أخذ

[Anne58]

Hello,

I came across this in a children's book I'm learning to read and want to be sure I have the correct meaning for أخذ

I'm more familiar with it meaning to gather or take but in this sentence it means to prepare?

وأخذت تبكي وتبكي

(She prepares to cry and cry)

Thanks شكراً

 

[AndyRoo]

It means she started to cry

 

[rayloom]

It means "she started crying and crying".
There are multiple verbs in Arabic which can be used to imply a start of something, They're called أفعال الشروع and أخذ is one of them.
Other verbs: بدأ - شرع - أخذ - جعل - طفِق - أنشأ - علِق
The forms in red are most common. بدأ can be used in all contexts, but that's not the case for the rest, and that's because there are some minor nuances in the meaning of each word.

 

[zj73]

However, أخذ only acquired this meaning in modern Arabic, right? This usage is not classical.

 

[Romeel]

وكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ القُرَى وِهِي ظالِمَةٌ

 

[𐎛𐎁𐎗𐎅𐎎1]

وكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ القُرَى وِهِي ظالِمَةٌ

It doesn't mean to start here does it?

 

[Mahaodeh]

However, أخذ only acquired this meaning in modern Arabic, right? This usage is not classical.

I it is classical. It’s one of أفعال الشروع when it has this meaning.

It doesn't mean to start here does it?

No, it is not.

 

[Ali Smith]

Is أَخَذَ actually attested as فعل شروع in classical Arabic? I've never come across it in the Qur'an or hadith.

 

[Abbe]

وما وضع للدلالة على الشروع فيه، وهو كثير، ومنه: أنشأ، وطفق، وجعل، وعلق، وأخذ.

Ibn Hishams commentary on the Alfiyya

ص290 - كتاب أوضح المسالك إلى ألفية ابن مالك - باب أفعال المقاربة - المكتبة الشاملة

 

[Mahaodeh]

I've never come across it in the Qur'an or hadith.

Quran and Hadith are not the only sources of Classical Arabic.