صرصار

Arabic

Etymology 1

From صَرْصَرَ (ṣarṣara, “to squeak”), due to the animal’s sound, or the reverse, and the animal-name may be borrowed from Aramaic צרצרא / ܨܪܨܪܐ (/⁠ṣarṣārā⁠/), ܨܪܨܘܪܐ (ṣarṣōrā), as this name isn’t even attested in South Semitic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˤir.sˤaːr/

Noun

صِرْصَار or صَرْصَار • (ṣirṣār or ṣarṣār) m (plural صَرَاصِير (ṣarāṣīr))

1. cockroach

   Synonyms: صُرْصُور (ṣurṣūr), صُرْصُر (ṣurṣur)

2. cricket

   Synonyms: صُرْصُور (ṣurṣūr), صُرْصُر (ṣurṣur)

Declension

Declension of noun صِرْصَار (ṣirṣār)‎; صَرْصَار (ṣarṣār)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صِرْصَار‎; صَرْصَار ṣirṣār‎; ṣarṣār	الصِّرْصَار‎; الصَّرْصَار aṣ-ṣirṣār‎; aṣ-ṣarṣār	صِرْصَار‎; صَرْصَار ṣirṣār‎; ṣarṣār
Nominative	صِرْصَارٌ‎; صَرْصَارٌ ṣirṣārun‎; ṣarṣārun	الصِّرْصَارُ‎; الصَّرْصَارُ aṣ-ṣirṣāru‎; aṣ-ṣarṣāru	صِرْصَارُ‎; صَرْصَارُ ṣirṣāru‎; ṣarṣāru
Accusative	صِرْصَارًا‎; صَرْصَارًا ṣirṣāran‎; ṣarṣāran	الصِّرْصَارَ‎; الصَّرْصَارَ aṣ-ṣirṣāra‎; aṣ-ṣarṣāra	صِرْصَارَ‎; صَرْصَارَ ṣirṣāra‎; ṣarṣāra
Genitive	صِرْصَارٍ‎; صَرْصَارٍ ṣirṣārin‎; ṣarṣārin	الصِّرْصَارِ‎; الصَّرْصَارِ aṣ-ṣirṣāri‎; aṣ-ṣarṣāri	صِرْصَارِ‎; صَرْصَارِ ṣirṣāri‎; ṣarṣāri

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˤar.sˤaːr/, /sˤir.sˤaːr/

Noun

صَرْصَار or صِرْصَار • (ṣarṣār or ṣirṣār) m (plural صَرَاصِير (ṣarāṣīr))

1. Nonstandard form of صَلْصَال (ṣalṣāl, “argil”)

Declension

Declension of noun صَرْصَار (ṣarṣār)‎; صِرْصَار (ṣirṣār)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صَرْصَار‎; صِرْصَار ṣarṣār‎; ṣirṣār	الصَّرْصَار‎; الصِّرْصَار aṣ-ṣarṣār‎; aṣ-ṣirṣār	صَرْصَار‎; صِرْصَار ṣarṣār‎; ṣirṣār
Nominative	صَرْصَارٌ‎; صِرْصَارٌ ṣarṣārun‎; ṣirṣārun	الصَّرْصَارُ‎; الصِّرْصَارُ aṣ-ṣarṣāru‎; aṣ-ṣirṣāru	صَرْصَارُ‎; صِرْصَارُ ṣarṣāru‎; ṣirṣāru
Accusative	صَرْصَارًا‎; صِرْصَارًا ṣarṣāran‎; ṣirṣāran	الصَّرْصَارَ‎; الصِّرْصَارَ aṣ-ṣarṣāra‎; aṣ-ṣirṣāra	صَرْصَارَ‎; صِرْصَارَ ṣarṣāra‎; ṣirṣāra
Genitive	صَرْصَارٍ‎; صِرْصَارٍ ṣarṣārin‎; ṣirṣārin	الصَّرْصَارِ‎; الصِّرْصَارِ aṣ-ṣarṣāri‎; aṣ-ṣirṣāri	صَرْصَارِ‎; صِرْصَارِ ṣarṣāri‎; ṣirṣāri
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صَرْصَارَيْن‎; صِرْصَارَيْن ṣarṣārayn‎; ṣirṣārayn	الصَّرْصَارَيْن‎; الصِّرْصَارَيْن aṣ-ṣarṣārayn‎; aṣ-ṣirṣārayn	صَرْصَارَيْ‎; صِرْصَارَيْ ṣarṣāray‎; ṣirṣāray
Nominative	صَرْصَارَانِ‎; صِرْصَارَانِ ṣarṣārāni‎; ṣirṣārāni	الصَّرْصَارَانِ‎; الصِّرْصَارَانِ aṣ-ṣarṣārāni‎; aṣ-ṣirṣārāni	صَرْصَارَا‎; صِرْصَارَا ṣarṣārā‎; ṣirṣārā
Accusative	صَرْصَارَيْنِ‎; صِرْصَارَيْنِ ṣarṣārayni‎; ṣirṣārayni	الصَّرْصَارَيْنِ‎; الصِّرْصَارَيْنِ aṣ-ṣarṣārayni‎; aṣ-ṣirṣārayni	صَرْصَارَيْ‎; صِرْصَارَيْ ṣarṣāray‎; ṣirṣāray
Genitive	صَرْصَارَيْنِ‎; صِرْصَارَيْنِ ṣarṣārayni‎; ṣirṣārayni	الصَّرْصَارَيْنِ‎; الصِّرْصَارَيْنِ aṣ-ṣarṣārayni‎; aṣ-ṣirṣārayni	صَرْصَارَيْ‎; صِرْصَارَيْ ṣarṣāray‎; ṣirṣāray
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صَرَاصِير ṣarāṣīr	الصَّرَاصِير aṣ-ṣarāṣīr	صَرَاصِير ṣarāṣīr
Nominative	صَرَاصِيرُ ṣarāṣīru	الصَّرَاصِيرُ aṣ-ṣarāṣīru	صَرَاصِيرُ ṣarāṣīru
Accusative	صَرَاصِيرَ ṣarāṣīra	الصَّرَاصِيرَ aṣ-ṣarāṣīra	صَرَاصِيرَ ṣarāṣīra
Genitive	صَرَاصِيرَ ṣarāṣīra	الصَّرَاصِيرِ aṣ-ṣarāṣīri	صَرَاصِيرِ ṣarāṣīri

References

• Baalbaki, Rohi (1995) “صرصار”, in Al-Mawrid: A Modern Arabic-English Dictionary, 7th edition, Beirut: Dar El-Ilm Lilmalayin, →ISBN
• Баранов, Х. К. (2011) “صرصار”, in Большой арабско-русский словарь (Bolʹšoj arabsko-russkij slovarʹ), 11th edition, Москва: Живой язык, →ISBN
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “صرصار”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[1], London: Williams & Norgate
• Militarev, Alexander, Kogan, Leonid (2005) “*ṣarṣar-, *ṣarṣūr- ~ *c̣arṣar-, *c̣arṣūr-”, in Semitic Etymological Dictionary, volume II: Animal Names, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 277–278 Nr. 213, with another dubiously related item meaning “cricket” Militarev, Alexander, Kogan, Leonid (2005) “*nVṣVr- ~ *nVc̣Vr-”, in Semitic Etymological Dictionary, volume II: Animal Names, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, →ISBN, page 222 Nr. 167. They also wrongly claim that Hebrew צִלָצַל (ṣəlāṣal, “locust, cricket”) – to be paired with צַרְצוּר (ṣarṣūr) and צְרָצַר (ṣərāṣar, “cricket”) – is doubtfully related as the correspondence is “irregular”. The variation is confirmed by Jewish Palestinian Aramaic צלצל (“to clap”) against Classical Syriac ܨܪܨܪ (“to make a cricket sound”), Arabic صَلْصَلَ (ṣalṣala) against صَرْصَرَ (ṣarṣara), and by unrelated صَرْصَار (ṣarṣār, “argil”) for صَلْصَال (ṣalṣāl).
• Wehr, Hans (1960) “صرصار”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 3rd edition, Ithaca, NY: Otto Harrassowitz
• “ṣlṣl”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ṣlṣl”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ṣrṣr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ṣrṣwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology

See Arabic صِرْصَار (ṣirṣār).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˤur.sˤaːr/

Noun

صرصار • (ṣurṣār) m (plural صراصير (ṣaraṣīr))

1. cockroach