The Singular and Plural in Qur’anic Readings in The Interpretation Al-Jawahir Al-Hissan Of Al-Tha’alabi 875 AH A Morphological Study

Abstract

This paper investigates the morphological alternation of plural and singular in Al Tha’alibi’s AlJawahir AlHissan (875 H) to uncover the causes that gave rise to it. This issue, which is a characteristic of Arabic language, extends to include the alternation between the dual and the plural, on one hand, and within the types of plural, on the other. This latter includes alternation in plural of many and of few in broken plural, in addition to other types of plural. All these are represented in the various readings of the Holy Qur’an, which some believe due to the Qur’anic orthographic style which made it possible for some words to be read both as singular and plural. The research found that the annexed (added) gender noun indicates plurality and thus doesn’t need to be in plural form and annexing the (ta’a) at the end of the plural nouns is to emphasize the plurality of the noun. The paper also shows that there is a difference between collective noun and broken plural. The collective noun is singular in form but plural in meaning, while the broken plural is plural inform only.