EASY PLURAL

Here are examples of words that work with what I called “easy plurals”. From masculine ” ” to plural “īn” to feminine “a” to feminine plural “āt”. In this case, the “īn” did not mean there were two things (dual), but just general plural. Not many words will work this way, but it’s still an important pattern to learn as a sort of regular transformation for words.

Table using Arabic Script underneath.

AnglaisMasculine S.Masculine P.Feminine S.Feminine P.
Canadiankanadīkanadīyīnkanadiyakanadiyāt
Teachermoзal̄immoзal̄mīnmoзal̄mamoзal̄māt
Engineermohandismohandsīnmohandisamohandsāt
Lawyermoḥāmīmoḥāmīnmoḥāmiyamoḥāmyāt
Directormodīrmodīrīnmodīramodīrāt
Christianmasīḥīmasīḥīyīnmasīḥīyamasīḥīyāt
Muslimmoslimmosilmīnmosilmamosilmāt

AnglaisMasculine S.Masculine P.Feminine S.Feminine P.
Canadianكَنديكَندييينكَندِيةكَندِيات
Muslimمُعَلِّممُعَلّمينمُعَلّمةمُعَلّمات
Engineerمُهَندِسمُهَندسينمُهَندِسةمُهَندسات
Lawyerمُحاميمُحامينمُحامِيةمُحاميات
Directorمُديرمُديرينمُديرةمُديرات
Christianمَسيحيمَسيحييينمَسيحِيةمَسيحِيات
Muslimمُسلِممُسِلمينمُسِلمةمُسِلمات

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ALMOST EASY PLURAL

Here are examples of words that are almost easy. The masculine plural doesn’t conform to the rule, but there is possibility to add an “a” for the feminine and then the feminine plural is regular. This is usually how things work when a word can be masculine or feminine because of its categorical meaning. You might also ask why we didn’t use adjectives with feminine plurals. In a way, some of them should transform in a regular manner: “msak̄ir” “mask̄rīn” “msak̄ra” “msak̄rāt”. However, the feminine plural adjective is not used in Tunisian Arabic speech, the masculine plural usually covers it. By the way, some people use the feminine adjective instead of the plural fomr when they talk about multiple objects. You might hear that as well.

Table with Arabic Script will follow.

AnglaisMasculine S.Masculine P.Feminine S.Feminine P.
Tunisiantōnsītwānsatōnsiyatōnsiyāt
Foreignerajnabīajānibajnabiyaajnabiyāt
Americanamarīkīamarīkānamarīkiyaamarīkiyāt
Doctortbībtob̄atbībatbībāt
Catqaṭ̄ōsqṭāṭisqaṭ̄ōsaqaṭ̄ōsāt
Dogkalbklābkalbakalbāt

AnglaisMasculine S.Masculine P.Feminine S.Feminine P.
Tunisianتونسيتوانسةتونسِيةتونسِيات
Foreignerأَجنَبيأَجانِبأَجنَبِيةأَجنَبِيات
Americanأَمَريكيأَمَريكانأَمَريكِيةأَمَريكِيات
Doctorتبيبتُبّةتبيبةتبيبات
Catقَطّوسقطاطِسقَطّوسةقَطّوسات
Dogكَلبكلابكَلبةكَلبات