Everything about Triliteral totally explained
In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the
Semitic languages and some other
Afro-Asiatic languages, a
triliteral (
Arabic: جذر ثلاثي, ) 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:
| Semitological abbreviation |
Hebrew name |
Arabic name |
orphological category |
ebrew Form |
rabic form |
pproximate translation |
| G verb stem |
Qal |
fa‘ala
فَعَلَ
(Stem I) |
3rd. masc. sing perfect |
katabh כתב |
kataba كتب |
"he wrote" |
| 1st. plur. perfect |
katabhnu כתבנו |
katabnā كتبنا |
"we wrote" |
| 3rd. masc. sing. imperfect |
yikhtobh יכתוב |
yaktubu يكتب |
"he writes, will write" |
| 1st. plur. imperfect |
nikhtobh נכתוב |
naktubu نكتب |
"we write, will write" |
| masc. sing. active participle |
kotebh כותב |
kātib كاتب |
"writer" |
| Š verb stem |
Hiph‘il |
af‘ala
أَفْعَلَ
(Stem IV) |
3rd. masc. sing perfect |
hikhtibh הכתיב |
’aktaba أكتب |
"he dictated" |
| 3rd. masc. sing. imperfect |
yakhtibh יכתיב |
yuktibu يكتب |
"he dictates, will dictate" |
| Št(D) verb stem |
Hitpa‘‘el |
istaf‘ala
أسْتَفْعَلَ
(Stem X) |
3rd. masc. sing perfect |
hitkattebh התכתב |
istaktaba استكتب |
"he corresponded" (Hebrew), "he asked (someone) to write (something), had a copy made" (Arabic) |
| 3rd. masc. sing. imperfect |
yitkattebh יתכתב |
yastaktibu يستكتب |
(imperfect of above) |
| Noun with m- prefix and original short vowels: |
maf‘al
مَفْعَل |
singular |
mikhtabh מכתב |
maktab مكتب |
"letter" (Hebrew), "office" (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
(plural جذور, ) 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).
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