Triliteral

In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the Semitic languages and some other Afro-Asiatic languages, a triliteral (Arabic: جذر ثلاثي, "transl|sem|ǧaḏr ṯalāṯī") is a root containing a sequence of three consonants (so also known as a triconsonantal root). The majority of consonantal roots in these languages are generally triliterals (but some may be quadriliterals). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the derivation of actual words by adding the vowels and non-root consonants which go with a particular morphological category around the root consonants, in an appropriate way, generally following specific patterns.

For example, the following are some of the forms which can be derived from the triconsonantal root k-t-b (general overall meaning "to write") in Hebrew and Arabic:

:"Note: The Hebrew fricatives transcribed as "kh" and "bh" above are single phonetic sounds, which can also be transcribed in a number of other ways, such as "ch" and "v" (Eastern-European influenced) or [x] and [v] (IPA). They are transcribed "kh" and "bh" on this page to retain the connection with the pure consonantal root k-t-b."

In Hebrew grammatical terminology, the word binyan (Hebrew בנין, plural בינינים "binyanim") is used to refer to a verb stem or overall verb derivation pattern, while the word Mishqal (or Mishkal) is used to refer to a noun derivation pattern, and these words have gained some use in English-language linguistic terminology. The Arabic terms, called وزن "wazn", (plural أوزان, "’awzān") for the pattern and جذر "transl|sem|ǧaḏr" (plural جذور, "transl|sem|ǧuḏūr") for the root have not gained the same currency as the Hebrew equivalents, and Western grammarians continue to use "stem"/"form"/"pattern" for the former and "root" for the latter (though "form" and "pattern" are literal translations of "wazn", and "root" is a literal translation of "ǧaḏr").

The biliteral origin of (some) triliteral roots

"Note that although most roots in Hebrew seem to be tri-radical, many of them were originally bi-radical, cf. the relation between גזז √ g-z-z ‘shear’, גזמ √ g-z-m ‘prune’ and גזר √ g-z-r ‘cut’, as well as between פרז √ p-r-z ‘divide a city’, פרט √ p-r-ţ ‘give change’ and פרע √ p-r-‘ ‘pay a debt’." [See p. 1 of Zuckermann, Ghil'ad 2003, [http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X ‘‘Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew’’] , Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, (Palgrave Studies in Language History and Language Change, Series editor: Charles Jones). ISBN 1-4039-1723-X.] Ghil'ad Zuckermann analyses the Hebrew root שקפ √ sh-q-p "look out/through" as deriving from קפ √ q-p "bend, arch, lean towards" (cf. קפח √ q-p-ħ, קפה √ q-p-h, קפא √ q-p-' and קפי √ q-p-y "arch, bend"), fitted into the shaé verb-pattern. "This verb-pattern is usually causative, cf. שטפ √ sh-ţ-p ‘wash, rinse, make wet’, from טפ √ ţ-p ‘wet’, as well as שלכ √ sh-l-k ‘cast off, throw down, cause to go’, from לכ √ l-k ‘go’". [See p. 1 of Zuckermann, Ghil'ad 2003, [http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?is=140391723X ‘‘Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew’’] , Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, (Palgrave Studies in Language History and Language Change, Series editor: Charles Jones). ISBN 1-4039-1723-X.]

ee also

* apophony vs. transfixation (root-and-pattern)
* Arabic grammar
* broken plural
* nonconcatenative morphology
* Phono-semantic matching
* Proto-Indo-European root
* Proto-Semitic stems
* transfix
*

References

External links

* [http://www.studyquran.co.uk/PRLonline.htm Project Root List]