K-T-B

A full account of derivatives could be extensive, but some of them are these:

:kataba كَتَبَ or كتب "he wrote" (masculine)

:katabat كَتَبَت or كتبت "she wrote" (feminine)

:katabtu كَتَبْتُ or كتبت "I wrote" (f and m)

:kutiba كُتِبَ or كتب "it was written" (masculine)

:kutibat كُتِبَت or كتبت "it was written" (feminine)

:katabū كَتَبُوا or كتبوا "they wrote" (masculine)

:katabna كَتَبْنَ or كتبن "they wrote" (feminine)

:katabnā كَتَبْنَا or كتبنا "we wrote" (f and m)

:yaktub(u) يَكْتُب or يكتب "he writes" (masculine)

:taktub(u) تَكْتُب or تكتب "she writes" (feminine)

:naktub(u) نَكْتُب or نكتب "we write" (f and m)

:aktub(u) أَكْتُب or أكتب "I write" (f and m)

:yuktab(u) يُكْتَب or يكتب "being written" (masculine)

:tuktab(u) تُكتَب or تكتب "being written" (feminine)

:yaktubūn(a) يَكْتُبُونَ or يكتبون "they write" (masculine)

:yaktubna يَكْتُبْنَ or يكتبن "they write" (feminine)

:taktubna تَكْتُبْنَ or تكتبن "you write" (feminine)

:yaktubān(i) يَكْتُبَانِ or يكتبان "they both write" (masculine) (for 2 males)

:taktubān(i) تَكْتُبَانِ or تكتبان "they both write" (feminine) (for 2 females)

:kātaba كَاتَبَ or كاتب "he exchanged letters (with sb.)"

:yukātib(u) يُكَاتِبُ "he exchanges (with sb.)"

:yatakātabūn(a) يَتَكَاتَبُونَ or يتكاتبون "they write to each other" (masculine)

:iktataba اِكْتَتَبَ or اكتتب "he is registered" (intransitive) or "he contributed (a money quantity to sth.)" (ditransitive) (the first t is part of a particular verbal transfix, not part of the root)

:istaktaba اِسْتَكْتَبَ or استكتب "to cause to write (sth.)"

:kitāb كِتَاب or كتاب "book" (the hyphen shows end of stem before various case endings)

:kutub كُتُب or كتب "books" (plural)

:kutayyib كُتَيِّب or كتيب "booklet" (diminutive)

:kitābat كِتَابَة or كتابة "writing"

:kātib كاتِب or كاتب "writer" (masculine)

:kātibat كاتِبة or كاتبة "writer" (feminine)

:kātibūn(a) كاتِبونَ or كاتبون "writers" (masculine)

:kātibāt كاتِبات or كاتبات "writers" (feminine)

:kuttāb كُتاب or كتاب "writers" (broken plural)

:katabat كَتَبَة or كتبة "clerks" (broken plural)

:maktab مَكتَب or مكتب "desk" or "office"

:makātib مَكاتِب or مكاتب "desks" or "offices"

:maktabat مَكتَبة or مكتبة "library" or "bookshop"

:maktūb مَكتوب or مكتوب "written" (participle) or "postal letter" (noun)

:katībat كَتيبة or كتيبة "squadron" or "document"

:katā’ib كَتائِب or كتائب "squadrons" or "documents"

:iktitāb اِكتِتاب or اكتتاب "registration" or "contribution of funds"

:muktatib مُكتَتِب or مكتتب "subscriber"

:muktatab مكتتب or مكتاتب is "subscription"

:istiktāb اِستِكتاب or استكتاب "causing to write"

The same root is present in Hebrew:

:kāṯaḇti {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתבתי}} "I wrote"

:kāṯaḇtā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתבת}} "you (m) wrote"

:kāṯaḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתב}} "he wrote"

:kattāḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתב}} "reporter" (m)

:katteḇeṯ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתבת}} "reporter" (f)

:kattāḇā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתבה}} "article" (plural kattāḇōṯ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתבות}})

:miḵtāḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מכתב}} "postal letter" (plural miḵtāḇīm {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מכתבים}})

:miḵtāḇā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מכתבה}} "writing desk" (plural miḵtāḇōṯ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מכתבות}})

:kəṯōḇeṯ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתובת}} "address" (plural kəṯōḇōṯ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתובות}})

:kəṯāḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתב}} "handwriting"

:kāṯūḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתוב}} "written" (f kəṯūḇā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתובה}})

:hiḵtīḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|הכתיב}} "he dictated" (f hiḵtīḇā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|הכתיבה}})

:hiṯkattēḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|התכתב}} "he corresponded (f hiṯkattəḇā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|התכתבה}})

:niḵtaḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|נכתב}} "it was written" (m)

:niḵtəḇā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|נכתבה}} "it was written" (f)

:kəṯīḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתיב}} "spelling" (m)

:taḵtīḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|תכתיב}} "prescript" (m)

:məḵuttāḇ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מכותב}} "addressee" (meḵutteḇeṯ {{lang|he|rtl=yes|מכותבת}} f)

:kəṯubbā {{lang|he|rtl=yes|כתובה}} "ketubah (a Jewish marriage contract)" (f)

The Hebrew fricatives transcribed as "ḵ" and "ḇ" can also be transcribed in a number of other ways, such as "ch" and "v", which are pronounced {{IPAblink|χ}} and {{IPAblink|v}}, respectively. They are transliterated "ḵ" and "ḇ" on this page to retain the connection with the pure consonantal root k-t-b. Also in Modern Hebrew, there is no gemination. In Hebrew, the root is used with the meaning of 'writing' but not for the noun for 'book', which is sefer. To a lesser extent in Hebrew, the word "Katuv" as a noun refers to the Tanakh.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

A contrastive presentation of part of this can be as follows:

class="wikitable"
Semitological abbreviation	Hebrew name	Arabic name	Morphological category	Hebrew Form	Arabic form	Approximate translation
rowspan=5 | G verb stem	rowspan=5 |Pa‘al (or Qal)	rowspan=5 |fa‘ala {{lang|ar|فَعَلَ}} (Stem I)	3rd. masc. sing perfect	kataḇ {{lang|he|כתב}}	kataba {{lang|ar|كتب}}	"he wrote"
1st. plur. perfect	kataḇnu {{lang|he|כתבנו}}	katabnā {{lang|ar| كتبنا}}	"we wrote"
3rd. masc. sing. imperfect	yiḵtoḇ {{lang|he|יכתוב}}	yaktubu {{lang|ar|يكتب}}	"he writes, will write"
1st. plur. imperfect	niḵtoḇ {{lang|he|נכתוב}}	naktubu {{lang|ar|نكتب}}	"we write, will write"
masc. sing. active participle	koteḇ {{lang|he|כותב}}	kātib {{lang|ar|كاتب}}	"writer"
rowspan=2 | Š verb stem	rowspan=2 | {{Transliteration|he|Hip̄‘il}}	rowspan=2 |af‘ala {{lang|ar|أَفْعَلَ}} (Stem IV)	3rd. masc. sing perfect	hiḵtiḇ {{lang|he|הכתיב}}	aktaba {{lang|ar|أكتب}}	"he dictated"
3rd. masc. sing. imperfect	yaḵtiḇ {{lang|he|יכתיב}}	yuktibu {{lang|ar|يكتب}}	"he dictates, will dictate"
rowspan=2 | Št(D) verb stem	rowspan=2 |Hitpa‘‘el	rowspan=2 |istaf‘ala {{lang|ar|استَفْعَلَ}} (Stem X)	3rd. masc. sing perfect	hitkatteḇ {{lang|he|התכתב}}	istaktaba {{lang|ar|استكتب}}	"he corresponded" (Hebrew), "he asked (someone) to write (something), had a copy made" (Arabic)
3rd. masc. sing. imperfect	yitkatteḇ {{lang|he|יתכתב}}	yastaktibu {{lang|ar|يستكتب}}	(imperfect of above)
colspan=2 |Noun with m- prefix and original short vowels:	maf‘al {{lang|ar|مَفْعَل}}	singular	miḵtaḇ {{lang|he|מכתב}}	maktab {{lang|ar|مكتب}}	"letter" (Hebrew), "office" (Arabic)

In Maltese, the same root is present, and commonly used, similar to that in Arabic and Hebrew, such as {{lang|mt|ktibt}} (I wrote), {{lang|mt|ktieb}} (a book), {{lang|mt|kitba}} (writing), and {{lang|mt|kittieb}} (m. writer) amongst many more.

In modern Tigrinya and Amharic, this root survives only in the noun {{lang|ti-Latn|kitab}}, meaning "amulet", and the verb "to vaccinate", it used to be used widely but it is now seen as an archaic form. Ethiopic-derived languages like these usually use a different root (ṣ-ḥ-f) {{lang|ar|ص-ح-ف}} for the verb "to write" (this root exists in Arabic and is used to form words with a close meaning to "writing", such as {{lang|ar-Latn|ṣaḥāfa}} "journalism", and {{lang|ar-Latn|ṣaḥīfa}} "newspaper" or "parchment").

In the Persian language family (Farsi, Dari, Tajik, etc.) the borrowed word kitab is the most commonly used word for "book". This word has also made its way into the Malay language as "kitab", and into Swahili as "kitabu", both meaning book.

{{reflist}}

{{Semitic roots}}

Category:Triconsonantal roots