Arabic-L:GEN:Test Message #5

Wed May 30 23:26:04 UTC 2007

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Arabic-L: Wed 302 May 2007
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1) Subject:Test Message #5

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1)
Date: 30 May 2007
From:moderator
Subject:Test Message #5

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<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">*On the "broken plurals," my colleague, Dr. Schub,  
raises a few probing</p>
<p class="p1">questions:*</p>
<p class="p2"><br></p>
<p class="p1">* *</p>
<p class="p2"><br></p>
<p class="p1">* *</p>
<p class="p2"><br></p>
<p class="p1">*(1) He wonders why the plural / <span  
class="s1">أسباط</span> / is used instead of the singular /</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">سبط</span> / in the qur'anic  
verse: / <span class="s1">وقطّعناهم</span> <span  
class="s1">اثنتي</span> <span class="s1">عشرة</span> <span  
class="s1">أسباطا</span> <span class="s1">أمما</span> /,  
VII: 160.</p>
<p class="p1">*</p>
<p class="p2"><br></p>
<p class="p1">* *</p>
<p class="p1">*I'm afraid there is no violation of the grammatical  
code here.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>We are to</p>
<p class="p1">be alerted that /<span class="s1">أسباطا</span> /  
is not a noun of distinction /<span class="s1">تمييز</span> /;  
rather, it</p>
<p class="p1">is a noun in apposition /<span class="s1">بدل</ 
span> / to the number / <span class="s1">اثنتي</span> <span  
class="s1">عشرة</span> /.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </ 
span>As a relevant</p>
<p class="p1">detail, may I add that even the masculine singular /  
<span class="s1">سبط</span> / would not fit as</p>
<p class="p1">a noun of distinction after the feminine composite  
number / <span class="s1">اثنتي</span> <span class="s1">عشرة</ 
span></p>
<p class="p1">/.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </ 
span>Exegetes</p>
<p class="p1">and grammarians construe the verse as:*</p>
<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">*/ <span class="Apple-converted- 
space">                    </span><span class="s1">اثنتي</span>  
<span class="s1">عشرة</span> <span class="s1">،</span> <span  
class="s1">أسباطا</span> <span class="s1">أمما</span><span  
class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>[<span class="s1">فرقا</ 
span>] <span class="s1">قطّعناهم</span> /. *</p>
<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">*Incidentally, the word / <span class="s1">سبط</ 
span> / has / <span class="s1">سُبطان</span> / as another, yet  
rarely used,</p>
<p class="p1">plural of abundance. *</p>
<p class="p2"><br></p>
<p class="p1">* *</p>
<p class="p2"><br></p>
<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">*(2) As I probably had pointed out in one of my earlier  
posts on the "broken</p>
<p class="p1">plurals," the sound feminine and masculine plurals are  
plurals of abundance,</p>
<p class="p1">yet they may be used to indicate paucity either (a) by  
default or (b) on</p>
<p class="p1">contextual and syntactic grounds.<span class="Apple- 
converted-space">  </span>The word / <span class="s1">مرة</span> /  
has several plurals, the</p>
<p class="p1">most common of which are /<span class="s1">مرات</ 
span> / & / <span class="s1">مِرار</span> /, the latter being  
a broken</p>
<p class="p1">plural of abundance.<span class="Apple-converted- 
space">  </span>**Thus, the sentence / <span class="s1">رأيته</ 
span> <span class="s1">مرات</span> / would mean "I've</p>
<p class="p1">seen him" anywhere from three times to infinity,  
whilst /<span class="s1">رأيته</span> <span  
class="s1">مرارا</span> /</p>
<p class="p1">emphasizes the more repeated action of seeing as  
counting starts from eleven</p>
<p class="p1">to infinity.<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </ 
span>All that notwithstanding, practitioners of Arabic don't use</p>
<p class="p1">pocket calculators!*</p>
<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">* **<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>(In  
parenthesis, I'm often tempted to think of / <span  
class="s1">مرار</span> / as a verbal</p>
<p class="p1">noun, not a plural, which is lexically justified.)*</p>
<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">*(3) On /<span class="s1">آلاف</span> / (plural of  
paucity) & / <span class="s1">ألوف</span> / (plural of  
multiplicity or</p>
<p class="p1">abundance), Dr. Schub observes correctly that / <span  
class="s1">ألوف</span> / "is found in contexts</p>
<p class="p1">meaning 'thousands upon thousands,' etc."<span  
class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Unfortunately, with the</p>
<p class="p1">disturbing Arabic illiteracy and growing use of local  
dialects, very few, if</p>
<p class="p1">at all, would tell the distinction between plural  
forms, let alone use them</p>
<p class="p1">properly.*</p>
<p class="p1">**</p>
<p class="p1">*With my 'abundant' and kin</p>
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End of Arabic-L:  30 May 2007