سفرة

Arabic

Etymology

From the root س ف ر (s-f-r) meaning “to send off”, “to journey”; originally a provisions for a traveler. The Bedouin practice was to hold food within a leather sheet that was wrapped around the food and tied closed while traveling, then spread out again flat when the meal was to be consumed. Compare Aramaic ܨܘܦܪܐ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /suf.ra/

Noun

سُفْرَة • (sufra) f (plural سُفَر (sufar))

1. traveling provision, victuals
2. leather sheet, eating mat, place mat, tablecloth
3. dining table, table board

   هُنَاكَ يَجْلِسُ جَمِيعُ أَفْرَادِ الْعَائِلَةِ حَوْلَ السُّفْرَةِ.

   hunāka yajlisu jamīʕu ʔafrādi l-ʕāʔilati ḥawla s-sufrati.

   There are all the family (members) sitting around the dining table.

Declension

Declension of noun سُفْرَة (sufra)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُفْرَة sufra	السُّفْرَة as-sufra	سُفْرَة sufrat
Nominative	سُفْرَةٌ sufratun	السُّفْرَةُ as-sufratu	سُفْرَةُ sufratu
Accusative	سُفْرَةً sufratan	السُّفْرَةَ as-sufrata	سُفْرَةَ sufrata
Genitive	سُفْرَةٍ sufratin	السُّفْرَةِ as-sufrati	سُفْرَةِ sufrati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُفْرَتَيْن sufratayn	السُّفْرَتَيْن as-sufratayn	سُفْرَتَيْ sufratay
Nominative	سُفْرَتَانِ sufratāni	السُّفْرَتَانِ as-sufratāni	سُفْرَتَا sufratā
Accusative	سُفْرَتَيْنِ sufratayni	السُّفْرَتَيْنِ as-sufratayni	سُفْرَتَيْ sufratay
Genitive	سُفْرَتَيْنِ sufratayni	السُّفْرَتَيْنِ as-sufratayni	سُفْرَتَيْ sufratay
Plural	sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُفَر،سُفْرَات ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَات ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَات ?
Nominative	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتٌ ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَاتُ ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتُ ?
Accusative	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتٍ ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?
Genitive	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتٍ ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: صفرة
• → Indonesian: seperah
• → Persian: سفره (sofre)
  • → Armenian: սուփրա (supʻra)
  • → Azerbaijani: süfrə
  • → Central Kurdish: سفرە (sifre)
  • → Georgian: სუფრა (supra)
    • → English: supra
  • → Ottoman Turkish: سفره (sofra)
    • Turkish: sofra
    • → Albanian: sofër
    • → Aromanian: sufrã, sofrã
    • → Bulgarian: софра́ (sofrá)
    • → Crimean Tatar: sofra
    • → Laz: სოჶრა (sofra)
    • → Romanian: sofra
    • → Serbo-Croatian: sȍfra, sȍpra, sȍvra

References

• Behnstedt, Peter, Woidich, Manfred (2012) Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte – Band II: Materielle Kultur (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 100/II) (in German), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 101–102
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 83
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “سفرة”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[1], London: Williams & Norgate, page 1371
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “سفرة”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN