عصفور

Arabic

عُصْفُور

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ṣapir- (“small bird”), from Proto-Afroasiatic *c̣ipar- (“small bird; guinea fowl”); variant form of صَافِر (ṣāfir, “small bird”), the عُـ (ʕu-) perhaps derives from a conflation with another closely related root Proto-Semitic *ʕVṣṣūr- (“bird”). Compare Hebrew ציפור (ṣippōr), Aramaic צִפְּרָא (ṣippərā), Ugaritic 𐎕𐎔𐎗 (ṣpr), and Akkadian 𒄷 (iṣṣūrum).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕusˤ.fuːr/

Noun

عُصْفُور • (ʕuṣfūr) m (plural عَصَافِير (ʕaṣāfīr))

1. any small bird
2. sparrow

Declension

Declension of noun عُصْفُور (ʕuṣfūr)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	عُصْفُور ʕuṣfūr	الْعُصْفُور al-ʕuṣfūr	عُصْفُور ʕuṣfūr
nominative	عُصْفُورٌ ʕuṣfūrun	الْعُصْفُورُ al-ʕuṣfūru	عُصْفُورُ ʕuṣfūru
accusative	عُصْفُورًا ʕuṣfūran	الْعُصْفُورَ al-ʕuṣfūra	عُصْفُورَ ʕuṣfūra
genitive	عُصْفُورٍ ʕuṣfūrin	الْعُصْفُورِ al-ʕuṣfūri	عُصْفُورِ ʕuṣfūri
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	عُصْفُورَيْن ʕuṣfūrayn	الْعُصْفُورَيْن al-ʕuṣfūrayn	عُصْفُورَيْ ʕuṣfūray
nominative	عُصْفُورَانِ ʕuṣfūrāni	الْعُصْفُورَانِ al-ʕuṣfūrāni	عُصْفُورَا ʕuṣfūrā
accusative	عُصْفُورَيْنِ ʕuṣfūrayni	الْعُصْفُورَيْنِ al-ʕuṣfūrayni	عُصْفُورَيْ ʕuṣfūray
genitive	عُصْفُورَيْنِ ʕuṣfūrayni	الْعُصْفُورَيْنِ al-ʕuṣfūrayni	عُصْفُورَيْ ʕuṣfūray
plural	basic broken plural diptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	عَصَافِير ʕaṣāfīr	الْعَصَافِير al-ʕaṣāfīr	عَصَافِير ʕaṣāfīr
nominative	عَصَافِيرُ ʕaṣāfīru	الْعَصَافِيرُ al-ʕaṣāfīru	عَصَافِيرُ ʕaṣāfīru
accusative	عَصَافِيرَ ʕaṣāfīra	الْعَصَافِيرَ al-ʕaṣāfīra	عَصَافِيرَ ʕaṣāfīra
genitive	عَصَافِيرَ ʕaṣāfīra	الْعَصَافِيرِ al-ʕaṣāfīri	عَصَافِيرِ ʕaṣāfīri

Descendants

• Egyptian Arabic: عصفور (ʕaṣfūr)
• Gulf Arabic: عصفور (ʕaṣfūr)
• Maltese: għasfur
• Moroccan Arabic: عصفور (ʕaṣfūr)
• South Levantine Arabic: عصفور (ʕaṣfūr)

References

• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893) “عصفور”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, page 2064.
• Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “عصفور”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎^[1] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 845

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology

Inherited from Arabic عُصْفُور (ʕuṣfūr). The sense of “snitch” is likely influenced by English a little bird told me.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʕasˤ.fuːr/, [ʕɑsˤˈfʉːr]

Noun

عصفور • (ʕaṣfūr) m (plural عصافير (ʕaṣafīr), feminine عصفورة (ʕaṣfūra))

1. small bird

   Hypernym: طير (ṭēr, “bird”)

   العصفور بيصاوصاو ― il-ʕaṣfūr biyṣawṣaw ― The bird is chirping

2. sparrow
3. (of people) snitch

Usage notes

Feminine عصفورة (ʕaṣfūra) is used mainly as a diminutive or a childish form of the word, and only rarely refers to actual sex of birds.

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic عُصْفُور (ʕuṣfūr).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕasˤ.fuːr/

Noun

عصفور • (ʕaṣfūr) m (plural عصافر (ʕṣāfir))

1. sparrow
2. any small bird

   Synonym: طوير (ṭwiyyar)

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic عُصْفُور (ʕuṣfūr).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕasˤ.fuːr/, [ʕɑsˤˈfuːr]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Noun

عصفور • (ʕaṣfūr) m (plural عصافير (ʕaṣāfīr))

1. small bird

   Synonym: طير (ṭīr, “bird”)