ABSTRACT
ARABIC and its sister Semitic languages make only limited use of reclassification (i.e., conversion) compared to Indo-European languages. Semitic languages characteristically establish a firm, even exclusive, relationship between formal and semantic criteria, i.e., between word pattern and meaning. As a derivational process whereby an item is adapted or converted to a new word class (i.e., without change), reclassification is definitely contrary to the spirit of the Semitic languages, which have devised a derivational System based on a postulated root realized in different word patterns usually indicative of meaning. It is unimaginable that any Semitic language should have a reclassification scheme as elaborate as that of English, whereby reclassification into nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and change of secondary word class in these categories, are widely utilized for extending the lexical resources of the language.
