Bilateralism and Its Impact on Arabic Morphology and Lexicography: A Vernacularist Reading of Anstās Mārī Al-Karmilī

Abstract

This paper offers a critical re-examination of the Bilateralism theory (al-iṯnāʾiyya al-ṣarfiyya) as first articulated by Father Anastās Mārī al-Karmilī (1866 - 1947) and redefined by Dr. Nasser Hajjaj within the framework of Vernacularism. Bilateralism posits that Arabic, like its Semitic counterparts, evolved primarily from bi-radical etymons rather than the later tri-radical structures canonized by medieval Arab grammarians. While al-Karmilī approached this theory as both a comparative philologist and a lexicographer - drawing connections between Arabic and Indo-European linguistic patterns - Dr. Hajjaj extends its application to resolve diglossic tensions in Arabic morphology. Specifically, Hajjaj reintroduces the authentic bi-radical morphological templates فَعْ  and فَعَّ  for words such as مَل / مَلّ  (“to tire” / “tired”), rejecting the prescriptive and historically artificial trilateral form ملل  (faʿala → malala) imposed in classical lexicography.

Through an analysis of historical dictionaries from Kitāb al-ʿAyn to Lisān al-ʿArab, alongside modern lexicographical works, this study demonstrates how the trilateral model became an entrenched orthodoxy despite its incompatibility with many vernaculars and even classical usage forms. By reinstating abandoned bi-radical roots, the paper proposes a morphological and lexicographic reform that bridges the gap between ʿArabī as a living tongue and the grammatized form of Arabic, thereby mitigating structural diglossia. This approach not only revives al-Karmilī’s underexplored insights but also positions Bilateralism as a viable methodology for modern Arabic lexicography, pedagogy, and computational linguistics.