Patterns · a Light

Arabic builds tools by pouring a root into a mould

Arabic takes a root of three consonants and pours it into fixed patterns, and the pattern carries as much meaning as the root. The pattern mif'al makes an instrument: from f t h, to open, comes miftah, a key; from w z n, to weigh, mizan, a scale; from n sh r, to saw, minshar, a saw. The pattern maf'al makes a place: from k t b comes maktab, an office; from s j d, to prostrate, comes masjid, the place of prostration, which English took in as mosque. A speaker who meets an unfamiliar word can often work out both halves of it, the family and the function, before reaching for a dictionary.

The Arabic pattern system, al-awzan