K-T-B ( he, כ-ת-ב ; ar, ك-ت-ب ) is a

triconsonantal The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or " radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vow ...

root of a number of Semitic words, typically those having to do with writing. The words for "office", "writer" and "record" all reflect this root. Most notably, the Arabic word ''kitab'' ("book") is also used in a number of Semitic and

Indo-Iranian languages The Indo-Iranian languages (also Indo-Iranic languages or Aryan languages) constitute the largest and southeasternmost extant branch of the Indo-European language family (with over 400 languages), predominantly spoken in the geographical subre ...

, as well as Turkish. One cultural example would be the

Mishnaic The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

expression ''Katuv'' or the cognate Arabic expression transliterated as ''Maktoub'', which may be translated as "it is written". Another would be the ''

Koutoubia The Kutubiyya Mosque ( ; Berber: ⵜⵉⵎⵣⴳⵉⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵍⴽⵓⵜⵓⴱⵉⵢⵢⴰ, french: Mosquée Koutoubia) or Koutoubia Mosque is the largest mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. The mosque's name is also variably rendered as Jami' al-Ku ...

'' mosque of

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrake ...

, whose name is taken from the librarians and booksellers who once occupied that area.

Arabic derivatives

A full account of derivatives could be extensive, but some of them are these: :''kataba'' كَتَبَ or كتب "he wrote" (masculine) :''katabat'' كَتَبَت or كتبت "she wrote" (feminine) :''katabtu'' كَتَبْتُ or كتبت "I wrote" (f and m) :''kutiba'' كُتِبَ or كتب "it was written" (masculine) :''kutibat'' كُتِبَت or كتبت "it was written" (feminine) :''katabū'' كَتَبُوا or كتبوا "they wrote" (masculine) :''katabna'' كَتَبْنَ or كتبن "they wrote" (feminine) :''katabnā'' كَتَبْنَا or كتبنا "we wrote" (f and m) :''yaktub(u)'' يَكْتُب or يكتب "he writes" (masculine) :''taktub(u)'' تَكْتُب or تكتب "she writes" (feminine) :''naktub(u)'' نَكْتُب or نكتب "we write" (f and m) :''aktub(u)'' أَكْتُب or أكتب "I write" (f and m) :''yuktab(u)'' يُكْتَب or يكتب "being written" (masculine) :''tuktab(u)'' تُكتَب or تكتب "being written" (feminine) :''yaktubūn(a)'' يَكْتُبُونَ or يكتبون "they write" (masculine) :''yaktubna'' يَكْتُبْنَ or يكتبن "they write" (feminine) :''taktubna'' تَكْتُبْنَ or تكتبن "you write" (feminine) :''yaktubān(i)'' يَكْتُبَانِ or يكتبان "they both write" (masculine) (for 2 males) :''taktubān(i)'' تَكْتُبَانِ or تكتبان "they both write" (feminine) (for 2 females) :''kātaba'' كَاتَبَ or كاتب "he exchanged letters (with sb.)" :''yukātib(u)'' يُكَاتِبُ "he exchanges (with sb.)" :''yatakātabūn(a)'' يَتَكَاتَبُونَ or يتكاتبون "they write to each other" (masculine) :''iktataba'' اِكْتَتَبَ or اكتتب "he is registered" (intransitive) or "he contributed (a money quantity to sth.)" (ditransitive) (the first t is part of a particular verbal

transfix In linguistic morphology, a transfix is a discontinuous affix which is inserted into a word root, as in root-and-pattern systems of morphology, like those of many Semitic languages. A discontinuous affix is an affix whose phonetic components a ...

, not part of the root) :''istaktaba'' اِسْتَكْتَبَ or استكتب "to cause to write (sth.)" :''kitāb'' كِتَاب or كتاب "book" (the hyphen shows end of stem before various case endings) :''kutub'' كُتُب or كتب "books" (plural) :''kutayyib'' كُتَيِّب or كتيب "booklet" (diminutive) :''kitābat'' كِتَابَة or كتابة "writing" :''kātib'' كاتِب or كاتب "writer" (masculine) :''kātibat'' كاتِبة or كاتبة "writer" (feminine) :''kātibūn(a)'' كاتِبونَ or كاتبون "writers" (masculine) :''kātibāt'' كاتِبات or كاتبات "writers" (feminine) :''kuttāb'' كُتاب or كتاب "writers" (broken plural) :''katabat'' كَتَبَة or كتبة "clerks" (broken plural) :''maktab'' مَكتَب or مكتب "desk" or "office" :''makātib'' مَكاتِب or مكاتب "desks" or "offices" :''maktabat'' مَكتَبة or مكتبة "library" or "bookshop" :''maktūb'' مَكتوب or مكتوب "written" (participle) or "postal letter" (noun) :''katībat'' كَتيبة or كتيبة "squadron" or "document" :''katā’ib'' كَتائِب or كتائب "squadrons" or "documents" :''iktitāb'' اِكتِتاب or اكتتاب "registration" or "contribution of funds" :''muktatib'' مُكتَتِب or مكتتب "subscriber" :''muktatab'' مكتتب or مكتاتب is "subscription" :''istiktāb'' اِستِكتاب or استكتاب "causing to write"

Hebrew derivatives

The same root is present in Hebrew: :''kāṯaḇti'' כתבתי "I wrote" :''kāṯaḇtā'' כתבת "you (''m'') wrote" :''kāṯaḇ'' כתב "he wrote" :''kattāḇ'' כתב "reporter" (''m'') :''katteḇeṯ'' כתבת "reporter" (''f'') :''kattāḇā'' כתבה "article" (plural ''kattāḇōṯ'' כתבות) :''miḵtāḇ'' מכתב "postal letter" (plural ''miḵtāḇīm'' מכתבים) :''miḵtāḇā'' מכתבה "writing desk" (plural ''miḵtāḇōṯ'' מכתבות) :''kəṯōḇeṯ'' כתובת "address" (plural ''kəṯōḇōṯ'' כתובות) :''kəṯāḇ'' כתב "handwriting" :''kāṯūḇ'' כתוב "written" (''f'' ''kəṯūḇā'' כתובה) :''hiḵtīḇ'' הכתיב "he dictated" (''f'' ''hiḵtīḇā'' הכתיבה) :''hiṯkattēḇ'' התכתב "he corresponded (''f'' ''hiṯkattəḇā'' התכתבה) :''niḵtaḇ'' נכתב "it was written" (''m'') :''niḵtəḇā'' נכתבה "it was written" (''f'') :''kəṯīḇ'' כתיב "spelling" (''m'') :''taḵtīḇ'' תכתיב "prescript" (''m'') :''məḵuttāḇ'' מכותב "addressee" (''meḵutteḇeṯ'' מכותבת ''f'') :''kəṯubbā'' כתובה "ketubah (a Jewish marriage contract)" (''f'') The Hebrew

fricatives A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in ...

transcribed as "ḵ" and "ḇ" can also be transcribed in a number of other ways, such as "ch" and "v", which are pronounced and , respectively. They are transliterated "ḵ" and "ḇ" on this page to retain the connection with the pure consonantal root k-t-b. Also notice that in Modern Hebrew, there is no

gemination In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from ''gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from ...

. In Hebrew, the root is used with the meaning of 'writing' but not for the noun for 'book', which is ''sefer''. To a lesser extent in Hebrew, the word "Katuv" as a noun refers to the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Maltese, the same root is present, and commonly used, similar to that in Arabic and Hebrew, such as ''ktibt'' (I wrote), ''ktieb'' (a book), ''kitba'' (writing), and ''kittieb'' (''m.'' writer) amongst many more. In modern Tigrinya and Amharic, this root survives only in the noun ''kitab'', meaning "amulet", and the verb "to vaccinate", it used to be used widely but it is now seen as an Archaic form. Ethiopic-derived languages usually use a different root (ṣ-ḥ-f) ص-ح-ف for the verb "to write" (this root exists in Arabic and is used to form words with a close meaning to "writing", such as ''ṣaḥāfa'' "journalism", and ''ṣaḥīfa'' "newspaper" or "parchment"). In the Persian language family (Farsi, Dari, Tajik, etc.) the borrowed word Kitab is the most commonly used word for "book". {{Semitic roots Triconsonantal roots