Plurals...
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Plural’s are words which imply a meaning of ‘more than two’ (according to the arabic language.)
We will discuss different ways in which plurals can be recognised in the Arabic language, insha’ Allah.
Sound Plurals (which Do Not alter the original 3Letter word):
1a – OON and EEN – male plural:
Attaching
these to the end of another word will make
that word [male*]Plural.
So
for example, if there are alot of Muslims, in the arabic language it
would be;
MuSlimoon/MuSlimeen
– many whoSubmit
[to Allah].
MuHsinoon/MuHsineen
– many whopossess Attributes
of Goodness/Beauty.
MuShrikoon/MuShrikeen
– many whopossess the Attribute ofAssociating
something (with something else).
[i.e. idol worshippers Associate partners with Allah, so they are Mushrikoon.]
*NOTE: These plural terms are used if there is 1 male present or morewithin a group. If a group is full of females only, refer to lesson 1b.
Exercise 1:
Try to make the following words into plurals:
Mu'min_____
– believers
MuJaahid____
– Strugglers
MuJrim_____
- Criminals
muTahir_____
– Pure ones
Mujadil______
- Disputers
1b - AAT– female plural.
Singular:
AllFemale words have a Letter
ه - Ta Marboota =Pronounced as either the Letter(on personal preference): T or H] at the end.
i.e.
muSlim (one who Submits) - as Feminine would be MuslimaH[Female who submits],
muHsin (one who is Good) as Feminine= MuhsinaH[Female who is good].
Plural:
[FemalePlurals] have the Suffix; AATat the end.
i.e.
MuslimAAT [many femaleswho submit,
MuhsinAAT – many females who are good.]
1c
–OO instead of OON
وا____
______OO
When the following words come before a word of plural, the OON is not pronounced fully. Rather, only an 'OO' sound is pronounced.
These
words when placed before a Plural word - replace
the OON sound with an OO sound;
-In [if] إن
-Laa [No] لاَ
-Lam [No - past tense] لَم
-Lan [No - future tense] لَن
-Lam-maa – [Until] لَمَّا
-Li [for / emphasis] لِ
If these words are placed in the sentence before a word of plural, the OON will not be pronounced and only an OO will be pronounced.
i.e.in LAM Yu'minOO... [if THEY (do) NOT believe].
The word for 'they believe' is usually Yu'minOON يُؤمِنُون. However, due to the
word LAM before that word, it has been pronounced Yu'minOO only.
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2
- Ain/Aan
– Double/Dual
The
suffixes - Ain
and Aan
are usually placed at the end of a word to explain that the thing
being mentioned is Double [two].
For
example:
ukhtby itself means sister.
ukhtEE= MYsister
ukhtAIN/AAN
= TWOsisters.
Akh
= brother
akhEE
= MY brother
IkhwAAN= TWObrothers
or more.
or
we can take the example from Surah Rahmaan 55:46:
Jannat
= garden
JannatAIN/AAN
= TWO
gardens
Even
the word:
Rajul
= man
RajulAIN/AAN= twomen.
The
final example is of the two
Harams (holy sanctuaries) [of Makkah and Medina]
AHaram
by itself is just called Haram.
2
Harams
are called HaramAIN/AAN.
So
always Remember, if there is an AANorAINat the end of a word, it's talking in the DOUBLE.
If
you look at the number two/2 in the arabic language: IthnAIN/AAN
- you will understand that the AIN/AAN is derived from the number 2
to mean 'double.'
3
– NA [suffix] –Female Plural.
(This is different in useage to lesson 1b as explained below);
____NA is placed at the end of another word to make it female plural.
If we see the Markings page;
We see that the letter Ta as a prefix [attached at the beginning of a word] means ‘You’[referring to both male and female].
(If the letter Ta is attached to the beginning of a 3 lettered Root word, and the ‘OON/EEN as a Suffix [learnt from Lesson 1] attached to the end, will make this ‘You’ into Plural [i.e. “You lot”] i.e. Ta-SBiR-OON )
We see that the letter Ya as a prefix means ‘He’.
So how do the Arabs say ‘She’ as a Prefix? They use the letter Ta for the word female ‘she’. Aswell as using the letter ‘Ta’ for ‘you’.
But a problem happens, because we don’t know how to make females into Plural. Since OON/EEN attached to the end of the word would make the letter ‘Ta’ prefix into ‘You lot’.
The answer to this is that the Arabs make the Suffix ____NA at the end to make it female plural.
I.e.Ta-SBiR-NA([be] YouPatient[(O) women/plural])
4
– My,
Your, His, Ours
These
are letters, when attached to the end of a word [as a Suffix],
provide the following meanings;
RabbEE – MY master
RabbuK/ RabbuKUM – Your master / YOUR LOTS master
RabbuH / RabbiHIM – HIS master / THEIR master
RabbaNAA*رَبَّنَا – OUR master
*We
see that this letter Nuun/N is different to the female plural of
Lesson 5, because unlike the female plural ___NA, this ___NAA
has an alif after the letter Nuun/N. Extending the sound as ___NAAto mean ‘OUR’. [refer to Lesson 5 for comparison.]
NOTE: Rabb has the meaning of; Master, Lord, Carer, Provider, Upbringer etc.
5 – Hum[many Males] /Hun[many Females]
Independent words;
هو -
huwwa = he
هي -
hiyya = she.
Suffixes[attached to the end
of a word] but may also be used as independent words;
هُ-
hu=
he.
هَ-ha
= her.
هم -
hum = Them
[plural - 3 or more males]
هن -
hun = Them
[plural - 3 or more females]
هما -humaa=Them[dual]
Broken Plurals (which Do Alter the 3 Root Lettered word):
(You have to memorize each pattern)
6 -Hizb [حِزب] = a Group.
AhzAAb [احزَاب] = GroupS.
Sahb [صَحب] = a Companion.
As-hAAb [اصحَاب] = CompanionS.
Nahr [نَهر] = a River.
AnhAAr [انحَار] = RiverS.
7 -
Shahid [شََاهِد] = Witness
ShuhOOd [شُهُود ] = WitnesseS.
Jund [جُند] = Army.
JunOOd [جُنُود ] = ArmieS.
Qabr [قَبر ] = Grave.
QubOOR [قُبُور ] = GraveS.
No taNween [letter Nun ( ن ) attached on no. 8, 9, 10]
8 - Singular: maSjid [ مَسجِد ] = Mosque. | Plural: maSaajid. [ مَسَاجِد ]
9 - Singular: Shaheedun [ شَهِيد ] = Witness. | Plural: ShUhadAA' [ شُهَدَا ]
10 - Singular: Sadeequn [ صَدِيق ] = Truthful | Plural: aSdiqaa' [ اَصدِقَاء ]
taNween [letter Nun ( ن )] attached to the end of the following;
11 - Singular: Kitaab [ كِتَاب ] = Book. | Plural: kUtUbUn [ كُتُبُ ].
12- Singular: Jabal [ جَِبَل ] = Mountain. | Plural: jIbAALun [ جِبَال ].
13 - Singular: Akhun [ اَخُن ] = Brother | Plural: Ikhwah / Ikhwatun [ إخوَهُ ].
14 - Singular: Qalam = Pen [ قَلَم ] | Plural: aQlaamun [ اقلاَم ]
15 - Singular: Taajirun = Trader [ تَاجِر ] | Plural: Tujjaarun [تُجَّار ]
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