Page:A Grammar of the Persian Language.djvu/62

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Of Numbers.
31

83. There are, however, a few exceptions to these rules: the names of animals sometimes make their plurals in ها‎, as well as in ان‎, as, شتر‎ shuṭur, a camel; شترها‎ shuṭurha, and شتران‎ shuṭurāṅ, camels; and, on the other hand, the names of things sometimes have plurals in ان‎, as لب‎ lab, a lip, لبان‎ labāṅ, lips.

84. Substantive nouns, or attributives used as such, ending in (Symbol missingArabic characters) or (Symbol missingArabic characters), form their plurals in (Symbol missingArabic characters); as, (Symbol missingArabic characters), dānā, a learned man; (Symbol missingArabic characters) dānāyāṅ, learned men; (Symbol missingArabic characters), fairy-faced, pl. (Symbol missingArabic characters). Those which end in silent (Symbol missingArabic characters), signifying rational beings, are made plural by changing that letter into (Symbol missingArabic characters), as (Symbol missingArabic characters) bachah, an infant; (Symbol missingArabic characters) bachagāṅ, infants; sometimes written separately; as, (Symbol missingArabic characters) farishṭah, an angel; (Symbol missingArabic characters) farishṭah gāṅ, angels.

But if such word end in the aspirated (Symbol missingArabic characters), (Art. 29), the termination (Symbol missingArabic characters) or (Symbol missingArabic characters), will be regularly added; as, (Symbol missingArabic characters), the king; (Symbol missingArabic characters), kings; (Symbol missingArabic characters), way; (Symbol missingArabic characters), ways.

If, however, a noun signifying any thing irrational end in silent (Symbol missingArabic characters), this letter will be rejected in forming the plural; as, (Symbol missingArabic characters), the house; (Symbol missingArabic characters), houses.

85. In some modern Persian books, as the life of Nādir Shāh, and others, the plural often ends in (Symbol missingArabic characters); or, in (Symbol missingArabic characters), if the singular has a silent final (Symbol missingArabic characters).