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the translated text. The invariable (the proposition (s) carried
over by the verb morphological structure) must remain intact; other
variables such as the number and gender of the participants and the
relationship between them and the event are modifiable.
The question of number as indicated in the morphological
structure of the verb offers a variety of difficulties to the
translator. English has two varieties of number: singular and
plural. 'Singular' implies that one actor (or participant) is
involved in the event (or action). 'Plural' implies that more than
one actor is involved in the event. Arabic, on the other hand,
possesses three varieties of number: singular, dual and plural.
'Dual' implies that two participants or two actors are involved in
the event (or action). This duality is a unique trait of Arabic
morphology. A basic difference between the number systems of both
English and Arabic is that while English has one pronoun for the
2nd person masculine/feminine, singular/plural, 'you', Arabic has
L
five distinct pronouns: 'anta'L.4.01 (2nd person masculine singular),
,
'anti' r...1,4 (2nd person feminine singular), 'antuma' U-4(2nd person
masculine/feminine dual), 'antum' 4I (2nd person masculine plural)
s
t.w,„, •
and 'antunna' reml (2nd person feminine plural). Translators are
bound to fail in making clear distinctions between 2nd person
singular and plural in English since both concepts are represented
by a single pronoun 'you'. In Arabic, however, no such failure is
bound to occur.
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