Coins from Saudi Arabia: Halalāt, Halālah, Halalah, Halalas

Is there anyone who knows what the correct names for the subunits of the Saudi Arabia coins are? Are all the names used in the coins correct? It seems a bit inconsistent…

1 Halala:

N#101213

1 Hahalah:

N#99986 

5 Halalāt:

N#3139

5 Halalas:
N#101215 

25 Halalah:

N#194015 

25 Halālah:

N#2574 

25 Halalas:

N#101221

50 Halalah:

N#9925

50 Halalas:

N#101222 

OK… I waited in the hope an Arab native speaker would answer, but I guess I'll do it...

The singular is هللة which is transliterated either as “halalah” or “halala” (just like a Muslim girl, مسلمة, among British Muslims, is a “muslimah” or "muslima"). The plural is هللات which transliterates as “halalāt”.¹ But of course, if we use the word in English, we need to give it an English plural, which would normally be ending in “s”. This is exactly what this 25 halalas does.

So, standardize this way in English and French:

• singular: halala 
• plural: halalas 

____________________

¹What complicates matters is the final consonant in the singular, ة, the “ta marbouta” (التاء المربوطة), which represents the sounds “h” and “t” at once. If you really want to know why, listen to this YT video from 7:56 where she pronounces words with an inflexion (…ta(n) / …tu(n) / …ti(n)) versus no inflection (…ah).

Wow Camerinvs  - that is a great explanation.

Maybe consider    halalāt's

Thanks for the feedback, BluHawk.

I just checked the major dictionaries online and there are two accepted spellings in the singular:

• halala (Oxford via Google / Collins / Merriam-Webster)
• halalah (variant accepted by the Merriam-Webster)

Once we decide which one we want to use as the English word, make a regular plural by adding “s”:

• halala → halalas
• halalah → halalahs

I would go with halala / halalas since the Saudis themselves use this spelling for their 25 halalas.

Halala / Halalas is also consistent with the currency definition of “100 Halalas = 20 Qirsh = 1 Riyal”.

If you edit the titles for consistency also take a look at the Face value in word form field.

I have just sent seven requests to standardize to halala / halalas.

Have a look at the different coins listed in the OP. My modification requests have been approved.

EDIT ─ I see there are some more which need to be updated, for example:

2 Qirsh / 10 Halalāt - Fayṣal 

¼ Riyal / 25 Halālah - Fayṣal feminine nominal Error 

I'll make a complete list and then send a request.

Well done, thank you 🙂