💯 Miscellaneous benefits from Yemen
12 October 2021 • 2.8K views
BENEFIT 18: CAN WE CHANGE THE TRANSITIVITY OF A VERB?
It's possible to make a lāzim verb become muta'addi through one of the following methods:
[Note: these methods are all سَمَاعِيٌّ (sanctioned by common usage of the early 'Arabs)]
THE 1st METHOD:
by placing the lāzim verb on the scale of أَفْعَلَ.
Example: ذَهَبَ (to go) is lāzim, but if we say أَذْهَبَ (to make something/someone go), it now becomes muta'addi.
THE 2nd METHOD:
by placing the lāzim verb on the scale of فَعَّلَ.
Example: خَرَجَ (to exit) is lāzim, but if we say خَرَّجَ (to extract/remove), it now becomes muta'addi.
THE 3rd METHOD:
by mentioning an appropriate preposition (ḥarf Jarr) after the lāzim verb.
Example: ذهب اللهُ بنورهم
Allāh 'took away/ extinguished' their light
[Note: in this case, the noun after the harf jarr is the object, but in meaning only - not in i'rāb (grammatical analysis); so in analysis we'd say ism majroor - not maf'ūl bihi]
THE 4th METHOD:
through insertion/inclusion (ُالتَّضْمِين); by embedding the meaning of a muta'addi verb into a lāzim verb.
Example:
﴿وَالَّذِينَ يَمْكُرُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ﴾
"those who plot evil will have a severe punishment."
The noun ِالسيئات is the object (maf'ūl) for َمَكَر despite this verb being lāzim. However, this is possible because the meaning of كَسَبَ (to earn); which is muta'addi, is embedded.
And the opposite is also true, i.e. We can embed the meaning of a lāzim verb into a muta'addi verb, such that the mut'addi verb becomes lāzim.
Example:
سَمِعَ اللهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ
''Allāh hears & responds to those who exalt Him''
The verb سَمِعَ is muta'addi, so it's not dependent on a harf jarr to have an affect on the object. But here, we see the laam, which is a harf jarr, coming after it. Why❓
Sheikh Abu Bilal hafidhahullah explained in one of his classes that this is because of taḍhmeen; that is, it has the meaning of استجاب (to respond) embedded, so it now becomes laazim.
It's as though we are saying,
استجاب الله لمن حمده
"Allah responds to those who exalt Him"
[Note: whenever taḍhmeen takes place, the original meaning of the verb remains intact. So in the above example, the meaning is,
يسمع سَمَاعَ استجابةً
"He Hears a hearing of response"]