It seems to me that many Arabic female names are ending in -a: Fatima, Yamina, Aisha, Aziza. Is this a modern innovation imported from Indo-European languages or a native feature? Also I wonder about nouns and country names like say Jamahiriya, Arabiya etc.
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4 Answers
The feminine ending -at- is pan-Semitic, as in Arabic malik-un “king” vs. malik-at-un “queen”. In pausal position -at-un becomes -ah, so malikatun becomes malikah. There are similar pausal forms in Aramaic, Hebrew, etc. This is all purely Semitic and has nothing to do with Indo-European.
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3There are a few male personal names with the ending -atu , -ah, for example ʼumayyah, or muʻāwiyah; also a small number of masculine common nouns like xalīfah ‘caliph’, in the same way that there a small number of feminine nouns without the suffix –atun, -ah, e.g. ʼumm ‘mother’. Every rule has exceptions.– fdbCommented Apr 20, 2014 at 22:43
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1This change -at to -ah evolved several times independently. That's how Sáenz-Badillos (A History of the Hebrew Language) puts it: "A striking phenomenon ... is the similar development within many different Semitic languages, albeit by various routes and at different times, of the feminine ending -at, so that the -t is dropped in the absolute state but retained in the construct." Commented Apr 23, 2014 at 23:13
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3No. I was trying to explain that these pausal forms are already in Classical Arabic, and in other ancient Semitic languages. Does that not answer your question?– fdbCommented Apr 25, 2014 at 8:42
Semitic nouns originally had three cases:nominative,objective,possessive/oblique; and many feminine nouns took a -ta ending, which shortened to -a@(glottal stop or the like) and then simply to -a(long, and often written as -ah).so, we might illustrate all of the above as follows, using the sus/horse root:-
masculine feminine
horse mare
nominative - horse/mare as subject. sus.u. sus.at.u
objective. horse/mare as object/extent/direction. sus.a.(ma/m) sus.at.a(ma/m)
possessive - of horse/mare; horse's/mare's} sus.i. sus.at.i oblique - to/by/from/with/etc. horse/mare}
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1If all your comments are part of one answer, can you please keep them together? You can click on "edit" below your answer and modify it as many times as you wish. Please post separate answers only if the answers are distinct.– prash ♦Commented Apr 24, 2014 at 19:48
Most likely derivation of 'Allah (found as a pre-Quranic name) is 'al-'ilah = the (supreme/true/only)God. Arabic 'ilah = Hebrew 'elah >'elo(a)h.
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1There is no point in writing Arabic in Latin script if you do not distinguish long and short vowels.– fdbCommented Apr 24, 2014 at 22:20
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There ĭs nō point ĭn wrītĭng Englĭsh ĭn Lătin scrĭpt ĭf you do nŏt dĭstĭnguĭsh lŏng ănd short vowels either. Or māybē wē jŭst hăve opĭnions. Commented Apr 25, 2014 at 5:15
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1It is just that the whole spurious comparison between Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic collapses when you realise that the IE feminine marker is long/ ā/ (or if you prefer *eH), while that in AA is /at/ with short /a/, or merely /t/.– fdbCommented Apr 25, 2014 at 10:15
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Masculine adjectives in Arabic can end in -I: hence, 'Arab.i...and the femininine is made from adding -ya to the masculine: hence, the feminine would become 'arab.i.ya.