Gulf Arabic Grammar - Plural-forming
suffix "-aat"
Words
that signify female human beings or inanimates, and don’t
have a broken plural add the suffix –aat.
Female
humans:
sadeega
(female friend) -> sadeegaat
mudarrisa (female teacher) -> mudarrisaat
ba7rayniyya (Bahraini woman/girl) -> ba7rayniyyaat
Inanimate
objects:
sayyaara
(car, fem.) -> sayyaaraat
jaami3a -> jaamia3aat (university/ies)
mubaara (sports match) -> mubaaraat
sharika (company, firm, fem.) -> sharikaat
baaS (bus, masc.) -> baaSaat
stuudiuu (studio, masc.) -> stuudiuhaat
- (an additional ‘h’ is added here between the two
vowels ‘u’ and ‘a’)