أفعى

Arabic

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaf.ʕan/

• Audio

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Noun

أَفْعًى • (ʾafʿan) f (construct state أَفْعَى (ʾafʿā), dual أَفْعَيَانِ‎ (ʾafʿayāni), plural أَفَاعٍ‎ (ʾafāʿin), plural construct state أَفَاعِي‎ (ʾafāʿī), masculine أُفْعُوَان‎ (ʾufʿuwān))

1. viper, serpent

Declension

Declension of noun أَفْعًى (ʾafʿan)

Singular	singular in ـًى (-an)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَفْعَى ʾafʿā	الْأَفْعَى‎ al-ʾafʿā	أَفْعَى ʾafʿā
Nominative	أَفْعًى ʾafʿan	الْأَفْعَى‎ al-ʾafʿā	أَفْعَى ʾafʿā
Accusative	أَفْعًى ʾafʿan	الْأَفْعَى‎ al-ʾafʿā	أَفْعَى ʾafʿā
Genitive	أَفْعًى ʾafʿan	الْأَفْعَى‎ al-ʾafʿā	أَفْعَى ʾafʿā
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَفْعَيَيْن‎ ʾafʿayayn	الْأَفْعَيَيْن‎ al-ʾafʿayayn	أَفْعَيَيْ‎ ʾafʿayay
Nominative	أَفْعَيَانِ‎ ʾafʿayāni	الْأَفْعَيَانِ‎ al-ʾafʿayāni	أَفْعَيَا‎ ʾafʿayā
Accusative	أَفْعَيَيْنِ‎ ʾafʿayayni	الْأَفْعَيَيْنِ‎ al-ʾafʿayayni	أَفْعَيَيْ‎ ʾafʿayay
Genitive	أَفْعَيَيْنِ‎ ʾafʿayayni	الْأَفْعَيَيْنِ‎ al-ʾafʿayayni	أَفْعَيَيْ‎ ʾafʿayay
Plural	broken plural diptote in ـٍ (-in)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَفَاعِي‎ ʾafāʿī	الْأَفَاعِي‎ al-ʾafāʿī	أَفَاعِي‎ ʾafāʿī
Nominative	أَفَاعٍ‎ ʾafāʿin	الْأَفَاعِي‎ al-ʾafāʿī	أَفَاعِي‎ ʾafāʿī
Accusative	أَفَاعِيَ‎ ʾafāʿiya	الْأَفَاعِيَ‎ al-ʾafāʿiya	أَفَاعِيَ‎ ʾafāʿiya
Genitive	أَفَاعٍ‎ ʾafāʿin	الْأَفَاعِي‎ al-ʾafāʿī	أَفَاعِي‎ ʾafāʿī

Descendants

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

References

• Lane, Edward William (1863), “أفعى”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, 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^[1], London: W.H. Allen, page 63