The Broken Plural in Arabic and South Semitic (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen). History of the Research and Some Unsolved Questions

The 'broken' plural is a crucial theme for the comparative Semitic studies and the sub-classification of the Semitic languages. The article traces the status quaestionis on the topic, with particular respect to the Arabic system, through a survey of the wide literature from the 19th century scholars to the current trends in morphology. The two main explanations proposed for the origin of the broken plural are examined. Finally, the last section deals with a number of open questions, such as the role of the 'broken plural' as a diagnostic isogloss for the genetic subgrouping of the Semitic languages.