Diptotes / الأَسْماء المَمْنُوعة مِنْ الصَرْف

Diptotes in Arabic (الأَسْماء المَمْنُوعة مِنْ الصَرْف)

Diptotes in Arabic are nouns that do not take a tanwīn (تَنْوِين) in the indefinite form (نَكِرة) and have a fatḥa instead of a kasra in the genitive case (مَجْرور).

These nouns fall into 4 broad categories:

  1. Proper names
  2. Adjectives
  3. Broken plurals
  4. Nouns ending with ـاء

For the first 3 categories, only a number of words meeting particular criteria, which we will list below, can be considered as diptotes.

Proper nouns

أَمْثِلة
Examples
فِئَة
Category
عُثْمان
ʿUthmān
رَمَضان
Ramaḍān
حَسّان 
Ḥassān
مَرْوان 
Marwān
سُفْيان
Sufiān
Names ending with an alif and a nūn (ـان)
زُفَر
Zufar
هُبَل 
Hubal
مُضَر 
Muḍar
قُزَح 
Quzaḥ
عُمَر 
ʿUmar
Names built on pattern فُعَلُ
أَكْرَم
Akram
أَحْمَد 
Aḥmad
يَشْكُر 
Yashkur
يَزِيد 
Yazīd
تَغْلِب
Taghlib 
Names built on verbal patterns like يَفْعَل – تَفْعَل – أَفْعَل
قُسْطَنْطِين
Constantine
إِبْراهِيم 
Abraham
يَعْقُوب 
Jacob
يُوسُف
Joseph
هارُون
Aaron   
Foreign names composed of more than 3 letters
بَعَلْبَك
Baalbek
سامَراء
Samarra
حَضْرَمَوْت
Hadhramaut
بَيْت لَحْم
Bethlehem
مَعَديكَرِب 
Ma’adi Yakrib
Names made up of two different words
عَنْتَرة
ʿAntara
حَمْزة 
Ḥamza
زَيْنَب 
Zainab
فَوْزيِّة 
Fawziya
خَدِيجة 
Khadija 
Feminine names or masculine names adopting a feminine form

Adjectives 

Adjectives based on specific patterns are diptotes in Arabic (provided they are not 1st terms of annexation).

أَمْثِلة
Examples
الأَوْزان
Patterns
عَطْشان
(م عَطْشى)
thirsty
فَرْحان
(م فَرْحى)
happy
غَضْبان
(م غَضْبى)
angry
كَسْلان
(م كَسْلى)
lazy
(فَعْلان (ومُؤَنَّثة فَعْلى
حُبْلى
pregnant
فُعْلى
أَحْمَر
(م حَمْراء)
ج حُمْر
red
أَسْوَد
(م سَوداء)
ج سُود
black
أَعْرَج
(م عَرْجاء)
ج عُرْج
lame
أَحْمَق
(م حَمْقاء)
ج حُمْق
foolish
(أَفْعَل (ومُؤَنَّثة فَعْلاء
أَعْلى
higher
أَصْغَر
smaller
أَوْسَع
larger
أَكْبَر
bigger
أَفْعَل للتَفْضِيل
رُباع
in fours
ثُلاث
in threes
مَثْنى
in pairs
أُحاد
one-by-one
Derived from numbers 
…مَفْعَل – فُعَل – فَعال

Broken plurals / صِيَغ مُنْتَهى الجُمُوع

Broken plurals composed of two or three letters after the alif are diptotes in Arabic (provided they are not 1st terms of annexation). They are called صِيَغ مُنْتَهى الجُمُوع. Here are the most important patterns:

أَمْثِلة
Examples
الأَوْزان
Patterns
مصابيح
lamps
عَصافِير
(little) birds
مَفاعِيل
مَساجِد
mosques
مجالِس
boards
مَفاعِل
أسالِيب
styles
أَحاديث
hadiths
أفاعِيل
دَراهِم
dirhams
زَلازِل
earthquakes
فَعالِل
دَوافِع
incentives
قَوَافِل
lockers
فَواعِل
أعارِج
lames
أَقارِب
relatives
أَفاعِل
قَبائِل
tribes
رَسائِل
messages
فَعائِل

Nouns ending with اء

All nouns ending with ـاء (provided they are not 1st terms of annexation).

وُزَراء
ministers
أَصْدِقاء
friends
صَحْراء
Sahara
أَنْبِياء
prophets
أُمَراء
princes
Diptotes

Learn all about diptotes in Arabic grammar and how they are used. Find out what diptotes are, examples of diptotes, and how to use them correctly in sentences.

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