ROOT WORDS.
(Triliteral Roots).
Arabic, like the other so-called Semitic languages, is totally different in construction from European tongues.
Every word in the language is referred to a root, which consists of three radical letters. Roots of two, or four or more radicals do exist, but they need not be noticed, since they are treated in practice as though they were derived forms.
Instead of modifying a root to express a modified idea by prefixing or affixing syllbles, the Arabic treats the three radicals as algebraists treat the symbols x, y, z, and express ideas by formulæ arrived at by combining these with certain other letters, called by European grammarians "servile," but by the natives زايدة zùïdah, "pleonastic". The letters so used are contained in the words امانٌ و تسهيلٌ amanun wa tashilun "safety and ease:" that is, they are ه ن م ل س ت ا and و. Of course any of these may occur as radicals, but after learning the rules I shall presently give the student will not find any difficulty in identifying them.
All words are arranged in the dictionaries under the trilateral root: that is the original word of three radical letters.
I have said that Arabic ideas are expressed by formulæ analogous to those employed in algebra. Thus (x+y+z) may may mean (1+2+3), or (2+3+4), and so on, and the whole
