Breakdown of توفيت العالمة العظيمة في سنة ألف وثلاثمئة وتسع وتسعين الهجرية.
الal
the
وwa
and
فيfî
in / about, regarding
تسعةtis'a
nine
سنةsana
year
تسعونtis'ûna
ninety
عالمâlim
scientist
توفيtuwuffiya
to pass away
ألفalf
thousand
ثلاثمئةthalâthumi'a
three hundred
عظيمazhîm
great
هجريhijrî
A.H. (Hijri)
Questions & Answers about توفيت العالمة العظيمة في سنة ألف وثلاثمئة وتسع وتسعين الهجرية.
Why are all the parts of the year in the genitive case (ألفٍ, ثلاثمئةٍ, etc.)?
The word for year, سنةِ (sanati), is in the genitive case because it comes after the preposition في (fii). In formal Arabic, when reading years, the word سنة acts as the first part of an Idafa (possessive construction) with the first number, making ألفٍ (alfin) genitive. The following numbers are connected by و (wa) (and), so they all copy that same genitive case: ثلاثمئةٍ (thalaathimi'atin), تسعٍ (tis'in), and تسعين (tis'iina).
Why is the number nine written as تسع (tis') without a taa' marbuuta, rather than تسعة (tis'a)?
This is due to Arabic's "reverse gender agreement" for numbers 3 to 9. The counted noun here is سنة (year), which is feminine. Therefore, the ones-digit in the compound number must take the masculine form, تسع (tis').
Why is it تسعين (tis'iina) and not تسعون (tis'uuna)?
The tens digits (20-90) decline like sound masculine plurals. Since the entire number phrase is in the genitive case (chained together by the conjunction و), the word for ninety must take the genitive/accusative ending ـين (-iina) instead of the nominative ـون (-uuna).
How is توفيت pronounced here, and why?
It is pronounced تُوُفِّيَتِ (tuwuffiyati). It is a passive verb (literally "she was taken"), which is the standard way to say "died" in Arabic. The final taa' takes a helping vowel kasra (تِ) instead of a sukuun to prevent two consecutive vowelless consonants when connecting to the word العالمة (al-'aalimatu).
Does the adjective الهجرية (al-hijriyyati) modify the number 99?
No, it modifies the word سنة (year) at the very beginning of the phrase. Since سنة is made definite by being in an Idafa with a specific year, and is in the genitive case, الهجرية is also definite (it has ال) and takes the genitive case ending.
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