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:
- Proper names
- Adjectives
- Broken plurals
- 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 names
| 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 |
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