Elementary Arabic Morphology 2

Cardinal Numbers

  1. How many types of numbers are there?

  2. What is a cardinal number?

  3. How many foundational cardinal numbers are there?

  4. How many types of cardinal numbers are there?

  5. What is the rule regarding a single number?

  6. What is the rule regarding a compound number?

  7. What is the rule regarding a decimal number?

  8. What is the rule regarding a coupled number?

  9. What is the rule of the number in regards to its vowel sign?

  10. What is the rule of the noun after the number in regards to its vowel sign?

  11. There are two types of numbers: cardinal and ordinal.

  12. A cardinal number is a noun that indicates the amount of a countable thing. For example: أربعة أولاد (four children)

  13. There are twelve foundational cardinal numbers: واحِد (one), إثنان (two), ثَلاثَة (three), أربعَة (four), خَمسَة (five), سِتَّة (six), سَبعَة (seven), ثمانیَة (eight**),** تِسعَة (nine**),** عَشرَة (ten), مائَة (hundred), and ألف (thousand).

  14. There are four types of cardinal numbers:

• Single: from one to ten, including a hundred and a thousand.

• Compound: from eleven to nineteen.

• Decimal: from twenty until ninety.

• Coupled: from twenty-one until ninety-nine.

  1. The rules relating single numbers are:

• One and two: they are masculine when the numbered object is masculine and feminine when the numbered object is feminine. For example: رجلٌ واحدٌ (one man) and إمرَأةٌ واحدةٌ (one woman).

• From three to ten: they are feminine when the numbered object is masculine and masculine when the numbered object is feminine. For example:ٍثَلاثَةُ أولادِ three boys) and ثَلاثُ والداتٍ (three girls).

• A hundred and a thousand: they remain the same regardless if the numbered object is masculine or feminine. For example: مائةُ صبيٍّ (a hundred boys) and مائة فتاةٍ (a hundred girls).

  1. The rule regarding compound numbers is that the first part of the number follows the rules for single numbers and the second part follows the numbered object in gender. For example: عَشَرَ عَدَداً (eleven numbers) and خَمسَة عَشَرَ بَیتاً (fifteen houses).

  2. The rule regarding decimal numbers is that they remain the same regardless of the gender of the numbered object. For example: عِشرونَ رَجُلاً (twenty men) and عِشرونَ امرَةً(twenty women).

  3. The rule regarding coupled numbers is that the first part of the number follows the rules for single numbers and the second part remains the same regardless of the gender of the numbered object. For example: واحد و عشرون, اِثنان و عشرون, and ثلاثةٌ و عشرون for masculine objects and واحدة و عشرون, اثنتان و عشرون and ثلاثٌ و عشرون for feminine objects.

  4. The rules of numbers in respect to vowel signs are:

• Two: follows the rules regarding dual forms. For example: اثنان and اثنَین (two masculine) and اثنتان and اثنتَین (two feminine).

• Decimal: follows the rules of sound masculine plurals. For example: عِشرون and عِشرین (twenty).

• Compound: The first part of the number is indeclinable with a fathah. For example: جَلَسَ أحَدَ عَشَرَ رَجُلاً علیَ أحَدَ عَسَرَ کُرسیاً (eleven men sat on eleven chairs).

• The rest of the numbers: follow the rules regarding other nouns. For example: جاءَ رجالٌ ثلاثةٌ حاملینَ أربعةَ کُتُبٍ (three men came carrying four books).

  1. The rules of the numbered object are:

• From three until ten: the numbered object is plural in the genitive state. For example: جاءَ ثلاثةٌ أولادٍ (three boys came).

• From a hundred to a thousand: the numbered object is singular and in the genitive state. For example: جاءَ مئةُ ولدٍ (a hundred boys came).

• From eleven to ninety-nine: the numbered object is singular and in the accusative state. For example: جاءَ أربعةَ عَشَرَ وَاداً (fourteen boys came).