Feminine Suffix –t in Standard Arabic: Emphasis and Relevancy

Abstract

This paper examines the formation, derivation, and function of the feminine suffix –t as an indicator of gender and other grammatical roles in Standard Arabic morphology. This suffix is attached at the end of certain nouns, verbs, and other forms to signal feminine gender. In the inflectional and derivational morphology of standard Arabic, the t- suffix is used at the end of masculine nouns to create feminine nouns, at the end of the verb forms to signal feminine gender and number. This suffix, however, has been an object of medieval controversial debates across the Arabic traditional grammarians. There had been two aspects of argument concerning this suffix, those who supported the claim that –t suffix signals feminine gender, and those who supported the claim that –t suffix signals emphatic meanings. This paper, therefore, draws on these debates and it attempts to reach conclusions in relation to this.