Arabic Feminine Markers Gender of Nouns

Gender of Nouns

Feminine Markers (continued)

 

2. Extended‘alif

 

 

 

The second feminine marker in Arabic singular nouns is a terminal weak ‘alif (a long Avowel -aa ـَاْ ) followed by a consonant ‘alifor hamza(t) (a glottal stop ‘ ء).

 

This ending is called an “extended ‘alif” الأَلِفُ الْمَمْدُوْدَةُ because the presence of the final hamza(t) allows for the long A to be fully pronounced rather than shortened. Nouns that end with an extended ‘alif are called “extended nouns.”

 

As far as I can guess, the -aa'< ـاء  is altered from the following original form:

 

 

-aat→  –aah →  –aa‘<

 

The ending -aa(t) is the alternative version in Classical Arabic of the standard feminine plural ending -aat ـَاْت , and it can also appear suffixed in irregular plural stems. The evolution of this marker seems to me quite similar to that of the tied taa'< -a(t) as they are probably cognates.

 

Anyway, being a “marker” means that the ـاء is suffixed to stems, so it is composed of “additional letters” but not any “original letters” (i.e. not any letters that belong to the root of the word).

 

Since that true nouns in Arabic must have a minimum of three original letters, the ـا must be fourth letter or beyond in a noun (i.e. the noun has five letters or more) in order for the two letters of the ـاء to be additional (and thus a feminine marker). If the ـا is third letter, then one of the two letters of the ـاء(the ء) would have to be an original letter.

 

However, this does not mean that if the ـاis fourth letter or beyond the ـاء will be always an additional feminine marker. This is because derived nouns, including ones with five letters or more, commonly end with ـاء that is not a feminine marker and which has a totally different origin.

 

Derived nouns, or verbids, are nouns that are derived from verbs (particularly perfective verbs). Most nouns in Arabic are derived nouns. Derived nouns are several classes (verbal nouns, participles, agent nouns, time and place nouns, and tool nouns) and each class has its standard patterns or structures in which roots can be plugged.

 

Some of the derived noun structures, particularly those of verbal nouns, emphatic active participles, and tool nouns commonly have the following ending:

 

Where l is a variable final root-letter, and the aais fixed and additional.

 

The problem arises when the final root letter is hamza(t), because the ending will look just like the feminine marker -aa‘< although it is not one.

 

A similar problem arises when the final root letter is a weak letter (w or y). In such case, the final weak letter is always turned to hamza(t) in Arabic:

–aaW→  -aa‘<

 –aaY→  –aa‘<

 

These endings look like the feminine marker -aa'<, but they are not feminine markers.

Derived nouns that have these endings are masculine nouns unless a feminine marker (i.e. the tied taa'< -a(t)) is attached to them following the -aa'<. (There are specific cases in which some participle adjectives can be feminine without adding a tied taa'<, those are covered in the adjective section.)

 

 

 

Here is the algorithm for nouns ending with -aa'<:

 

1) Less than five letters

 

Usually verbal nouns or nouns structured as verbal nouns. The -aa'< is not a suffix. Such nouns are almost always masculine unless a feminine taa'< is attached following the -aa'<. Very few of such words will be feminine on their own (I could only find one so far).

 

Examples, click on the Arabic word to hear it:

 

 

Irregular plurals are always feminine, unless they refer to male humans where they can be masculine.

Although verbal nouns ending with ـاء are masculine, it is common to see them used as female proper names. Rarely they are used as male names.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

2) Five letters or more

 

In nouns with five letters or more, there are two possibilities:

 

 

I. Derived Nouns & Irregular Plurals

 

Derived Nouns with five letters or more are nothing different from the ones with less than five letters— they are all masculine.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

Irregular plurals are always feminine unless they refer to male humans where they can be masculine as well. It is possible for the -aa'< suffix to appear attached in irregular plural structures (‘af“ilaa'< & fu“alaa'<), but in that case it will NOT be a feminine marker; it will be just a remnant of an older function of the -aa(t) ending where it served as a collective-pluralistic marker without gender distinction.

 

Irregular plurals that end with -aa'< usually refer to humans, and they are usually masculine.

 

Examples:

 

 

In the last example, the -aa'< is not a plural suffix but part of the stem ‘af“aal.

 

 

II. Fa”laa‘< , Loanwords & Nouns of Four/Five-Letter Roots

 

Nouns (usually adjectives) of the following structure are feminine:

 

 

This is the only standard structure in which the -aa'< ending is a feminine marker.

The fa“laa'< structure is mostly used to indicate a color or bodily characteristic of the feminine referent (e.g. blond, brunette, blind, mute, deaf, lame, etc.).

 

Examples, click on the Arabic word to hear it:

 

 

The last word is literally an adjective but is used customarily as a noun, which is possible for any adjective in Arabic.

 

 

The -aa'< feminine marker appears also in the diminutive form of fa“laa'<:

 

 

 

 

 

Fa“laa'< structure belongs to a category called in Arabic the “active-participle-like adjectives” which are basically the active participle structures whose primary function is as nomina agentis (agent nouns). There is no clear-cut distinction between participles and agent nouns in Arabic as both can function in place of the other.

 

The masculine form of fa“laa'< is:

 

 

The masculine form serves as a comparative structure when it is not denoting a color or a bodily characteristic, and in that case, it will have another feminine form (fu“laa) that is probably cognate of fa“laa'<.

 

Both fa“laa'< and ‘af”albelong to a category of nouns called the nomina diptota (Arabic: “the forbidden to declension nouns.”) Nouns in this category undergo special declension characterized by inflection for only two states instead of three (the absolute state lacks nunation thus becoming identical to the construct state) and by two cases instead of three in the absolute state (the jarr marking becomes identical to nasb marking in the absolute state).

 

Aside from fa“laa'<, the -aa'< feminine marker appears in few nouns that are mostly Arabized loanwords or word salads that became single wordsof four-letter or five-letter roots. The -aa'< was added to such words arbitrarily.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Shortened ‘alif

 

 

 

 

 

The last feminine marker is the least specific to feminine nouns. It is simply a terminal long A –aa. This ending is called the “shortened ‘alif“ الأَلِفُ المَقْصُوْرَةُ because it is shortened in pronunciation and sounds closer to a short A. Nouns that end with a shortened ‘alif are called “shortened nouns.”

 

The finalhamza(t) of the extended ‘alif ـاء is often dropped in the modern spoken dialects, so the extended ‘alifbecomes a shortened ‘alif ـا in these.

 

I can think of only one origin of this marker, which is the same as last one’s:

 

 

Just like the ـاء , the ـا / ـى can be a feminine marker only when the ـا / ـى is fourth letter or beyond in a word (i.e. the word has four letters or more). If theـا / ـى is third letter, then it is an original letter of the word and can not be a marker.

 

Similarly to the previous marker, a terminal -aa can be altered from a terminal weak root-letter (w or y). A terminal weak letter is turned to -aa only if it is preceded by a short A vowel:

–aW→  -aa

 –aY→  –aa

Thus, a terminalshortened ‘alif will be found in words that have the following ending:

 

Where l is a variable final root-letter, and ais fixed and additional (an a is always additional because it is not a letter to begin with).

 

This ending is common in verbal nouns, passive participles, time and place nouns, tool nouns, and irregular plurals; and in none of these it is a suffix.

 

 

 

1) Shortened Nouns with Less than Four Letters

 

Mostly verbal nouns, nouns structured as verbal nouns, or irregular plural nouns. The ending -aa is part of the stem.

 

Verbal nouns are masculine unless a tied taa'< is attached to them, which is uncommon in this case. Irregular plurals are feminine unless referring to male humans.

 

Thus, unless irregular plurals, shortened nouns with less than four letters are masculine with rare exceptions (I found two exceptions.)

 

Examples, click on the Arabic word to hear it:

 

 

 

As usual, verbal nouns are commonly used as female names although they are masculine themselves.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

2) Shortened Nouns with Four Letters or More

 

In nouns with four letters or more, there are two possibilities:

 

 

I. Derived Nouns & Irregular Plurals

 

Derived Nouns with four letters or more are, like those with less than four letters, masculine. Derived nouns that can end with a non-suffix -aa are verbal noun structures that begin with an additional m- (“meemic” verbal nouns), passive participles, time and place nouns, tool nouns, and the ‘af”al agent noun stem.

 

Examples, click on the Arabic word to hear it:

 

 

Passive participles are commonly used as male names.

 

 

Adjectives of the structure ‘af”alhave two situations:

• When ‘af”al is functioning as a comparative structure, it will modify both masculine and feminine nouns, and the feminine version of it (fu“laa) will work as a feminine superlative adjective.

• When ‘af”al is not functioning as a comparative structure, it will be exclusively masculine. It will have the feminine version fa“laa'< when it denotes a color or bodily characteristic, and the version ‘af”ala(t) in other rare cases.

 

‘af”al adjectives can end with –aa that is original and not a feminine marker when the final root-letter isw or y.

 

Examples, click on the Arabic word to hear it:

 

 

The last word is an exception.

 

Irregular plurals are always feminine unless they refer to male humans where they can be masculine as well. It is possible for the -aa suffix to appear attached in irregular plural structures (fa“laa & fa“aalaa), but in this case it will NOT be a feminine marker. It will be just a remnant of an older function of the -aa(t) ending where it served as a collective-pluralistic marker without gender distinction.

 

Irregular plurals that end with -aa usually refer to humans.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

 

II. Fa”laa, Fu”laa, Verbal Nouns, and Loanwords

 

Nouns and adjectives of the following structures are feminine:

 

 

These are standard agent noun structures; the -aa ending in these structures is a feminine marker.

 

Fa“laa looks similar to fa“laa'<, and I would say that both come from an ancient fa“laa(t). The masculine form of fa“laa is fa“laan and they are both nomina diptota. These structures usually denote qualities that are related to “emptiness” or “fullness,” and they are common in female and male names, respectively.

 

Examples, click on the Arabic word to hear it:

 

 

 

The structure fu“laa differs from fa“laa in only one vowel. However, this structure has a distinguished and an important function which is that it functions as a feminine superlative adjective.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

The masculine form of fu“laa is ‘af”al which is a “bisexual” comparative structure. When the definite article is added to ‘af”al, it becomes the masculine superlative form.

Both fu“laa and ‘af”al are nomina diptota (any noun ending with an additional -aa'< or -aa is a nomen diptotum).

 

The -aa ending of a verbal noun will be a feminine marker if the verbal noun achieves the following:

• Has four letters or more.

• Does not begin with an additional m- (not a “meemic” verbal nouns).

 

Such verbal nouns with a suffixed feminine -aa are infrequent–verbal nouns more commonly take the tied taa'< as a feminine marker. They are usually of the forms fi“laa and fu“laa and are commonly used as female names.

 

Examples:

 

These are also diptota because they end with a feminine -aa.

 

The diminutive forms of structures carrying a feminine -aa also carry one. All the structures carrying a feminine -aa that have been mentioned so far share one diminutive form which is fu“aylaa.

 

Finally, foreign nouns ending with an A sound (which are common) often end with a feminine -aa in Modern Standard Arabic (but not in Classical Arabic, in which the tied  taa'< was usually used).

 

Examples, in modern Arabic:

 

 

 

Same examples in Classical Arabic (some of them didn’t really exist but the principles did):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feminine Without Markers

 

Although feminine markers identify most of the feminine nouns, there will still be few feminine nouns that do not have any of these markers. We will cover here most of these.

 

►Some nouns that refer to female persons do not have feminine markers.

 

*The open taa'< ت is not standardly considered a feminine marker.

 

 

►Some nouns that refer to female animals.

 

 

 

►All country and town names are feminine except for some Arab countries that were named after geographical features (such as mountains, seas, rivers, etc.) which will follow the geographical features they were named after in masculinity. These masculine country names are namely Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Morocco.

 

Examples:

 

 

►For names of body parts that don’t have feminine markers, a general rule is that all the parts of which there are more than one are feminine and the rest are masculine.

In a more comprehensive approach:

• In the head, all the parts are masculine barring the eye, ear, and tooth.

• In the trunk, all the parts are masculine.

• In the limbs, all the parts are feminine barring the elbow and the forearm.

• All the internal organs are masculine barring the liver.

 

That was, of course, for parts that don’t have feminine markers in their names.

 

Examples:

 

 

 

►The following list contains nearly all the singular feminine nouns without feminine markers and which have not been mentioned above.

 

 

 

Exercise

Can you guess the gender of the following singular nouns?

 

 

 

Answers