THE ROLE OF MASDAR PATTERNS IN EXPRESSING MEANING IN ARABIC

Abstract

This article analyzes the phenomenon of triliteral Arabic verbs possessing 
multiple masdar (verbal noun) forms. The study examines the principal factors that 
produce masdar variation namely, dialectal differences among Arab tribes and semantic 
specialization and demonstrates through Qurʼanic evidence how different masdars of 
the same verb can diverge in meaning and serve specialized contextual functions. The 
masdars ُكْفر, كفران, and كفور derived from the verb كفر, as well as صوم and صيام, are analyzed 
for their semantic properties and Qurʼanic distribution. The article further demonstrates 
that certain Arabic morphological patterns possess inherent semantic values a property 
illustrated through the fiʿalah pattern and that changing a masdar’s pattern can alter 
its meaning.