Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
مَهْمُوز
mahmuz
Hamzated root
Sarf · morphologyRoot soundness (sihha/i'lal)core term2,956+ in the Qur'an
In one line
A root with a hamza among its radicals — أَخَذَ, سَأَلَ, قَرَأَ — sound in behaviour, spiky in spelling.
Classical definition
المَهْمُوزُ مَا كَانَ أَحَدُ أُصُولِهِ هَمْزَةً، فَاءً أَوْ عَيْنًا أَوْ لَامًا.
“The mahmuz is that one of whose radicals is a hamza — as its first, middle or last letter.”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
أَحَدُ أُصُولِهِone of its radicals
فَاءً أَوْ عَيْنًا أَوْ لَامًاfirst, middle or last
Understand it
The hamza is a full consonant, so mahmuz verbs conjugate essentially like salim ones — the challenge is orthographic, since the hamza changes its seat (ا، ؤ، ئ، ء) with the surrounding vowels. Position gives the sub-names: mahmuz al-fa (أَخَذَ), al-'ayn (سَأَلَ), al-lam (قَرَأَ). A few common verbs soften the hamza in the amr: خُذْ، كُلْ، مُرْ.
How to spot it
Recognition test
Find a hamza among the three radicals: mahmuz — then note its position, and treat the verb as sound apart from spelling and the famous clipped commands.
In the Qur'an
سَأَلَ سَآئِلٌۢ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ
Al-Ma'arij 70:1 — “A questioner asked about an impending punishment”
سأل — the hamza is the middle radical: mahmuz al-'ayn, conjugating like a sound verb.
Forms it takes
مهموز الفاءمهموز اللاممهموز العين
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