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 (səḥat)
→ Avar: сагӏат (saʻat)
→ Chechen: сахьт (saḥʳt)
→ Hausa: sa'a
- → Yoruba: sáà, سَا
→ Indonesian: saat
→ Karaim: саат (saat)
→ Lishana Deni: סאעא (sāʕa)
→ Lithuanian: sahatas
→ Malay: saat, ساعت
→ Middle Armenian: սահաթ (sahatʻ)
- Armenian: սահաթ (sahatʻ)
→ Ossetian: сахат (saxat)
→ Classical Persian: ساعت (sā'at)
- → Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܵܥܲܬ (sāʿat)
- → Azerbaijani: saat
- → Bashkir: сәғәт (səğət)
- → Kazakh: сағат (sağat), сәт (sät)
- → Chagatai: ساعت
  - Uyghur: سائەت (sa'et)
  - Uzbek: soat
- → Chuvash: сехет (seh̬et)
- → Georgian: საათი (saati)
  - → Bats: საათ (saat)
- → 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
قديش الساعة؟
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.

Telling time in South Levantine Arabic · الساعة (“is-sāʕa”) (layout · text)

تنعش (tnaʕš)	تنعش و خمسة (tnaʕš w-ḵamse)	تنعش و عشرة (tnaʕš w-ʕašara)	تنعش و ربع (tnaʕš w-rubʕ)	تنعش و تلت (tnaʕš w-tult)	تنعش و نصّ إلّا خمسة (tnaʕš w-noṣṣ illa ḵamse)

تنعش و نصّ (tnaʕš w-noṣṣ)	تنعش و نصّ خمسة (tnaʕš w-noṣṣ ḵamse)	واحدة إلّا تلت (waḥde illa tult)	واحدة إلّا ربع (waḥde illa rubʕ)	واحدة إلّا عشرة (waḥde illa ʕašara)	واحدة إلّا خمسة (waḥde illa ḵamse)