The order of Cardinal, ordinal and multiplicative Adjectives in English and Arabic: A comparative study

Abstract

It is noticed that Arabic speakers of English and English speaker of Arabic encounter some difficulty in the order of the adjectives especially when there are numerals. This study aims to compare and contrast the construction, behaviour and order of the different types of numeral adjectives among the other adjectives in the languages in question. In order to achieve the objectives of the study and find out answers to the questions under investigation, the study follows the prescriptive method. It examines analytically the similarities and differences in order to find out what is linguistic specific for Arabic and for English with regard to the order of numerals and other adjectives. It is hoped that the study will contribute in enriching the morpho-syntactic field and computational linguistics. Definitions, structures and current examples including numerals and other adjectives in English and in Arabic are presented and analysed structurally. The data are compared and contrasted in order to find out reasons behind the problems and difficulties that face Arabic and English speakers in the order of numeral and other adjectives. Results and recommendations will set the remedies needed for these major challenges towards the perfection of the linguistic knowledge.