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ArchivesRe: TOUGHEDAH
in reply to a message by cherrypiee
From her photo, Ms Jacobs (the UCT researcher) could well be part of a largely Muslim community. To your knowledge, though, are Arabic names routinely feminised by adding an -a or -ah? Some of them do end in -a, but is that the same thing?
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It seems to be common enough. From the top of my head to mind come: Jamil/Jamila, Hamid/Hamida, Hassan/Hassanah, Karim/Karima, Rashid/Rashida, Samir/Samira. I think when I was looking through some Arabic names a while ago this seemed like a popular thing.
I found this about Arabic nouns in general (from A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic
By Karin C. Ryding):
"In most cases, taa' marbuuTa (pronounced -ah or -a in pause form) is a marker of feminine gender. [...] The masculine singular is a base or unmarked form, and the feminine singular is marked by the presence of taa' marbuuTa."
I found this about Arabic nouns in general (from A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic
By Karin C. Ryding):
"In most cases, taa' marbuuTa (pronounced -ah or -a in pause form) is a marker of feminine gender. [...] The masculine singular is a base or unmarked form, and the feminine singular is marked by the presence of taa' marbuuTa."
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