ወፍ

Amharic

ወፍ። (1)

Alternative forms

• ዎፍ (wof)

Etymology

Compare Ge'ez ዖፍ (ʿof, “bird”) and Hebrew עוף (“bird”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwəf/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ወፍ

Noun

ወፍ • (wäf) m or f by sense (plural አዕዋፍ (ʾaʿwaf))

1. bird
   • 2023, “የመስቀል ወፍ ወቅት ጠብቃ መስከረም ላይ ብቻ ብቅ የምትል ናት?”, in BBC News‎^[1]:

     በአባባልም አንድ ሰው ለረጅም ጊዜ ጠፍቶ ቆይቶ ድንገት ሲከሰት “ምነው የመስቀል ወፍ ሆንክ” ይባላል። ይህም ለረጅም ጊዜ ሳይታዩ ወይም ጠፍቶ ቆይቶ መታየትን ለማመልከት ማኅበረሰቡ የሚጠቀምበት አባባል ነው።

     bäʾäbabalm ʾänd säw läräǧm gize ṭäfto ḳoyto dəngät sikäsät “mənäw yämäsḳäl wäf honk” yəbalal. yəhm läräǧm gize saytayu wäym ṭäfto ḳoyto mätayätn lämamälkät maḫbäräsäbu yämiṭäḳämbät ʾäbabal näw.

     In other words, when a person suddenly reappears after being missing for a long time, it is said, "I wish you were a cross bird." This is a term used by the community to indicate that they have not been seen for a long time or have disappeared.

2. jaundice

Declension

Definiteness forms of ወፍ (wäf)

	Masculine	Feminine
Indefinite	ወፍ (wäf)
Definite subject	ወፉ (wäfu)	ወፏ (wäfʷa) ወፊቱ (wäfitu) ወፊቷ (wäfitʷa)
Definite object	ወፉን (wäfun)	ወፏን (wäfʷan) ወፊቱን (wäfitun) ወፊቷን (wäfitʷan)
General object	ወፍን (wäfən)

Possessive forms of ወፍ (wäf)

		Singular	Plural	Formal
First person		ወፌ (wäfe)	ወፋችን (wäfaččən)	—
Second person	m	ወፍህ (wäfəh)	ወፋችሁ (wäfaččəhu)	ወፍዎ (wäfwo)
	f	ወፍሽ (wäfəš)
Third person	m	ወፉ (wäfu)	ወፋቸው (wäfaččäw)
	f	ወፏ (wäfʷa)

References

• Thomas Leiper Kane (1990) “ወፍ”, in Amharic-English Dictionary, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN