صفة
See also: صفه
Arabic
Etymology 1
From the root و ص ف (w-ṣ-f); compare وَصَفَ (waṣafa, “to describe, to characterize”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sˤi.fa/
Noun
صِفَة • (ṣifa) f (plural صِفَات (ṣifāt))
- verbal noun of وَصَفَ (waṣafa) (form I)
- quality, feature, characteristic
- (grammar) adjective
- Hyponyms: صِفَة مُشَبَّهَة (ṣifa(t) mušabbaha), اِسْم فَاعِل (ism fāʿil), اِسْم مَفْعُول (ism mafʿūl), اِسْم تَفْضِيل (ism tafḍīl)
- (linguistics) feature
- attribute
Declension
Declension of noun صِفَة (ṣifa)
| Singular | singular triptote in ـَة (-a) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | صِفَة ṣifa | الصِّفَة aṣ-ṣifa | صِفَة ṣifat |
| Nominative | صِفَةٌ ṣifatun | الصِّفَةُ aṣ-ṣifatu | صِفَةُ ṣifatu |
| Accusative | صِفَةً ṣifatan | الصِّفَةَ aṣ-ṣifata | صِفَةَ ṣifata |
| Genitive | صِفَةٍ ṣifatin | الصِّفَةِ aṣ-ṣifati | صِفَةِ ṣifati |
| Dual | Indefinite | Definite | Construct |
| Informal | صِفَتَيْن ṣifatayn | الصِّفَتَيْن aṣ-ṣifatayn | صِفَتَيْ ṣifatay |
| Nominative | صِفَتَانِ ṣifatāni | الصِّفَتَانِ aṣ-ṣifatāni | صِفَتَا ṣifatā |
| Accusative | صِفَتَيْنِ ṣifatayni | الصِّفَتَيْنِ aṣ-ṣifatayni | صِفَتَيْ ṣifatay |
| Genitive | صِفَتَيْنِ ṣifatayni | الصِّفَتَيْنِ aṣ-ṣifatayni | صِفَتَيْ ṣifatay |
| Plural | sound feminine plural | ||
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | صِفَات ṣifāt | الصِّفَات aṣ-ṣifāt | صِفَات ṣifāt |
| Nominative | صِفَاتٌ ṣifātun | الصِّفَاتُ aṣ-ṣifātu | صِفَاتُ ṣifātu |
| Accusative | صِفَاتٍ ṣifātin | الصِّفَاتِ aṣ-ṣifāti | صِفَاتِ ṣifāti |
| Genitive | صِفَاتٍ ṣifātin | الصِّفَاتِ aṣ-ṣifāti | صِفَاتِ ṣifāti |
Descendants
- → Armenian: սֆաթ (sfatʿ), սփաթ (spʿatʿ)
- → Azerbaijani: sifət
- → Georgian: სიფათი (sipati)
- → Indonesian: sifat
- → Kazakh: сипат (sipat)
- → Ottoman Turkish: صفت (sıfat)
- Turkish: sıfat
- → Persian: صفت (sefat)
- → Punjabi: ਸਿਫ਼ਤ (sifat)
- → Swahili: sifa
- → Tajik: сифат (sifat)
- → Urdu: صفت (sifat)
- → Uyghur: سۈپەت (süpet)
- → Zazaki: sıfet
Further reading
- Carter, Michael George (2017), “The Seven Deadly Sins of Arabic Studies”, in Manuel Sartori, Manuela E. B. Giolfo, Philippe Cassuto, editors, Approaches to the History and Dialectology of Arabic in Honor of Pierre Larcher (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics; 88), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 521–522, 527–531
Etymology 2
From Aramaic צִפָּא / צִיפָּא (ṣippā), צִפְּתָא / צִיפְּתָא (sippəṯā) / ܨܝܦܬܐ / ܨܶܦ݁ܬ݂ܳܐ (ṣeppəṯā, “mat”), suspected to be from Akkadian 𒍦𒉺𒀀𒌅 (ṣip-pa-a-tu /ṣippatu/, “a type of reed”), or instead סִפָּא / סִיפָּא (sippā) / ܣܷܦܴ݁ܐ (seppā, “threshold, doorpost”), alleged to be from Akkadian 𒈨𒁍 (sip-pu /sippu/, “doorsill”) but possibly cognate to it.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sˤuf.fa/
Noun
صُفَّة • (ṣuffa) f (plural صُفَف (ṣufaf) or صِفَاف (ṣifāf))
- bench, stone bench
- sofa, sill, shelf, console
- vestibule, anteroom, entrance-room, portico, an elevated room over or before an edifice including a mosque and even over a sepulchre
- a. 1000, المقدسي, Michael Jan de Goeje, editor, أحسن التقاسيم في معرفة الأقاليم [ʾaḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifa al-ʾaqālīm] (Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum; 3), Leiden: E. J. Brill, published 1877, 1906, page 322 line 9:
- a. 1000, المقدسي, Michael Jan de Goeje, editor, أحسن التقاسيم في معرفة الأقاليم [ʾaḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifa al-ʾaqālīm] (Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum; 3), Leiden: E. J. Brill, published 1877, 1906, page 169 line 9 seq.:
- a. 1000, المقدسي, Michael Jan de Goeje, editor, أحسن التقاسيم في معرفة الأقاليم [ʾaḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifa al-ʾaqālīm] (Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum; 3), Leiden: E. J. Brill, published 1877, 1906, page 84 line 6:
- a. 1000, المقدسي, Michael Jan de Goeje, editor, أحسن التقاسيم في معرفة الأقاليم [ʾaḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifa al-ʾaqālīm] (Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum; 3), Leiden: E. J. Brill, published 1877, 1906, page 94 line 6:
- a. 1000, المقدسي, Michael Jan de Goeje, editor, أحسن التقاسيم في معرفة الأقاليم [ʾaḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifa al-ʾaqālīm] (Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum; 3), Leiden: E. J. Brill, published 1877, 1906, page 449 line 12:
- a. 1000, المقدسي, Michael Jan de Goeje, editor, أحسن التقاسيم في معرفة الأقاليم [ʾaḥsan at-taqāsīm fī maʿrifa al-ʾaqālīm] (Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum; 3), Leiden: E. J. Brill, published 1877, 1906, page 130 line 8:
- أَهْلُ الصُّفَّةِ ― ʾahlu ṣ-ṣuffati ― the companions of Mohammed
-
- seat of a saddle
- a small part, a little of
- a short while, a trice
Declension
Declension of noun صُفَّة (ṣuffa)
| Singular | singular triptote in ـَة (-a) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | صُفَّة ṣuffa | الصُّفَّة aṣ-ṣuffa | صُفَّة ṣuffat |
| Nominative | صُفَّةٌ ṣuffatun | الصُّفَّةُ aṣ-ṣuffatu | صُفَّةُ ṣuffatu |
| Accusative | صُفَّةً ṣuffatan | الصُّفَّةَ aṣ-ṣuffata | صُفَّةَ ṣuffata |
| Genitive | صُفَّةٍ ṣuffatin | الصُّفَّةِ aṣ-ṣuffati | صُفَّةِ ṣuffati |
| Dual | Indefinite | Definite | Construct |
| Informal | صُفَّتَيْن ṣuffatayn | الصُّفَّتَيْن aṣ-ṣuffatayn | صُفَّتَيْ ṣuffatay |
| Nominative | صُفَّتَانِ ṣuffatāni | الصُّفَّتَانِ aṣ-ṣuffatāni | صُفَّتَا ṣuffatā |
| Accusative | صُفَّتَيْنِ ṣuffatayni | الصُّفَّتَيْنِ aṣ-ṣuffatayni | صُفَّتَيْ ṣuffatay |
| Genitive | صُفَّتَيْنِ ṣuffatayni | الصُّفَّتَيْنِ aṣ-ṣuffatayni | صُفَّتَيْ ṣuffatay |
| Plural | basic broken plural triptote | ||
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | صُفَف; صِفَاف ṣufaf; ṣifāf | الصُّفَف; الصِّفَاف aṣ-ṣufaf; aṣ-ṣifāf | صُفَف; صِفَاف ṣufaf; ṣifāf |
| Nominative | صُفَفٌ; صِفَافٌ ṣufafun; ṣifāfun | الصُّفَفُ; الصِّفَافُ aṣ-ṣufafu; aṣ-ṣifāfu | صُفَفُ; صِفَافُ ṣufafu; ṣifāfu |
| Accusative | صُفَفًا; صِفَافًا ṣufafan; ṣifāfan | الصُّفَفَ; الصِّفَافَ aṣ-ṣufafa; aṣ-ṣifāfa | صُفَفَ; صِفَافَ ṣufafa; ṣifāfa |
| Genitive | صُفَفٍ; صِفَافٍ ṣufafin; ṣifāfin | الصُّفَفِ; الصِّفَافِ aṣ-ṣufafi; aṣ-ṣifāfi | صُفَفِ; صِفَافِ ṣufafi; ṣifāfi |
Descendants
- → Ottoman Turkish: صفه (suffa, sofa)
- Turkish: sofa
- → French: sofa (see there for further descendants)
References
- Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 287–288
- Freytag, Georg (1833), “صفة”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 502a
- Michael Jan de Goeje, editor (1879) Indices, glossarium et addenda et emendanda ad part. I–III (Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum; 7) (in Latin), Leiden: E. J. Brill, published 1879, page 281
- Kaufman, Stephen A. (1974) The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Assyriological Studies; 19), Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 92
- Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860), “صفة”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc (in French), volume 1, Paris: Maisonneuve et Cie, page 1343b
- Lane, Edward William (1863), “صفة”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1693c–1694
References
- Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884), “صفة”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary, London: W.H. Allen, page 583b