The Formation of Social Behavior Verbs in Arabic

The present research examines Arabic verb forms in terms of their structural properties from a semantic perspective within the field of social behavior. Understanding these verb forms is essential for the deployment of e-dictionaries and the improvement of machine translation, both of which are critical applications of natural language processing (NLP). By adopting an analytical and statistical methodology, the study explores three key aspects: the morphological composition of each verb form, its syntactic behavior in relation to transitivity, and the frequency of augmented verb derivations. The analysis investigates the derivational patterns of the ten Arabic verb forms (Forms I to X) using 50 roots linked to the semantic domain of social behavior, verifying their occurrences in Arabic lexicons. The data is classified into inputs and outputs, with Form I—the fundamental base form in Arabic—serving as the input from which the nine augmented verb forms (Forms II to X) are derived. Verbs classified under Form I within the semantic domain of social behavior predominantly conform to the standard morphological pattern C1aC2uC3. In contrast, Forms II through X each adhere to distinct canonical structures, where the application of these patterns to a given root results in the derivation of augmented verbs. The analysis identifies a total of 238 verbs derived across Forms II to X. The study concludes that Form IV exhibits the highest frequency of derivation within this semantic category, whereas Form IX is the least derived. Additionally, the research examines the syntactic behavior of Forms I through X, revealing significant shifts in syntactic patterns across different forms. These findings establish a foundation for further investigation into other semantic fields, including verbs related to motion, social interaction, and cognitive processes.