3.5AB - Propert 4 Quantity of a Noun Single/Dual
Section 3.6 - Property 4 Quantity of a Noun عَدَدٌ (Ada-dun)
Quantities of Nouns اِسْمٌ is-mun are classified in three ways: Singular muf-ra-dun مُفْردٌ, Dual مُثَنَّي mu-than-na, and Plural جَمْعٌ jam-un.
A. Singular اَلْمُفْرَدُ al-muf-ra-du
A singular specifies a quantity of one as in رَجُلٌ ra-ju-lun meaning “a man”.
B. Dual اَلْمُثَنّٰى al-mu-than-na
A dual always specifies a quantity of two. It is specified by
1) adding alphabets (ا) and (ن) for nominative رَفْعٌ raf-un. This gives the sound of aani at the end. For example, رَجُلَانِ ra-ju-laa-ni meaning “two men” in Nominative رَفْعٌ raf-un.
2) adding an alphabet (ي) with fathah and alphabet (ن) with kasrah after that for accusative نَصْبٌ nas-bun/ Genitive جَرٌّ jar-run. This gives the sound of ayni at the end. For example, رَجُلَيَنِ ra-ju-lai-ni in Accusative نَصْبٌ nas-bun/Genitive جَرٌّ jar-un.
Examples of Dual Male:
| Meaning | Dual Accusative نَصْبٌ (nas-bun) and Genitive جَرٌّ (jar-run) | Meaning | Dual Nominative مُثَنّىٰٰ (mu-than-na) | Meaning | Noun |
| Two truthful males | صَادِقَيْنِ
Saa-di-qai-ni
| Two truthful males | صَادِقَانِ
Saadi-qaa-ni | Truthful male | صَادِقٌ
Saa-di-qun |
| Two pious males | صَالِحَيْنِ
Saa-li-hee-na | Two pious males | صَالِحَانِ
Saa-li-haa-ni | Pious male | صَالِحٌ
Saa-li-hun |
| Two chairs | كُرسِىَّيْنِ
Kur-siy-yina | Two chairs | كُرسِيَّانِ
Kur-siy-yaa-ni | chair | كُرسِىٌّ
kur-siy-yun |
| Two walls | جِدَارَيْنِ
Ji-daa-rai-ni
| Two walls | جِدَارَانِ
Jidaa-raa-ni | wall | جِدَارٌ
Ji-daa-run |
| Two houses | بَيْتَيْنِ
Bai-tai-ni | Two houses | بَيْتَانِ
Bai-taa-ni | house | بَيْتٌ
Bai-tun |
| Two doors | بَابَيْنِ
Baa-bai-ni | Two doors | بَابَانِ
Baba-ni | door | بَابٌ
Baa-bun |
| Two men | رَجُلَيْنِ
Raju-lai-ni | Two men
| رَجُلَانِ
Raju-laa-ni | man | رَجُلٌ
Ra-ju-lun |
| Two boys | وَلَدَيْنِ
Wala-dai-ni
| Two boys | وَلَدَانِ
Wala-daa-ni | boy | وَلَدٌ
Wala-dun |
| Two pens | قَلَمَيْنِ
Qala-mai-ni
| Two pens
| قَلَمَانِ
Qala-maa-ni | pen | قَلَمٌ
Qala-mun |
| Two books | كِتَابَيْنِ
Kitaa-bai-ni
| Two books | كِتَابَانِ
Kitaa-baa-ni | book | كِتَابٌ kitaa-bun |
Same aani and ayni sounds also appear for the female Nouns. One point to note is that for a female Noun, the round taa (ة) at the end is replaced by a full taa (ت) to make a مُثَنّٰى (mu-than-na) dual.
Examples of مُثَنّٰى (mu-than-na) dual Female:
| Meaning | مُثَنّىٰ (mu-than-na) dual Accusative نَصْبٌ (nas-bun) / Genitive | Meaning | مُثَنّىٰ (mu-than-na) dual Nominative | Meaning | Noun |
| Two gardens | جَنَّتَيْنِ
Janna-tai-ni
| Two gardens | جَنَّتَانِ
Janna-taa-ni | garden | جَنَّةٌ
Janna-tun |
| Two words | كَلِمَتَيْنِ
Ka-li-ma-tai-ni | Two words | كَلِمَتَانِ
Ka-li-ma-taa-ni | word | كَلِمَةٌ
Kali-ma-tun |
| Two heavy (things) | ثَقِيْلَتَيْنِ
Saqee-la-ta-ni | Two heavy (things) | ثَقِيْلَتَانِ
Saqee-la-taa-ni | Heavy (thing) | ثَقِيْلَةٌ
Tha-qeela-tun |
| Two women | اِمْرَءَتَيْنِ
Imra-a-tai-ni | Two women | اِمْرَءَتَانِ
Imra-a-taa-ni
| woman | اِمْرَءَةٌ
Im-ra-a-tun |
| Two sermons | خُطْبَتَيْنِ
Khut-ba-tai-ni | Two sermons | خُطْبَتَانِ
Khut-ba-taa-ni | sermon | خُطْبَةٌ
Khut-ba-tun |
| Two signs | اٰيَتَيْنِ
Aya-tai-ni | Two signs | اٰيَتَانِ
Aya-taa-ni | sign | اٰيَةٌ
Aya-tun |
| Two light (things) | خَفيْفَتَيْنِ
Kha-fee-fa-tai-ni | Two light (things) | خَفيْفَتَانِ
Kha-fee-fa-taa-ni | Light (things) | خَفيْفَةٌ
Kha-fee-fa-tun |
| Two eyes/springs | عَيْنَيْنِ
Ay-nai-ni | Two eyes/springs | عَيْنَانِ
Ay-naa-ni | eye | عَيْنٌ
Ay-nun |
| Two hands | يَدَيْنِ
Yad-ai-ni | Two hands | يَدَانِ
Yad-aa-ni | hand | يَدٌ
Yadun
|
| Two girls | بِنْتَيْنِ
Bin-tai-ni | Two girls | بِنْتَانِ
Bin-taa-ni | girl | بِنْتٌ
Bin-tun
|
Arabic Words for “Both”, kilaaكِلَا and kiltaa كِلْتَا
In Arabic, there is a special way to express the English word “both”.
The following two words are used for this purpose:
- كِلا (kilaa) meaning “both” for masculine singular
- كِلْتا (kiltaa) meaning ”both” for feminine singular
They both express the dual (مُثَنَّى) mu-than-na – however, grammatically, they are singular (مُفْرَدٌ muf-ra-dun). The only difference between كِلا kilaaand كِلْتا kil-taa is gender. كِلا kilaa is masculine and كِلْتا kil-taa is feminine.
There are two ways these duals are used:
1) When these two are first part مُضَافٌ mu-daa-fun of the Possessive Compound الْإِضَافِيْ مُرَكَّبُ towards a pronoun اَلْمُضْمَرُ al-muz-maru. The 2nd part must be a definite, مُثَنّٰى (mu-than-na) dual Noun. For example,
· both men (كِلَا الرَّجُلَيْنِ kil-ar-raju-laini)
· both times (كِلْتَا الْمَرَّتَيْنِ kil-tal-mar-ra-tai-ni)
In this application, both words كِلَا kilaa and كِلْتَا kil-taa are proper Nouns.
2) When these two are placed after a مُثَنّٰى (mu-than-na) dual Noun, you have to add a مُثَنّٰى (mu-than-na) dual pronoun suffix to كِلَا kilaa and كِلْتا kil-taa respectively
both men (الرَّجُلَانِ كِلاهُمَا) ar-raju-laani kilaa-huma
both times (الْمَرَّتَانِ كِلْتاهُمَا) al-mar-ra-taani kilta-hu-ma
See the table below for examples.
Table 7 - Kila and Kilta usage examples
|
| كِلَا kil-aa – Masculine with a pronoun | كِلْتَا kil-taa - Feminine with a pronoun | ||
| Nominative رَفْعٌ raf-un | جَاءَ كِلَاهُمَا
Jaa-a kilaa-hu-maa | Those two males came | جَاءَتْ كِلْتَاهُمَا
Jaa-at kil-taa-hu-maa | Those two females came |
| Accusative نَصْبٌ Nas-bun | رَأَيْتُ كِلَيهِمَا
Ra-ya-tu ki-lai-himaa | I saw those two males | رَأَيْتُ كِلْتَيْهِمَا
Raa-ya-tu kil-tai-himaa | I saw those two females |
| Genitive جَرٌّ Jar-run | مَرَرْتُ بِكِلَيْهِمَا
Marar-tu bi-kila-himaa | I passed by those two males | مَرَرْتُ بِكِلْتَيْهِمَا
Mara-tu bi-kil-tai-himaa | I passed by those two females |
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