Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic 2.4. Dual & Plural

In Arabic, we use the مُــفْـرَد (mufrad) ‘singular’ to refer to a single unit, object, or person, the مُــثَـنّـى (muthannā) ‘dual’ to refer to two, and the جَــمْــع (jam‘) ‘plural’ to refer to three or more units, objects, or people.

Forming the Dual

To form the dual, we typically add ـِـيـن (-eyn) to the end of the singular noun. Below are some examples:

If the noun ends with a ة (tā’ marbūṭah) ‘tied-t,’ we replace the final ة with a ت (tā’ maftūḥah) ‘open-t’ before adding ـِـيـن (-eyn).

If the noun ends with a ى (’alif maqṣūrah), we replace it with ي (yā’) ‘y’ before adding ـِـيـن (-eyn).

For verbs and adjectives, Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic generally uses the plural form to refer to both the dual and plural.

Forming the Plural

Some nouns and adjectives have a regular plural, called جَــمْـع ســالِــم (jam‘ sālim) ‘sound plural,’ while many others have an irregular plural, called جَـــمْــع تَــكْــسِــيْــر (jam‘ taksīr) ‘broken plural.’

The most reliable way to determine whether a noun or adjective takes a regular or irregular plural—and which irregular pattern to follow—is to consult an Arabic dictionary.

To form the جَــمْـع مُـذَكَّـر ســالِــم (jam‘ mudhakkar sālim) ‘sound masculine plural,’ we add ـِـيْـن (-īn) to the end of the singular form.

Here are examples of masculine regular (sound) plurals in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic:

To form the جَــمْـع مُـؤَنَّـث ســالِــم (jam‘ mu’annath sālim) ‘sound feminine plural,’ we drop the final ة (tā’ marbūṭah) ‘tied-t,’ if it exists, and add ـَـات (-āt) to the end of the singular form.

Here are examples of the feminine regular (sound) plurals:

The irregular plural, or جَــمْـع تَــكْــسِــيْـر (jam‘ taksīr) ‘broken plural,’ is less predictable and often must be memorized. Think of irregular plurals in English, e.g., ‘women,’ ‘geese,’ ‘children,’ etc. Irregular plurals are very common in Arabic, but there are patterns that can help predict the correct plural form.

Many students find it helpful to learn Arabic nouns in both their singular and plural forms until they have mastered plural patterns well enough to predict plurals with a high degree of accuracy.

We will focus on the 18 most common broken plural patterns in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic, providing examples. Practice is essential to achieve mastery of these forms.

† This pattern is also used with colors following the pattern أَفْــعَــل (’af ‘al), e.g., the plural of أَزْرَق (’azraq) ‘blue’ is زُرُق (zuruq).

* Some words retain the final ء (hamzah) in the original MSA pattern, i.e., فُـعَـلاء (fu‘alā’).

# The initial ء (hamzah) is dropped in many plurals following this pattern, i.e., فْـعَـال (f ‘āl).

§ The final ء (hamzah) is dropped in many plurals following this pattern, i.e., أَفْـعِـلا (’af ‘ila).

|| There are also a few words that follow the similar plural pattern فِــعْــلان (fi‘ lān).

Here is a list of examples of words following the 18 plural patterns described in this lesson.

Finally, many words with a quadri-consonantal root follow the pattern فَــعَــالِـل (fa‘ālil).

It is often difficult to predict which plural pattern a word will follow. Some singular words may have more than one acceptable broken plural form. For example, the plural of the word شَـهْــر (shahr) ‘month’ is شْــهُــوْر (sh[u]hūr) or أَشْـهُــر (’ash hur).

Not all plurals fall under one of the aforementioned patterns. For example, the plural form of حْــمَــار (ḥmār) ‘donkey’ is حَــمِــيْــر (ḥamīr), following the plural form فَــعِــيْــل (fa‘īl).

The plural of مَـــرَة (marah) ‘woman’ is نِــسْــوَان (niswān), another common irregular plural in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic.

Next: Demonstrative Pronouns

Other lessons in Level II: