Verbal nouns / المَصادِر

The term المَصْدَر, or ‘the source’ in English, is a noun that originates from the verb and signifies the action, quality or condition described by it. We have already seen verbal nouns in Arabic for augmented forms (الأَوْزان المَزِيدة) under the ‘Intermediate section‘, but not for Form I. We mentioned that, unlike the augmented forms where each form corresponds to one or two verbal noun patterns, there are too many different verbal noun forms for Form I to consider them as a specific pattern that could be displayed on the table. In this section, we’ll deal with the six different types of verbal nouns which are:

• The original maṣdar / المصدر الأصلي
• The mīm maṣdar / المَصْدَر المِيمي
• The parent maṣdar / اِسْم المصدر 
• The crafted maṣdar / المَصْدَر الصِناعي
• The noun of one time / اسم المرة
• The noun of manner / اسم الهَيْئة

The original maṣdar / المَصْدر الأصلي

The original maṣdar is the name given to verbal nouns corresponding to verbs in their simplest form (i.e. form I) whether they are triliteral ثُلاثي or quadriliteral رُباعي. In this section we’ll only deal with the most common verbal noun patterns for triliteral verbs under Form I.

الأَمْثِلة Examples			الوَزْن Pattern
مَدْح praise	نَقْل transportation	فَتْح opening	فَعْل most common for transitive verbs
شُرْب action of drinking	جُبْن cowardice	بُخْل avarice	فُعْل most common for transitive verbs
فَرَح joy	أَسَف regret	عَمَل work	فَعَل comes from transitive verbs on pattern فَعُلَ
رُجُوع return	صُعود  rise/ascension	وُصُول arrival	فُعُول for verbs of motion
خِياطة sewing	زِراعة agriculture	تِجارة commerce	فِعالة indicates a craft or its likeness
يُبوسَةٌ dryness	سُهُولة simplicity	صُعُوبة hardness	فُعُولة comes from transitive verbs on pattern فَعُلَ
طَيَرَان flying	غَلَيان ebullition	جَوَلان circulation	فَعَلان verbs indicating volatility and disorder

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The mīm maṣdar / المَصْدَر المِيمي

The mīm maṣdar begins with a mīm (م) and a fatḥa and has the same connotation as the original maṣdar, but surpasses it in the strength and emphasis of the connotation. It is always in the masculine singular form.

الأَمْثِلة Examples		الوَزْن Pattern	وَزْن الفعل Verbal form
مَمات death	مَطْلب demand	مَفْعَل	الثُلاثي المُجَرَّد simple triliteral root (form I)
مُوْقِف position	مَوْعِد appointment	مَفْعِل	الثُلاثي المُجَرَّد simple assimilated triliteral root (form I) starting with wāw واو
مَغْفِرَة forgiveness	مَعْرِفة knowledge	مَفْعِلة	بَعْض الثُلاثي المُجَرَّد some simple triliteral root (form I)
مُنْطَلق premise	مُرْتَقَب  outlook	وَزْن اسم المفعول passive participle pattern	الثُلاثي المَزِيد augmented triliteral roots

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The parent maṣdar / اِسْم المصدر 

The parent maṣdar (اِسْم المصدر) is the name give to an original maṣdar (المَصْدر الأصلي) of Form I connected to an augmented verb. It supplants in usage the verbal noun (المَصْدر) of the specific verb it is related to, which is also called  المَصْدَر القِياسِيّ (regular maṣdar).

اِسْم المَصْدَر Parent maṣdar	المَصْدَر القِياسِيّ Regular maṣdar	الفِعْل Verb
عَطاء gift	إعْطاء (unused)	أَعْطَى to give
قَسَم oath	إِقْسام (unused)	أَقْسَمَ to swear
وُضُوء ablution	تَوَضُّؤ (unused)	تَوَضَّأَ to perform the islamic ritual ablution
حُبّ love	إِحْباب (unused)	أَحَبَّ to love
خَطَأ mistake	إِخْطاء (unused)	أَخْطَأَ to make a mistake
سَفَر travel/trip	مُسافَرَة (unused)	سافَرَ to travel
نُزْهة promenade/walk	تَنَزُّه (unused)	تَنَزَّهَ to stroll/to go for a walk
صَلاة islamic ritual prayer	تَصْلِية (unused)	صَلَّى to perform the islamic ritual prayer

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The crafted maṣdar / المَصْدَر الصِِناعي

It is a verbal noun that denotes an abstract meaning that is used to designate a political doctrine, methodology or concept…

It is constructed by adding a ya’ with a shadda followed by a ta ‘ marbūṭa at the end of the noun يّة.

Christianism	النَصْرانيّة
Racism	العُنْصُورِيّة
Communism	الشُيُوعِيّة
Humanity	الإنْسانيّة

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Verbal noun of one time / مَصْدَر المرة

Adding a ta’ marbūṭa (ة) to the verbal noun of both simple and augmented forms indicates the action has been performed only once. Verbal nouns related to verbs of a simple form (form I) will adopt pattern فَعْلة.

One strike	ضَرْبة
One shout	صَرْخة
One departure	اِنْطِلاقة
One smile	اِبْتِسامة

Note: This form is impossible for verbal nouns that already end with the ta’ marbūṭa ة. Henceforth, we are compelled to add the word واحدة to specify that the action has only been performed once.

One visit	زِيارة واحِدة
One reading	قِراءة واحِدة

Note 2: The verbal noun of one time can be dual or plural.

2 strikes	ضَرْبتانِ
Several strikes	ضَرَبات

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Verbal noun of manner / مَصْدَر الهَيْئة

The verbal noun of manner is built on the pattern فِعْلة and indicates how the action was performed. It is related to verbs that indicate a physical, tangible event. It only exists for verbs on form I.

ألأَمْثِلة Examples	الوَزْن Pattern
جِلْسة Way of seating	فِعْلة
نِظْرة Way of looking
مِشْية Way of walking
ضِحْكة Way of laughing

Note: Most of the time this noun is used as a 1st term of annexation (مُضاف) or has an adjective (نَعْت) related to it.

Karim sat like a king (litt. he sat the way kings sit)	جَلَسَ كَرِيمٌ جِلْسةَ المُلُوكِ
Zainab laughed grudgingly (litt. “she laughed in a yellow manner” which is a figurative expression)	ضَحِكَتْ زَيْنَبُ ضِحْكةً صَفْراءً