Editor’s Note & Disclaimer: The core content and linguistic structure of this lesson were originally authored by Chris Hitchcock for the Team Maha website. This post is part of an effort to preserve, organize, and share these invaluable resources for Arabic learners worldwide.

In Shami (and spoken Arabic dialects more generally), nouns function very similarly to FuSHa, but with several important colloquial adaptations. In this lesson, we will examine noun gender, the pronunciation rules of the feminine ending (taa marbuuTa), how the dual is used in daily speech, sound and broken plurals, and collective nouns.

1. Gender (الجنس)

As in FuSHa, nouns in Levantine Arabic are either masculine or feminine. In the singular, most feminine nouns are identified by a final ـة (taa marbuuTa).

Pronunciation of Taa MarbuuTa (-a vs. -e)

Unlike FuSHa, where the final vowel is a standardized -a (or -at in construct state), Shami pronounces the taa marbuuTa as either -a or -e depending on the preceding consonant:

• Pronounced -a: Following back/emphatic consonants (ط, ص, ض, ظ, خ, غ, ق, ح, ع, ه, ء, ر):

  • طريقة (Tarii2a → ‘way’)
  • بيضة (beeDa → ’egg')
  • بطة (baTTa → ‘duck’)
  • شوشرة (shooshara → ‘fuss’)

• Pronounced -e: Following all other non-emphatic consonants:

  • دبدوبة (dabduube → ’teddy bear')
  • بوسة (boose → ‘kiss’)
  • ملعونة (mal3uune → ’naughty')
  • محكية (mé7kiyye → ‘spoken’)

(Exceptions: Words with r preceded by front vowels, like ابرة ibre ’needle’ or شفرة shafre ‘razor’, as well as adjectives ending in -iir like كبيرة kbiire, take -e).

Feminine Nouns Without Taa MarbuuTa

1. Invariable -a Endings: Found in words like ذكرى (zikra → ‘memory’), feminine forms of colors (بيضا / beeDa → ‘white’), and defect nouns (هبلا / habla → ‘idiot’).
2. Implicitly Feminine Nouns: Country/place names, letters of the alphabet, paired body parts, and specific common exceptions:
   • أرض (arD → ’earth / floor’)
   • بلد (balad → ‘country / town’)
   • حرب (7arb → ‘war’)
   • مي (mayy → ‘water’)
   • سما (sama → ‘sky’)
   • شمس (shams → ‘sun’)

2. Definiteness (المعرف بـ الـ)

The definite article is used both for specific references and generic concepts. However, spoken Levantine features a few expressions where objects remain indefinite where English or FuSHa might expect a definite article:

• بحكي عربي (bé7ki 3arabi → ‘I speak Arabic’ — not él-3arabi)
• هاد اسمو شغل (haad ésmo shéghl → ’this is what work is’)

3. The Dual (المثنى)

In Levantine Arabic, the dual suffix is invariably ـين (-een), regardless of grammatical case:

• كلبين (kalbeen → ’two dogs’)
• كاتبين (kaatbeen → ’two writers’)

Feminine Dual

On feminine nouns ending in taa marbuuTa, the suffix becomes ـتين (-teen):

• مرتين (marteen → ’two women’)
• حبتين (7abbteen → ’two pills')

Key Differences from FuSHa:

1. No -n Dropping in IDaafe: Unlike FuSHa, the dual ending -een retains its -n in possessive constructions (iDaafe).
2. Paired Body Parts: Nouns like إجرين (ijreen → ’legs’) or عينين (3eeneen → ’eyes’) drop the -n only before pronoun suffixes (رجليي / réjleyyi → ‘my legs’). When pointing to exactly two items, a proper dual with -t- is used (عينتين / 3eenteen → ’two eyes’).
3. Plural Alternative: The dual is not strictly mandatory whenever two items are mentioned. Speakers frequently use the number تنين (tneen) followed by a plural noun (تنين رجال / tneen @rjaal → ’two men’).

4. The Plural (الجمع)

Nouns in Shami form plurals through three primary systems:

1. Sound Masculine Plural (جمع المذكر السالم): Invariably ends in ـين (-iin) without case variations (kaatbiin → ‘writers’).
2. Sound Feminine Plural (جمع المؤنث السالم): Ends in ـات (-aat) (Tarii2aat → ‘ways’).
3. Broken Plurals (جمع التكسير): Follow patterns similar to FuSHa with regional phonetic adaptations:
   • مكتب ← مكاتب (maktab → makaateb)
   • درس ← دروس (dars → druus)
   • كلب ← كلاب (kalb → klaab)
   • شهيد ← شهدا (shahiid → shéhada)

Nisba Plurals in ـية (-iyye)

Colloquial Levantine frequently forms human plurals (especially for nisba origin or occupational nouns) using the feminine suffix ـية (-iyye) or ـة (-e):

• لبنانية (lébnaaniyye → ‘Lebanese people’)
• حلبية (7alabiyye → ‘Aleppans’)
• شوفرية (shooferiyye → ‘drivers’)
• لعيبة (la33iibe → ‘players / athletes’)

5. Collectives & Singulatives (اسم الجنس واسم المرة)

Some nouns in Levantine Arabic are collectives (اسم جنس), taking singular masculine agreement to refer to a mass or material:

• ورق (wara2 → ‘paper’)
• بطاطا (baTaaTa → ‘potatoes’)
• بندورة (banadoora → ’tomatoes’)

Forming Singulatives

To specify a single unit, a singulative (اسم مرة) is created by adding ـة (-a/e) or ـاية (-aaye):

• ورقة (wara2a → ‘a piece of paper’)
• بطاطاية (baTaaTaaye → ‘a single potato’)
• حبة بطاطا (7abbet baTaaTa → ‘one potato’)

Singulatives can be counted and pluralized using -aat (تلت بطاطايات / tlett baTaaTaayaat → ’three potatoes’).

Collective Plurals with ـات (-aat)

Adding -aat directly to a collective noun refers to a specific batch, instance, or experience of that mass:

• شو هالبدرات (shu hal-bardaat! → ‘it’s so cold!’)
• كيف اللحمات اليوم؟ (kiif élla7maat élyoom? → ‘how is the meat today?’)
• قهوات مرتي (2ahwaat marti → ‘my wife’s coffee / the coffee she makes’)

What’s Next?

In Part #5, we will examine Adjectives in Levantine Arabic.