Form VIII: a t after the first letter

Form VIII puts i- in front of the root and t after its first letter. Lesson 18 met it on ittakhadha, and said that ittabaʿa of lesson 11 is of this form. It is the fourth of the forms by how often the Qur’ān uses them. This lesson teaches how it looks in the past, the present and the command.

The new words

Three of them, iftarā, istawā and ihtadā, carry the religion in the Qur’ān's use of them: the course gives no meaning of its own for any of them, and you read them in the verses, with the edition's meaning beside them.

The past

Istamaʿa, "listened", is from the root s-m-ʿ, of samiʿa in lesson 11. It has i- in front, then s, then t, then the other two letters.

Istamaʿa: the corpus marks it form VIII. The t is not a letter of the root. The corpus gives the root s-m-ʿ.

Fa-khtalafa is fa and ikhtalafa, "differed", from the root kh-l-f. After fa, as after any word read straight on into it, the i- in front is not sounded.

Ishtarāhu is ishtarā, "bought", and hu, "him". The root sh-r-y ends in a weak letter, so the past, with "he" as the doer, ends in a long ā, as lesson 26 taught.

Iftarā is i-, then f, then t, then the rest of the root f-r-y.

Fa-stawā is fa and istawā. The root s-w-y ends in a weak letter. Its middle letter is weak too, and stays w here.

Ihtadā is i-, then h, then t, then the rest of the root h-d-y, of hadā in lesson 26. The two verbs are of one root and two forms.

The present

In the present, the letter in front takes a, as in the first form, and the t is kept. The i- in front goes. The root's last letter but one takes i; a root with a weak middle letter, or with its last two letters the same, may differ.

Yastamiʿu is ya-, then s, then t, then miʿu.

Takhtalifūna is ta-, then kh, then t, then lif, then ūna, "you".

Yabtaghūna is ya-, then b, then t, then gh, then ūna, "they". The root b-gh-y ends in a weak letter, and before ūna neither that letter nor the i is seen.

Yantahi, after lam: from the root n-h-y. The corpus marks it jussive, and the long ī of yantahī is made short, as lesson 26 taught.

The command

The command keeps the i-, and here, said to one man, it has no vowel at its end.

Wa-stamiʿ is wa and istamiʿ. After wa the i- is not sounded.

Where the t changes

All eight verbs of this lesson keep the t as it is, as most roots do. A few first letters change it. After ṣād, ḍād or ṭā’ it becomes ṭā’. After dāl, dhāl or zāy it becomes dāl. A root that begins with tā’ or wāw has a doubled t, as ittabaʿa has.

Wa-ṣṭabir is wa and iṣṭabir, from the root ṣ-b-r, of ṣabara in lesson 26. The corpus marks it form VIII. Its t is a ṭā’.

Wa-zdādū is wa and izdādū, from the root z-y-d, with ū, "they", at its end. The corpus marks it form VIII. Its t is a dāl.

In a sentence

This sentence was written for practice. Ishtarā, of form VIII, then the doer, then kitāban, in the accusative.

Reading

The words you know whole after this lesson are marked.

Recall

• Where does form VIII put its t?
• Which vowel has the letter in front of its present?
• Does i- stay in the present?

Answers: after the first letter of the root; a; no.

Next

The next lesson is being written.