Broken plural
Encyclopedia
In linguistics
, a broken plural (or internal plural) is an irregular plural form of a noun or adjective found in the Semitic languages
and other Afroasiatic languages such as Berber
. Broken plurals are formed by changing the pattern of consonants and vowels inside the singular form. They contrast with sound plurals (or external plurals), which are formed by adding a suffix
.
While the phenomenon is known from several Semitic languages, nowhere has it become as productive as in Arabic
.
, the regular way of making a plural for a masculine noun is adding the suffix -ūn (for the nominative) or -īn (for the accusative and genitive) at the end. For feminine nouns, the regular way is to add the suffix -āt. However, not all plurals follow these simple rules. One class of nouns in both spoken and written Arabic produce plurals by changing the pattern of vowels inside the word, sometimes also with the addition of a prefix or suffix. This system is not fully regular, and it is used mainly for masculine non-human nouns. Human nouns are pluralized regularly or irregularly.
Broken plurals are known as jam‘ taksīr (جمع تكسير, literally "plural of breaking") in Arabic grammar
. These plurals constitute one of the most unusual aspects of the language, given the very strong and highly detailed grammar and derivation rules that govern the written language. Broken plurals can also be found in languages that have borrowed many words from Arabic, for instance Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Azerbaijani and Urdu.
In Persian this kind of plural is called jæme mokæssar (جمع مکسر, literally "broken plural")
Full knowledge of these plurals can come only with extended exposure to the language, though a few rules can be noted.
Here are a few examples; note that the commonality is in the root consonants (capitalized), not the vowels.
, though all plurals must take either the sound masculine (-im ים-) or feminine (-ot ות-) plural suffixes, the historical stem alternations of the so-called segolate
or consonant-cluster nouns between CVCC in the singular and CVCaC in the plural have often been compared to broken plural forms in other Semitic languages. Thus the form malkī מלכי "my king" in the singular is opposed to məlaxīm מלכים "kings" in the plural.
In addition, there are many other cases where historical sound changes have resulted in stem allomorphy between singular and plural forms in Hebrew (or between absolute state and construct state, or between forms with pronominal suffixes and unsuffixed forms etc.), though such alternations do not operate according to general templates accommodating root consonants, and so are not usually considered to be true broken plurals by linguists.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, a broken plural (or internal plural) is an irregular plural form of a noun or adjective found in the Semitic languages
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
and other Afroasiatic languages such as Berber
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
. Broken plurals are formed by changing the pattern of consonants and vowels inside the singular form. They contrast with sound plurals (or external plurals), which are formed by adding a suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
.
While the phenomenon is known from several Semitic languages, nowhere has it become as productive as in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
.
Arabic
In ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, the regular way of making a plural for a masculine noun is adding the suffix -ūn (for the nominative) or -īn (for the accusative and genitive) at the end. For feminine nouns, the regular way is to add the suffix -āt. However, not all plurals follow these simple rules. One class of nouns in both spoken and written Arabic produce plurals by changing the pattern of vowels inside the word, sometimes also with the addition of a prefix or suffix. This system is not fully regular, and it is used mainly for masculine non-human nouns. Human nouns are pluralized regularly or irregularly.
Broken plurals are known as jam‘ taksīr (جمع تكسير, literally "plural of breaking") in Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar
Arabic grammar is the grammar of the Arabic language. Arabic is a Semitic language and its grammar has many similarities with the grammar of other Semitic languages....
. These plurals constitute one of the most unusual aspects of the language, given the very strong and highly detailed grammar and derivation rules that govern the written language. Broken plurals can also be found in languages that have borrowed many words from Arabic, for instance Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Azerbaijani and Urdu.
In Persian this kind of plural is called jæme mokæssar (جمع مکسر, literally "broken plural")
Full knowledge of these plurals can come only with extended exposure to the language, though a few rules can be noted.
Example
Semitic languages typically form triconsonantal roots, forming a "grid" into which vowels may be inserted without affecting the basic root.Here are a few examples; note that the commonality is in the root consonants (capitalized), not the vowels.
- KiTāB كِتَاب "book" → KuTuB كُتُب "books"
- KāTiB كَاتِب "writer, scribe" → KuTTāB كُتَّاب "writers, scribes"
- maKTūB مَكْتُوْب "letter" → maKāTīB مَكَاتِيْب "letters"
- note: these three words all have a common word root, K-T-B ك – ت – ب "to write"
- WaLaD وَلَد "boy" → ʼaWLāD أَوْلَاد "boys"
- WaRaQah وَرَقَة "paper" → ʼaWRāQ أَوْرَاق "papers"
- ŠaJaRah شَجَرَة "tree" → ʼaŠJāR أَشْجَار "trees"
- but: JaMaL جَمَل "camel" → JiMāL جِمَال "camels"
- maKTaB مَكَتَب "desk, office" → maKāTiB مَكَاتِب "offices"
- maLBaS مَلْبَس "dress, garb" → maLāBiS مَلَابِس "clothes"
- JaDD جَدّ "grandfather" → JuDūD جُدُوْد or aJDaD أَجْدَاد "grandfathers"
- FaNN فَنّ "art" → FuNūN فُنُوْن "arts"
- but: RaBB رَبّ "master, owner, lord" → ʼaRBāB أَرْبَاب "masters"
Patterns in Arabic
| |
|
|
|
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CiCāC | CuCuC | كتاب | kitāb (book) | كتب | kutub (books) | ||
| CaCīCa | سفينة | safīna (ship) | سفن | sufun (ships) | juzur (islands), mudun (cities) |
||
| CaCīC | سبيل | sabīl (path) | سبل | subul (paths) | |||
| CuCCa | CuCaC | غرفة | ġurfa (room) | غرف | ġuraf (rooms) | ||
| CaCCa | شقة | šaqqa (apartment) | شقق | šuqaq (apartment) | |||
| CiCC | CiCaC | قط | qiṭṭ (cat) | قطط | qiṭaṭ (cats) | ||
| CaCC | CuCūC | قلب | qalb (heart) | قلوب | qulūb (hearts) | funūn (arts), buyūt (houses) |
|
| CiCC | علم | ʻilm (science) | علوم | ʻulūm (sciences) | |||
| CuCC | جحر | juḥr (hole) | جحور | juḥūr (holes) | |||
| CaCC | CiCāC | كلب | kalb (dog) | كلاب | kilāb (dogs) | ||
| CiCC | ظل | ẓill (science) | ظلال | ẓilāl (sciences) | |||
| CuCC | رمح | rumḥ (spear) | رماح | rimāḥ (spears) | |||
| CaCuC | رجل | rajul (man) | رجال | rijāl (men) | |||
| CaCC | ʼaCCāC | يوم | yawm (day) | أيام | ʼayyām (days) | ||
| CiCC | حلم | ḥilm (prudence) | أحلام | ʼaḥlām (meaning minds) | |||
| CuCC | ربع | rubʻ (quarter) | أرباع | ʼarbāʻ (quarters) | ʼaʻmāq (deeps) | ||
| CaCaC | سبب | sabab (cause) | أسباب | ʼasbāb (causes) | ʼawlād (boys), ʼaqlām (pens) |
||
| CaCūC | ʼaCCiCah | عمود | ʻamūd (pole) | أعمدة | ʼaʻmidah (poles) | Ends with taʼ marbutah | |
| CaCīC | ʼaCCiCāʼ | صديق | ṣadīq (friend) | أصدقاء | ʼaṣdiqāʼ (friends) | ||
| CaCīC | CuCaCā' | سعيد | saʻīd (happy) | سعداء | suʻadāʼ(happy) | wuzarāʼ (ministers) | mostly for adjectives and occupational nouns |
| CāCiC | CuC2C2āC | كاتب | kātib (writer) | كتاب | kuttāb (writers) | ṭullāb (students) | Gemination of the second root; mostly for occupational nouns |
| CāCiCa | CawāCiC | قائمة | qāʼima (list) | قوائم | qawāʼim (lists) | bawārij (battleships) | |
| CāCūC | CawāCīC | صاروخ | ṣārūḫ (rocket) | صواريخ | ṣawārīḫ (rockets) | ḥawāsīb (computers) | |
| CiCāCa | CaCāʼiC | رسالة | risāla (message) | رسائل | rasāʼil (messages) | ||
| CaCīCa | جزيرة | jazīra (island) | جزائر | jazāʼir (islands) | haqāʼib (suitcases), daqāʼiq (minutes) |
||
| CaCCaC | CaCāCiC | دفتر | daftar (notebook) | دفاتر | dafātir (notebooks) | applies to all four-literal nouns with short second vowel | |
| CuCCuC | فندق | funduq (hotel) | فنادق | fanādiq (hotels) | |||
| maCCaC | maCāCiC | ملبس | malbas (apparel) | ملابس | malābis (apparels) | makātib (offices) | Subcase of previous, with m as first literal |
| maCCiC | مسجد | masjid (mosque) | مساجد | masājid (mosques) | manāzil (houses) | ||
| miCCaCa | منطقة | minṭaqa (area) | مناطق | manāṭiq (areas) | |||
| CvCC(ā/ī/ū)C | CaCāCīC | صندوق | ṣandūq (box) | صناديق | ṣanādīq (boxes) | applies to all four-literal nouns with long second vowel | |
| miCCāC | maCāCīC | مفتاح | miftāḥ (key) | مفاتيح | mafātīḥ (keys) | Subcase of previous, with m as first literal | |
| maCCūC | مكتوب | maktūb (message) | مكاتيب | makātīb (messages) | |||
Hebrew
In HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, though all plurals must take either the sound masculine (-im ים-) or feminine (-ot ות-) plural suffixes, the historical stem alternations of the so-called segolate
Segolate
Segolates are words in the Hebrew language whose end is of the form CVCVC, where the penultimate vowel receives syllable stress. Such words are called "segolates" because the final unstressed vowel is typically segol...
or consonant-cluster nouns between CVCC in the singular and CVCaC in the plural have often been compared to broken plural forms in other Semitic languages. Thus the form malkī מלכי "my king" in the singular is opposed to məlaxīm מלכים "kings" in the plural.
In addition, there are many other cases where historical sound changes have resulted in stem allomorphy between singular and plural forms in Hebrew (or between absolute state and construct state, or between forms with pronominal suffixes and unsuffixed forms etc.), though such alternations do not operate according to general templates accommodating root consonants, and so are not usually considered to be true broken plurals by linguists.
See also
- Elative (gradation)Elative (gradation)In Semitic linguistics, the elative is a stage of gradation in Arabic that can be used both for a superlative and comparative. The Arabic elative has a special inflection similar to that of colour adjectives, though differing in certain details...
- Triconsonantal rootTriliteralThe roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "radicals"...
- Nonconcatenative morphologyNonconcatenative morphologyNonconcatenative morphology, also called discontinuous morphology and introflection, is a form of word formation in which the root is modified and which does not involve stringing morphemes together...
- Apophony#Apophony versus transfixation (root-and-pattern)