Editing Classical Arabic (section)

== Grammar ==

=== Nouns ===
{{Main|Arabic nouns and adjectives}}

==== Case ====
The A1 inscription dated to the 3rd or 4th century&nbsp;AD in the [[Greek alphabet]] in a dialect showing affinities to that of the Safaitic inscriptions shows that short final high vowels had been lost in at least some dialects of [[Old Arabic]] at that time, obliterating the distinction between nominative and genitive case in the singular, leaving the accusative the only marked case:<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/12463830 |title=New Epigraphica from Jordan I: a pre-Islamic Arabic inscription in Greek letters and a Greek inscription from north-eastern Jordan |journal=Arabian Epigraphic Notes 1 |access-date=2015-12-09 |last1=Al-Manaser |first1=Ali |last2=Al-Jallad |first2=Ahmad |date=19 May 2015}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Translation
! scope="col" | Original Greek transcription
! scope="col" |Arabic approximate transcription
|-
| ʾAws son of ʿūḏ (?) || lang="ar-Grek" | Αυσος Ουδου || lang="ar" | أوس عوذ
|-
| son of Bannāʾ son of Kazim || lang="ar-Grek" | Βαναου Χαζιμ || lang="ar" | بناء كازم
|-
| the ʾidāmite came || lang="ar-Grek" | μου αλΙδαμι αθα || lang="ar" | الإدامي أتو
|-
| because of scarcity; he came || lang="ar-Grek" | οα μισειαζ αθαοευ̣  || lang="ar" | من شحاص أتو
|-
| to Bannāʾ in this region || lang="ar-Grek" | α Βαναα αδαυρα || lang="ar" | بناء الدور
|-
| and they pastured on fresh herbage || lang="ar-Grek" | αουα ειραυ βακλα || lang="ar" | ويرعو بقل
|-
| during Kānūn || lang="ar-Grek" | βιΧανου || lang="ar" | بكانون
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Safaitic (ca. 3rd – 4th century AD)
|-
!
!Triptote
!Diptote
!Dual
!Masculine plural
!Feminine plural
|-
|Nominative
|∅..الـ<br />''(ʾal-)...-∅''
| rowspan="3" | -''∅''
|الـ)..ـَان)<br />''(ʾal-)...-ān''
|الـ)..ـُون)<br />''(ʾal-)...-ūn''
| rowspan="3" |الـ)..ـَات)<br />''(ʾal-)...-āt''
|-
|Accusative
|الـ..ـَا<br />''(ʾal-)...-a''
| rowspan="2" |الـ)..ـَيْن)<br />''(ʾal-)...-ayn''
| rowspan="2" |الـ)..ـِين)<br />''(ʾal-)...-īn''
|-
|Genitive
|∅..(الـ)<br />''(ʾal-)...-∅''
|}

Classical Arabic however, shows a far more archaic system, essentially identical with that of [[Proto-Arabic]]:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Classical Arabic (ca. 7th century AD)
|-
!
! colspan="2" |Triptote
!Diptote
!Dual
!Masculine plural
! colspan="2" |Feminine plural
|-
|Nominative
|ـٌ<br />''-un''
|الـ..ـُ<br />''ʾal-...-u''
|ـُ<br />-''u''
|الـ)..ـَانِ)<br />''(ʾal-)...-āni''
|الـ)..ـُونَ)<br />''(ʾal-)...-ūna''
|ـَاتٌ<br />''-ātun''
|الـ..ـَاتُ<br />''ʾal-...-ātu''
|-
|Accusative
|ـًا، ـً<br />''-an''
|الـ..ـَ<br />''ʾal-...-a''
| rowspan="2" |ـَ<br />-''a''
| rowspan="2" |الـ)..ـَيْنِ)<br />''(ʾal-)...-ayni''
| rowspan="2" |الـ)..ـِينَ)<br />''(ʾal-)...-īna''
| rowspan="2" |ـَاتٍ<br />''-ātin''
| rowspan="2" |الـ..ـَاتِ<br />''ʾal-...-āti''
|-
|Genitive
|ـٍ<br />''-in''
|الـ..ـِ<br />''ʾal-...-i''
|}

==== State ====
The definite article spread areally among the Central Semitic languages and it would seem that Proto-Arabic lacked any overt marking of definiteness. Besides dialects with no definite article, the Safaitic inscriptions exhibit about four different article forms, ordered by frequency: ''h-'', ''ʾ-'', ''ʾl-'', and ''hn-''. The Old Arabic of the Nabataean inscriptions exhibits almost exclusively the form ''ʾl-''. Unlike the Classical Arabic article, the Old Arabic ''ʾl'' almost never exhibits the assimilation of the coda to the coronals; the same situation is attested in the Graeco-Arabica, but in A1 the coda assimilates to the following ''d'', αδαυρα *''ʾad-dawra'' {{lang|ar|الدورة}} 'the region'.

In Classical Arabic, the definite article takes the form ''al-'', with the coda of the article exhibiting assimilation to the following dental and denti-alveolar consonants. Note the inclusion of palatal {{IPA|/ɕ/}}, which alone among the palatal consonants exhibits assimilation, indicating that assimilation ceased to be productive before that consonant shifted from Old Arabic {{IPA|/ɬ/}}:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ [[sun and moon letters|Sun consonants]] in Classical Arabic
! colspan="2" | [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="2" | [[Denti-alveolar consonant|Denti-alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
|-
! style="font-size: 80%;" | plain
! style="font-size: 80%;" | [[Velarization|emphatic]]
! style="font-size: 80%;" | plain
! style="font-size: 80%;" | [[Velarization|emphatic]]
|-
|
|
| {{IPA link|n}} ''n'' – {{lang|ar|ن}}
|
|
|-
|
|
| {{IPA link|t}} ''t'' – {{lang|ar|ت}}
| {{IPA link|tˤ}} ''ṭ'' – {{lang|ar|ط}}
|
|-
|
|
| {{IPA link|d}} ''d'' – {{lang|ar|د}}
|
|
|-
| {{IPA link|θ}} ''ṯ'' – {{lang|ar|ث}}
|
| {{IPA link|s}} ''s'' – {{lang|ar|س}}
| {{IPA link|sˤ}} ''ṣ'' – {{lang|ar|ص}}
|
|-
| {{IPA link|ð}} ''ḏ'' – {{lang|ar|ذ}}
| {{IPA link|ðˤ}} ''ẓ'' – {{lang|ar|ظ}}
| {{IPA link|z}} ''z'' – {{lang|ar|ز}}
|
|
|-
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɕ}} (< *ɬ) ''[[š]]'' – {{lang|ar|ش}}
|{{IPA link|ɮˤ}} ''ḍ'' – {{lang|ar|ض}}
|
|-
|
|
| {{IPA link|l}} ''l'' – {{lang|ar|ل}}
|
|
|-
|
|
| {{IPA link|r}} ''r'' – {{lang|ar|ر}}
|
|
|}

=== Verbs ===
{{Main|Arabic verbs}}

==== Barth-Ginsberg alternation ====
Proto-Central Semitic, Proto-Arabic, various forms of Old Arabic, and some modern Najdi dialects to this day have alternation in the performative vowel of the prefix conjugation, depending on the stem vowel of the verb. Early forms of Classical Arabic allowed this alternation, but later forms of Classical Arabic levelled the /a/ allomorph:
{| class="wikitable"
!
! colspan="2" |Pre-Classical (''taltalah'')
!Classical
|-
|1 sg.
|''ʾi-rkabu''
|''ʾa-qtulu''
|''ʾa-...-u''
|-
|2 m.sg.
|''ti-rkabu''
|''ta-qtulu''
|''ta-...-u''
|-
|3 m.sg.
|''ya-rkabu'' (< *''yi-'')
|''ya-qtulu''
|''ya-...-u''
|-
|1 pl.
|''ni-rkabu''
|''na-qtulu''
|''na-...-u''
|}