tf

See also: TF, Tf, and .tf

English

Phrase

tf

(Internet slang, text messaging) Alternative letter-case form of TF.

Anagrams

F.T., FT, FT%, Ft, Ft., ft, ft., ft³

Egyptian

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɛf/
- Conventional anglicization: tef

Determiner

f sg distal demonstrative determiner

that

Usage notes

This demonstrative was originally a determiner but could later be used alone, like a pronoun. When used as a determiner it follows or precedes the noun it describes.

It forms a contrastive pair with the demonstrative tn, in which tf is distal.

There is a more colloquial variant: tfꜣ.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns¹	adverbs
number	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
gender	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal to speaker	pn	tn, jtn	jpnj	jptnj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	jpfj	jptfj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, py, p	tj, tw, jtw	jpwj	jptwj	jpw	jptw	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners and pronouns			adverbs
number	singular		plural¹
gender	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’; vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles

	masculine	feminine	plural	adverb
pronoun	pꜣw			dj
determiners and pronouns	pꜣj	tꜣj	nꜣj
possessive determiners (used with suffix pronouns)	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ¹
indefinite articles	wꜥ¹		nhꜣy¹
Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɛf/
- Conventional anglicization: tef

Verb

2-lit.

(intransitive) to spit (+ m: to spit (something) out) [Pyramid Texts, rarely later]

Usage notes

Used chiefly in the context of old religious texts, and particularly in the Heliopolitan cosmogony to describe the creation of the goddess Tefnut from Atum’s spit.

Inflection

Conjugation of tf (biliteral / 2-lit. / 2rad.) — base stem: tf, geminated stem: tff

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
tf	tfw, tf	tft	tf, j.tf	tf, j.tf

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective²		periphrastic prospective²
tf	ḥr tf	m tf	r tf

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	contingent
aspect / mood	active	aspect / mood	active
perfect	tf.n	consecutive	tf.jn
terminative	tft	consecutive	tf.jn
perfective³	tf	obligative¹	tf.ḫr
imperfective	tf, j.tf¹	obligative¹	tf.ḫr
prospective³	tf	potentialis¹	tf.kꜣ
subjunctive	tf, j.tf¹	potentialis¹	tf.kꜣ

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
aspect / mood	active	active	passive
perfect	tf.n	—	—
perfective	tf	tf	tff, tffj⁶, tf², tfw^{2 5}, tfy^{2 5}
imperfective	j.tf¹, tf, tfy, tfw⁵	j.tf¹, j.tfw^{1 5}, tf, tfj⁶, tfy⁶	tf, tfw⁵
prospective	tf, tftj⁷	tftj⁴, tft⁴
Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. Only in the masculine singular. Only in the masculine. Only in the feminine.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of tf

tf

df

ṯf

tf

[Late Period]

[Greco-Roman Period]

in papyri

Pronunciation

(reconstructed) IPA^(key): /tif/ → /tif/ → /tef/

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɛf/
- Conventional anglicization: tef

Noun

m

spittle [Pyramid Texts]

Inflection

Declension of tf (masculine)

singular	tf
dual	tfwj
plural	tfw

Descendants

Coptic: ⲑⲁϥ (thaf)

References

James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 54–55.
Faulkner, Raymond (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1931) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 5, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, page 297.6–297.9

Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 42

Swedish

Alternative forms

t.f.

Adjective

tf

Abbreviation of tillförordnad., acting (e.g. manager)

References

tillförordna in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

[1] Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 42