2. Nouns: Gender and Plural
Recognize masculine and feminine, and form the plural.
In Kabyle, every noun has a gender: masculine or feminine. The gender can often be recognized by the noun's prefix. The plural is formed by changing the prefix and sometimes the suffix, and sometimes the root changes as well.
2.1. Masculine
Most masculine nouns start with a- (sometimes am- or an-).
| Kabyle | English |
|---|---|
argaz | man |
aqcic | boy |
axxam | house |
amɣar | old man |
anegmar | hunter |
2.2. Feminine
The feminine is generally formed with ta-...-t: the mark t- at the beginning and -t at the end. Some feminine nouns are irregular (like tameṭṭut for "woman").
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
aqcic (boy) | taqcict (girl) |
amɣar (old man) | tamɣart (old woman) |
aɣyul (donkey) | taɣyult (female donkey) |
argaz (man) | tameṭṭut (woman) — irregular |
2.3. Plural
The masculine plural often uses the frame i-...-en. The feminine plural uses ti-...-in. Some nouns change the internal vowel (broken plural).
| Singular | Plural | Type |
|---|---|---|
argaz | irgazen | regular (masc.) |
aqcic | iqcicen | regular (masc.) |
taqcict | tiqcicin | regular (fem.) |
amɣar | imɣaren | regular (masc.) |
taddart (village) | tuddar | broken plural |
2.4. Exceptions (Must-know)
The a- / ta-...-t rule works for most words, but there are three major exceptions you need to memorize.
A. Completely different words (Lexical pairs)
For some very common words (especially family), the masculine and feminine share no root. They are completely different words.
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
argaz | tameṭṭut | man / woman |
mmi | yelli | my son / my daughter |
gma | weltma | my brother / my sister |
B. Semantic shift (The "false" feminine)
Sometimes, adding the feminine frame ta-...-t doesn't mean "female version of...", but creates a word with a completely new, related meaning.
C. Inherently feminine words
Some words are inherently feminine and have no masculine version, or their masculine version is extremely rare.
| Feminine word | Meaning |
|---|---|
taddart | village |
tala | spring / fountain |
tamurt | country / homeland |
Practice
60 sentences · 3,530 matchesTekki ɣef kra n tqeffilt!
Ad d-aɣeɣ kra n yidlisen.
Ulac akk kra-nniḍen i d-lemdeɣ.
Yiwen ur ibɣi ad t-txedmeḍ.
Mazal sɛiɣ kra n tefranin.
Sɛiɣ dima kra n tefranin.
Ur kem-ittxuṣṣu ara kra yid-i.
Yiwen ur ittḥessis i yinaw.
Yiwen ur issel i yinaw.
Yiwen deg-sen ur yelli dina.
Yiwet deg-sent ur telli dina.
Tom yettaru i yiwen umeddakel.
Ssekraweɣ taxxamt ɣef yiwen wayyur.
Yiwen ur yezmir ad k-d-isel.
Γriɣ taqsiṭ-a deg yiwen udlis.
Ur ttestenyiɣ ula d kra.
Yiwen ur d-ikad yečča-t lḥir.
Ur nlaq ula i kra.
Axxam-a yettruḥ deg-sent kra kra.
Xaṭi, ur d-qqar kra !
Tom igezzu kra n tefransist.
D azrug bu-yiwet n tnila.
Bɣiɣ ad yi-d-tewteḍ kra ugiṭar.
Ur s-d-yegri kra i Tom-nni.
Tom yeqqar-d yesεa kra uɣawas.
Kra yekka wass netta yennudem.
Neḥḍer i tlata n lgirrat.
Sin-a yergazen llan d icriken.
Yemma teẓḍa-iyi sin n yibernyas.
Ur nettanez i kra umesbaṭli.
Ur tfehhmeḍ ula d kra.
Ur tessin ula i kra.
Yiwen n leḥmu assa yessefcal.
Yečča-t yiwen uɣucaf deg uḍar.
Yiwen usaber uɣemɣum iqḍeε tawalit.
Sin wussan netta d ageffur.
Yettmeslay yiwet n tutlayt kan.
Sin wakraren i yečča wuccen.
Ur ḍeggir kra ar lqaεa!
Kra ur d-ittas war leɛtab.
Yiwet n ṭṭubba tezger-d abrid.
Uriɣ yakan kraḍ n yidlisen.
A bu-snat, bru i yiwet.
Kra ur sεiɣ ad k-t-id-iniɣ.
Tom ɣur-s tlata n snitrat.
Tom ɣur-s kraḍ n snitrat.
Ugadeɣ ahat ččiɣ kra yettwaɣen.
Bɣiɣ ad d-aɣeɣ kra iserwula.
Qqimeɣ di Boston kraḍ iseggasen.
Kra ur d-yettas akka kan.
Ulac am uxxam n yiwen.
Qqen allen-ik tlata n dqiqat.
Igezzem ttjur deg yiwen wedrar.
Atiki-a iteṭṭef tlata n wussan.
Ɣur-k kra usugen d anakkaf.
Ḥebseɣ dexxan tlata iseggasen aya.
Ḥebseɣ akeyyef tlata iseggasen aya.
Yiwen n tqerɛet nniḍen, ttxil-k.
Tom itess ma d kra.
Tesεiḍ kan kra n waḍu.
Practice exercises
1. What is the feminine of 'aqcic' (boy)?
2. How is the masculine plural generally formed?
3. What is the feminine of 'axxam' (house)?