Kaf-Lam-Mim
3 words from this root family
Kaf-Lam-Mim (ك-ل-م) has 3 words in the Fahm dictionary: yatakallamu (he speaks / he talks), kalimah (word), takallama (to speak / to talk).
In the Quran, words built on this root occur 75 times in 71 verses, across 32 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:37. The form كَلِمَةٌ (word) accounts for 42 of them.
Themes: Verbs, Basics, Quranic, Communication
| Word | Meaning | Type | In the Quran | Taught in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
يَتَكَلَّمُ yatakallamu | he speaks / he talks | verb, A1 | 4× | Essential Verbs |
كَلِمَةٌ kalimah | word | noun, B1 | 42× | Advanced Quranic Vocabulary |
تَكَلَّمَ takallama | to speak / to talk | verb, A1 | Action Verbs - Movement & Travel |
“In the Quran” counts every occurrence of that dictionary form, in any of its senses.
فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَـٰتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُThen Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful.
۞ أَفَتَطْمَعُونَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا۟ لَكُمْ وَقَدْ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ كَلَـٰمَ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُۥ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَHave ye any hope that they will be true to you when a party of them used to listen to the word of Allah, then used to change it, after they had understood it, knowingly?
يَوْمَ يَأْتِ لَا تَكَلَّمُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ فَمِنْهُمْ شَقِىٌّ وَسَعِيدٌOn the day when it cometh no soul will speak except by His permission; some among them will be wretched, (others) glad.
Arabic text: Tanzil Quran Text (Uthmani 1.1), CC BY 3.0, tanzil.net. English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, via Project Gutenberg. Counts and verse choice: Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology data (corpus.quran.com).
Form V verb. Root k-l-m gives: kalima (word), kalām (speech), mukālama (conversation).
Feminine noun. Plural: كَلِمَاتٌ (kalimāt). Related: كَلَامٌ (speech), تَكَلَّمَ (to speak), مُتَكَلِّمٌ (speaker). God's kalimāt are infinite: 'If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord...' (18:109).
God's 'word' in the Quran can mean His decree (kun = 'Be'), His scripture, or Jesus who is called 'a word from Him' (kalimatun minhu). The kalimah also refers to the shahādah.
Form V verb (تَفَعَّلَ). Past: takallama, Present: yatakallamu. Takes bi- or ma'a for 'speak with'.