300 
[No. 3, 
R. B. Shaw— A Grammar of the Language 
[ N. B. —It may bo said that this form is simply the apposition of the 
Verb al-maq, “ to take,” to the Primary Verb. This is probably the origin 
of the formation; in fact it is sometimes found written separately with 
the Pres. Participle of the principal Verb followed by the tense of the 
Auxiliary al-maq ; e. g. qela-dlmas = “ cannot make” ; but, in speaking it 
has got worn down into a mere formal affix instead of an independent Verb. 
Thus the form bar'-dlmaq, tuf-dlmaq, &c. may be considered a mere 
corruption or running together of the full compound : bdra-dlmaq , tuta- 
dlmaq, &c.] 
Where the Present Participle does not end in a but in i (in consequence 
of the Root ending in a vowel, see “ Verbs, Pres. Participle”, page 28) no 
elision takes place between the final i of the verb, and the initial a of the 
auxy. This helps to distinguish this form from the Passive in these cases :* 
Ex. : [Primary Form] ajra-niaJc = to be in a state of division. 
[Passive Form] ajra- l-mafc = to be divided. 
[Form of Possib.] ajrai-dl-mdJc — to be able to be in a state 
of division. 
(Prim.) oqu-maq = to read. 
(Pass.) oqu-l-mdq = to be read. 
(Poss.) oqui-dl-mdq ■=■ to be able to read. 
Not only one but two or more of these modifying affixes may be used 
in the same Compound Verb, as will be seen below. 
The order in which they should be applied to the Root, when several 
come together, depends chiefly on the meaning intended to be given. But 
there seem to be two general rules, viz., that the negative affix when used 
shall come last (before the conjugational ones), while usually the affix of 
Bossibility comes next before the negative (if any), or otherwise last of 
all the modifying syllables. 
123 456 7 8 
Ex. : Bir— il — ish—tur —al—ma’i— dur—man 
Root Pass. Recip. Caus. Possy. Nog. Auxy. Pron. 
Modifying Affixes (Secondary Conjugational 
Forms) Affixes. 
8765 4 21 3 
= I am not able to cause (them), to be given to one-another. 
With the exception of these two modifying affixes (viz., those of Pos¬ 
sibility and of Negation), the order of the others is dictated by the mean¬ 
ing intended. For instance: 
Bm-il-dur-maJc is the Causative Form (in dur ) of a Passive Verb 
* In otlier cases the distinction (between the Passive and Possibility forms) is 
made by the Phonetic change of vowel in the former as against the retention of the a 
in the latter : e. g, (Pass.) tdp-Tl-maq, (Poss.) tap-hl-mdq. 
