A Syntactic-Semantic Study of Objects in Arabic

It is apparent that different clausal functions are assigned to the so-called 'Almafa'eel’ (objects) in Arabic. This study is an attempt at exploring the syntactic and semantic properties of objects in Arabic, providing certain verification features which can characterise elements functioning as object. In addition, two relevant concepts are considered here, namely transitivity and passivisation. It is hypothesised that most of the so-called objects in Arabic function as adverbials, and that nothing brings them to common ground, but their morphological ending. This is why they are subsumed under the heading 'objects'.The study makes the best use of Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik’s(1972, 1985) functional account of clause elements in conducting a qualitative analysisof the syntactic and semantic properties of objects in Arabic. It involves a brief description of objects as proposed by the traditional and modern Arab grammarians. Furthermore, a number of significant arguments and assumptions vital for understanding the nature of objects are presented here. Moreover, the different clausal functions of Arabic object are verified by certain syntactic and semantic features with the aim of unfolding the grammatical philosophy and the logic adopted in the grammar of Arabic. The most prominent conclusion arrived is that most of the so-called objects in Arabic have different adverbials functions, but all of them have in common their ending in the same case marker, hence their grouping under the term 'objects'. These two points validate the hypotheses of the study.