Page:Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (1910 Kautzsch-Cowley edition).djvu/267

, as in the headings of the printed editions, as well as ); , plur. ; , plur. . Feminines in  form their plural in , e.g. , plur. ; and those in  either make , as , plur. ,  (cf. , ), or are inflected like (pronounced ‛ēdhewôth for ‛ēdhŭwôth).

It is only from a mistake or disregard of these feminine endings and  that some words ending with them form their plural by the addition of  or, e.g. , plur. and ;, plur. (by the side of ); ;, (if connected with Assyr. kâsu, to bind), &c.

The termination -ôth stands primarily for -âth (which is the form it has in Arab., Eth., in the constr. st. of Western Aramaic, in Eastern Syriac, and also in Assyrian; on the change of â into an obscure ô, see ). On the other hand, it is doubtful whether this âth is to be regarded as a lengthened and stronger form of the singular fem. ending ăth (cf. ).

How the changeable vowels of a noun are shortened or become in consequence of the addition of the plural endings is explained in §§ 92–5.

3. Words which in the singular are used both as masculine and feminine, often have in the plural parallel forms with the masculine and feminine terminations, e.g. , plur. and ; and each form may be treated either as masculine or feminine, according to the usage of the particular word.—But even those words, of which the gender is invariable, sometimes have both plural forms, e.g. masc. a generation, plur. and ; fem. a year, plur. and (see the Rem.). In these words the gender of both plural forms remains the same as in the singular, e.g. masc. a lion, plur. musc.,, musc.,.

Sometimes usage makes a distinction between the two plural forms of the same word. Thus,, are the usual, but  (only twice, in the constr. st. , ) and  (also only in the constr. st. and before suffixes) are rarer poetic forms.

A difference of meaning appears in several names of members of the body, the dual (see § 88) denoting the living members themselves, while the plur. in expresses something like them, but without life, e.g. , , also e.g. the arms of a throne; ,  (Lat. manubria); ,  (of the ark), ,  (of the altar); , ; cf. also, the figures of lions on Solomon’s throne, , , plur. and.

4. A considerable number of masculines form their plural in, while many feminines have a plural in. The gender of the singular, however, is as a rule retained in the plural.