Editing Semitic languages (section)

===Verb aspect and tense===
{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin: 1em;"
|+ Paradigm of a regular Classical Arabic verb:<br />Form I ''{{transliteration|ar|kataba (yaktubu)}}'' "to write"
|-
! colspan="2"|
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center" | Past
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center" | Present<br />[[Indicative]]
|-
! colspan="6" | Singular
|-
! colspan="2"| 1st
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-tu}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْتُ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|DIN|ʼa-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-u}}'''
| {{lang|ar|أَكْتُبُ}}
|-
! rowspan="2"| 2nd
! <small>masculine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-ta}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْتَ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ta-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-u}}'''
| {{lang|ar| تَكْتُبُ}}
|-
! <small>feminine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-ti}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْتِ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ta-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-īna}}'''
| {{lang|ar|تَكْتُبِينَ}}
|-
! rowspan="2"| 3rd
! <small>masculine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-a}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبَ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ya-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-u}}'''
| {{lang|ar|يَكْتُبُ}}
|-
! <small>feminine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-at}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبَتْ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ta-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-u}}'''
| {{lang|ar|تَكْتُبُ}}
|-
! colspan="6" | Dual
|-
! 2nd
! <small>masculine <br>& feminine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-tumā}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْتُمَا}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ta-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-āni}}'''
| {{lang|ar|تَكْتُبَانِ}}
|-
! rowspan="2"| 3rd
! <small>masculine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-ā}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبَا}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ya-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-āni}}'''
| {{lang|ar|يَكْتُبَانِ}}
|-
! <small>feminine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-atā}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبَتَا}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ta-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-āni}}'''
| {{lang|ar|تَكْتُبَانِ}}
|-
! colspan="6" | Plural
|-
! colspan="2"| 1st
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-nā}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْنَا}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|na-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-u}}'''
| {{lang|ar|نَكْتُبُ}}
|-
! rowspan="2"| 2nd
! <small>masculine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-tum}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْتُمْ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ta-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-ūna}}'''
| {{lang|ar|تَكْتُبُونَ}}
|-
! <small>feminine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-tunna}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْتُنَّ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ta-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-na}}'''
| {{lang|ar|تَكْتُبْنَ}}
|-
! rowspan="2"| 3rd
! <small>masculine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-ū}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبُوا}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ya-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-ūna}}'''
| {{lang|ar|يَكْتُبُونَ}}
|-
! <small>feminine</small>
| katab'''{{transliteration|ar|-na}}'''
| {{lang|ar|كَتَبْنَ}}
| '''{{transliteration|ar|ya-}}'''ktub'''{{transliteration|ar|-na}}'''
| {{lang|ar|يَكْتُبْنَ}}
|-
|}

All Semitic languages show two quite distinct styles of morphology used for conjugating verbs. ''Suffix conjugations'' take suffixes indicating the person, number and gender of the subject, which bear some resemblance to the pronominal suffixes used to indicate direct objects on verbs ("I saw '''him'''") and possession on nouns ("'''his''' dog"). So-called ''prefix conjugations'' actually takes both prefixes and suffixes, with the prefixes primarily indicating person (and sometimes number or gender), while the suffixes (which are completely different from those used in the suffix conjugation) indicate number and gender whenever the prefix does not mark this. The prefix conjugation is noted for a particular pattern of ''{{IPA|ʔ- t- y- n-}}'' prefixes where (1) a ''t-'' prefix is used in the singular to mark the second person and third-person feminine, while a ''y-'' prefix marks the third-person masculine; and (2) identical words are used for second-person masculine and third-person feminine singular. The prefix conjugation is extremely old, with clear analogues in nearly all the families of [[Afroasiatic languages]] (i.e. at least 10,000 years old). The table on the right shows examples of the prefix and suffix conjugations in Classical Arabic, which has forms that are close to Proto-Semitic.

In Proto-Semitic, as still largely reflected in East Semitic, prefix conjugations are used both for the past and the non-past, with different vocalizations. Cf. Akkadian ''niprus'' "we decided" (preterite), ''niptaras'' "we have decided" (perfect), ''niparras'' "we decide" (non-past or imperfect), vs. suffix-conjugated ''parsānu'' "we are/were/will be deciding" (stative). Some of these features, e.g. [[gemination]] indicating the non-past/imperfect, are generally attributed to Afroasiatic. Proto-Semitic had an additional form, the [[jussive]], which was distinguished from the preterite only by the position of stress: the jussive had final stress while the preterite had non-final (retracted) stress.{{sfn|Hetzron|Kaye|Zuckermann|2018|p=568}}

The West Semitic languages significantly reshaped the system. The most substantial changes occurred in the [[Central Semitic languages]] (the ancestors of modern Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic). Essentially, the old prefix-conjugated jussive or preterite became a new non-past (or imperfect), while the stative became a new past (or perfect), and the old prefix-conjugated non-past (or imperfect) with gemination was discarded. New suffixes were used to mark different moods in the non-past, e.g. Classical Arabic ''-u'' (indicative), ''-a'' (subjunctive), vs no suffix (jussive). It is not generally agreed whether the systems of the various Semitic languages are better interpreted in terms of tense, i.e. past vs. non-past, or aspect, i.e. perfect vs. imperfect. A special feature in classical Hebrew is the [[waw-consecutive]], prefixing a verb form with the letter [[Waw (letter)|waw]] in order to change its [[grammatical tense|tense]] or [[Lexical aspect|aspect]]. The [[South Semitic languages]] show a system somewhere between the East and Central Semitic languages.

Later languages show further developments. In the modern [[varieties of Arabic]], for example, the old mood suffixes were dropped, and new mood prefixes developed (e.g. ''bi-'' for indicative vs. no prefix for subjunctive in many varieties). In the extreme case of Neo-Aramaic, the verb conjugations have been entirely reworked under Iranian influence.