Solving the Mystery of مِائَة: The Story Behind the Spelling of 100 in Arabic

The Arabic word for “hundred” (مِائَة) poses a common point of confusion for learners due to its unique spelling, which differs from its pronunciation (مِئَة).

This article explains the historical context behind the spelling of مِائَة, clarifies the correct way to pronounce it, and details its grammatical functions within Arabic sentences.

So, how is it possible to have a كَسْرة before the Arabic letter Aleph? This is actu­ally impossible in Arabic. Well, let’s see…

Ideas behind the different spellings of hundred in Arabic

There are several ideas to justify the strange spell­ing of مِاْئَة.

• Some scholars date it back to the first writers of the Qur’an. The letter Aleph ا was probably meant to indicate the vowel of the second syllable but, for whatever reason, it was placed before – and not after – the ئ.
  
• Others say it was used to differentiate between the words hun­dred (مِئَة), cate­gory (فِئَة) and from him (ُمِنْه). Arabic was writ­ten without vowel signs and dots, thus the words مِئَة and مِنْه would have looked exactly the same!

How is it in other Semitic languages?

A version of the word hundred similar to the Arabic version is also found in other Semitic languages, e.g. מֵאָה (“me-a”) in Hebrew. The Hebrew word is related to the Phoenician and Aramaic word.

The He­brew letter Aleph (א) is sometimes re­lated to the Hamza in Ara­bic which may explain the spelling of the Arabic word مِئَة.

What is the correct pronunciation of مِائَة‎?

Whatever the reason is, the Aleph in the word مِائَة is nothing but extra (مُجَرَّد زِيادة). Therefore, don’t pro­nounce the word as if it were written with a long vowel “aa” which would result in مَائَة (“maa’a”). This is wrong!

The vowels are pronounced short and with “i”, i.e., مِئَة. In many Arabic dialects, the ­word مِيّة is used.

Strange forms

مِائَة usually serves as the first part of a إِضافة. A followi­ng word therefore has to be in the genitive case (singular). In its writ­ten form, the nu­merals from 3 to 9 are often united with مِائَة into one word.

For example: 300 years (ثَلاثُمِائةِ سَنَةٍ)

However, the very correct view is that you should separate them.