Unveiling the Morphological Acquisition and Development of Arabic Nominal Derivation in Early Childhood

Authors

  • Anhar Assunitan

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Languages and Humanities, Qassim University, Buraydah 52555, Saudi Arabia
  • Mohammad Aljutaily

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Languages and Humanities, Qassim University, Buraydah 52555, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i4.9076
Received: 13 March 2025 | Revised: 11 April 2025 | Accepted: 14 April 2025 | Published Online: 16 April 2025

Abstract

This study investigates the developmental trajectory and order of acquisition of Arabic-derived nominal forms—specifically agentive, instrumental, and locative nouns—among 54 Saudi Arabic-speaking children aged 4 to 10 years. Using a sentence completion task, children were prompted to derive novel noun forms from triliteral Form I Arabic verbs. Results revealed a clear developmental sequence in the acquisition of derivational morphology, with agentive nouns acquired first, followed by instrumental, and then locative nouns. Notably, the agentive pattern CaCCaC and the instrumental CaCCaCah were the most frequently produced, suggesting these serve as default templates for nominal derivation among young speakers. These patterns appear more accessible due to their high frequency, transparency, and productivity in spoken Arabic. Statistical analyses further confirmed that age significantly influenced performance, with older children demonstrating greater mastery and pattern distinction. The study highlights the cognitive and linguistic strategies employed by children in parsing Arabic’s root-and-pattern system and extending it to novel forms. Findings contribute to the understanding of morphological acquisition in Semitic languages and fill a gap in Arabic first language research, which has traditionally focused on inflectional rather than derivational morphology. This work provides theoretical insight, emphasizing the importance of exposure to frequent and semantically transparent patterns in early language development.

Keywords:

Saudi Arabic; Child Language Development; Derivational Morphology; Acquisition; Derived Nouns

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How to Cite

Assunitan , A., & Aljutaily, M. (2025). Unveiling the Morphological Acquisition and Development of Arabic Nominal Derivation in Early Childhood. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(4), 876–894. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i4.9076

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Vol. 7 , Iss. 4 (April 2025)

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Copyright © 2025 Anhar Assunitan , Mohammad Aljutaily

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