Arabic-L:LING:long form of numbers with nouns

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Mon 04 Feb 2002
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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1) Subject: long form of numbers with nouns

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1)
Date:  04 Feb 2002
From: Waheed Samy <wasamy at umich.edu>
Subject: long form of numbers with nouns

>Finally an addition to the vocabulary of ethnic disparagement used
>against Christians:
>the term arba'a riisha ("four feathers," in reference to the cross,
>which Copts often have tattooed on their wrists), as in da arba'a
>riisha "he's a Christian."
>  The use of the numeral with -a and singular noun in this context is
>interesting.

The use of the numeral with -a and singular noun sometimes occurs
with units and measures.
For example:

   xamsa gineeh (5 (Egyptian) pounds), instead of xamas ginihaat
   talata litr  (3 liters), instead of talat litraat
   sitta slindar (6 cylinders), instead of sitt -i- slindaraat

Now interestingly, talking about car fans, you have:

   marwaHa arba'a riisha (4 blade fan), which if your car
   overheats in the summer you might consider replacing
   with a marwaHa sitta riisha.

So, it is possible, that the arba'a riisha reference to the cross
is in fact "four blades" and not "four feathers".

Waheed

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End of Arabic-L:  04 Feb 2002