FormVoiceSenseنُحْمَىPassive imperfect, first-person pluralWe are protectedنَحْمِيActive imperfect, first-person pluralWe protect
Both derive from the root Ḥ-M-Y. The first casts the group as recipients of protection; the second makes it protectors of others. A small change in vocalisation reverses the grammatical relationship and sharpens the rhetorical contrast.
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ʿAmr ibn Kulthūm: Ancestral Honour, Oaths and Battle Formations (verses 64–74)
FormVoiceSenseنُحْمَىPassive imperfect, first-person pluralWe are protectedنَحْمِيActive imperfect, first-person pluralWe protect
Both derive from the root Ḥ-M-Y. The first casts the group as recipients of protection; the second makes it protectors of others. A small change in vocalisation reverses the grammatical relationship and sharpens the rhetorical contrast.