THE PLURAL OF A FEW IN THE «AL– MUFASSAL FI SAN’ATI-L-I’RAB»

Abstract

In this article, the methods of considering the plural of a few in the Arabic language of the outstanding linguist of the Middle Ages Mahmud Zamakhshary are involved in the analysis. In addition, the author considers the points of view on this issue of the founder of the theoretical grammar of the Arabic language, the famous representative of the early Middle Ages Sibawaihi and other linguists. In the Arabic language, the grammatical section “ism” is characterized by the category of number, which is represented by single, dual, and plural (regular and broken form) forms. The plural is used when more than two objects or persons are meant. The plural in Arabic divides into the following two large groups: 1) the correct plural form; 2) a broken plural form. “The plural is divisible into the plural of a few and the plural of many. The plural of a few are words for up to ten items. These include words formed according to .أثواب «أجربة, غلمة , - for exampleافعل أفعال فعلة the patterns In addition, these include words formed with waw-nun and alif-ta.” All remaining patterns are used for plurals of many. Regular masculine and feminine plurals are used for plurals of a few. In Arabic linguistics, there are such concepts as “jam’ akbar”, “jam’ asgar” and “jam’u-l-jam’”.