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Introduction
This joint research deals with semantic classification of verbs
in the following languages: English and Arabic, it highlights the
points of similarities and differences showing these facts within
the employment of examples. The first part of this paper is
dedicated to Tense and Aspect, it is the grammatical system in a
language in which tense covers the (location in time), aspect
(fabric of time a single block of time, continuous flow of time, or
repetitive occurrence), , the nature of tenses, and aspects in
languages, types and the use of tenses and aspects as well. The
simple present tense of English is similar to Arabic one in meaning
and functioning, but the Arabic system copies the tense of the verb
in the sentences, perfective form refers to the fact that the
action has some sort of impact upon the present or putting emphasis
on the action, futurity is time not tense because its system does
not make any change in the formation of verb.
The second part of the paper is about causative verbs take place
in all languages, however, within the body of this joint term paper
we are tackling them within two languages : English and Arabic
language.for sure there are certain differences due to the fact
that we are dealing with two distinct languages each of a different
language family. grammatically speaking, four main supporting verbs
are used in English to perform the function of causative verbs :
have, make, let, get.however there are many other verbs used as
causatives. If we deal with them from a semantic perspective we
would have certain concepts such as the embedded situation, the
Inchoative/ Causative verb pairs. In such concepts we are dealing
with two elements the causer and the caused situation. Concerning
Arabic language, causative verbs are resulted by the process of
gemination, and are derived from simple verbs and adjectives.
The third part of this paper modals and the researcher extended
her research about modals by explaining the types of English modals
and their semantic meaning. She also mentioned the two semantic
categories of English modals and these are "Epistemic" and
"Denotic". Finally she shed the light on the differences between
English and Arabic modals.
The fourth part of this paper is devoted to discussing the
transitivity verbs, from both syntactic and semantic point of view.
The paper is arranged to deal first with general syntactic
classification of transitivity and general difference concepts of
transitivity between Arabic and English.
First approach maintained in the paper is to define the forms
and patterns of transitivity in both Arabic and English and then,
the paper expands its perspective by discussing ergative or liable
verbs ( the verbs that can be both transitive or intransitive )
with more attention paid to the patterns and semantic denotations,
since this kind of verbs represent both aspects of the paper.
These semantics aspect are also shown in relation to semantic
type system. Finally another type of transitivity is introduces,
i.e. gradient transitivity, and it is shown how transitivity can be
measured through specific parameters to denote the scale of
transitivity.
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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation
Semantic Classification of English and Arabic
Tense and Aspect
A Term paper For the Academic Year
2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester
Submitted by Ibrahim Talaat Ibrahim
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Tense and Aspect
The verb system of a language expresses semantic distinctions
such as tense and aspect. Tense is of two parts (Present), (Past),
while futurity is not a tense but it is a time, because there is no
change in the form of the verb, when futurity is applied.
In this section we shed light on the meanings and uses of tenses
in English and Arabic languages.
Meaning of English tenses with their Arabic counterparts:
English has two types of simple tenses: simple present and
simple past, whereas futurity or future time is expressed by
various constructions. English language has two aspects: perfective
and progressive. Tenses and aspects combine together to form
complex tenses as follows:
Present perfective. Present perfective progressive. Past
perfective. Past perfective progressive. Present progressive. Past
progressive. Future progressive.
(SeeKhalil, 2010:197f198)
1.0 Tense
1.1.The simple present
Use:
Action in the present taking place once, never, several times.
Facts. Actions taking place one after another.
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Actions set by a time table or schedule.
-Signal words:
Always, every, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually.
Examples:
1. The earth goes around the sun. (E)/ Fact.
/Tadoor al-ard hawala ashamis/(Arabic Transliteration(AT)).
.
2. We visit Egypt every year. / Habitual action.
/Nazoor misr kula sanatii/
.
(http//www.ego4v.com/en/cram-up/grammar/tenses)
Similarities and differences between the English simple present
and the Arabic indicative:
The English simple present and the Arabic indicative or
imperfective are similar in function and meaning. They own
situational function and indicate simultaneously with the moment of
speaking. The use of former is similar to the latter except for the
fact that the Arabic use copies the timing of the main verb,
whereas English requires "sequencing of tenses" as in the following
example:
3. I saw him as he was eating.
/Raetahu wahowa yak'ul/.
.
1.2.The simple past
Use:
Actions in the past taking place once, never, several times.
Actions taking place one after another. Action taking place in the
middle of another action.
Signal words:
Yesterday, the other day, last Friday.
(Leech et al, 1989:374)
Examples:
4. They visited France last year. /.Action took place for one
time in the past.
http://www.ego4v.com/en/cram-up/grammar/tenses)
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/Zaaro faransa asana al-maadia/
.
5. He visited us every Sunday. /. Habitual past action.
/Kana yazoorana kula ahad/
.
6. He used to visit us every Sunday last month. / habitual past
action.
/Kana yazoorana kula ahad ashahir al-madi/
.
2.0.Arabic perfect tense
Whereas the Arabic perfect tense /AL-madi/ has the following
strict uses are rendered into English difficultly:
2.1. Optative use:
This occurs with wishes: the form of the verb is perfect, but it
refers to the present or future time as in the following
instance.
Example:
7. May God forgive you.
/Samahaka Allah/
.
(Khalil, 2010:203)
2.2. Performative use:
The Arabic perfect tense can refer to the present time, where
the reference is to act that concluded with the uttering of the
verb. It is used for describing transscations or deals.
(Britannca Encyclopaedia, 2011)
Examples:
8. I accept this.
/Kabilto hada/
.
9. I give you my daughter in marriage.
/Zawajtuka Ibnati/
.
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2.3. Reference to the future time, this is common in Glorious
Qur'an.
Example:
"The unbelievers will be led to hell in groups".
/waseeka aladeena kafaru ila jahinma zumara/ (AT)
" "
" "
2.4. Reference to an act that has just been completed
Example:
10. Ali has just arrived.
/hadara alun alaan/
.
(Khalil, 2010: 204 f 205)
1.3Future Time
English language has no future tense, since (will) is not a
marker of a verbal category. So, futurity in English can be
highlighted by a number of constructions:
Modal auxiliaries (will/shall+bare infinitive), Be going to+
infinitive, Present progressive, Simple present, Be to+ infinitive,
and Be about to+ infinitive.
1.3.1.Will/ shall +bare infinitive.
Example:
11.They will leave for Italy next month.
/saufa usafroon ila itaaliya ashara almukbil/
.
Note: the above-mentioned example expresses remote future
action. Whereas the following one indicate near future.
1.3.2. Be going to+ infinitive.
Example:
12. It is going to rain.
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/Sayanzil AL-matar/
.
1.3.3. Present progressive
Example:
13. The match is starting at 7:30 tomorrow.
/Satabida almubaratu asa'a asabia walnisf gadan/
.
(Khalil, 2010, 205 f 206)
1.3.4. The simple present: the simple present could refer to
futurity in the conditional sentences.
Example:
14. What will you say if I resign?
/Ma satakul Inn astakalit/
.
1.3.5. Be to + infinitive, it may be used to refer to planned
future action.
Example:
15. Salma is to be married soon. (E)
/ Satatazawj Salma kareeban/ (AT)
.
1.3.6. Be about to + infinitive,it expresses imminent action
i.e, and action that will be taken in the immediate future.
Example:
16. The plane is about to leave. (E)
/Tushak ataira Ann Takla'a/ (AT).
.
2.0Aspect
Aspect is defined as a category employed in grammatical
description of verbs, along with tense and mood, it refers
primarily to the way grammar marks the duration or type of temporal
activity denoted by the verb.
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(Crystal, 2003:36)
2.1.Present perfective
Use:
Putting emphasis on the result. Action that is still going on.
Action that stopped recently. Finished actions that have influence
on the present. Action that has taken place once, never, or several
times before the moment of speaking.
(http://www.easyenglishlearning.org/grammar/aspect)
Signal words:
Already, ever, just, not yet, so far, till now, up to now.
Examples:
2.1.1.Anterior time
17.I have known him for years.
/A'arfahu mindo sineen/
.
2.1.2.Recency
18. Have you heard the news? The president has resigned.
/Hal istama'ata ila alakbar? Lakad istakala ara'ees/
.
2.1.3. Resultant
19. My mother has recovered from illness. (E)/
/Lakad shufeyat walidati mn maridiha/ (AT)
.
Note: the present perfective is in touch with any of three
above-mentioned implications: anterior, recency, and resultant.
(Quirk et al, 1985:193)
http://www.easyenglishlearning.org/grammar/aspect
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2.1.4.Activity that is still underway, the present perfective
could highlight a period of time that started in the past but not
yet over.
Example:
20. My family has lived here since 19th century.
/Taeesh a'alatii huna mindo alkarn attasia ashar/
.
2.1.5. A very recently completed action.
Example:
21. They have just left.
/Lakad gaadru lltaw/
.
2.1.6.Activity at unspecified time before now.
Example:
22. Have you ever been to London
/hal zurta landan yauman ma/
.
2.2.Past perfective
Use:
Action taking place before a certain time in the past. Sometimes
interchangeable with past perfective progressive. Putting emphasis
on the past (not duration). Referring to a sequence of past
actions. Referring to unreal conditional event.
Signal words:
Already, just, never, not yet, one until that day.
(http://www.ego.ego4v.com/en/cram-up/grammar/Aspect/)
Examples:
23. Before she left Jerusalem, Fatin had sold her house.
/Kabla safriha ila ALQuds kanat Fatin qad ba'at baytaha/
.
http://www.ego.ego4v.com/en
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24. I had already written a letter when you arrived.
/ Kuntu qad katabtu arisaala endama wasalati/
.
25.If he had invited me to the party, I would have gone.
/law Inahu kana da'anii ila alhafila ladahit/
.
2.3.Future perfective
It expresses a future action or event that will be completed
prior to another time or event.
(Encarta Encyclopedia, 2009)
Example:
26. By the time they reach Jerusalem, they will have traveled
for over 14 hours.
/ Innda wasoolihim ila ALQuds yakon qad mada ala safarihim
akthar mn araba ashrata sa'a/ (AT)
2.4.Present progressive
This aspect indicates an action in progress at a given time. It
denotes "temporariness". In this function, it contrasts with the
simple present which indicates "permanency".
(Quirk et al, 1985: 197)
Examples:
27. Ali sings well. (Permanent attribute)
/Ugani Aliun jaedan/
.
28. Ali is singing well. (Temporary attribute)
/Ugani Aliun jaedan/
.
29. She is living in U.S. now/ temporary activity.
/Taskun fii America ala'an/
.
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30. The weather is getting better/ gradual change.
/Bada'a ajw yatahasan/
.
Note: Unlike English, Arabic language does not mark the verb for
progressive aspect. It uses either the simple present or present
active participle form of the verb.
(Khalil, 2010: 213 f 14 f 15)
2.5.Past progressive
Use:
Action going on at a certain time in the past. Action taking
place at the same time. Action in the past that is interrupted by
another action.
Signal words:
When, while, as long as.
(Quirk et al, 1985: 198)
Examples:
31. He was watching T.V. at 9AM this morning.
/Kana ushahid attilfaaz asa'a ataasia sabaha hada alyaum/
.
32. He was coughing all night long.
/Kana yasa'al tawala allayel/
.
(Khalil, 2010: 216)
1.9 Future progressive:
It is employed to concentrate on activities that are in progress
at a specific time in the future.
(Encarta Encyclopedia, 2009)
Example:
33. This time tomorrow I'll be watching the match.
/Fii mithl hada alwakit gadan sa'akon ushahid almubarati/
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(Khalil, 2010: 216)
2.6.Present perfective progressive
Use:
Putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result).
Action that recently stopped or is still in progress. Finished
action that influenced the present.
Signal words:
All day, for four years, since 1993, how long? , the whole
week.
(Quirk et al, 1985: 210 f 211)
Examples:
34. We have been living here for six months.
/Naskun huna mindu sitatit ashur/
.
35. I have been cleaning the house for several days.
/Unadifa albayet mindu idat ayam/
.
2.7Past perfective progressive
Use:
Action taking place before a certain time in the past. Sometimes
interchangeable with past perfect. Putting emphasis on the duration
or course of the action.
Signal words:
For, since, the whole day, all day.
Example:
36. He had been working carefully.
/Kana qad amala bihadir/
.
(Ibid, 1985: 213)
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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation
Semantic Classification of English and Arabic Causative
Verbs
A Term paper For the Academic Year
2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester
Submitted by Sarah Sabah Toma
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1.0 Grammatical Perspective of Causative Verbs in English
1.1 Definition
"Causative verbs show that somebody is indirectly responsible
for an action. The subject doesn't perform the action itself, but
causes someone/something else to do it instead."
(Howe and Burton,2008:148)
1.1.1 Have
Have can be used as a causative to give someone the
responsibility to do something.
It occurs in the forms:
Subject + have + someone + verb word
My English teacher had us give oral report
Subject + have + something + participle
I want to have this book renewed, please
Examples:
temperature.the patient's had his nurse take Dr. Smith
me the information.have your secretary fax Please
the brakes. ad the mechanic checkI h
(P.149)
1.1.2 Get
Get can be used as a causative to convince someone to do
something or to trick someone to do something.
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It occurs in the forms:
Subject + get + someone + infinitive
Lets get David to go with us
Subject + get + something + participle
Lets get our car fixed first
Examples:
the medicine even though it tasted terrible.got her son to take
Susie
more?get their children to read How can parents
smoking. get people to stopThe government TV commercials are
trying to
(P.149)
1.1.3 Make
Make can be used as a causative to force some one to do
something.
It occurs in the forms:
Subject + make + someone + verb word
His mother made him take his medicine
Subject + make + something + verb word
I made the machine work
Examples:
for what I had said.made me apologize My teacher
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that ugly hat?make you wear Did somebody
their homework.made her children do she
(P.149)
1.1.4 Let
Let can be used as a causative to allow someone to do
something.
It occurs in the forms:
Subject + let + someone + verb word
His mother let him go to school
Subject + let + something + verb word
I am letting this machine cool
Examples:
his new car.let me drive John
to the party?let you go Will your parents
the day off.let me take I don't know if my boss will
(P.149)
1.2 Further Examples of Causative Verbs
"I've forced them into confessing that they're sad, grey, lost,
forgotten, dead and damned forever." (Dylan Thomas, letter to Bert
Trick, July 1935)
"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth." (Pablo
Picasso)
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"I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to
the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised
Land." (Dr. Martin Luther King)
"That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold." (William
Shakespeare, Macbeth)
www.grammar.about.com
Retrived on 1st of Feb 2012
1.3 Active & Passive Structure
1.3.1 The active causative structure
This is the basic structure of the active form, along with some
more examples:
Subject Causative verb Agent Action verb Object
Susan had her brother do her homework.
The police had the suspect stop his car.
We had the carpenter fix our window.
1.3.2 The passive causative structure
In the passive form, there is usually no agent. The action verb
is in the past participle, and the object comes before it:
Subject Causative verb Object Action verb
We had our door fixed.
John had her hair cut.
Stephen had the windows cleaned.
www.grammar.about.com
Retrived on 1st of Feb 2012
1.4. Semantic perspective of Causative Verbs
1.5 The Embedded Situation
http://www.grammar.about.comhttp://www.grammar.about.com
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Semantically, causative verbs have a minimum of two arguments:
one denoting the causer and one denoting the caused state or event.
The latter is often called the embedded situation.
The meaning expressed by a causative sentence is a situation
caused by whatever the subject noun phrase refers to and the caused
situation is described by the embedded clause.
Examples of causative sentences:
* The children got the kite to fly.
(the children) is the causer, (got) is the causative verb, (kite
to fly) is the embedded situation.
The same holds true concerning:
* I had the students read this article.
* Bad weather forces us to cancel the picnic.
(Griffiths,2006:61F)
1.6 The Formal Types of Inchoative/Causative Verb Pairs
An inchoative/causative verb pairs is defined semantically as a
pair of verbs which express the same basic situation and differ
only in that the causative verb meaning includes an agent
participant who causes the situation, whereas the inchoative verb
meaning excludes a causing agent and presents the situation as
occurring spontaneously. a typical example is:
* The stick broke. (inchoative)
* The girl broke the stick. (Causative)
Inchoative verbs are generally intransitive and causative verbs
are transitive, but inchoative/causative opposition is more
restricted than the intransitive/transitive opposition.
The inchoative member of an inchoative/causative verb is
semantically similar to the passive of the causative (The stick was
broken), but it crucially differs from it in that the agent is not
just unexpressed; but the situation occurs without an agent
spontaneously. this does not mean that there cannot be an agent
in the objective situation.
For example:
* The snowwoman melted. ( inchoative)
* The sun melted the snowwoman. (causative)
(Comrie and Polinsky,1993:90)
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- A verb like kill is said to be causative in that it conflates
two event descriptions:
1- An event in which something dies
2- An event in which something caused event
In other words, Kill can be paraphrased as (cause something to
die) and it requires one more argument than the verb die, because
it requires something to take the semantic role of (causer).
lexical causative verbs like kill or rise (cause to rise)
incorporate the causative meaning without special morphological
marking.
In some languages, productive causative morphemes can be used to
turn non-causative verbs into causatives.
English and other languages also make use of causative
constructions with support verbs like make, as in (the film made
him cry). The (causer) semantic role is usually represented as the
highest role in role hierarchies.
(Murphy and koskela,2010:28)
2.0 Causative Verbs in Arabic
Many Arabic dialects have developed a new verbal category of
intensive forms, featuring medial gemination. These intensive verbs
are morphologically similar to, but syntactically different from,
causative verbs.
Verbs whose semantic features involve intensity or frequency
assume the shape of the second measure which is similar to
causative verbs, as in converting measure 1 (intransitive) into
measure 2 (transitive) like:
(dress someone). labbas(put on) to libis(silence someone) and
sakkat(become silent) to sakat
(Mughazy,2007:38)
Many causatives are derived from simple verbs. if the simple
verb means "X happens" then its causative means "Y makes, lets or
has X happen". For example:
(to take down, bring down) nazzal(to descend, go down) =
nazel*
(to put to sleep) nayyam(to go to sleep) = Nam*
(to take someone somewhere) wassal(to arrive) = wasel*
Other causatives are derived from Adjectives as in:
(to strengthen) awwa(strong) = awi*
(to lighten) xaffaf(light) = xafif*
(to correct) sahhah(correct) = sahih*
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(to whiten) bayyad(white) = abyad*
Thus, it is quite obvious that some causatives in Arabic are
identified by doubling the medial consonant, others by adding a
prefix as in :
(to reveal) azhar(to appear) = zaher*
(to make .... rich) agna(rich) = gani*
(Cowell,2005:240,242)
In discussing the patterns of causative verbs, Sibawayhi
says:
) and we heard some of maluhaas the causative of -(I salted it
mallahtuhu(salty) and maluha"And you say: as the -ed him (I
frighten afza'tuhu) just as you say mallahtuhu(instead of
amlahtuhuthe Arabs say
(he feared)". fazi'acausative form of
(Levin,1998:211)
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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation
Semantic Classification of English and Arabic
Modal Verbs
A Term paper For the Academic Year
2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester
Submitted by Saroo Al-Taleb
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1.0 Definition of Modals
Modal verbs are a type of auxiliary verb that expresses modality
in the English language. Modality is the grammaticalized expression
of the subjective attitude of the speaker, which includes opinions
about possibility, probability, necessity, obligation,
permissibility, ability, desire, and contingency.
1.1 Types of Modals
There are nine modal verbs in English:
can could may might must shall should will would
The following sections provide the most common semantic and
pragmatic meanings and uses of the nine modal auxiliary verbs in
English.
1.1.1 Meanings of Can
The modal verb"can" primarily express ability, permission,
possibility, contingency, and requests. For example:
Some midwives can perform home births. (ability) This patron can
borrow that reference book. (permission) Your son can start
kindergarten in the fall. (possibility) You can borrow my car if
you fill up the tank with gas. (contingency) Can you buy some more
toilet paper? (request)
1.1.2 Meanings of Could
The modal verb" could" primarily express ability, permission,
suggestions, possibility, probability, and requests. For
example:
He could never ride a bike. (ability) You could have borrowed
our ladder. (permission) You could check for the book at the
library. (suggestion) My contact could have fallen down the drain.
(possibility) The car could catch fire at any moment.
(probability)
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Could you pick up a DVD on your way home? (request)
1.1.3 Meanings of May
The modal verb" may" primarily express possibility, probability,
permission, and requests. For example:
She may take a calculus class in the spring. (possibility) It
may rain tonight. (probability) Your sister may borrow my dress.
(permission) May we go to the zoo this weekend? (request)
1.1.4 Meanings of Might
The modal verb" might "primarily express possibility,
suggestions, commands, and requests. For example
The baby might fall asleep early. (possibility) You might want
to try a different pair of pants. (suggestions) You might keep that
opinion to yourself next time. (command) Might we go hiking next
weekend? (request)
1.1.5 Meanings of Must
The modal verb" must "primarily express obligation, necessity,
commands, and deductions. For example:
She must finish her vegetables first. (obligation) You must take
the class Introduction to Graduate Studies. (necessity) Students
must stay out of the Dark Forest. (command) That must be Espen on
the phone. (deduction)
1.1.6 Meanings of Shall
The modal verb "shall" primarily expresses futurity,
suggestions, offers, and commands. For example:
We shall take the train to the city. (futurity) Shall you paint
your living room blue? (suggestions) Shall I finish the laundry for
you? (offer) Employees shall not drink during working hours.
(command)
1.1.7 Meanings of Should
The modal verb "should" primarily express suggestions,
necessity, obligation, and deductions. For example:
You should leave the cuffs on that blouse. (suggestion)
Employees should stay home when ill. (necessity) You should love
your children. (obligation) We should need only a few more hours.
(deduction)
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1.1.8 Meanings of Will
The modal verb" will" primarily expresses futurity, commands,
suggestions, offers, and requests. For example:
A nurse will call you this afternoon. (futurity) You will wash
the dishes right now. (command) You will want to see the bay if you
visit Mobile. (suggestion) My husband will help you put up your
Christmas lights. (offer) Will you please pass the salt?
(request)
1.1.9 Meanings of Would
The modal verb "would" primarily expresses contingency,
futurity, habituality, desires, preferences, suggestions, offers,
commands, and requests. For example:
I would help if you asked. (contingency) She said she would come
tonight. (futurity) My brother would read that book every night
before bed. (habituality) I would like some milk please. (desire)
Would you prefer coffee or tea? (preference) You would want to
avoid the main highway this time of day. (suggestion) She would
take your Sunday shift. (offer) Would you shut up! (command) Would
you lend me a baking dish? (request)
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that express modality in
English. The nine English modalscan, could, may, might, must,
shall, should, will, and wouldeach have multiple meanings depending
on use and context.
(Palmer, 1990: 27)
2.0 Modals meanings from the Semantics perspective:
When we deal with modals from the semantics perspective we
encounter two main categories of modality namely: epistemic and
denotic
2.1 Epistemic modality: it refers to as relating to utterances
which involve judgments having to do with possibility or
likelihood. It is also referring to the knowledge of the speaker
and it can be expressed as (e.g. "to the best of my knowledge suha
went to the airport")
2.2 Negation of epistemic modality
The negation of epistemic modality creates semantic
implications, and the Arabic translation to such kind of modality
ought to be more careful in order to capture the intended semantic
meaning. For example "It may rain tomorrow"
"rubbamaa laa tumtiru gadan"
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2.3 Denotic modality: it shows how to use language to express
desires, wants, commands, obligation, undertaking and permissions.
It tends to share a great deal with per formatives. 'By uttering a
modal' says Palmer, "a speaker may actually give permission (May,
Can) and make a promise or threat (shall) or lay an obligation
(Must)". And since it is not possible to desire, give permission,
promise, threaten, or lay obligation in the past; denotic modality,
like per formatives , is compatible only with non past events.
Palmer, 1990:58
3.0 Modals in standard Arabic
In English, modal verbs include "can," "may," "might," "must,"
"should," and "would" verbs that are not conjugated or negated in
the same way as regular verbs. Standard Arabic doesn't have exact
equivalents of these verbs, but it has words that are used in much
the same way including phrases beginning with . Here's a list (all
of these are followed by imperfect-mood verbs, although if you
remove the , you can follow them with a ):
yajib an) must, should) 3ala + object + an) must) min al-laazim
an) have to, it is necessary to) min al-waajib an) it is necessary
to) min aD-Daruuri an) it is necessary to) yanbai an) should) min
al-mafruuD an) should) min al-muftaraD an) should, ought to) yumkin
an) might, may) min al-mumkin an) it is possible to) min
al-mustaHiil an) it is impossible to) min al-mutawaqqa3 an) it is
expected that) min al-muntaZar an) it is expected that) min as-sahl
an) it is easy to) min al-yasiir an) it is easy to) min aS-Sa3b an)
it is hard to) min al-jadiir bid-dikr anna) it's worth mentioning
that) min at-taabit anna) it's well-established that) min
al-ma3ruuf anna) it's (well-)known that) min al-waaDiH anna) it's
clear that) min al-mafhuum anna) it's understood that) min
al-murajja3 an) it's most likely that) min al-muHtamal an) it's
probable that) min al-muqarrar an) it's been decided that) min
al-muttafaq 3aleihi an) it's been agreed that) min al-mu3taad an)
it's customary to)
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min al-mustaHsan an) it's preferable that) min al-aHsan an) it's
better that) min al-ajdar an) it's more suitable/proper to) min
aT-Tabii3ii an) it's natural that) min al-mamnuu3 an) it's
forbidden to) min al-masmuuH an) it's permitted to)
To shift to the past, add (kaan) before the phrase. To shift to
the future, add (sayakuun) beforehand. For negation, add (laysa)
before it.
Examples: -hal yajib munaaqaat qaDaaya mitl al-kaarita l)
insaaniyya fii burma fii majlis al-amn?) Should issues like the
humanitarian disaster in Burma be discussed in the Security
Council?
" " (fiilm iiraani 3an itiyaal as-saadaat min al-mutawaqqa3 an
yatiir aDab al-miSriyyiin) An Iranian movie about Sadat's
assassination is expected to anger Egyptians (lit. excite
Egyptians' anger). -haadihi l-mukila min al) mumkin an tataHawwil
ila Zaahira ida lam tuwDi3 liha Huluul munaasiba wa-jidriyya) This
problem may turn into a phenomenon if appropriate and radical
solutions for it are not found. ,min aT-Tabii3i an yafraH
al-muwaaTin) ayya muwaaTin, laday ru'yatu jeian ariiban yansaHib
min arDu) It's natural for a citizen, any citizen, to rejoice at
the sight of a foreign army withdrawing from his land.
ida lam nastaTi3 tajaawuz al-inqisaamaat daaxil al-mujtama3
al-filasTiini fa-sayakuun min aS-Sa3b) jiddan taHqiiq taqaddum fi
mawDuu3eiyy azza wa-3amaliyyat as-salaam fil-waqt nafsu) If we
can't overcome the divisions within Palestinian society, then it
will be very difficult to achieve progress in the issues of Gaza
and the peace process at the same time. (An article retrieved from
the websitehttp://www.arabic.desert-sky.net)
3.1 Comparison between English &Arabic Modals
In order to distinguish English from Arabic modals we should
take into consideration the following:
1-In contrast to Arabic, English modals constitute a close
system. However, Arabic modals meaning are expressed by particles,
prepositional phrases, uninfluenced verbs and regular verbs.
2-Arabic lacks the fine distinction in meaning conveyed by the
English modals must, have to, should/ought to. For example, must
indicate compulsion by the speaker. Have to; external factors, and
Should, advisability. Arabic has a number of synonymous verbs that
convey compulsion but, lacks the distinction conveyed by the
English modals. The compulsion Arabic verbs are "yajib",
"yanbagii", and "yalzam". Besides these verbs, Arabic has "laa
budda" and "allayka"
http://www.arabic.desert-sky.net)
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3-Some English modals have past forms, e.g. can/could,
may/might, will/would. The past forms may be used to refer to the
present or future time but, with probability gradience for example,
the use of "might" rather than "may" shows possibility
I may/might leave tomorrow /
Rubbamma/qad usafiru gadan""
This probability gradience cannot be captured in Arabic which
render "may" and "might" by the particles "rubbamma" or "qad"
4-English must and Arabic "alaa" are negated differently
Must + verb
+ alayka un" +verb" ) (
You must go
alayka un thaba"
(See Khalil: 240)
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Al Mustansiriyah University
College of Arts
Department Of Translation
An Approach to Semantic Implications of Transitivity in Arabic
and English
A Term paper For the Academic Year
2011 - 2012 - 1st Semester
Submitted by: Alaa JasimUbaid
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1.0 Syntactic classification of transitivity
Syntactically, verbs are classified according to the number of
arguments. Accordingly, we have intransitive verbs (which select
one argument), transitive (which select two arguments),
ditransitive (which select three arguments) and complex transitive
(which select two arguments and a subject or object complement).For
example,
English
( 1) a-Bill slept.
b-Bill wrote a book.
c-Bill gave her a book.
d- She made him crazy.
Arabic
( 2)- a- naama alwalad-u. The boy slept.
b-kataba alwalad-u qisat-an The boy wrote a story.
c- a9taaalwalad-u albint-a kitaab-an. .The boy gave the girl a
book
( Al-Khawalda, 1990 : 3 )
Verbs may be intransitive or transitive. An intransitive verb is
one that does not take an object to complete its meaning such as
walk, sleep, run, sit, stand. A transitive verb is one that may
take a direct object, indirect object, object of preposition or
complement to complete its meaning. Some transitive verbs may also
be transitive without an expressed object though they may be really
transitive in meaning, e.g. she is cooking, I am writing, he reads,
they are eating.
1.1. Transitivity in English
We cannot tell whether a verb is transitive or intransitive by
looking at it in isolation. The verb form does not indicate whether
it is transitive or intransitive, because English verbs are not
inflected for transitivity. No suffixes are used to transform an
intransitive verb into a transitive one or vice versa.
1.2. Transitivity in Arabic
In Arabic, one can tell whether a verb is transitive or
intransitive bylooking at it in isolation. The verb form does
indicate whether it is transitiveor intransitive, because Arabic
transitive verbs are characterized by certainverb patterns. The
verb patterns can be represented in the following table :
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generally intransitive verbs generally transitive verbs
fa9ula
fa9ila
tata99ala
tafa9ala
?ifta9ala
?if9alla
?infa9ala
?in9allala
tafa9lal
Sharafa
zaraqa
tafaraqa
taqatala
?jtama9a
?hmara
?nqasama
?dhmahala
takahraba
fa99ala?
f9ala
fa9ala?
istaf9ala
kasara
?jlasa
haraba
?stashara
(AlJarf, 2003 : 15 ) An intransitive verb can be transformed
into transitive in seven ways which can be classified into two
divisions
1- By addition which can be represented in four methods
a- By adding the prefix ( ?a ) ------ > ?f9al ( )
b- By adding the infix ( / a: / alf ) ------ > fa9ala ( )
which denotes association
c- Doubling the middle consonant ( fa99ala ) ( )
d- Adding the prefix ( ?st ) which denote demand ------ >
?staf9ala ( )
e.g ) (3) ? st9antu bilaah
2- Intransitivity other than addition and this could be seen in
two types
a- Embedment or entailment when a verb entails the meaning of
another verb, and represented in three ways :
a1- Intransitivity with preposition that entails the meaning of
another verb e.g.
(4) meaning ( join to )
a2- taking over the meaning of the intransitive .e.g. means to
prevent
a3- by short vowel marks of the middle letter e.g. kasia ---- .
kassa
b- Denoting comparasion ( af9alu ) kramutu zaida?
c- Dropping the preposition to denote elaboration. e.g. 5-
A transitive verb can be transformed to an intransitive verb by
adding the prefix ?in as in --> ; by adding the prefix ta
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So, the verb which selects one argument ( as a subject ) is
called intransitive verb. There are two distinct kinds of
intransitive verbs. The first is called unergative verbs, which
take a true subject, e.g. The boy died. The second is called
ergative ( and / or accusative ) verbs, which does not take a true
subject ( the subject is base generated in object position ), e.g.
The door opened.
2.0. Ergative (liable) verbs
An ergative verb is a verb that can be either transitive or
intransitive, and whose subject when intransitive corresponds to
its direct object when transitive.
( 6) The book was written
This means that each argument appears in the deep structure in a
position in which it receives a thematic role ( agent or patient
for example ).
Arabic and English Ergative verbs share the same syntactic and
semantic behavior For example: they can select two arguments, as
stated above, and they could have a passive structure, as in the
following examples:
(7) a- Bill sells books
b- The books sell easily.
c- The books are sold easily.
(8) a- alwald-u yaghlii alma?-a the boy boils the water.
b- almaa?-u yaghlii water boils.
c- almaa?-u yughlaa The water is boiled.
So, the verb yaghlii (boil-present) selects two
arguments;alwalad-u which is the external argument, it has a
nominative case markand an agentive theta-role, alma?-a (the
water), on the other hand, is theinternal argument that has an
accusative case mark and a patient theta-role.The internal argument
of this sentence ( alma?-a ) The same thing goes for the English
verb ( sell ) ( Al-Khawalda, 1990 : 5f ).
Intransitive verbs in Arabic are similar to the English
intransitive verbs,
as in these examples:
(9) a- naama alwalad-u The boy slept.
b- wasala alwalad-u The boy arrived.
c-safaraalwalad-u The boy traveled.
Thus, the main important difference is that another argument can
be added in the case of ergative verbs, while we cannot do that in
the case of intransitive verbs:
(10) a- almaa?-u yaghlii Water boils.
b- alwald-u yaghlii alma?-a The boy boils (is boiling)the
water.
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1 Arabic Versus English Ergative Verbs
(11) a- almaa?-u yaziidu fii albirkatii Water is increasing in
the pond.
b- almatar-u yaziidu almaa?-a fiialbirkatii.
From a semantic point of view, intransitive predication
constitute the simplest form of verbal ( predication, which can be
said to be a one-place predicate in terms of predicate logic.
From the view of type theory, an intransitive verb is analyzed
as being type ( e,t ), a function from entities ( e ) to truth
values ( t ). For example the sentence John slept sets John to true
if John is a member of the set of sleepers.
There are yet other sources of variation in markedness within
the class of intransitive construction. For example, one of
semantic factors cross-linguistically influencing the
morphosyntactic complexity of intransitive constructions is the
notion of volitionality or control. That is the control the subject
may have over the prformed action or done in a more or less
volitional manner.
(12) He walks
(13) Ha managed to walk ( Al-Khawalda, 1990 : 10fffff )
2.1. Some types of ergative ( liable ) verbs
1. PHASE VERBS. The meanings of the phase of the situation are
typically expressed by labile verbs - for instance in Arabic many
phase verbs are semantically labile (they can denote either a
situation P or its causation): tawaqqafa be stopped/stop,istamarra
continue (intransitive)/continue (transitive), badaa be begun/begin
(transitive), ibtadaa be begun/begin (transitive). But only the
inchoative verbs badaa and ib- tadaa can be used as syntactically
bivalent transitive verbs:1
(14a) ibtadaa al-a:m-u al-dira:siyy-u The academic year began
(monovalent);
(14b) na-btadiu dira:sat-a al-luat-i al-arabiyyat-i
We are beginning studying the Arabic language (bivalent
transitive);
Although we might consider that in such cases the valency
increase is marked with a preposition like min from or bi, fi: in,
this is not proved by the Arabic data: the prepositions min, fi:
cannot typically mark causativity or valency derivations in other
cases.
2. VERBS WITH A PROTOTYPICALLY PATIENTIVE ARGUMENT. It is
well-known that prototypical causative markers can apply to
monovalent verbs that have a patientive argument, but often fail to
apply to transitive verbs or agentive intransitive verbs like
go
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In languages where most verbs are labile, lability arguably can
play the role of a causative marker. Therefore, prototypically
patientive monovalent verbs, which typically combine with causative
markers, are labile and can be used in transitive or intransitive
constructions. For exam- ple, in English verbs with patientive
arguments often are labile (like break), while many verbs of other
types are not.
3. Verbs with semantically close meanings. In languages where
the class of labile verbs is not very large, lability can appear
when two meanings a situation with one argument and with two
arguments have some common semantic component.
For instance, transitive verbs in pairs like go/lead, run/drive,
make run involve socia- tive causation : the subject does P and by
this makes the object do P, e.g. lead X = go with X and make X go.
The transitive and intransitive meanings thus have the common
component the subject goes.
Another type of verb which becomes labile in many languages are
verbs derived from nouns. In this case the transitive and
intransitive uses also have a common semantic component, namely,
the original noun as semantic argument.
4. LABILITY OF DERIVED VERBS. The Arabic data show that derived
verbs, formed by the markers of valency derivations, easily become
labile. For example, lability is very typical for verbs of the
third pattern with the meaning of reciprocity or symmetrical
action: qa:rabacome nearer/draw nearer, ma:tala compare/be alike,
sa:wa: level/become equal and so on.
This tendency can be explained by the fact that the main
semantic component which is added to the meaning of verbs by this
derivation is that of symmetrical action; causativity is less
important and less intrinsic, so it can vary from one use to
another, leading to lability of such verbs.
2.2. Types of semantic correlation between the two meanings of
ergative verbs
There are other types as well. The types of lability are:
2.2.1. Causative lability.
The same verb means both P and cause P. One must be clear,
however, about which type of causation is meant. For example, in
Classical Greek P and associative causation of P often are
designated by the same labile verb, while in Arabic symmetrical
action and its causation tend to be expressed by the same verb.
2.2.2. Reflexive lability.
The reflex- ive type (the same verb expresses the meanings X P
Y, where X is the subject and Y is the ob- ject, and X P X, where X
is both subject and object) is found in English (The mother washes
the baby/John washes washes his face)
2.2.3. Reciprocal lability.
The same verb means X P Y and X and Y P each other. This type of
lability is not wide- spread in the languages of the world. We can
see it in English (meet: I met her/We meet in the street meet each
other) and Arabic (tala:qa X meets with Y/X and Y meet):
Arabic:
(15a) ta-tala:qa : al-juhu:d-u al-Huku:miyyat-u wa
The efforts of the Government and the people are converging
(lit. meet).
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(15b) ya-tala:qa:-hu fi: yawm-i al-sabt-i He will meet her (with
her) in Saturday.
This type of lability usually occurs when the action expressed
by the verb is semantically reciprocal in both meanings: if X meets
Y, then also Y meets X.
2.2.4. Passive (conversive) lability.
Passive lability is the case when the same verb can designate
the same situation P using different participants as subjects: cf.
Bulgarian xaresam A likes B/B attracts A and Arabic
tahaddadathreaten/be under a threat:
(16a) al-dawlat-u al-arabiyy-at-u ta-tahaddadu-hu
The Arabic state threatens him.
(16b) al-tama:suk-u al-waTan-iyy-u ya-tahaddadu
The solidarity of our motherland is under the threat of
isolationism.
Verbs like these are close to prototypical conversive verbs,
like buy/sell. The difference is that the arguments of verbs like
tahaddada are not so similar as the two agents of verbs like buy:
the ar- gument which is under threat is less agentive than the
other, which threatens. In addition, we can use the criterion of
transitivity: the verbs tahaddada and xaresam are transitive in the
agentive meaning and intransitive in the patientive one, so we may
consider these verbs labile. This type of lability is found only
rarely and does not occur when one of the participants is a
prototypical agent and the other is a prototypical patient (there
are no verbs which can mean either A kills B or B is killed by A),
so we can suppose that it lies between prototypical passive and
prototypical conversive. (Letuchij , 1993 : 3fff )
3. Cognate object
There is also the case of cognate object construction, where the
head noun of the object is the event or state of nominalization of
the verb.
yafhamu l-darsa fahm-an ( s?uqaatulu qitaalanI will fight a
fight ( 18 ( 17 )jaidan He understood it well
where the first sentence is transitive in its formal
construction, but it is intransitive on the semantic level. The
second sentence is morphosyntactically realized as with two direct
objects, yet it semantically has two-place relation. Thus, it could
be said that there is no relation between semantic and formal
transitivity. (Battat , 2004 : 56)
From these general observations, we see that form and meaning
cannot be considered apart From the point of view of the principle
of compositionality, the meaning of a sentence should not only be
derived from the meaning of its components, but it should also
include the implicit, partial semantics associated with the
syntactic construction ( Wikipedia ).
4.0. Semantic and type theory
As opposed to intransitive verbs, which have a valence of one (
one argument ), the transitive verbs have a valence of more than
one. Semantically, transitivity is often characterized as an
activity which is transferred
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from an agent to a patient. That is the relation of two ( pr
more ) place from the point of view of predicate logic. Transitive
verbs from the prospect of type theory, denote a function from
entities to a function from entities to truth values ( < e, <
e , t >> ) . (Hoseini , 2011 : 4ff )
Yet , it is not a one-to-one relation , i.e. the existence of (
direct ) object may or may not indicate whether the verb is
transitive or intransitive.
( 19 ) The beast killed a sheep.
( 20 ) Last night, the beast killed again .
While we can see a one-to-one relation between form and meaning
in the first sentence, the second sentence, formally intransitive
due to the absence of a direct object, despite the face that on the
semantic level, the construction has to be considered transitive (
in order to perform the act of killing, there has to be a
participant involved that was a live before the action ). This is
sometimes, referred to as indefinite object deletion .
5.0. Gradient Transitivity
Since. As mentioned earlier, that there is no relation (
on-to-one relation ) between formal and semantic transitivity,
creation parameters should be set to represent whether the sentence
can be qualified as more or less transitive.
Hopper and Thompson argue that transitivity should be viewed as
a gradient or scalar phenomenon. They stated several parameters
within a table ( shown below ) where the more features has in the
high column, the more transitive it should be regarded.
Parameter High Low
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
Participants
Kinesis action non
Aspect telic
Punctuality
Volitionality
Affirmation
Mode
Agency
Affectedness of O
Individuation of O
2 or more, A and O
action
atelic
punctual
volitional
affirmative
realis
A high in potency
O totally affected
O highly individuated
1
non-action
non- atelic
non-punctual
non-volitional
negative
irrealis
A low in potency
O not affected
O non-individuated
Thus, transitivity involves much more than only the presence of
an object to the verb.
Yet, in respect of these parameters with two participants may
rate lower on the transitivity scale than a clause with a single
participant.
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( 21 ) - Susan left.
( 22 ) John likes books
The first sentence is seen to be highly rated or marked for
transitivity having four parameters represented :
Kinesis : action
Aspect : telic
Punctuality : punctual
Volitionality : volitional
While the second sentence only represent the parameter of
Participant : two
This shows that intransitive clauses can rate higher for
transitivity than transitive ones. So another condition was set
that the rating should be carried only within the class of
two-participant clauses, so as to distinguish degrees of
transitivity . (Greene , 2007 : 25ff )
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Conclusion
Arabic imperfective aspect has two counterparts in English:
simple present, and present progressive like /yaktub- / he writes
or he is writing.
The Arabic /Kana- /+ imperfect form has three equivalents:
Example:
/Kana yakyub/ =he wrote, he was writing and he used to
write.
The English perfective is often rendered into Arabic by the
employment of this formula: /qad+the perfect/
Example:
I have bought a car.
/laqad Ishtraytu sayaratan/
.
The English perfective progressive is transferred into Arabic in
of the following methods:
A. Imperfect indicative B. /Mazala() + imperfect indicative/ C.
Active participle. D. /Mazala()+ active participle.
The English present progressive can be rewndered into Arabic by
the use of the indicative of any verb or active participle of
activity verbs:
Examples:
Indicative: /Yakyub-/= "He is writing"
Active participle: /hwa na'am- /= "He is sleeping"
Unlike Arabic, English has a sequence of tense rule that
stipulates tense harmony in sentences with more than a clause.
Indirect speech.
The optative use of the English subjunctive is changed into
Arabic by the perfect tense.e.g. /Samahaka Allah- /=" May Allah
forgive you", whereas the performative verbs always occur in the
simple present construction, but in Arabic language, it may occur
in the imperfect or in the perfect tense.There are certain
important notions to be taken into consideration, first of all
causative verbs occur in English in a passive and active structure,
not to mention that English language makes use of supporting verbs
such as have, get, make and let as causative verbs. In addition
semantics deals with causative verbs in terms of aspects like the
embedded situation which refers to the caused situation and the
Inchoative/Causative verb pairs which refer to two situations one
includes an agent while the other excludes it as if occurring
spontaneously.In Arabic causative verbs are developed by means of
medial gemination or adding a prefix, usually they are derived from
verbs or adjectives.
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As for modality, there are two categories regarding modality
from the semantic perspective and these are: "Denotic" and
"Epistemic" the latter signal a speaker's judgments and it is about
the way the real world and how it is shown in the language while
the former namely "Denotic" is about how people should behave in
the real world. I also have come across the Arabic modals and what
I have found is that Arabic modals is a kind of translation of the
English modals and there is no exact equivalent from Arabic to the
English ones.
Finally, The main and simplest difference between transitive and
intransitive verbs is whether the verb needs an object to complete
the meaning or the subject would be sufficient to do so.
Transitivity is sometimes seen as just a matter of number of
arguments, the verb may select, i.e. the verb that selects one
argument is called to be intransitive while the verb that selects
two arguments or more is referred to as a transitive verb . Yet,
many factors are combined to determine the degree of the verb
transitivity as suggested by the notion of gradient transitivity
for example.
In Arabic, unlike English, there are specific patterns or forms
of the verbs that denote their transitivity and intransitive verbs
can be transformed into transitive ones ( or vice versa ) by
employing certain morphological inflections.
Some verbs; ergative or liable verb can be in both positions of
transitive and intransitive, with of course different semantic
implications.
Finally, certain parameters such as voloitionality and
participants should be applied to figure out the degree of
transitivity, consequently would have another notion of
transitivity which is gradient transitivity.
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Websites:
http://www.ego4v/en/cram-up/grammar/tense
http://www.easyenglishlearning.org/grammar/aspect
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.grammar.about.com
http://www.arabic.desert-sky.net
http://www.ta5atub.com/t2652-topic
http://www.wikipedia.com .retrieved on 1st of February 2012
http://www.ego4v/en/cram-up/grammar/tensehttp://www.easyenglishlearning.org/grammar/aspecthttp://www.wikipedia.orghttp://www.grammar.about.comhttp://www.arabic.desert-sky.nethttp://www.ta5atub.com/t2652-topichttp://www.wikipedia.com