أفعى

Arabic

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ʔapʕaw- (“viper, a kind of serpent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaf.ʕan/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

أَفْعًى • (ʔafʕan) f (construct state أَفْعَى (ʔafʕā), dual أَفْعَيَانِ (ʔafʕayāni), plural أَفَاعٍ (ʔafāʕin), plural construct state أَفَاعِي (ʔafāʕī), masculine أُفْعُوَان (ʔufʕuwān))

1. (zoology) viper
2. (proscribed) snake, serpent

Declension

Declension of noun أَفْعًى (ʔafʕan)

Singular	singular in ـًى (-an)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَفْعَى ʔafʕā	الْأَفْعَى al-ʔafʕā	أَفْعَى ʔafʕā
Nominative	أَفْعًى ʔafʕan	الْأَفْعَى al-ʔafʕā	أَفْعَى ʔafʕā
Accusative	أَفْعًى ʔafʕan	الْأَفْعَى al-ʔafʕā	أَفْعَى ʔafʕā
Genitive	أَفْعًى ʔafʕan	الْأَفْعَى al-ʔafʕā	أَفْعَى ʔafʕā
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَفْعَيَيْن ʔafʕayayn	الْأَفْعَيَيْن al-ʔafʕayayn	أَفْعَيَيْ ʔafʕayay
Nominative	أَفْعَيَانِ ʔafʕayāni	الْأَفْعَيَانِ al-ʔafʕayāni	أَفْعَيَا ʔafʕayā
Accusative	أَفْعَيَيْنِ ʔafʕayayni	الْأَفْعَيَيْنِ al-ʔafʕayayni	أَفْعَيَيْ ʔafʕayay
Genitive	أَفْعَيَيْنِ ʔafʕayayni	الْأَفْعَيَيْنِ al-ʔafʕayayni	أَفْعَيَيْ ʔafʕayay
Plural	broken plural diptote in ـٍ (-in)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَفَاعِي ʔafāʕī	الْأَفَاعِي al-ʔafāʕī	أَفَاعِي ʔafāʕī
Nominative	أَفَاعٍ ʔafāʕin	الْأَفَاعِي al-ʔafāʕī	أَفَاعِي ʔafāʕī
Accusative	أَفَاعِيَ ʔafāʕiya	الْأَفَاعِيَ al-ʔafāʕiya	أَفَاعِيَ ʔafāʕiya
Genitive	أَفَاعٍ ʔafāʕin	الْأَفَاعِي al-ʔafāʕī	أَفَاعِي ʔafāʕī

Descendants

• Maltese: lifgħa
• Moroccan Arabic: فعى (fʕa), لفعة (lafʕa)

References

• Lane, Edward William (1863) “أفعى”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[1], London: Williams & Norgate, page 2421c
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “أفعى”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 845a
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “أفعى”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[2], London: W.H. Allen, page 63