Broken plural
In linguistics, broken plurals is a grammatical phenomenon typical in many Semitic languages of the Middle East and Ethiopia in which a singular noun is "broken" to form a plural by having its root consonant embedded in a different "frame", rather than by merely adding a prefix or suffix to the original singular noun, as in English. (Example: cat → cats)
In other words, it means that even though a language may possess a regular form of making a plural (like the suffix "s" in English), it will actually posses a plethora of irregular ways for making a plural out of a singular noun.
Broken plurals in Arabic
In Arabic, the regular way of making a plural for a masculine noun is adding the suffix -oon at the end. For feminine nouns, the regular way is to add the suffix -aat. Yet one finds that less than 10% of all plurals used in everyday speech or in written texts (modern and classical, even the Qur'an) adhere to these simple rules. Instead, spoken and written Arabic produces plurals using a system of groups based on the vocalization of the word. This system is not fully regular, as can be seen in the examples and the article below.
Broken plurals are known as "Jam' Takseer" (جمع تكسير) in Arabic grammar. These plurals are one of the most bizarre aspects of the language, given the very strong and highly detailed grammar and derivation rules that govern the written language.
Full knowledge of these plurals comes with extended exposure to the language. Much like spelling in English, this system has so many special cases that can only be known by reading a lot of Arabic texts. (An example from English spelling: sheik is spelled with "-eik" and shriek with "-iek.")
Example
As Semitic languages typically form word roots from 2, 3, or 4 consonants without any vowels, vowels may be removed or inserted without affecting the basic root.
Here are a few examples; note that the commonality is in the vowels, not consonants.
- KiTaaB كتاب "book" → KuTuB كتب "books"
- KaaTiB كاتب "writer, scribe" → KuTTaaB كتاب "writers, scribes"
- maKTooB مكتوب "letter" → maKaaTeeB مكاتيب "letters"
- note: these three words all have a common word root, K-T-B ك – ت – ب "to write"
- WaLaD ولد "boy" → aWLaaD أولاد "boys, children"
- WaRaQ ورق "paper" → aWRaaQ أوراق "papers"
- SHaJaR شجر "tree" → aSHJaaR أشجار "trees, timber"
- but: JaMaL جمل "camel" → JiMaaL جمال "camels"
- maKTaB مكتب "desk, office" → maKaaTiB مكاتب "desks, offices"
- maLBaS ملبس "dress, garb" → maLaaBiS ملابس "apparel, clothes"
- JaDD جدّ "grandfather" → JuDooD جدود "grandfathers"
- FaNN فنّ "art" → FuNooN فنون "arts"
- but: RaBB ربّ "master, owner" → aRBaaB أرباب "masters"
See also
- Triconsonantal root
- Nonconcatenative morphology
- Apophony#Apophony vs. transfixation (root-and-pattern)