Introduction

This chapter examines the relationship of transitivity and causation to the process of passivization in Arabic and describes the syntactic nature of Arabic passive constructions. Classical Arabic is the revered language of the Holy Koran, and the language of pre-lslamic poetry and post-Islamic poetry, literature, philosophy, theology, mathematics and sciences. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), also known as Modern Written Arabic and Modern Literary Arabic, is the uniform variety of Arabic which is used all over the Arabic speaking world as the usual medium of written communication in books, periodicals, journals, magazines, newspapers, signs, business and personal letters. MSA is also used as the medium of oral communication on the stage, in radio and television broadcasts, in formal speeches, public and university lectures, learned debates, conferences, in some songs, and in general on occasions accompanied by some degree of formality and solemnity.