In Arabic, nouns whose singular form ends in a "tāʾ marbūṭah" (traditionally a , becoming in pausa) are of feminine gender, the only significant exceptions being the word ' ("caliph") and certain masculine personal names (e.g. ʾUsāmah). However, many masculine nouns take a "tāʾ marbūṭa" in their plural; for example ' ("male professor") has the plural ', which might be confused for a feminine singular noun. Gender may also be predictable from the type of derivation: for instance, the verbal nouns of Stem II (e.g. ', from "") are always masculine.