In linguistics, broken plurals are 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.

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), some words will form irregular plurals expressed by vocalization patterns of the triliteral rather than by suffixation.

While the phenomenon is known from several Semitic languages, nowhere has it become as productive as in Arabic.

Broken plurals in Arabic

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In Arabic, the regular way of making a plural for a masculine noun is adding the suffix -ūn at the end. For feminine nouns, the regular way is to add the suffix -āt. 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 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 consonants, not the vowels.

• KiTāB كتاب "book" → KuTuB كتب "books"
• KāTiB كاتب "writer, scribe" → KuTTāB كتاب "writers, scribes"
• maKTūB مكتوب "letter" → maKāTīB مكاتيب "letters"

note: these three words all have a common word root, K-T-B ك – ت – ب "to write"

• WaLaD ولد "boy" → aWLāD أولاد "boys, children"

WaRaQ ورق "paper" → aWRāQ أوراق "papers"

SHaJaR شجر "tree" → aSHJāR أشجار "trees, timber"

but: JaMaL جمل "camel" → JiMāL جمال "camels"

• maKTaB مكتب "desk, office" → maKāTiB مكاتب "desks, offices"

maLBaS ملبس "dress, garb" → maLāBiS ملابس "apparel, clothes"

• JaDD جدّ "grandfather" → JuDūD جدود "grandfathers"

FaNN فنّ "art" → FuNūN فنون "arts"

but: RaBB ربّ "master, owner" → aRBāB أرباب "masters"

See also

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• Triconsonantal root
• Nonconcatenative morphology
• Apophony#Apophony vs. transfixation (root-and-pattern)

External links

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• The Arabic Noun System Generation

Arabic language | Semitic linguistics | Linguistic morphology