The Phonological Environment

The Phonological Environment for Form VIII Verb. The

characteristic feature of Form VIII is the reflexive affix  /  ـتـَ / which is inserted after the first radical of the root. That /  ـتـَ / will create the environment for a phonological rule of assimilation that applies itself if the first radical is a dental stop or fricative. The result is that the inserted /  ـتـَ / is assimilated. Involved here are the following consonants:

ت ث د ذ ز ص ض ط ظ

      Compare the following examples:

             (a) a fully pronounced  /  ـتـَ /                                                     جَمَعَ     إجتَمَعَ

             (b) a fully assimilated  /  ـتـَ /                           زادَ - إزدادَ    ،  دَعا - إدَّعی

Luckily, Arabic does not have many verbs of this type. However, you need to remember the three following related phonological rules:

             (1). After the emphatic consonants  ص ض ط the inserted /  ـتـَ / becomes              emphatic ط, as in  صَدَمَ - إصطدَمَ

 (2). After the fricatives ت ظ there is a complete assimilation and the                             resultant double consonant is written with Shadda, as in   ظَلـَمَ – إظـَّلـَمَ   

                          (3). If the first radical of the verb is ( و) as in   وَصَلَ , the ( و) will be                      completely assimilated by the inserted  /  ـتـَ /, and thus the use of the Shadda                would be required. Consider the following example:

 وَصَلَ – إتـَّصَلَ