whether one is the original and the other its derivative. In this case, derivation denotes a different kind of relationship between the two expressions. Derivation may also mean that one precedes the other and is its source, just as a father is the source of his child.

According to the first meaning, whether one says that the verb is derived from the verbal noun or that the verbal noun is derived from the verb, both positions—that of the Basrans and that of the Kufans—are correct. According to the second meaning, however, if logical order is intended, the Basrans’ position is more correct, since the verbal noun denotes only the action, whereas the verb denotes both the action and time. If the order of actual existence is intended—meaning that one came into existence before the other—there is no fixed rule: speakers may have used the verb before the verbal noun, or the verbal noun before the verb. They have also used verbs without verbal nouns, such as budd, and verbal nouns without verbs, such as “wayh” (alas) and “wayl” (woe).

They may also predominantly use a verb together with the verbal noun belonging to another verb, as in the case of hubb (love). Its usual verb is the four-letter form: ahabba, yuhibbu (he loved, he loves), while its usual verbal noun is hubb rather than ihbāb. For the active participle, they say muhibb (one who loves), not hābb. For the passive participle, they say mahbūb (beloved), and they use muhibb only as the active participle. By morphological analogy, one would expect ahabbahu ihbāban (he loved him), just as one says a‘lamahu i‘lāman (he informed him).