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13 The numbers
THIS BOOK IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. IT IS INCOMPLETE AND MAY HAVE TYPOGRAPHICAL AND OTHER ERRORS. IT IS NOT YET READY TO BE STUDIED FROM.
13.1 Introduction
Arabic numbers are complicated and we will treat them more fully in chapter (give ref), if Allāh wills. For now, we will give a short preview of the numbers from one to ten.
13.2 The number one
The word for the number “one” is وَاحِد wāḥid. It is an adjectival noun and can be used as a attribute. For example,
قَرَأْتُ كِتَابًا وَاحِدًا.
“I read one book.”
As usual, when the described noun is feminine, then the attribute too وَاحِد is feminized:
أَكَلْتُ تَمْرَةً وَاحِدَةً.
“I ate one date.”
Often, as in English, using the number وَاحِد “one” is optional. For example,
قَرَأْتُ كِتَابًا.
“I read a book.”
13.3 The number two
The number for “one” وَاحِد is a singular noun. Correspondingly, the number for “two” ٱثْنَانِ it͡hnāni is a dual noun. It too can be used as attribute. For example,
دَخَلَ رَجْلَانِ ٱثْنَانِ.
dak͡hala rajulāni ‑t͡hnān
“Two men entered.”
In the the a-case and i-case, it becomes ٱثْنَيْنِ it͡hnayni. For example,
قَرَأْتُ كِتَابَيْنِ ٱثْنَيْنِ.
qaraʾtu kitābayni ‑t͡hnayn
“I read two books.”
When feminized it becomes ٱثْنَتَانِ it͡hnatāni. For example,
دَخَلَتْ جَارِيَتَانِ ٱثْنَتَانِ وَأَكَلَتَا تَمْرَتَيْنِ ٱثْنَتَيْنِ.
dak͡hala jāriyatāni ‑t͡hnatāni waʾakalatā tamratayni ‑t͡hnatayn.
“Two girls entered and ate two dates.”
As with وَاحِد “one”, the use of the number two is optional because its meaning is inherent in the dual. For example,
دَخَلَتْ جَارِيَتَانِ وَأَكَلَتَا تَمْرَتَيْنِ.
dak͡hala jāriyatāni waʾakalatā tamratayn.
“Two girls entered and ate two dates.”
13.4 The numbers from three to ten
We saw that the number وَاحِد “one” is a singular noun, and that the number ٱثْنَانِ it͡hnāni “two” is a dual noun.
So it should come as no surprise that the numbers three to ten are treated as plural nouns. (We say treated as plurals because they’re not technically plurals. For example, they don’t conform to the broken plural patterns. But let’s not worry about that for now.)
Now, remember that ة is a feminine marker for singular nouns, but not for plural nouns. In fact, recall that there is almost a role reversal for ة in plural nouns, where it tends to occur for plurals of masculine nouns, and is missing for plurals of feminine nouns. For example, the plural of هِرّ “a male cat” is هِرَرَة, and the plural of هِرَّة “a female cat” is هِرَر, We will now see this role reversal of ة in the numbers three to ten. When a number from 3–10 is used for a masculine noun then it shall have ة and when it is used for a feminine noun then it shall not have ة. Here then are the numbers from 3–10:
| Number | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| three | ثَلَاثَة | ثَلَاث |
| four | أَرْبَعَة | أَرْبَع |
| five | خَمْسَة | خَمْس |
| six | سِتَّة | سِتّ |
| seven | سَبْعَة | سَبْع |
| eight | ثَمَانِيَة | ثَمَانِي |
| nine | تِسْعَة | تِسْع |
| ten | عَشَرَة | عَشْر |
The number 10 is irregular in that the masculine number has a fat·ḥah on the ش (عَشَرَة ɛas͡harah). Whereas the feminine number has a sukūn on the ش (عَشْر ɛas͡hr).
Consistent with the numbers 1 and 2, the numbers from 3–10 may be used as attributes. But they are more often used as annexed nouns. As mentioned earlier, we will treat numbers more fully later, if Allāh wills. But here are some examples for now:
لِلْمَرْأَةِ ثَلَاثَةُ أَبْنَاءٍ وَأَرْبَعُ بَنَاتٍ.
lilmarʾati t͡halāt͡hatu ʾabnāʾin waʾarbaɛu banāt.
“The woman has three sons and four daughters.”
وَضَعْتُ عَشَرَةَ أَقْلَامٍ فِي عَشْرِ حَقِيبَاتٍ.
waḍaɛtu ɛas͡harata ʾaqlāmin fī ɛas͡hri ḥaqībāt.
“I put ten pens in ten bags.”
The feminine number ثَمَانِي “eight” has a final weak letter ي. As we will learn in chapter (give ref), this final letter cannot take a kasrah or a ḍammah. For example,
أَكَلَتْ ثَمَانِي هِرَرٍ ثَمَانِيَ كِسَرَاتٍ مِنَ ٱللَّحْمِ فِي ثَمَانِي سَاعَاتٍ.
ʾakalat t͡hamānī hirarin t͡hamāniya kisarātin mina ‑llaḥmi fī t͡hamānī sāɛāt.
“Eight catsf ate eight pieces of meat in eight hours.”