ساعة

See also: ساعت‎ and سائەت‎

Arabic

Etymology

According to Nöldeke, Arabic سَاعَة‎ (sāʕa) and Ge'ez ሰዓት (säʿat), ሳዐት (saʿät) are borrowed from Aramaic שָׁעְתָא‎ / ܫܳܥܬܳܐ‎ (šāʿəṯā). Leslau does not dispute this. Compare Hebrew שָׁעָה‎ (šāʿā́) and Mehri سات‎.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /saː.ʕa/
Audio (file)

Noun

سَاعَة • (sāʕa) f (plural سَاعَات‎ (sāʕāt) or سَاع‎ (sāʕ))

hour (unit of time)
short time, a while
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 7:34:
  ‏فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلَا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ‎
  faʔiḏā jāʔa ʔajaluhum lā yastaʔḵirūna sāʕatan walā yastaqdimūna
  There is a [preordained] time for every nation: when their time comes, they shall not defer it by a single hour nor shall they advance it.
timepiece, clock, watch
(with the definite article, Islam) judgement day
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 79:42:
  ‏يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ السَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَاهَا‎
  yasʔalūnaka ʕani s-sāʕati ʔayyāna mursāhā
  They ask you concerning the Hour, “When will it set in?"

Declension

Declension of noun سَاعَة (sāʕa)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
Singular	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سَاعَة sāʕa	السَّاعَة‎ as-sāʕa	سَاعَة sāʕat
Nominative	سَاعَةٌ sāʕatun	السَّاعَةُ‎ as-sāʕatu	سَاعَةُ sāʕatu
Accusative	سَاعَةً sāʕatan	السَّاعَةَ‎ as-sāʕata	سَاعَةَ sāʕata
Genitive	سَاعَةٍ sāʕatin	السَّاعَةِ‎ as-sāʕati	سَاعَةِ sāʕati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سَاعَتَيْن‎ sāʕatayn	السَّاعَتَيْن‎ as-sāʕatayn	سَاعَتَيْ‎ sāʕatay
Nominative	سَاعَتَانِ‎ sāʕatāni	السَّاعَتَانِ‎ as-sāʕatāni	سَاعَتَا‎ sāʕatā
Accusative	سَاعَتَيْنِ‎ sāʕatayni	السَّاعَتَيْنِ‎ as-sāʕatayni	سَاعَتَيْ‎ sāʕatay
Genitive	سَاعَتَيْنِ‎ sāʕatayni	السَّاعَتَيْنِ‎ as-sāʕatayni	سَاعَتَيْ‎ sāʕatay
Plural	sound feminine plural‎; basic broken plural triptote
Plural	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سَاعَات‎‎; سَاع‎ sāʕāt‎; sāʕ	السَّاعَات‎‎; السَّاع‎ as-sāʕāt‎; as-sāʕ	سَاعَات‎‎; سَاع‎ sāʕāt‎; sāʕ
Nominative	سَاعَاتٌ‎‎; سَاعٌ‎ sāʕātun‎; sāʕun	السَّاعَاتُ‎‎; السَّاعُ‎ as-sāʕātu‎; as-sāʕu	سَاعَاتُ‎‎; سَاعُ‎ sāʕātu‎; sāʕu
Accusative	سَاعَاتٍ‎‎; سَاعًا‎ sāʕātin‎; sāʕan	السَّاعَاتِ‎‎; السَّاعَ‎ as-sāʕāti‎; as-sāʕa	سَاعَاتِ‎‎; سَاعَ‎ sāʕāti‎; sāʕa
Genitive	سَاعَاتٍ‎‎; سَاعٍ‎ sāʕātin‎; sāʕin	السَّاعَاتِ‎‎; السَّاعِ‎ as-sāʕāti‎; as-sāʕi	سَاعَاتِ‎‎; سَاعِ‎ sāʕāti‎; sāʕi

Derived terms

صَلَاة السَّاعَات الْكَبِيرَة‎ (ṣalā(t) as-sāʕāt al-kabīra)

Descendants

Maltese: siegħa
Egyptian Arabic: ساعة‎ (sāʕa)
Moroccan Arabic: ساعة‎ (sāʕa)
→ Abaza: сахӏат (saḥat)
→ Abkhaz: асааҭ (asaat)
→ Adyghe: сыхьат (səḥaat)
→ Avar: сагӏат (saʻat)
→ Chechen: сахьт (saḥʳt)
→ Hausa: sa'a
- → Yoruba: sáà, سَا‎
→ Indonesian: saat
→ Lishana Deni: סאעא‎ (sāʕa)
→ Lithuanian: sahatas
→ Malay: saat, ساعت‎
→ Middle Armenian: սահաթ (sahatʿ)
- Armenian: սահաթ (sahatʿ)
→ Ossetian: сахат (saxat)
→ Persian: ساعت‎ (sâ'at)
- → Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܵܥܲܬ‎ (sāʿat)
- → Azerbaijani: saat
- → Bashkir: сәғәт (säğät)
- → Kazakh: сағат (sağat), сәт (sät)
- → Chagatai: ساعت‎
  - Uyghur: سائەت‎ (sa'et)
  - Uzbek: soat
- → Chuvash: сехет (seh̬et)
- → Georgian: საათი (saati)
- → Kazakh: сағат (sağat)
- → Northern Kurdish: seet
- → Kyrgyz: саат (saat)
- → Ottoman Turkish: ساعت‎
  - Turkish: saat
  - → Albanian: sahat
  - → Macedonian: са́ат (sáat)
  - → Serbo-Croatian: са̑т/sȃt
- → Tatar: сәгать (sägat’)
- → Turkmen: sagat, сагат
→ Somali: saacad
→ Swahili: saa
- → Iraqw: saa'a
- → Kikuyu: thaa
- → Luo: sa
- → Lingala: sâ
- → Luganda: essaawa
- → Pökoot: saa
- → Rwanda-Rundi: isaha, saa
→ Wolof: saa

References

Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 481
Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎ (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 44

Egyptian Arabic

Noun

ساعة • (sāʿa) f

hour
watch

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic سَاعَة‎ (sāʕa).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /saː.ʕa/
Audio (file)
Audio (file)

Noun

ساعة • (sāʕa) f (dual ساعتين‎ (saʕtayn), plural سوايع‎ (swāyiʕ) or ساعات‎ (sāʕāt))

hour
clock
(in the plural) private lessons

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic سَاعَة‎ (sāʕa).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /saː.ʕa/, [ˈsæː.ʕa], [ˈsaː.ʕa]
Audio (Amman) (file)

Noun

ساعة • (sāʕa) f (plural ساعات‎ (sāʕāt))

hour
‏قديشالساعة؟‎‎
ʔaddēš is-sāʕa?
What time is it?
(literally, “How much is the hour?”)
Audio (Ramallah) (file)
‏الساعة تنتين.‎‎
is-sāʕa tintēn
It's two o'clock.
(literally, “The hour [is] two.”)
clock, watch

Usage notes

Since ساعة (sāʕa) is feminine, واحد‎ (wāḥad) and تنين‎ (tnen) — the only two numbers with gendered forms — display feminine gender agreement when they refer to the hour of day.