اثنان

Arabic

Root
ث ن ي (ṯ n y)
32 terms

Arabic numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	٢ 2	3  →
Cardinal: اِثْنَان (iṯnān)     Ordinal: ثَانٍ (ṯānin)     Multiplier: ثُنَائِيّ (ṯunāʔiyy), مُثَنًّى (muṯannan)     Distributive: ثُنَاءَ (ṯunāʔa), مَثْنَى (maṯnā)     Fractional: نِصْف (niṣf)

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ṯin-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iθ.naːn/

Numeral

اِثْنَان • (iṯnān) m du (oblique اِثْنَيْن (iṯnayn), feminine اِثْنَتَان (iṯnatān) or ثِنْتَان (ṯintān), feminine oblique اِثْنَتَيْن (iṯnatayn) or ثِنْتَيْن (ṯintayn))

1. two

   رَأَيْتُ رَجُلَيْنِ ٱثْنَيْنِ وَٱمْرَأَتَيْنِ ٱثْنَتَيْنِ ― raʔaytu rajulayni ṯnayni wamraʔatayni ṯnatayni ― I saw [only] two men and two women.

Usage notes

• The cardinal numbers "one" and "two" succeed the modified noun or substantive and agree with its grammatical gender.
• Adding the cardinal numbers "one" and "two" is optional, since nouns have morphologically singular and dual forms. Thus, when mentioned, it usually implies some emphasis comparable to the addition of only or merely in English.

Declension

Declension of numeral اِثْنَان (iṯnān)

Dual	Masculine			Feminine
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	اِثْنَيْن iṯnayn	الِاثْنَيْن al-iṯnayn	اِثْنَيْ iṯnay	اِثْنَتَيْن‎; ثِنْتَيْن iṯnatayn‎; ṯintayn	الِاثْنَتَيْن‎; الثِّنْتَيْن al-iṯnatayn‎; aṯ-ṯintayn	اِثْنَتَيْ‎; ثِنْتَيْ iṯnatay‎; ṯintay
Nominative	اِثْنَانِ iṯnāni	الِاثْنَانِ al-iṯnāni	اِثْنَا iṯnā	اِثْنَتَانِ‎; ثِنْتَانِ iṯnatāni‎; ṯintāni	الِاثْنَتَانِ‎; الثِّنْتَانِ al-iṯnatāni‎; aṯ-ṯintāni	اِثْنَتَا‎; ثِنْتَا iṯnatā‎; ṯintā
Accusative	اِثْنَيْنِ iṯnayni	الِاثْنَيْنِ al-iṯnayni	اِثْنَيْ iṯnay	اِثْنَتَيْنِ‎; ثِنْتَيْنِ iṯnatayni‎; ṯintayni	الِاثْنَتَيْنِ‎; الثِّنْتَيْنِ al-iṯnatayni‎; aṯ-ṯintayni	اِثْنَتَيْ‎; ثِنْتَيْ iṯnatay‎; ṯintay
Genitive	اِثْنَيْنِ iṯnayni	الِاثْنَيْنِ al-iṯnayni	اِثْنَيْ iṯnay	اِثْنَتَيْنِ‎; ثِنْتَيْنِ iṯnatayni‎; ṯintayni	الِاثْنَتَيْنِ‎; الثِّنْتَيْنِ al-iṯnatayni‎; aṯ-ṯintayni	اِثْنَتَيْ‎; ثِنْتَيْ iṯnatay‎; ṯintay

Descendants

• Egyptian Arabic: اتنين (itnēn)
• Maltese: tnejn
• Moroccan Arabic: تنين (tnīn, tnayn)
• North Levantine Arabic: تنان (tnān)
• South Levantine Arabic: تنين (tnēn)

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic اِثْنَان (iṯnān).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔis.ˈnɑːn]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.nɑ́ːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.nɑ́ːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.nɑ́ːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔis.nɔ́ːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔes.nɒ́ːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔis.nɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading?	isnān
Dari reading?	isnān
Iranian reading?	esnân
Tajik reading?	isnon

Numeral

اثنان • (esnân) (literary, otherwize uncommon)

1. two

   Synonym: دو (du)

Further reading

• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “اثنان”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
• “اثنان”, in قاموس کبیر افغانستان [qāmūs-i kabīr-i afğānistān, The Great Dictionary of Afghanistan] (in Persian), Afghan Dictionary, 2023
• “اثنان”, in Вожаҷӯ / واژه‌جو [Vožajü] (in Tajik), 2024