Lesson 55 – الدَّرْسُ الخامِسُ وَالْخَمْسُونَ
The dual - الْمُثَنَّى
The omission of the Nuun of the dual noun – حَذْف نُون الْمُثَنَّى
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- We learnt earlier that the Arabic dual noun ends always with:
- Alif and Nuun (انِ /āni/) e.g.:كِتابان، قَلَمَان، فَصْلانِ، سَيَّارتانِ
- or Yā’ and Nuun (يْنِ /ayni/) e.g.:كِتابَيْن، قَلَمَيْن، فَصْلَيْنِ، سَيَّارتَيْنِ - We learnt also that the grammatical sign for the nominative dual is the Alif, and the sign of the accusative and genitive dual is the Yā’ so the Nuun is not a part of the grammatical sign, this Nuun can be omitted without any change of the meaning, now we will learn In-Shā’-Allâh when this Nuun of the dual is omitted.
- The Nuun is omitted in the case of annexation (الإضافة al iđâfah/), that we studied before in lesson 10, and we will now remind you about it:
The annexation structure (المُرَكَّب الإضافِي) consists of two parts, e.g. (كِتَابُ الطَّالِبِ) meaning the book of the student. This structure is compound of two parts: - The first is the annexing (possessed / belonging to) noun (الْمُضَاف /al muđâf) which is in the previous example the word (كِتابُ),
- The second is the annexed (possessor / possessing) noun (المُضاف إليه /al muđâf ilaihi/) which is the word (الطَّالِبِ).
- If the dual noun falls in the first place of the Iđâfah, i.e. as a Muđâf (owner / possessor), the final Nuun has to be omitted from it e.g.: (كِتابا الطَّالِبِ).
- But if it falls in the second place, i.e. Muđâf ilaihi, the Nuun can’t be omitted but it will be in this case genitive with letter Yā’ before that Nuun e.g.:(كِتابُ الطَّالِبَيْنِ)
- Here are some examples concerning the omission of the Nuun of the dual in the case of annexation:
| After annexation | Before annexation | ||
| English | Arabic | English | Arabic |
| These are the two books of the lecture | /hādhāni kitābā al qirâ’ah/ | These are two books | /hādhāni kitābāni/ |
| The two bags of my brother are new | /ħaqībatā akhī ĵadīdatāni/ | The two bags are new | /al ħaqībatāni ĵadīdatāni/ |
| The two pens of the teacher are expensive | /qalamā al ustādhi ghâliāni/ | The two pens are expensive | /al qalamāni ghâliāni/ |
| The teacher verified the two notebooks of the student | صَحَّحَ الأُسْتَاذُ كُرَّاسَتَي الطَّالِبِ /ŝaħħaħa al ustādhu kurrâsatay aŧŧâlibi/ | The teacher verified the two notebooks | صَحَّحَ الأُسْتَاذُ الكُرَّاسَتَيْنِ /ŝaħħaħa al ustādhu al kurrâsatayni/ |
| The carpenter mended the two doors of the room | أَصْلَحَ النَّجَّارُ باَبَيْ الحُجْرَةِ /aŝlaħa an-naĵĵāru bābay al huĵrati/
| The carpenter mended the two doors | أَصْلَحَ النَّجَّارُ الباَبَيْنِ /aŝlaħa an-naĵĵāru al bābayni/ |
| The student brought out the two grammar books | أخْرَجَ الطَّالِبُ كِتَابَي القَوَاعِدِ /akhraĵa aŧŧâlibu Kittabay al qawāξidi/ | The student brought out the two books | أخْرَجَ الطَّالِبُ الكِتَابَيْنِ /akhraĵa aŧŧâlibu al kitābayni/ |
- You may notice now that the Nuun can be omitted only if it is in the Iđâfah structure, when it occupies the position of the annexing noun (المُضاف /al muđâf).