Valency is the participant structure a verb licenses: who acts, what is affected, and which participant appears as a direct object or in a prepositional phrase. Derived forms often change that structure. نزل “go down” has a mover; نزّل “bring/take down” adds a causer and makes the mover an object; انكسر “break” suppresses the breaker and promotes the broken thing to subject.
These are strong tendencies, not an automatic derivation machine. Lebanese has causative, reciprocal, middle, and anticausative pairings, but individual roots may lack an expected form, select a preposition, or lexicalize a narrower sense. Learn the frame, not just a form number.
Focused alternation: نزل and نزّل
The pair نزل / بينزل “go down, get out, descend” and نزّل / بينزّل “bring down, let someone off, download” shows a productive-looking valency contrast plus lexical extensions.
| Part | Form I: mover is subject | Form II: causer is subject |
|---|---|---|
| 3ms perfect | نزل nizil | نزّل nazzal |
| 1sg perfect | نزلت nzilit | نزّلت nazzalet |
| 3ms b-imperfect | بينزل byinzal | بينزّل byinazzel |
| 3ms bare imperfect | ينزل yinzal | ينزّل yinazzel |
| 2ms command | انزل nzal, get down/out | نزّل nazzel, bring down/let off |
| core frame | نزل حدا من محل | نزّل حدا من محل |
نزل كريم من الباص عند الجامعة.
nizil Karīm min el-bāṣ ʿind el-zhēmʿa.
Karim got off the bus by the university. (informal; one core participant, the mover)
السواق نزل كريم عند الجامعة.
es-sawwāʾ nazzal Karīm ʿind el-zhēmʿa.
The driver let Karim off by the university. (informal; added causer and object mover)
نزلت الصور من الإنترنت.
nazzalet eṣ-ṣowar min el-internet.
I downloaded the photos from the internet. (informal; lexical extension of Form II)
The technological sense does not follow from valency alone. It is a conventional extension of “bring down,” and it must be recorded as part of the verb's lexical entry.
Causatives add a controller
A morphological causative adds someone who initiates or controls the lower event. Form II supplies many everyday pairs, but خلّى + bare imperfect is also common when no simple derived causative fits the intended meaning.
| Less-valent event | More-valent derived verb | Participant change |
|---|---|---|
| فهم الولد الفكرة | فهّمت الولد الفكرة | add explainer; experiencer becomes object |
| سمع الولد الأغنية | سمّعت الولد الأغنية | add person who plays/makes hear |
| لبس الولد الجاكيت | لبّست الولد الجاكيت | add dresser; wearer becomes object |
| طلع الضيف | طلّعت الضيف | add person who sends/takes the guest out or up |
سمع الولد الأغنية بالسيارة.
simiʿ el-walad el-oghniyye bis-sayyāra.
The boy heard the song in the car. (informal; experiencer subject plus theme)
سمعت الولد الأغنية بالسيارة.
sammaʿet el-walad el-oghniyye bis-sayyāra.
I played the song for the boy in the car. (informal; Form II adds the initiator)
لبست البنت الجاكيت قبل ما تطلع.
libset el-bint el-zhākēt ʾabel ma tiṭlaʿ.
The girl put on the jacket before going out. (informal; wearer is subject)
لبست البنت الجاكيت لأنها كانت بردانة.
labbaset el-bint el-zhākēt laʾanna kēnit bardāne.
I put the jacket on the girl because she was cold. (informal; dresser is subject, wearer is object)
The last pair is visually ambiguous in unvocalized Arabic: لبست can represent libset or labbaset. The fully pointed audio layer and the participant frame disambiguate it.
Applicative-like effects and object marking
An applicative promotes an additional participant—often a recipient, beneficiary, or affected person—to object status. Lebanese does not have one dedicated “applicative form,” but some derived verbs produce an applicative-like frame in which a person and a theme can both follow the verb.
فهمت رامي الفكرة، وبعدين بعثتله الرسم.
fahhamet Rāme l-fekra, w-baʿdēn baʿattilo r-rasem.
I explained the idea to Rami, then sent him the diagram. (neutral; person plus theme after Form II)
سمعتن التسجيل مرتين.
sammaʿton et-taszhīl marrtēn.
I played them the recording twice. (informal; person encoded by an object clitic, theme as a noun)
The object clitic belongs on the verb that selects the person: سمّعتن “I played [it] for them.” English word order cannot determine which Arabic participant is direct. Some speakers may clarify dense two-object strings with لـ “to/for”; that is a discourse choice, not permission to copy every English to.
Reciprocal meaning reorganizes participants
Reciprocal verbs package a relation among two or more participants. Forms VI and VIII frequently host such meanings, but plurality alone does not create reciprocity.
تفاهمت مع الجارة عالموقف.
tfāhamet maʿ el-zhāra ʿal-mawʾef.
I reached an understanding with the neighbor about the parking space. (neutral; singular subject plus partner with مع)
اتفقوا عالسعر قبل ما يبلش الشغل.
ittafaʾo ʿas-siʿer ʾabel ma yballesh esh-shoghol.
They agreed on the price before the work started. (neutral; plural reciprocal participants)
With a singular grammatical subject, مع names the partner. With a plural subject, the participants may be grouped, while the topic of agreement still appears with على. The prepositions are lexical parts of these verbs.
Middle and anticausative alternations suppress an agent
An anticausative presents a change without asserting an external causer. Form VII is especially common here; Forms V and VIII supply other lexical middles.
الولد كسر الكاسة بالغلط.
el-walad kasar el-kēse bil-ghalaṭ.
The boy broke the glass by accident. (informal; transitive event with agent and patient)
الكاسة انكسرت بالغلط.
el-kēse nkasaret bil-ghalaṭ.
The glass broke accidentally. (informal; anticausative with no asserted breaker)
Agent suppression is not the same as claiming that no cause existed. The second sentence simply chooses not to encode one. See Middle and Anticausative Strategies for event versus result-state contrasts.
Lexical blocking: the expected form may not be used
Arabic morphology offers imaginable cells, but the Lebanese lexicon decides which cells speakers actually use. Some Form I verbs already alternate in valency: فتح الباب “he opened the door” and الباب فتح “the door opened.” انفتح is also available, often highlighting the event or lack of an explicit opener. Other meanings require an unrelated lexical verb or خلّى rather than an invented derived stem.
الباب فتح لحاله مع الهوا.
el-bēb fataḥ la-ḥālo maʿ el-hawa.
The door opened by itself in the wind. (informal; Form I intransitive alternation)
الباب انفتح لما دفشته.
el-bēb nfataḥ lamma dfashto.
The door opened when I pushed it. (informal; Form VII event)
Affirmative and negative minimal pairs
فهمتن التعليمات قبل الاجتماع.
fahhamton et-taʿlīmēt ʾabel el-izhtimēʿ.
I explained the instructions to them before the meeting. (affirmative causative)
ما فهمتن التعليمات قبل الاجتماع.
ma fahhamton et-taʿlīmēt ʾabel el-izhtimēʿ.
I didn't explain the instructions to them before the meeting. (negative causative)
الكهربا انقطعت بالضيعة.
el-kahraba nʾaṭaʿet biḍ-ḍayʿa.
The power went out in the village. (affirmative anticausative event)
الكهربا ما انقطعت بالضيعة.
el-kahraba ma nʾaṭaʿet biḍ-ḍayʿa.
The power didn't go out in the village. (negative anticausative event)
Dialogue: who did what to whom?
ليش نزلت رنا من السيارة هون؟
lēsh nizlet Rana min es-sayyāra hōn?
Maya: Why did Rana get out of the car here? (Form I; Rana is the mover)
أنا نزلتها هون لأنو الطريق مسكر.
ana nazzalta hōn laʾanno ṭ-ṭarīʾ msakkar.
Karim: I let her out here because the road is closed. (Form II; Karim is causer, Rana is object)
طيب، فهمها وين تلتقي فينا.
ṭayyeb, fahhema wēn tiltiʾe fīna.
Maya: Okay—make sure she understands where to meet us. (imperative Form II; added explainer)
Common Mistakes
Keeping the old subject as subject after adding a causer
❌ كريم نزل السواق عند الجامعة.
Incorrect for ‘the driver let Karim off’ — this order makes Karim the subject of an ambiguous verb.
✅ السواق نزله حد الجامعة.
es-sawwāʾ nazzalo ḥadd el-zhēmʿa.
The driver let him off by the university.
Treating every two-object frame like English
❌ فهمت الفكرة لرامي.
Incorrect for the intended causative ‘I explained the idea to Rami’ — use the attested Form II frame.
✅ فهمت رامي الفكرة.
fahhamet Rāme l-fekra.
I explained the idea to Rami. (neutral)
Forcing an agent into an anticausative
❌ الكاسة انكسرت من الولد.
Incorrect for an ordinary agentive ‘the boy broke it’ — the anticausative suppresses the agent.
✅ الولد كسر الكاسة.
el-walad kasar el-kēse.
The boy broke the glass. (transitive Form I)
Assuming reciprocity from a plural subject alone
❌ هني فهموا يعني فهموا بعضن.
Incorrect — فهموا means ‘they understood’; it does not itself mean ‘they understood each other.’
✅ هني تفاهموا بعد النقاش.
hinne tfāhamo baʿd en-niʾāsh.
They came to an understanding after the discussion. (reciprocal Form VI)
Key Takeaways
Derived morphology can add a causer, promote an affected person, package a reciprocal relation, or suppress an agent. Yet every alternation is lexical: check whether both verbs exist, how their objects are marked, which prepositions they select, and what narrower meanings have developed. The reliable unit is a principal-parts pair plus a complete participant frame.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Transitive, Intransitive, and Prepositional Verb FramesA2 — Learn whether a Lebanese verb takes a direct object, no object, or a required preposition.
- Form II faʿʿalB1 — Recognize the doubled middle radical of Form II and learn its causative, intensive, denominal, and fully lexical Lebanese verbs through principal parts and frames.
- Form VI tfāʿalB1 — Recognize Form VI verbs of mutual, joint, gradual, and lexical action while learning their real Lebanese participant frames.
- Form VII nfaʿalB2 — Use Form VII for changes and passive-like events whose affected participant is the subject, without importing an English by-agent passive.
- Middle and Anticausative StrategiesC1 — Distinguish Lebanese change-of-state events, passive-like middles, and result states across Forms V, VII, VIII, and participles.
- Why Derived Forms Do Not Have One MeaningB2 — Learn to treat Arabic verb forms as lexical families whose tendencies must be checked against each verb's actual Lebanese meaning and frame.