Eslam Sayed Ali Taha
The Morphological Level
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[Link] morphological level.
Morphology is defined as the study of the internal structure of words in a language. It is
the field of linguistics that is concerned with evaluating how words are formed in a language by
studying the elements that are combined to form them.
Morphology in Arabic reflects the internal structure of words based on a root-and-pattern
system, where consonantal roots carry meaning and patterns add grammatical or lexical
information (Ryding, 2005). In a diglossic context, MSA represents the “High” (H) variety,
preserving the traditional morphological system, while ECA, the “Low” (L) variety, exhibits
simplification and innovation typical of spoken language (Ferguson, 1959).
2.1. Verb System Simplification.
In MSA, verbs show rich inflection to indicate tense, mood, person, gender, and number.
ECA, however, simplifies the system by reducing inflection and using prefixes to mark
tense/aspect.
Example:
English meaning MSA ECA IPA
He writes ( يكتبyaktubu) ( بيكتبbiyiktib) /jaktubu/ vs /bejktib/
In MSA, the present tense is expressed through internal vowel change and endings /-u/, while ECA uses
the prefix بيـ/be-/ to mark the present and omits case endings. This morphological shift reflects a loss of
inflectional endings in the colloquial form (Holes, 2004).
Comment: This change represents morphological simplification and a tendency toward analytic
structure, typical of spoken varieties (Ryding, 2005).
2.2. Loss of Case and Mood Marking.
MSA maintains nominal and verbal endings to mark case (nominative, accusative, genitive) and
mood (indicative, subjunctive, jussive). ECA has completely lost these endings.
Example:
English meaning MSA ECA IPA
The student writes the lesson. يكتُب الطالُب الطالب بيكتب /jaktubu ʔaṭ-ṭaalibu ʔad-darsa/
الدرَس الدرس /el-ṭaaleb bejktib ed-dars/
Comment: The spoken form omits final vowels and relies instead on fixed word order and particles to
express grammatical relations, a process known as morphological erosion (Ferguson, 1959).
2.3. Morphological Innovation and Borrowing.
In Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, speakers frequently create new verb forms by attaching Arabic
morphological patterns to foreign lexical roots, a process called morphological adaptation.
For example:
Word IPA English meaning Note
بيفرَم /be-farmat/ He formats From English format, adapted using the Form II pattern
ت and conjugated as a regular ECA verb.
1
بيَسِّي /be-sajjif/ He saves (a file) Borrowed from English save, with Arabic verbal
ف morphology and inflection.
Comment: These examples illustrate how ECA integrates borrowed roots into native Arabic
morphological templates, maintaining the diglossic contrast: MSA remains conservative, avoiding such
innovations, while ECA demonstrates creativity and flexibility in its word formation system (Badawi,
Carter, & Gully, 2004; Holes, 2004).
REFERENCES:
Ferguson, C. A. (1959). Diglossia. Word, 15(2), 325–340.
Holes, C. (2004). Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties. Georgetown University Press.
Ryding, K. C. (2005). A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. Cambridge University Press.
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