a-practical-kurdish-grammar

NOUNS 31
Number
68. Plurals are generally formed in Kurdish by suffixing
j\.(an) to the singular.
Examples: ^£ (kiir) 'boy', (jijy (kûr-an) 'boys'; 5t5
(kich) 'giri', jU^ (kich-an) 'girls' ; ^^ (kateb) 'book',
jLJj (kateb-an) 'books'; jU (piaû) 'man', O'Jt,
(piaw-an) 'men'; JU (mal) 'house', o^\a (mal-an)
'houses', etc.
69. When a noun in the singular ends in K (a), that vowel
is usually assimilated by the \ of the plural ending ^
(an). Examples: (jl,jj (qiss-an) 'words', for ^*^,
(qissa-an) ; ^jNl.".. (pishil-an) 'cats', for jIaLL* (pishila-
an) ; jlL.4 (mesh-an) 'forests', for jjUi-.4 (mesha-an).
70. When a noun ends in | (a), the connective (S (x) is
placed between it and the plural ending jl (an). Examples:
^^(gala) 'leaf, ö^.>^ (&a'*-y-^n) 'leaves'; \j
(bra) 'brother', jU^ (bra-y-an) 'brothers'; b^l (pad-
isha) 'King', jl,\i^\, (padisha-y-an) 'Kings'; 1^ \chra)
'light', jU^ (chra-y-an) 'lights'.
71. The singular is often used with a plural signification.
Examples : 4J1, ,_^ JLL>- (chand hasp haya) 'how many horses
are there ?' ; ^ , '^^ (galak hasp haya) 'there are
many horses' ; ^' ^ J\-^ J^ 3 3^ C (bist piau wa se
hazar mar) 'twenty men and three thousand sheep'. This
employment of the singular in a plural sense, is always the
case after a numeral.