Government is a concept in Arabic grammatical theory, both traditional and modern, with a long history. For instance, Wright (1974:3.I.A.3, B.2) discusses functions of the cases under the rubric of verbal and nominal governance. The medieval Arab grammarians designated it by the terms ʾiʿmāl and ʿamal, together with the corollary role assignments ʿāmil ‘governor [operator]’ and maʿmūl ‘governed [operand]’ (Farghal 1986:7; Gaballa 1986:24; Haq 1998:61–63). In both traditions, the word designates the relationship holding between a verb or, secondarily,…