Asinag 

13 | 2018
La racine dans les langues chamito-sémitiques :
nature et fonction

Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan

Arabic Loanwords
Zoubida Ziani

Electronic version
URL: https://journals.openedition.org/asinag/536

Publisher
Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM)

Printed version
Date of publication: 1 December 2018
Number of pages: 241-254
ISSN: 2028-5663
 

Electronic reference
Zoubida Ziani, “Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan Arabic Loanwords”, Asinag [Online], 13 |
 2018, Online since 01 April 2022, connection on 18 May 2022. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/
asinag/536

Asinag
Asinag-Asinag, 13, 2018, p. 241-254

Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan Arabic

Loanwords*
Zoubida Ziani
Mohammed V University, Rabat
Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences

L’objectif de cet article est d’analyser la dérivation régressive en arabe

marocain comme moyen de formation des verbes à partir d’emprunts
nominaux. Nous mettrons l’accent sur l’extraction de la racine comme
processus de base pour cette opération. A titre d’exemple, le verbe kəstəm
est dérivé du nom emprunté au français kustim ‘costume’. L’article montre
que cette extraction des racines est très pertinente pour les débats portant
sur la base de la morphologie sémitique: la racine consonantique, le mot ou
les deux. La principale revendication de l’article est que la dérivation
régressive des emprunts en arabe marocain fournit des preuves solides pour
la racine comme unité de base de la représentation morphologique / lexicale.

1. Introduction
Moroccan Arabic (MA) and other Semitic languages such as Hebrew are known for
their non-concatenative morphology. In these languages, words are formed based
on a consonantal unit called the root. On its own, the root is unpronounceable.
Only when combined with a pattern of vocal elements does it become
pronounceable (Ussishkin, 1999; Boudlal, 2001; Arad, 2005). By way of
illustration, let us consider the typical example of the root √ktb in MA. The three
consonants, which carry a meaning related to writing, have different patterns such
as: ktəb ‘he wrote’, kəttəb ‘make someone write’ and ktaba ‘writing’, among others.
In this paper, we examine the notion of the root with regard to backformation from

*
The analysis in this paper is part of an ongoing doctoral dissertation on the morphology of
loanwords. I am grateful to Karim Bensoukas for his constructive feedback and insightful
comments, which greatly improved the manuscript. Special thanks to Fatima El Hamdi and
Badr Eddine El Asri Traiki for their assistance with and discussion of this research. I have
also benefited from the comments of two anonymous Asinag reviewers. All remaining
errors are my own.

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 Zoubida Ziani

French loanwords in MA.1 In MA, a number of verbs are formed by backformation

from borrowed nouns. An example is the verb kəstəm, which is derived from the
French adapted loan-noun kustim (from costume ‘suit’). The operation consists of
extracting the consonantal root (√kstm) from the loanword. Once nativized, the
verb appears with the syllable structure of Moroccan Arabic, with schwas
epenthesized between every two consonants. The verb then sounds like the native
verbs fərʃəx ‘to break something or beat up someone’ or bərgəg ‘to gossip’.
This article provides an account for backformation in loanwords in Moroccan
Arabic. It argues that the operation consists in forming a verb by extracting a
consonantal root from an integrated loan-noun. We claim that this process provides
evidence for the consonantal root as a base of derivation. The paper, hence,
contributes to the ongoing debate as to whether Semitic morphology is based on
the consonantal root, the word, or both (Ussishkin, 1999, 2006; Prunet, 2006; Bat-
El, 1994, 2003; Ratcliffe, 1997 and others). The main claim of this paper is that the
root is the basic unit in morphological/lexical representation.
This paper is divided into five sections. After the introduction, we present in
section 2 the different views with regard to the notion of the root, particularly the
consonantal root. Section 3 presents data from loan verbs derived from French loan
nouns based on the process of backformation via root-extraction. We claim in
section 4 that the extracted consonantal root serves as a base of derivation for other
morphological categories (the medio-passive, the passive participle, and the
deverbal noun), in analogy with MA respective patterns. We also examine internal
gemination and claim it to provide further evidence in favor of the extraction of the
consonantal root and its serving as the base of derivation in MA. By way of
illustration, we provide examples from causatives derived from loan verbs. We
recapitulate the findings in section 5.

2. Root-based vs. word-based approaches to Semitic

morphology
Prunet (2006) defines the “root” as the morphological unit that is left once all the
affixes have been removed from the word. According to Arad (2003), roots are the
atomic non-decomposable lexical elements of a language, serving as the building
blocks of more complex words. If the root consists of consonants only, it is called
a “consonantal root”, while if it also contains vowels, then it is referred to as a

1
This paper examines loanwords from the Rabat-Casablanca dialects of MA, mostly French
loans. Northern dialects, which are influenced by Spanish and contain Spanish loans, are
not the focus of this work.

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 Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan Arabic Loanwords

“syllabic root” (Arad, 2003; Prunet, 2006). For the purposes of this paper, the focus
will be on the consonantal root.
The consonantal root is a widely controversial concept especially in Semitic
languages. Prunet (2006) provides a critical review of different theoretical and
psycholinguistic works, including Prunet et al. (2000) and Davis and Zawaydeh
(2001). The findings reveal that, in the case of speech errors and language games,
only root consonants are reversed. Similarly, data from hypocoristics (nicknames)
show that the consonants in the full name and in the hypocoristic form are the same
three consonants of the lexical root (Davis and Zawaydeh, 2001). The previous
research provides strong evidence for the existence of an abstract discontinuous
consonantal root and, thus, of an unpronounceable entity (Prunet et al., 2000;
Prunet, 2006; Schluter, 2013; Diab and Marton, 2014).
A unique feature of Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew is the
combination of roots and patterns, a type known as root-and-template morphology
(McCarthy, 1981, for example). In this model, words are formed when roots are
combined with a template and vocalic morphemes. In some languages, as is the
case in MA, there is only a root and a template with epenthetic vowels (ə in MA).
The consonantal root is also considered as a morpheme carrying the meaning of the
words containing this root (Prunet, 2006). For instance, the three radicals k t b in
Arabic and Hebrew constitute a root related to writing. The root in Arabic is
mostly triconsonantal but can also be biconsonantal or quadriconsonantal.
In opposition to these root-based approaches, scholars like Bat-El (1994, 2003),
Ratcliffe (1997), and Ussishkin (1999) argue for a word-based view of Hebrew
morphology that does away with the consonantal root. They analyze patterns of
denominal verb formation, showing that only a word-based account can explain
otherwise mysterious phonological regularities. They question the role of the
consonantal root in the derivation and suggest word formation from existing words
(Bat-El, 1994, 2003; Ussishkin, 1999).
In this paper, we argue that the consonantal root is the base of derivation in MA on
the basis of evidence provided from verbs derived through backformation from
loan nouns in MA.

3. Backformation from loan-nouns as root extraction

In (1), we provide examples of loan verbs that are derived from French loan nouns
on the basis of backformation via root-extraction. Backformation is a word
formation process described as “the coining of a new word by taking an existing
word and forming from it a morphologically more elementary word” (Staskova,
2013:9) 2 . It is also called back-derivation, retrograde derivation or diaffixation.

2
For an extensive study of backformation see Campbell (1998), Staskova (2013), and
Mattiello (2013).

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 Zoubida Ziani

According to Mattiello (2013), creating new words via backformation may be the
outcome of reanalysis of supposedly complex foreign forms in analogy with the
native inflectional patterns. For instance, Old Northern French cherise (Modern
French cerise) has been reanalyzed in English as a singular form cherry in addition
to the plural suffix –s, following the plural formation pattern in English.
In (1) below, we present cases of backformation in MA based on French loan-
nouns, and derivation on verbs therein.
(1)Loan- Noun Origin/ Gloss Root Verb Gloss
kustim <costume ‘suit’ √kstm kəstəm ‘wear a suit’
garṣun <garçon ‘waiter’ √grṣn gərṣən ‘serve as waiter’
grafaṭa <cravate ‘tie’ √grfṭ gərfəṭ ‘wear a tie’
randifu <rendez-vous ‘appointment’ √rndf rəndəf ‘have an appointment’
ṣiʃwar <sechoir ‘hair dryer’ √ṣʃwr ṣəʃwər ‘use a hair dryer’

We notice that, although the loan nouns contain both vowels and consonants, only
the consonants are extracted for the derivation of verbs, in analogy with existing
native verbs such as √ṭṛʒm ‘translate’, √fṛɡʕ ‘explode’, and √krkb ‘roll’. Marchand
(1969) stresses the role of analogy as a supportive element to the formation of a
verb where the noun exists but the verb does not (cited in Staskova, 2013).
It is well-known that loanwords undergo a normal process of phonological and
morphological adaptation to comply with the recipient language’s linguistic system
(Haugen, 1950; Weinreich, 1953; Silverman, 1992; Yip, 1993; Thomason and
Kaufman, 1988; Paradis and LaCharité, 2005, 2008; and Matras, 2009)3. Silverman
(1992) suggests two stages for the integration of a loanword. First, there is the
‘perceptual level’, where native speakers detect the unprosodic signals of the donor
language. The perceived input moves to the ‘operative level’, where ‘true
phonological processes’ may apply, including the native prosodic constraints on
syllable structure.
In the same fashion, French loans in MA are adapted in conformity with the MA
syllable structure. Schwa is, thus, epenthesized to break the consonantal clusters
that are banned in the language. Benhallam (1980) suggests two types of
syllabification in MA: full vowel syllabification [i, u, a] and an epenthetic schwa
syllabification. A CVC syllable structure assigned to every string of unsyllabified

3
Loanword adaptation has not been treated in detail in this paper since focus is on post-
loan integration. For ample details on loanword adaptation, see Haugen (1950), Weinreich
(1953), Silverman (1992), Yip (1993), Thomason and Kaufman (1988), Paradis and La
Charité, (2005, 2008), and Matras (2009).

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 Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan Arabic Loanwords

CC starting from right to left is proposed by Benhallam (1990a)4. The V is to be

interpreted as a schwa as illustrated in (2) below (Boudlal, 2001):
(2) σ

O R

N Cd

e.g. CCC C C v C

k t b k t ə b
(adapted from Boudlal, 2001)
We claim that, after extraction of the root from loan-nouns, other morphological
categories will be derived based on the same root. We will notice that schwa
epenthesis is applied in the same fashion as in native MA words.

4. The extracted consonantal root as a base of derivation

4.1. Normal affixation

In this section, we show that once the root is extracted from loan-nouns via
backformation, it serves as a base of derivation for other morphological categories,
among which are the medio-passive, the passive participle and the deverbal noun.
First, the medio-passive in MA is derived by prefixing tt- to a verb root. The
phonetic form is completed by epenthesizing schwa (s) in appropriate places.
Examples of MA native medio-passives are tt-xərbəq ‘got disorganized’, tt-fəṛɡəʕ
‘exploded’, tt-mənḍər ‘enjoyed beautiful views’, and tt-fǝrtǝt ‘turned into small
pieces’. The following set shows how medio-passives are obtained in a similar
fashion on the basis of consonantal roots extracted from French nouns:
(3) Root Medio-passive Origin / Gloss
√ʔntk tt-Ɂəntək antique ‘elegant/dressed up’
√ɡrfṭ tt-ɡərfəṭ cravatte ‘tie’
√kstm tt-kəstəm costume ‘suit’
√rndf tt-rəndəf rendez-vous ‘appointment’
√ṣʃwr tt-ṣəʃwər sechoir ‘hairdryer’

4
For a more recent treatment of the prosody of schwa, see Bensoukas and Boudlal, (2012a-
b) and Al Ghadi (1994).

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 Zoubida Ziani

Second, the passive participle (PP) in MA is obtained through the prefixation of the
morpheme m- to a verb root. Similar to the medio-passive data above, schwa is
epenthesized to complete the phonetic shape of the loans. The following set shows
how passive participles are derived in analogy with native PP, on the basis of the
consonantal roots extracted from French nouns. Examples of native passive
participles include m-kərfəṣ ‘in a deteriorated state’, m-bəṛqəʕ ‘stained’, m-xənzər
‘frowning’, and m-xərbəq ‘messy’:
(4) Root Passive participle Origin / Gloss
√ʔntk m-Ɂəntək antique ‘elegant/dressed up’
√ɡrfṭ m-ɡərfəṭ cravatte ‘tie’
√kstm m-kəstəm costume ‘suit’
√rndf m-rəndəf rendez-vous ‘appointment’
√ṣʃwr m-ṣəʃwər sechoir ‘hairdryer’
Third, the deverbal noun of quadrilateral verbs in MA is usually formed by the
insertion of -i- between the last two consonants of the derived quadrilateral form.
Some examples from MA deverbal nouns include tfəṛɡiʕ derived from the root
√fṛɡʕ ‘explode’ and tfərkil derived from √frkl ‘to writhe, to flounder’ (Harrell,
1968).
(5) Root Deverbal noun Origin /Gloss
√ʔntk tɁəntik antique ‘elegant/dressed up’
√ɡrfṭ tɡərfiṭ cravatte ‘tie’
√ɡrṣn tɡərṣin garçon ‘waiter’
√kstm tkəstim costume ‘suit’
√rndf trəndif rendez-vous ‘appointment’
√ṣʃwr tṣəʃwir sechoir ‘hairdryer’
It can be argued that the above data present very simple examples of backformation
in the sense that once the consonant is extracted, it serves as a base of derivation
for various morphological categories in a quite straightforward fashion. The next
sections provide more intricate cases in which the extracted root plays a crucial
role.

4.2. Root-and-pattern morphology

In (6), we present other categories, i.e. medio-passive, passive participle, and

verbal noun, derived from the triconsonantal roots extracted from loan nouns. For
their derivation, roots are combined with MA patterns to form respectively the
medio-passive, the passive participle and the verbal nouns in analogy with native
words such as tbuhəl ‘he acted stupidly’, m-buhəl ‘stupid’, tbuhil ‘stupidity’ or t-

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 Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan Arabic Loanwords

kusəl ‘he became lazy’, m-kusəl ‘lazy’, and tkusil ‘laziness’, which are respectively
derived from the roots √bhl and √ksl initially on the pattern CuCəC5.
We will go back to our data, which is divided into four sets: (6i), (6ii), (6iii) and
(6iv), including the above mentioned categories, namely the medio-passive, the
passive participle, and the deverbal noun. These data sets illustrate the productivity
of the extracted roots.
(6i)Root Medio-passive Origin /Gloss
√ḅɡṣ tt-ḅuɡəṣ beau gosse ‘handsome’
√ṣfʒ tt-ṣufəʒ sauvage ‘savage’
√ʃmr tt-ʃumər chomeur ‘jobless’
√bdr tt-budər poutre ‘a physically strong person’
√sɡr tt-suɡər seguro (Spanish) ‘to ensure; to be ensured’
√kfr tt-kufər coup franc ‘free kick’
In (6i), the medio-passive is formed in analogy with native medio-passives derived
from triconsonantal roots such as √bhl tt-buhəl stated above.
Similarly, in (6ii) the passive participle of the loan verbs is expressed as the
native m-kusəl derived from the root √ksl.
(6ii) Root Passive participle Origin / Gloss
√ḅɡṣ m-ḅuɡəṣ beau gosse ‘handsome’
√ṣfʒ m-ṣufəʒ sauvage ‘savage’
√ʃmr m-ʃumər chomeur ‘jobless’
√bdr m-budər poutre ‘physically strong person’
√sɡr m-suɡər seguru (Spanish) ‘to ensure; ensured’
√kfr m-kufər coup franc ‘free kick’
The deverbal noun in (6iii) is formed in analogy with MA pattern in tkusil and
tbuhil.
(6iii) Root Deverbal noun Origin / Gloss
√ḅɡṣ tḅuɡiṣ beau gosse ‘handsome’
√ṣfʒ tsufiʒ sauvage ‘savage’
√ʃmr tʃumir chomeur ‘jobless’

5
One of the reviewers raised the question with regard the vowel [u] in the passive participle
pattern. Why is this vowel used with triconsonantal roots but not quadrilateral roots? In his
treatment of the passive participle in Casablanca Moroccan Arabic dialect, Boudlal (2001)
holds that the vowel [u] is epenthesized for prosodic purposes, namely those related to
syllable weight. The grammar of MA requires the verb to be bimoraic. This is what forces
the epenthesis of the vowel [u] in the case of trionsonantal roots. Quadrilateral verb stems,
on the other hand, conform to a bisyllabic iambic foot of the type LL, where both syllables
are major syllables (ibid.)

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 Zoubida Ziani

√bdr tbudir poutre ‘physically strong person’

√sɡr tsuɡir seguru ‘to ensure; to be ensured’
√kfr tkufir coup franc ‘free kick’
In (6i), (6ii) and (6iii), we listed the by now familiar French loanwords. In (6iv) the
triconsonantal root √srt is derived from the Amazigh loan noun t-a-s-aru-t ‘key’.
(6iv) Root Medio-passive Passive participle Origin/ Gloss
√srt t-surət m-surət (a) tasarut (Amazigh) ‘key’
In Amazigh, the circumfix t-…-t is a feminine marker, -a- is an inflection affix, s-
is a derivational affix denoting an instrument. An explanation of the borrowing of
the loan-noun sarut could be based on the verb ri meaning in some Amazigh
varieties ‘to open’ 6 .We notice that when borrowed into MA, and following
phonological adaptation, the form sarut was borrowed as an integral base and
integrated into the language. The interesting fact, which also stands as further
evidence for the existence of the consonantal root, is that the consonants s r t were
adopted as radicals regardless of the affixal status of -s- and -t-. Considered as root
consonants, s r t are extracted from the borrowed noun and the verb surət ‘lock’ is
derived via the process of backformation.
It is worth noting that in the derivation of surət, sarut comes in analogy with native
words such as fusəx ‘to burn incense to remove evil deed’, from fasux ‘incense’
(see also tfusix ‘use of incense’) and musəq ‘make someone listen to music’,
derived from musiqa ‘music’ and related to tmusiq ‘listening to music’. The
phenomenon witnessed in the derivation and integration of the Amazigh loan surət,
as a basic form regardless of the attached affixes, is known in historical linguistics
as folk etymology, whereby speakers change the form of a loanword, as a result of
mistaken assumptions, to adapt it to a more familiar form through popular usage
(Campbell, 1998). Consequently, nonexistent underlying bases are extracted and
added to the lexical stock via the process of backformation (Beard, 1995).
The facts in (6) provide evidence for two major characteristics: first, the
productivity of backformation as a word formation process and second, the
existence of the consonantal root as the basic unit carrying meaning and serving as
the base of derivation. Yet, some back-formed words can show their grammatical
limitation in the sense that some of their forms are not accepted by the native
speakers while others are (Katamba, 1994 cited in Staskova, 2013).

6
Karim Bensoukas (p. c.) suggests that the Amazigh noun tasarut may also be analyzed as
containing the verb aru, which may have had the general meaning of ‘pass through a canal’
and currently meaning ‘to give birth’.

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 Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan Arabic Loanwords

In the next section we examine a non-concatenative process, internal

morphological gemination, and claim it to provide further evidence in favor of the
extraction of the consonantal root and serve as the base of derivation in MA.

4.3. The extracted consonantal root and internal morphological gemination

Internal gemination provides another strong argument for the fact that a
consonantal root extracted from a loan-noun through backformation is used as the
base of derivation in the formation of causative verbs. For the sake of clarity, we
will have a short digression into MA causative verbs7.
Causatives in MA are formed by doubling (geminating) the second segment of the
base form (Boudlal, 2001). Determining the base of derivation of causatives in MA
has been one of the intriguing questions for different scholars (McCarthy and
Prince, 1986, 1988, 1990; Lombardi and McCarthy, 1991; Bennis, 1992; Boudlal,
2001). Bennis (1992) argued that the stem is the base of derivation of causatives in
MA. He claims that the causative is formed through the affixation of a bimoraic
syllable to a circumscribed prosodic domain, namely the minimal base. The latter
can be of the type CəC or CV. In MA, every morphological causative verb takes
the form of one of these two patterns: CəCCəC for sound roots or CəCCV for weak
roots as illustrated in (7) and (8) below.
(7) Sound roots (CəCCəC)
Root Gloss Causative
√ktb ‘write’ kəttəb
√brd ‘cold’ bərrəd
√nʕs ‘sleep’ nəʕʕəs
√ṣḅṛ ‘be patient’ ṣəḅḅə
√fṛħ ‘be happy’ fəṛṛəħ

(8) Weak roots (CəCCV)

Root Gloss Causative
√qṛ(v) ‘read’ qəṛṛi
√bk(v) ‘cry’ bəkki
√d(v)x ‘feel dizzy’ dəwwəx
√d(v)b ‘melt’ dəwwəb
√f(v)q ‘wake up’ fəjjəq
We cannot discuss the formation of causatives in MA without considering
germination. 8 Noamane (2013) suggests two types of gemination in MA:

7
For further details about causatives in MA, see Bennis (1992) and references therein.
8
A thorough treatment of gemination in MA can be consulted in Benhallam (1980), Bennis
(1992), Boudlal (2001) and references cited therein.

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 Zoubida Ziani

phonological and morphological. The first type of geminates is derived via the
process of assimilation. The author provides examples for two cases of
assimilation: there is the assimilation of the definite article affix /l+/ and word
initial coronal sounds including dental, alveolar and postalveolar consonants as in
/l-ḍar/, ḍḍar, ‘the house’, and /l-suq/, ssuq, ‘the market’. The second type involves
the assimilation of the first person singular suffix [t] to the last consonant of the
verb attached to it; for example, /ʃəf-t/ becomes ʃətt ‘I saw’ (for more examples see
Noamane 2013). The second type of gemination is morphological gemination. It
constitutes the main interest of the present paper as it is a key element in the
formation of causatives in MA.
In the present paper, we argue for a root-based approach of causative derivation in
MA. We provide data from causatives derived from loan verbs as evidence. The
first type of causatives derived from loans consists of sound roots. Sound roots are
defined as roots that are composed of three consonants not including glides, for
example √qtl ‘kill’ and √ḍrb ‘hit’ (Bennis 1992).
(9) Root Causative Origin /Gloss
√mzk məzzək musique ‘music’
√mṇk məṇṇək9 manque ‘missing something’
In (9) above, the causative forms məzzək and məṇṇək follow the same pattern of
causative derivation in MA (CəCCəC). They are derived respectively from the
sound roots √mzk and √mṇk. The same roots are derived from the French loan
nouns musique ‘music’ and manque ‘missing something’ via the process of
backformation. McCarthy (1981) suggests that the link between a ‘derived verb’
and its derivational source is the root. An example adapted from Bennis (1992) is
provided in (10):
(10)Derivational source root  derived verb
hḍər ‘talk’ hḍr  həḍḍər ‘make someone talk’
The second type of causatives derived through backformation consists of verbs
derived on the basis of weak roots. Bennis (1992) defines weak roots as roots
which contain a median or final vocalic element alternating with a glide. Examples
are in (11):
(11) Root Gloss Causative Origin /Gloss
√buṭ ‘kick’ ḅəwwəṭ botte ‘kick’
√duʃ ‘shower’ dəwwəʃ douche ‘shower’
√ʃik ‘elegant’ ʃəjjək chique ‘elegant’

9
One of the reviewers suggests that the root √mṇk could also be based on the French verb
‘manquer’ ‘to miss someone or something’.

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 Backformation as Root Extraction in Moroccan Arabic Loanwords

According to Bennis (1992), MA weak roots with median glides, as well as final
ones, may be realized as vowels as in:
(12) dwz ‘to pass’ daz / duz duwwəz ‘make pass’
ʒrj ‘to run’ ʒra / ʒri ʒərraj ‘runner’
This hypothesis suggests that the vowels appearing in the surface form are derived
from the corresponding underlying glides. Verbs like ʃuf ‘see’ and bki ‘cry’ are
respectively derived from the roots √ʃwf and √bkj. A counter hypothesis suggested
by one of the reviewers of this paper holds that vowels can be underlying and they
change into the corresponding glides to satisfy syllable structure constraints. Our
position supports Bennis’s idea; hence, we assume that the surface vowels are
underlyingly glides. In (11) above, we suggest, following Bennis (1992), that the
hollow roots √buṭ, √duʃ and √ʃik are underlyingly √bwṭ, √dwʃ, and √ʃjk, and they
follow the same pattern of causative derivation in MA (CəCCəC). Also, schwa
epenthesis applied to break the consonantal cluster disallowed in MA stands as
evidence for the consonantal status of the root.

5. Conclusion
This article provides an account for backformation in loanwords in Moroccan
Arabic. It argues that the operation consists in forming a verb by extracting a
consonantal root from an integrated loan-noun. We presented data which showed
that the extracted verbal root serves as a base for the derivation of other
morphological categories (the medio-passive, the passive participle, and the
deverbal noun), in analogy with the native patterns of derivation. The data revealed
that although the loan nouns contain both vowels and consonants, only the
consonants are extracted for the derivation of verbs, in analogy with existing native
verbs. Also, the non-Semitic origin of the loan nouns stands as further evidence for
a process of root extraction since only the consonants of the word were extracted
for the verb derivation. We then examined data from causatives formed through
internal morphological gemination of the consonantal root extracted from loan-
nouns through backformation. For both sound roots and weak roots, the causative
was derived following the MA causative pattern CəCCəC. The internal gemination
of the glides -ww- and -jj- provides another argument in favor of the consonantal
root in MA, given the fact that vowels cannot be geminated. The insertion of schwa
supports the same argument since it serves to break consonantal strings banned in
MA. In sum, the presentation and analysis of the loan data extracted via
backformation proves, on the one hand, that the root is consonantal in MA, and that
it is the base of derivation, on the other. The paper, hence, contributes to the
ongoing debate as to whether Semitic morphology is based on the consonantal root,
the word, or both. Backformation as root extraction provides strong evidence for a
root-based morphology in MA.

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