of constructions:

Modal auxiliaries (will/shall+bare infinitive),

Be going to+ infinitive,
Present progressive,
Simple present,
Be to+ infinitive, and
Be about to+ infinitive.

1.3.1.Will/ shall +bare infinitive.

Example:
11.They will leave for Italy next month.
/saufa usafroon ila itaaliya ashara almukbil/
.
Note: the above-mentioned example expresses remote future action. Whereas the following one
indicate near future.
1.3.2. Be going to+ infinitive.
Example:
12. It is going to rain.
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/Sayanzil AL-matar/
.
1.3.3. Present progressive
Example:
13. The match is starting at 7:30 tomorrow.
/Satabida almubaratu asa'a asabia walnisf gadan/
.
(Khalil, 2010, 205 f 206)
1.3.4. The simple present: the simple present could refer to futurity in the conditional sentences.
Example:
14. What will you say if I resign?
/Ma satakul Inn astakalit/
.
1.3.5. Be to + infinitive, it may be used to refer to planned future action.
Example:
15. Salma is to be married soon. (E)
/ Satatazawj Salma kareeban/ (AT)
.
1.3.6. Be about to + infinitive,it expresses imminent action i.e, and action that will be taken in the
immediate future.
Example:
16. The plane is about to leave. (E)
/Tushak ataira Ann Takla'a/ (AT).
.

2.0Aspect

Aspect is defined as a category employed in grammatical description of verbs, along with tense and
mood, it refers primarily to the way grammar marks the duration or type of temporal activity
denoted by the verb.
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(Crystal, 2003:36)

2.1.Present perfective
Use:

Putting emphasis on the result.

Action that is still going on.
Action that stopped recently.
Finished actions that have influence on the present.
Action that has taken place once, never, or several times before the moment of speaking.

(http://www.easyenglishlearning.org/grammar/aspect)
Signal words:
Already, ever, just, not yet, so far, till now, up to now.
Examples:
2.1.1.Anterior time
17.I have known him for years.
/A'arfahu mindo sineen/
.

2.1.2.Recency
18. Have you heard the news? The president has resigned.
/Hal istama'ata ila alakbar? Lakad istakala ara'ees/
.
2.1.3. Resultant
19. My mother has recovered from illness. (E)/
/Lakad shufeyat walidati mn maridiha/ (AT)
.
Note: the present perfective is in touch with any of three above-mentioned implications: anterior,
recency, and resultant.
(Quirk et al, 1985:193)
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2.1.4.Activity that is still underway, the present perfective could highlight a period of time that
started in the past but not yet over.
Example:
20. My family has lived here since 19th century.
/Taeesh a'alatii huna mindo alkarn attasia ashar/
.
2.1.5. A very recently completed action.
Example:
21. They have just left.
/Lakad gaadru lltaw/
.
2.1.6.Activity at unspecified time before now.
Example:
22. Have you ever been to London
/hal zurta landan yauman ma/
.
2.2.Past perfective
Use:

Action taking place before a certain time in the past.

Sometimes interchangeable with past perfective progressive.
Putting emphasis on the past (not duration).
Referring to a sequence of past actions.
Referring to unreal conditional event.

Signal words:
Already, just, never, not yet, one until that day.
(http://www.ego.ego4v.com/en/cram-up/grammar/Aspect/)
Examples:
23. Before she left Jerusalem, Fatin had sold her house.
/Kabla safriha ila ALQuds kanat Fatin qad ba'at baytaha/
.
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24. I had already written a letter when you arrived.

/ Kuntu qad katabtu arisaala endama wasalati/
.
25.If he had invited me to the party, I would have gone.
/law Inahu kana da'anii ila alhafila ladahit/
.
2.3.Future perfective
It expresses a future action or event that will be completed prior to another time or event.
(Encarta Encyclopedia, 2009)
Example:
26. By the time they reach Jerusalem, they will have traveled for over 14 hours.
/ Innda wasoolihim ila ALQuds yakon qad mada ala safarihim akthar mn araba ashrata sa'a/ (AT)

2.4.Present progressive
This aspect indicates an action in progress at a given time. It denotes "temporariness". In this
function, it contrasts with the simple present which indicates "permanency".
(Quirk et al, 1985: 197)
Examples:
27. Ali sings well. (Permanent attribute)
/Ugani Aliun jaedan/
.
28. Ali is singing well. (Temporary attribute)
/Ugani Aliun jaedan/
.
29. She is living in U.S. now/ temporary activity.
/Taskun fii America ala'an/
.
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30. The weather is getting better/ gradual change.

/Bada'a ajw yatahasan/
.
Note: Unlike English, Arabic language does not mark the verb for progressive aspect. It uses
either the simple present or present active participle form of the verb.
(Khalil, 2010: 213 f 14 f 15)
2.5.Past progressive
Use:

Action going on at a certain time in the past.

Action taking place at the same time.
Action in the past that is interrupted by another action.

Signal words:
When, while, as long as.
(Quirk et al, 1985: 198)
Examples:
31. He was watching T.V. at 9AM this morning.
/Kana ushahid attilfaaz asa'a ataasia sabaha hada alyaum/
.
32. He was coughing all night long.
/Kana yasa'al tawala allayel/
.
(Khalil, 2010: 216)
1.9 Future progressive:
It is employed to concentrate on activities that are in progress at a specific time in the future.
(Encarta Encyclopedia, 2009)

Example:
33. This time tomorrow I'll be watching the match.
/Fii mithl hada alwakit gadan sa'akon ushahid almubarati/

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(Khalil, 2010: 216)

2.6.Present perfective progressive
Use:

Putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result).

Action that recently stopped or is still in progress.
Finished action that influenced the present.

Signal words:
All day, for four years, since 1993, how long? , the whole week.
(Quirk et al, 1985: 210 f 211)
Examples:
34. We have been living here for six months.
/Naskun huna mindu sitatit ashur/
.
35. I have been cleaning the house for several days.
/Unadifa albayet mindu idat ayam/
.
2.7Past perfective progressive
Use:

Action taking place before a certain time in the past.

Sometimes interchangeable with past perfect.
Putting emphasis on the duration or course of the action.

Signal words:
For, since, the whole day, all day.
Example:
36. He had been working carefully.
/Kana qad amala bihadir/
.
(Ibid, 1985: 213)

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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation

Semantic Classification of English and Arabic Causative

Verbs

A Term paper For the Academic Year

2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester

Submitted by Sarah Sabah Toma

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1.0 Grammatical Perspective of Causative Verbs in English

1.1 Definition
"Causative verbs show that somebody is indirectly responsible for an action. The subject doesn't perform the
action itself, but causes someone/something else to do it instead."

(Howe and Burton,2008:148)

1.1.1 Have
Have can be used as a causative to give someone the responsibility to do something.
It occurs in the forms:
Subject + have + someone + verb word

My English teacher had us give oral report

Subject + have + something + participle

I want to have this book renewed, please

Examples:
Dr. Smith had his nurse take the patient's temperature.
Please have your secretary fax me the information.
I had the mechanic check the brakes.

(P.149)

1.1.2 Get
Get can be used as a causative to convince someone to do something or to trick someone to do something.
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It occurs in the forms:

Subject + get + someone + infinitive

Lets get David to go with us

Subject + get + something + participle

Lets get our car fixed first

Examples:
Susie got her son to take the medicine even though it tasted terrible.
How can parents get their children to read more?
The government TV commercials are trying to get people to stop smoking.

(P.149)

1.1.3 Make

Make can be used as a causative to force some one to do something.

It occurs in the forms:
Subject + make + someone + verb word

His mother made him take his medicine

Subject + make + something + verb word

I made the machine work

Examples:
My teacher made me apologize for what I had said.
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Did somebody make you wear that ugly hat?

she made her children do their homework.
(P.149)

1.1.4 Let
Let can be used as a causative to allow someone to do something.
It occurs in the forms:
Subject + let + someone + verb word

His mother let him go to school

Subject + let + something + verb word

I am letting this machine cool

Examples:
John let me drive his new car.
Will your parents let you go to the party?
I don't know if my boss will let me take the day off.

(P.149)

1.2 Further Examples of Causative Verbs

"I've forced them into confessing that they're sad, grey, lost, forgotten, dead and damned forever."
(Dylan Thomas, letter to Bert Trick, July 1935)

"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth."

(Pablo Picasso)

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"I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over,
and I've seen the Promised Land."
(Dr. Martin Luther King)
"That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold."
(William Shakespeare, Macbeth)
www.grammar.about.com
Retrived on 1st of Feb 2012

1.3 Active & Passive Structure

1.3.1 The active causative structure
This is the basic structure of the active form, along with some more examples:
Subject Causative verb
Susan

Agent

Action verb

Object

had

her brother

do

her homework.

The police had

the suspect

stop

his car.

We

the carpenter fix

had

our window.

1.3.2 The passive causative structure

In the passive form, there is usually no agent. The action verb is in the past participle, and the object comes
before it:
Subject Causative verb

Object

Action verb

We

had

our door

fixed.

John

had

her hair

cut.

Stephen had

the windows cleaned.

www.grammar.about.com
Retrived on 1st of Feb 2012
1.4. Semantic perspective of Causative Verbs

1.5 The Embedded Situation

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Semantically, causative verbs have a minimum of two arguments: one denoting the causer and one denoting
the caused state or event. The latter is often called the embedded situation.
The meaning expressed by a causative sentence is a situation caused by whatever the subject noun phrase
refers to and the caused situation is described by the embedded clause.
Examples of causative sentences:
* The children got the kite to fly.
(the children) is the causer, (got) is the causative verb, (kite to fly) is the embedded situation.
The same holds true concerning:
* I had the students read this article.
* Bad weather forces us to cancel the picnic.
(Griffiths,2006:61F)

1.6 The Formal Types of Inchoative/Causative Verb Pairs

An inchoative/causative verb pairs is defined semantically as a pair of verbs which express the same basic
situation and differ only in that the causative verb meaning includes an agent participant who causes the
situation, whereas the inchoative verb meaning excludes a causing agent and presents the situation as
occurring spontaneously. a typical example is:
* The stick broke. (inchoative)
* The girl broke the stick. (Causative)

Inchoative verbs are generally intransitive and causative verbs are transitive, but inchoative/causative
opposition is more restricted than the intransitive/transitive opposition.
The inchoative member of an inchoative/causative verb is semantically similar to the passive of the
causative (The stick was broken), but it crucially differs from it in that the agent is not just unexpressed; but
the situation occurs without an agent
spontaneously. this does not mean that there cannot be an agent in the objective situation.
For example:
* The snowwoman melted. ( inchoative)
* The sun melted the snowwoman. (causative)
(Comrie and Polinsky,1993:90)

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- A verb like kill is said to be causative in that it conflates two event descriptions:
1- An event in which something dies
2- An event in which something caused event
In other words, Kill can be paraphrased as (cause something to die) and it requires one more argument than
the verb die, because it requires something to take the semantic role of (causer).
lexical causative verbs like kill or rise (cause to rise) incorporate the causative meaning without special
morphological marking.
In some languages, productive causative morphemes can be used to turn non-causative verbs into causatives.
English and other languages also make use of causative constructions with support verbs like make, as in
(the film made him cry). The (causer) semantic role is usually represented as the highest role in role
hierarchies.
(Murphy and koskela,2010:28)

2.0 Causative Verbs in Arabic

Many Arabic dialects have developed a new verbal category of intensive forms, featuring medial
gemination. These intensive verbs are morphologically similar to, but syntactically different from, causative
verbs.
Verbs whose semantic features involve intensity or frequency assume the shape of the second measure
which is similar to causative verbs, as in converting measure 1 (intransitive) into measure 2 (transitive) like:
sakat (become silent) to sakkat (silence someone) and libis (put on) to labbas (dress someone).

(Mughazy,2007:38)
Many causatives are derived from simple verbs. if the simple verb means "X happens" then its causative
means "Y makes, lets or has X happen". For example:
* nazel (to descend, go down) = nazzal (to take down, bring down)
* Nam (to go to sleep) = nayyam (to put to sleep)
* wasel (to arrive) = wassal (to take someone somewhere)
Other causatives are derived from Adjectives as in:
* awi (strong) = awwa (to strengthen)
* xafif (light) = xaffaf (to lighten)
* sahih (correct) = sahhah (to correct)
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* abyad (white) = bayyad (to whiten)

Thus, it is quite obvious that some causatives in Arabic are identified by doubling the medial consonant,
others by adding a prefix as in :
* zaher (to appear) = azhar (to reveal)
* gani (rich) = agna (to make .... rich)

(Cowell,2005:240,242)

In discussing the patterns of causative verbs, Sibawayhi says:

"And you say: maluha (salty) and mallahtuhu (I salted it- as the causative of maluha) and we heard some of
the Arabs say amlahtuhu (instead of mallahtuhu) just as you say afza'tuhu (I frightened him - as the
causative form of fazi'a (he feared)".

(Levin,1998:211)

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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation

Semantic Classification of English and Arabic

Modal Verbs

A Term paper For the Academic Year

2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester

Submitted by Saroo Al-Taleb

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1.0 Definition of Modals

Modal verbs are a type of auxiliary verb that expresses modality in the English language. Modality is the
grammaticalized expression of the subjective attitude of the speaker, which includes opinions about
possibility, probability, necessity, obligation, permissibility, ability, desire, and contingency.

1.1 Types of Modals

There are nine modal verbs in English:

can
could
may
might
must
shall
should
will
would

The following sections provide the most common semantic and pragmatic meanings and uses of the nine
modal auxiliary verbs in English.

1.1.1 Meanings of Can

The modal verb"can" primarily express ability, permission, possibility, contingency, and requests. For
example:

Some midwives can perform home births. (ability)

This patron can borrow that reference book. (permission)
Your son can start kindergarten in the fall. (possibility)
You can borrow my car if you fill up the tank with gas. (contingency)
Can you buy some more toilet paper? (request)

1.1.2 Meanings of Could

The modal verb" could" primarily express ability, permission, suggestions, possibility, probability, and
requests. For example:

He could never ride a bike. (ability)

You could have borrowed our ladder. (permission)
You could check for the book at the library. (suggestion)
My contact could have fallen down the drain. (possibility)
The car could catch fire at any moment. (probability)
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Could you pick up a DVD on your way home? (request)

1.1.3 Meanings of May

The modal verb" may" primarily express possibility, probability, permission, and requests. For example:

She may take a calculus class in the spring. (possibility)

It may rain tonight. (probability)
Your sister may borrow my dress. (permission)
May we go to the zoo this weekend? (request)

1.1.4 Meanings of Might

The modal verb" might "primarily express possibility, suggestions, commands, and requests. For example

The baby might fall asleep early. (possibility)

You might want to try a different pair of pants. (suggestions)
You might keep that opinion to yourself next time. (command)
Might we go hiking next weekend? (request)

1.1.5 Meanings of Must

The modal verb" must "primarily express obligation, necessity, commands, and deductions. For example:

She must finish her vegetables first. (obligation)

You must take the class Introduction to Graduate Studies. (necessity)
Students must stay out of the Dark Forest. (command)
That must be Espen on the phone. (deduction)

1.1.6 Meanings of Shall

The modal verb "shall" primarily expresses futurity, suggestions, offers, and commands. For example:

We shall take the train to the city. (futurity)

Shall you paint your living room blue? (suggestions)
Shall I finish the laundry for you? (offer)
Employees shall not drink during working hours. (command)

1.1.7 Meanings of Should

The modal verb "should" primarily express suggestions, necessity, obligation, and deductions. For example:

You should leave the cuffs on that blouse. (suggestion)

Employees should stay home when ill. (necessity)
You should love your children. (obligation)
We should need only a few more hours. (deduction)
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1.1.8 Meanings of Will

The modal verb" will" primarily expresses futurity, commands, suggestions, offers, and requests. For
example:

A nurse will call you this afternoon. (futurity)

You will wash the dishes right now. (command)
You will want to see the bay if you visit Mobile. (suggestion)
My husband will help you put up your Christmas lights. (offer)
Will you please pass the salt? (request)

1.1.9 Meanings of Would

The modal verb "would" primarily expresses contingency, futurity, habituality, desires, preferences,
suggestions, offers, commands, and requests. For example:

I would help if you asked. (contingency)

She said she would come tonight. (futurity)
My brother would read that book every night before bed. (habituality)
I would like some milk please. (desire)
Would you prefer coffee or tea? (preference)
You would want to avoid the main highway this time of day. (suggestion)
She would take your Sunday shift. (offer)
Would you shut up! (command)
Would you lend me a baking dish? (request)

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that express modality in English. The nine English modalscan, could,
may, might, must, shall, should, will, and wouldeach have multiple meanings depending on use and
context.
(Palmer, 1990: 27)

2.0 Modals meanings from the Semantics perspective:

When we deal with modals from the semantics perspective we encounter two main categories of modality
namely: epistemic and denotic

2.1 Epistemic modality: it refers to as relating to utterances which involve judgments having to do with
possibility or likelihood. It is also referring to the knowledge of the speaker and it can be expressed as (e.g.
"to the best of my knowledge suha went to the airport")

2.2 Negation of epistemic modality

The negation of epistemic modality creates semantic implications, and the Arabic translation to such kind
of modality ought to be more careful in order to capture the intended semantic meaning. For example "It
may rain tomorrow"
"rubbamaa laa tumtiru gadan"

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2.3 Denotic modality: it shows how to use language to express desires, wants, commands, obligation,
undertaking and permissions. It tends to share a great deal with per formatives. 'By uttering a modal' says
Palmer, "a speaker may actually give permission (May, Can) and make a promise or threat (shall) or lay an
obligation (Must)". And since it is not possible to desire, give permission, promise, threaten, or lay
obligation in the past; denotic modality, like per formatives , is compatible only with non past events.
Palmer, 1990:58

3.0 Modals in standard Arabic

In English, modal verbs include "can," "may," "might," "must," "should," and "would" verbs that are not
conjugated or negated in the same way as regular verbs. Standard Arabic doesn't have exact equivalents of
these verbs, but it has words that are used in much the same way including phrases beginning with .
Here's a list (all of these are followed by imperfect-mood verbs, although if you remove the , you can
follow them with a ):
( yajib an)
must, should
( 3ala + object + an)
must
( min al-laazim an)
have to, it is necessary to
( min al-waajib an)
it is necessary to
( min aD-Daruuri an)
it is necessary to
( yanbai an)
should
( min al-mafruuD an)
should
( min al-muftaraD an)
should, ought to
( yumkin an)
might, may
( min al-mumkin an)
it is possible to
( min al-mustaHiil an)
it is impossible to
( min al-mutawaqqa3 an)
it is expected that
( min al-muntaZar an)
it is expected that
( min as-sahl an)
it is easy to
( min al-yasiir an)
it is easy to
( min aS-Sa3b an)
it is hard to
( min al-jadiir bid-dikr anna) it's worth mentioning that
( min at-taabit anna)
it's well-established that
( min al-ma3ruuf anna)
it's (well-)known that
( min al-waaDiH anna)
it's clear that
( min al-mafhuum anna)
it's understood that
( min al-murajja3 an)
it's most likely that
( min al-muHtamal an)
it's probable that
( min al-muqarrar an)
it's been decided that
( min al-muttafaq 3aleihi an) it's been agreed that
( min al-mu3taad an)
it's customary to
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( min al-mustaHsan an)

( min al-aHsan an)
( min al-ajdar an)
( min aT-Tabii3ii an)
( min al-mamnuu3 an)
( min al-masmuuH an)

it's preferable that

it's better that
it's more suitable/proper to
it's natural that
it's forbidden to
it's permitted to

To shift to the past, add (kaan) before the phrase. To shift to the future, add (sayakuun) beforehand.
For negation, add (laysa) before it.
Examples:
( hal yajib munaaqaat qaDaaya mitl al-kaarita linsaaniyya fii burma fii majlis al-amn?)
Should issues like the humanitarian disaster in Burma be discussed in the Security Council?
( " " fiilm iiraani 3an itiyaal as-saadaat min almutawaqqa3 an yatiir aDab al-miSriyyiin)
An Iranian movie about Sadat's assassination is expected to anger Egyptians (lit. excite Egyptians' anger).
( haadihi l-mukila min almumkin an tataHawwil ila Zaahira ida lam tuwDi3 liha Huluul munaasiba wa-jidriyya)
This problem may turn into a phenomenon if appropriate and radical solutions for it are not found.
( min aT-Tabii3i an yafraH al-muwaaTin,
ayya muwaaTin, laday ru'yatu jeian ariiban yansaHib min arDu)
It's natural for a citizen, any citizen, to rejoice at the sight of a foreign army withdrawing from his land.

(ida lam nastaTi3 tajaawuz al-inqisaamaat daaxil al-mujtama3 al-filasTiini fa-sayakuun min aS-Sa3b
jiddan taHqiiq taqaddum fi mawDuu3eiyy azza wa-3amaliyyat as-salaam fil-waqt nafsu)
If we can't overcome the divisions within Palestinian society, then it will be very difficult to achieve
progress in the issues of Gaza and the peace process at the same time.
(An article retrieved from the websitehttp://www.arabic.desert-sky.net)

3.1 Comparison between English &Arabic Modals

In order to distinguish English from Arabic modals we should take into consideration the following:
1-In contrast to Arabic, English modals constitute a close system. However, Arabic modals meaning are
expressed by particles, prepositional phrases, uninfluenced verbs and regular verbs.
2-Arabic lacks the fine distinction in meaning conveyed by the English modals must, have to, should/ought
to. For example, must indicate compulsion by the speaker. Have to; external factors, and Should,
advisability. Arabic has a number of synonymous verbs that convey compulsion but, lacks the distinction
conveyed by the English modals. The compulsion Arabic verbs are "yajib", "yanbagii", and "yalzam".
Besides these verbs, Arabic has "laa budda" and "allayka"

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3-Some English modals have past forms, e.g. can/could, may/might, will/would. The past forms may be
used to refer to the present or future time but, with probability gradience for example, the use of "might"
rather than "may" shows possibility
I may/might leave tomorrow

"Rubbamma/qad usafiru gadan"

This probability gradience cannot be captured in Arabic which render "may" and "might" by the particles
"rubbamma" or "qad"
4-English must and Arabic "alaa" are negated differently
Must + verb
"alayka un" +verb +( )
You must go
alayka un thaba"
(See Khalil: 240)

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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation

An Approach to Semantic Implications of Transitivity in

Arabic and English

A Term paper For the Academic Year

2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester

Submitted by: Alaa JasimUbaid

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1.0 Syntactic classification of transitivity

Syntactically, verbs are classified according to the number of arguments. Accordingly, we have
intransitive verbs (which select one argument), transitive (which select two arguments), ditransitive (which
select three arguments) and complex transitive (which select two arguments and a subject or object
complement).For example,
English
( 1) a-Bill slept.
b-Bill wrote a book.
c-Bill gave her a book.
d- She made him crazy.
Arabic
( 2)- a- naama alwalad-u.
b-kataba alwalad-u qisat-an
c- a9taaalwalad-u albint-a kitaab-an.

The boy slept.

The boy wrote a story.
The boy gave the girl a book.
( Al-Khawalda, 1990 : 3 )

Verbs may be intransitive or transitive. An intransitive verb is one that does not take an object to complete
its meaning such as walk, sleep, run, sit, stand. A transitive verb is one that may take a direct object, indirect
object, object of preposition or complement to complete its meaning. Some transitive verbs may also be
transitive without an expressed object though they may be really transitive in meaning, e.g. she is cooking, I
am writing, he reads, they are eating.

1.1. Transitivity in English

We cannot tell whether a verb is transitive or intransitive by looking at it in isolation. The verb form does
not indicate whether it is transitive or intransitive, because English verbs are not inflected for transitivity. No
suffixes are used to transform an intransitive verb into a transitive one or vice versa.

1.2. Transitivity in Arabic

In Arabic, one can tell whether a verb is transitive or intransitive bylooking at it in isolation. The verb form
does indicate whether it is transitiveor intransitive, because Arabic transitive verbs are characterized by
certainverb patterns. The verb patterns can be represented in the following table :

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generally intransitive verbs

generally transitive verbs

fa9ula

Sharafa

fa9ila

zaraqa

tata99ala

tafaraqa

tafa9ala

taqatala

?ifta9ala

?jtama9a

?if9alla

?hmara

?infa9ala

?nqasama

?in9allala

?dhmahala

tafa9lal

takahraba

fa99ala?

kasara

f9ala

?jlasa

fa9ala?

haraba

istaf9ala

?stashara

(AlJarf, 2003 : 15 )
An intransitive verb can be transformed into transitive in seven ways which can be classified into two
divisions
1- By addition which can be represented in four methods
a- By adding the prefix ( ?a ) ------ > ?f9al ( )
b- By adding the infix ( / a: / alf ) ------ > fa9ala ( ) which denotes association
c- Doubling the middle consonant ( fa99ala ) ( )
d- Adding the prefix ( ?st ) which denote demand ------ > ?staf9ala ( )
e.g )

(3)

? st9antu bilaah

2- Intransitivity other than addition and this could be seen in two types
a- Embedment or entailment when a verb entails the meaning of another verb, and represented in
three ways :
a1- Intransitivity with preposition that entails the meaning of another verb e.g.
(4)

meaning ( join to )

a2- taking over the meaning of the intransitive .e.g. means to prevent
a3- by short vowel marks of the middle letter e.g. kasia ---- . kassa
b- Denoting comparasion ( af9alu ? )kramutu zaida
c- Dropping the preposition to denote elaboration. e.g. 5-
A transitive verb can be transformed to an intransitive verb by adding the prefix ?in as in <-- ; by
adding the prefix ta --> ; by deleting the above prefixes and infixes ( : , 1987 : 34ff ).

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So, the verb which selects one argument ( as a subject ) is called intransitive verb. There are two distinct
kinds of intransitive verbs. The first is called unergative verbs, which take a true subject, e.g. The boy died.
The second is called ergative ( and / or accusative ) verbs, which does not take a true subject ( the subject is
base generated in object position ), e.g. The door opened.

2.0. Ergative (liable) verbs

An ergative verb is a verb that can be either transitive or intransitive, and whose subject when intransitive
corresponds to its direct object when transitive.
( 6) The book was written
This means that each argument appears in the deep structure in a position in which it receives a thematic role
( agent or patient for example ).
Arabic and English Ergative verbs share the same syntactic and semantic behavior For example: they can
select two arguments, as stated above, and they could have a passive structure, as in the following examples:
(7) a- Bill sells books
b- The books sell easily.
c- The books are sold easily.
(8) a- alwald-u yaghlii alma?-a the boy boils the water.
b- almaa?-u yaghlii
c- almaa?-u yughlaa

water boils.
The water is boiled.

So, the verb yaghlii (boil-present) selects two arguments;alwalad-u which is the external argument, it has a
nominative case markand an agentive theta-role, alma?-a (the water), on the other hand, is theinternal
argument that has an accusative case mark and a patient theta-role.The internal argument of this sentence (
alma?-a ) The same thing goes for the English verb ( sell ) ( Al-Khawalda, 1990 : 5f ).
Intransitive verbs in Arabic are similar to the English intransitive verbs,
as in these examples:
(9) a- naama alwalad-u
b- wasala alwalad-u
c-safaraalwalad-u

The boy slept.

The boy arrived.
The boy traveled.

Thus, the main important difference is that another argument can be added in the case of ergative verbs,
while we cannot do that in the case of intransitive verbs:
(10) a- almaa?-u yaghlii Water boils.
b- alwald-u yaghlii alma?-a The boy boils (is boiling)the water.

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1 Arabic Versus English Ergative Verbs

(11) a- almaa?-u yaziidu fii albirkatii

Water is increasing in the pond.

b- almatar-u yaziidu almaa?-a fiialbirkatii.

From a semantic point of view, intransitive predication constitute the simplest form of verbal ( predication,
which can be said to be a one-place predicate in terms of predicate logic.
From the view of type theory, an intransitive verb is analyzed as being type ( e,t ), a function from entities (
e ) to truth values ( t ). For example the sentence John slept sets John to true if John is a member of the set
of sleepers.
There are yet other sources of variation in markedness within the class of intransitive construction. For
example, one of semantic factors cross-linguistically influencing the morphosyntactic complexity of
intransitive constructions is the notion of volitionality or control. That is the control the subject may have
over the prformed action or done in a more or less volitional manner.
(12) He walks
(13) Ha managed to walk

( Al-Khawalda, 1990 : 10fffff )

2.1. Some types of ergative ( liable ) verbs

1. PHASE VERBS. The meanings of the phase of the situation are typically expressed by labile verbs - for
instance in Arabic many phase verbs are semantically labile (they can denote either a situation P or its
causation): tawaqqafa be stopped/stop,istamarra continue (intransitive)/continue (transitive), badaa be
begun/begin (transitive), ibtadaa be begun/begin (transitive). But only the inchoative verbs badaa and ibtadaa can be used as syntactically bivalent transitive verbs:1
(14a)
ibtadaa
al-a:m-u
al-dira:siyy-u
The academic year began (monovalent);
(14b) na-btadiu

dira:sat-a

al-luat-i

al-arabiyyat-i

We are beginning studying the Arabic language (bivalent transitive);

Although we might consider that in such cases the valency increase is marked with a preposition like min
from or bi, fi: in, this is not proved by the Arabic data: the prepositions min, fi: cannot typically mark
causativity or valency derivations in other cases.
2. VERBS WITH A PROTOTYPICALLY PATIENTIVE ARGUMENT. It is well-known that prototypical
causative markers can apply to monovalent verbs that have a patientive argument, but often fail to apply to
transitive verbs or agentive intransitive verbs like go

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In languages where most verbs are labile, lability arguably can play the role of a causative marker.
Therefore, prototypically patientive monovalent verbs, which typically combine with causative markers, are
labile and can be used in transitive or intransitive constructions. For exam- ple, in English verbs with
patientive arguments often are labile (like break), while many verbs of other types are not.
3. Verbs with semantically close meanings. In languages where the class of labile verbs is not very large,
lability can appear when two meanings a situation with one argument and with two arguments have
some common semantic component.
For instance, transitive verbs in pairs like go/lead, run/drive, make run involve socia- tive causation :
the subject does P and by this makes the object do P, e.g. lead X = go with X and make X go. The
transitive and intransitive meanings thus have the common component the subject goes.
Another type of verb which becomes labile in many languages are verbs derived from nouns. In this case the
transitive and intransitive uses also have a common semantic component, namely, the original noun as
semantic argument.
4. LABILITY OF DERIVED VERBS. The Arabic data show that derived verbs, formed by the markers of
valency derivations, easily become labile. For example, lability is very typical for verbs of the third
pattern with the meaning of reciprocity or symmetrical action: qa:rabacome nearer/draw nearer, ma:tala
compare/be alike, sa:wa: level/become equal and so on.
This tendency can be explained by the fact that the main semantic component which is added to the meaning
of verbs by this derivation is that of symmetrical action; causativity is less important and less intrinsic, so it
can vary from one use to another, leading to lability of such verbs.

2.2. Types of semantic correlation between the two meanings of ergative verbs
There are other types as well. The types of lability are:
2.2.1. Causative lability.
The same verb means both P and cause P. One must be clear, however, about which type of causation is
meant. For example, in Classical Greek P and associative causation of P often are designated by the same
labile verb, while in Arabic symmetrical action and its causation tend to be expressed by the same verb.
2.2.2. Reflexive lability.
The reflex- ive type (the same verb expresses the meanings X P Y, where X is the subject and Y is the object, and X P X, where X is both subject and object) is found in English (The mother washes the baby/John
washes washes his face)
2.2.3. Reciprocal lability.
The same verb means X P Y and X and Y P each other. This type of lability is not wide- spread in the
languages of the world. We can see it in English (meet: I met her/We meet in the street meet each other)
and Arabic (tala:qa X meets with Y/X and Y meet):
Arabic:
(15a) ta-tala:qa :

al-juhu:d-u

al-Huku:miyyat-u

wa

The efforts of the Government and the people are converging (lit. meet).
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(15b) ya-tala:qa:-hu fi:

yawm-i
He will meet her (with her) in Saturday.

al-sabt-i

This type of lability usually occurs when the action expressed by the verb is semantically reciprocal in both
meanings: if X meets Y, then also Y meets X.
2.2.4. Passive (conversive) lability.
Passive lability is the case when the same verb can designate the same situation P using different
participants as subjects: cf. Bulgarian xaresam A likes B/B attracts A and Arabic tahaddadathreaten/be
under a threat:
(16a) al-dawlat-u

al-arabiyy-at-u

ta-tahaddadu-hu

The Arabic state threatens him.

(16b) al-tama:suk-u

al-waTan-iyy-u

ya-tahaddadu

The solidarity of our motherland is under the threat of isolationism.

Verbs like these are close to prototypical conversive verbs, like buy/sell. The difference is that the
arguments of verbs like tahaddada are not so similar as the two agents of verbs like buy: the ar- gument
which is under threat is less agentive than the other, which threatens. In addition, we can use the criterion of
transitivity: the verbs tahaddada and xaresam are transitive in the agentive meaning and intransitive in the
patientive one, so we may consider these verbs labile. This type of lability is found only rarely and does
not occur when one of the participants is a prototypical agent and the other is a prototypical patient (there
are no verbs which can mean either A kills B or B is killed by A), so we can suppose that it lies between
prototypical passive and prototypical conversive. (Letuchij , 1993 : 3fff )

3. Cognate object
There is also the case of cognate object construction, where the head noun of the object is the event or state
of nominalization of the verb.
( 17 ) s?uqaatulu qitaalanI will fight a fight ( 18 ) yafhamu l-darsa fahm-an
jaidan He understood it well
where the first sentence is transitive in its formal construction, but it is intransitive on the semantic level.
The second sentence is morphosyntactically realized as with two direct objects, yet it semantically has twoplace relation. Thus, it could be said that there is no relation between semantic and formal transitivity.
(Battat , 2004 : 56)
From these general observations, we see that form and meaning cannot be considered apart From the point
of view of the principle of compositionality, the meaning of a sentence should not only be derived from the
meaning of its components, but it should also include the implicit, partial semantics associated with the
syntactic construction ( Wikipedia ).

4.0. Semantic and type theory

As opposed to intransitive verbs, which have a valence of one ( one argument ), the transitive verbs have a
valence of more than one. Semantically, transitivity is often characterized as an activity which is transferred
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from an agent to a patient. That is the relation of two ( pr more ) place from the point of view of predicate
logic. Transitive verbs from the prospect of type theory, denote a function from entities to a function from
entities to truth values ( < e, < e , t >> ) . (Hoseini , 2011 : 4ff )
Yet , it is not a one-to-one relation , i.e. the existence of ( direct ) object may or may not indicate whether the
verb is transitive or intransitive.
( 19 ) The beast killed a sheep.
( 20 ) Last night, the beast killed again .
While we can see a one-to-one relation between form and meaning in the first sentence, the second sentence,
formally intransitive due to the absence of a direct object, despite the face that on the semantic level, the
construction has to be considered transitive ( in order to perform the act of killing, there has to be a
participant involved that was a live before the action ). This is sometimes, referred to as indefinite object
deletion .

5.0. Gradient Transitivity

Since. As mentioned earlier, that there is no relation ( on-to-one relation ) between formal and semantic
transitivity, creation parameters should be set to represent whether the sentence can be qualified as more or
less transitive.
Hopper and Thompson argue that transitivity should be viewed as a gradient or scalar phenomenon. They
stated several parameters within a table ( shown below ) where the more features has in the high column, the
more transitive it should be regarded.

Parameter

High

Low

A.

Participants

2 or more, A and O

B.

Kinesis action non

action

non-action

C.

Aspect telic

atelic

non- atelic

D.

Punctuality

punctual

non-punctual

E.

Volitionality

volitional

non-volitional

F.

Affirmation

affirmative

negative

G.

Mode

realis

irrealis

H.

Agency

A high in potency

A low in potency

I.

Affectedness of O

O totally affected

O not affected

J.

Individuation of O

O highly individuated

O non-individuated

Thus, transitivity involves much more than only the presence of an object to the verb.
Yet, in respect of these parameters with two participants may rate lower on the transitivity scale than a
clause with a single participant.
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( 21 ) - Susan left.
( 22 ) John likes books

The first sentence is seen to be highly rated or marked for transitivity having four parameters represented :
Kinesis : action
Aspect : telic
Punctuality : punctual
Volitionality : volitional
While the second sentence only represent the parameter of
Participant : two
This shows that intransitive clauses can rate higher for transitivity than transitive ones. So another condition
was set that the rating should be carried only within the class of two-participant clauses, so as to distinguish
degrees of transitivity . (Greene , 2007 : 25ff )

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Conclusion
Arabic imperfective aspect has two counterparts in English: simple present, and present progressive like
/yaktub- / he writes or he is writing.
The Arabic /Kana- /+ imperfect form has three equivalents:
Example:
/Kana yakyub/= he wrote, he was writing and he used to write.
The English perfective is often rendered into Arabic by the employment of this formula: /qad+the perfect/
Example:
I have bought a car.
/laqad Ishtraytu sayaratan/
.
The English perfective progressive is transferred into Arabic in of the following methods:
A.
B.
C.
D.

Imperfect indicative
/Mazala( )+ imperfect indicative/
Active participle.
/Mazala()+ active participle.

The English present progressive can be rewndered into Arabic by the use of the indicative of any verb or
active participle of activity verbs:
Examples:
Indicative: /Yakyub-/= "He is writing"
Active participle: /hwa na'am- /= "He is sleeping"
Unlike Arabic, English has a sequence of tense rule that stipulates tense harmony in sentences with more
than a clause. Indirect speech.
The optative use of the English subjunctive is changed into Arabic by the perfect tense.e.g. /Samahaka
Allah- /=" May Allah forgive you", whereas the performative verbs always occur in the simple
present construction, but in Arabic language, it may occur in the imperfect or in the perfect tense.There are
certain important notions to be taken into consideration, first of all causative verbs occur in English in a
passive and active structure, not to mention that English language makes use of supporting verbs such as
have, get, make and let as causative verbs. In addition semantics deals with causative verbs in terms of
aspects like the embedded situation which refers to the caused situation and the Inchoative/Causative verb
pairs which refer to two situations one includes an agent while the other excludes it as if occurring
spontaneously.In Arabic causative verbs are developed by means of medial gemination or adding a prefix,
usually they are derived from verbs or adjectives.
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As for modality, there are two categories regarding modality from the semantic perspective and these are:
"Denotic" and "Epistemic" the latter signal a speaker's judgments and it is about the way the real world and
how it is shown in the language while the former namely "Denotic" is about how people should behave in
the real world. I also have come across the Arabic modals and what I have found is that Arabic modals is a
kind of translation of the English modals and there is no exact equivalent from Arabic to the English ones.
Finally, The main and simplest difference between transitive and intransitive verbs is whether the verb needs
an object to complete the meaning or the subject would be sufficient to do so.
Transitivity is sometimes seen as just a matter of number of arguments, the verb may select, i.e. the verb that
selects one argument is called to be intransitive while the verb that selects two arguments or more is referred
to as a transitive verb . Yet, many factors are combined to determine the degree of the verb transitivity as
suggested by the notion of gradient transitivity for example.
In Arabic, unlike English, there are specific patterns or forms of the verbs that denote their transitivity and
intransitive verbs can be transformed into transitive ones ( or vice versa ) by employing certain
morphological inflections.
Some verbs; ergative or liable verb can be in both positions of transitive and intransitive, with of course
different semantic implications.
Finally, certain parameters such as voloitionality and participants should be applied to figure out the degree
of transitivity, consequently would have another notion of transitivity which is gradient transitivity.

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References
-AlJarf, Reima( 2003 ). Inflections For Translation Students . King Saud University English And
Arabic. King Saud University.
- Al-Khawalda, Mohammad ( 1990 ) Arabic Versus English Ergative Verbs. Damascus University
Journal, Vol.27 No.3.
- Battat. I.M. Salem .( 2004 ) , Markedness Theory as it Relates to Word Orderin Translationbetween
English and Arabic , An-Najah National University.
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Amherst.
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-Crystal, David. (2003). A Dictionary of Linguistics andPhonetics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.
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Structure . Russian State Humanistic University Press
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-Oxford advanced learner's Dictionary (2008). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

- Palmer, F. R. (1990) Modality and the English modals. London: Longman.
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:
. ( ) . -

Websites:
http://www.ego4v/en/cram-up/grammar/tense
http://www.easyenglishlearning.org/grammar/aspect
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.grammar.about.com
http://www.arabic.desert-sky.net
http://www.ta5atub.com/t2652-topic
http://www.wikipedia.com .retrieved on 1st of February 2012

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