Lesson 54 – الدَّرْسُ الرَّابِعُ وَالْخَمْسُونَ
Sound Feminine Plural - جَمْعُ المُؤَنَّث السَّالِم
Words which have a sound feminine plural form –الكَلِمَاتُ الَّتِي تُجْمَعُ جَمْعَ مُؤَنَّثٍ سَالِمٍ
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- In this part, we will learn that types of Arabic words that have a sound feminine plural form. It is not true that only the words ending with " ة " can have a sound feminine plural. There are several types that can have a sound feminine plural. These types have something in
|
/ŝināξatun/ | /Subburatun/ | /sharikatun/ | Singular |
| Industry | blackboard | Company | Translation (if applicable) |
| /ŝināξātun/ | /Sabburâtun/ | /sharikātun/ | Plural |
| Name of inanimate thing | Name of inanimate thing
| Name of inanimate thing | Type |
| /ĵamīlatun/ | /ħamzatu/
| /ξā’ishatu/ | Singular |
| beautiful | --- | --- | Translation (if applicable) |
| /ĵamīlātun/ | /ħamzawātun/
| /ξa’ishātun/ | Plural |
| Adjective | Proper noun of a male | Proper noun of a female | Type |
- common; they indicate feminine either in terms of the case-ending or the meaning. We will explain these types in detail in this section.
1-A singular word ending with " ة "Study the following examples:
2-Any noun ending with " ة " can be made sound feminine plural and indicates a feminine animate such as (عائشَة) or a masculine animate such as حَمْزَة; or indicates inanimate thing such as: صِناعةٌ, سُبوُّرَةٌ, شَرِكَةٌ; or refers to an adjective such as: طَوِيلَةٌ, كَبِيرَةٌ, جَمِيلَةٌ.
- NB: There is an important remark that has to do with lesson 33 on the broken plural. There are many Arabic words that we express more with the Broken Plural than the sound feminine plural. Study the following examples of words ending with " ة " and have both a broken plural as well as a sound feminine plural.
| /madīnatun/ | /qaryatun/ | /ħaqībatun/ | Singular |
| Town | Village | Bag | Translation |
| /madīnātun/ | /qaryātun/ | /ħaqibātun/ | Sound feminine plural |
| /mudunun/ | /quran/ | /ħaqâ’ibu/ | Broken plural |
| /ĵannatun/ | /ħadīqatun/ | /madrasatun/ | Singular |
| Paradise | Garden | School | Translation |
| /ĵannātun/ | /ħadiqâtun/ | /madrasātun/ | Sound feminine plural |
| /ĵinānun/
| /ħadā’iqu/ | /madārisu/ | Broken plural |
- This way, a word can have more than one plural form, but one of them is usually used more frequently than the other. In Arabic, the broken plural is most frequently used if applicable. For example, the sound feminine plural of the word مَدْرَسَةٌ is مَدْرساتٌ while its broken plural is مَدَارِسُ. The latter is most frequently used, and this applies to other words.
- Female proper names that do not end with " ة ", as in the
following words:
| /ħanānu/ | /Hindu/ | /Suξādu/ | /Zaynabu/ | Singular |
| /ħananātun/ | /Hindātun/ | /Suξādātun/ | /Zaynabātun/ | Plural |
- All the above mentioned nouns are real feminine proper nouns, as we cannot find a man called “Zaynab” or “Hind”. For this reason, all these nouns have sound feminine plural through adding the "-ات" suffix to the singular form as shown in the table above.
1-The words ending with the long feminine alif "اء " or the feminine alif maqŝuura " ـَى" . Study the following examples:
| Picture | Sentence with the plural | Translation | Sentence with the singular |
|
| العَذْراواتُ هُنَّ اللائِي لم يُنْكَحْنَ بَعْدُ /al-ξadhrâwātu hunna al-lā’ī lam yunkaħna baξdu/ | The virgin is the one who has never had sex. | العَذْراء هِي التي لم تُنْكَحْ بَعْدُ /al-ξadhrâ’u hiya al-latī lam tunkaħ baξdu/ |
|
| خَلَقَ الله السَّماواتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ /khalaqa Allâhu as-samāwāti bi-ghayri amadin/ | Allah (God) created the heavens without any pillars. | خَلَقَ الله السَّماءَ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ /khalaqa Allāhu as-samā’a bi-ghayri amadin/ |
|
| يُفَضِّلُ الشَّبابُ الزَّوَاجَ بالبِنْاتِ الشَّقْرَاواتِ /yufađđilu ash-shabābu az-zawāĵa bil-banāti ash-shaqrâwāti/ | Youth prefer to marry blonde girls. | يُفَضِّلُ الشَّبابُ الزَّوَاجَ بالبِنْتِ الشقراءِ /yufađđilu ash-shabābu az-zawāĵa bil-binti ash-shaqrâ’i/ |
|
| البَنَاتُ الكُبْرَيَات يَعْرِفْنَ أَكْثَر مِن البَنَاتِ الصُّغْرَيات . /al-banātu al-kubrayātu yaξrifna akthara min al-banāti al-ŝughrayāti/ | The elder girl knows more than the younger one. | البِنْتُ الكُبْرَى تَعْرِفُ أَكْثَر مِن البنتِ الصُّغْرَى /al-bintu al-kubrā taξrifu akthar min al-binti al-ŝughrâ/ |
|
| يَجِبُ على النِّسَاءِ الحُبْلَيَات أن يَسْتَرِحْنَ /yaĵibu ξalā an-nisā’i al-ħublayāti an yastariħna/ | The pregnant woman should take rest. | يَجِبُ على المَرْأةِ الحُبْلَى أن تَسْتَرِيحَ /yaĵibu ξalā al-mar’ati al-ħublā an tastarīħa/ |
- In the examples above, we notice that feminine sing in the female words is the long alif " اء " not the " ة ". The plural of these words also end with the " ات " suffix, i.e. it is a sound feminine plural. Study the following examples:
| /ħublā/ | /ŝughrâ/
| /kubrâ/ | Singular |
| Pregnant | Younger | Elder | Translation |
| /ħublayātun/ | /ŝughrayātun/ | kubrayātun | Plural |
| /ashaqrâ'u/ | /samā'un/ | /ξadhrâ’u/ | Singular |
| Blonde | Sky | Virgin | Translation |
| /shaqrâwātun/ | /samawātun/ | /ξadhrâwātun/ | Plural |