صبية

Arabic

Etymology 1

Noun

صَبِيَّة • (ṣabiyya) f (plural صَبَايَا (ṣabāyā), masculine صَبِيّ (ṣabiyy))

1. female equivalent of صَبِيّ (ṣabiyy, “boy, servant”):
   1. girl, young woman

Declension

Declension of noun صَبِيَّة (ṣabiyya)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صَبِيَّة ṣabiyya	الصَّبِيَّة aṣ-ṣabiyya	صَبِيَّة ṣabiyyat
Nominative	صَبِيَّةٌ ṣabiyyatun	الصَّبِيَّةُ aṣ-ṣabiyyatu	صَبِيَّةُ ṣabiyyatu
Accusative	صَبِيَّةً ṣabiyyatan	الصَّبِيَّةَ aṣ-ṣabiyyata	صَبِيَّةَ ṣabiyyata
Genitive	صَبِيَّةٍ ṣabiyyatin	الصَّبِيَّةِ aṣ-ṣabiyyati	صَبِيَّةِ ṣabiyyati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صَبِيَّتَيْن ṣabiyyatayn	الصَّبِيَّتَيْن aṣ-ṣabiyyatayn	صَبِيَّتَيْ ṣabiyyatay
Nominative	صَبِيَّتَانِ ṣabiyyatāni	الصَّبِيَّتَانِ aṣ-ṣabiyyatāni	صَبِيَّتَا ṣabiyyatā
Accusative	صَبِيَّتَيْنِ ṣabiyyatayni	الصَّبِيَّتَيْنِ aṣ-ṣabiyyatayni	صَبِيَّتَيْ ṣabiyyatay
Genitive	صَبِيَّتَيْنِ ṣabiyyatayni	الصَّبِيَّتَيْنِ aṣ-ṣabiyyatayni	صَبِيَّتَيْ ṣabiyyatay
Plural	broken plural invariable
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā	الصَّبَايَا aṣ-ṣabāyā	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā
Nominative	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā	الصَّبَايَا aṣ-ṣabāyā	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā
Accusative	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā	الصَّبَايَا aṣ-ṣabāyā	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā
Genitive	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā	الصَّبَايَا aṣ-ṣabāyā	صَبَايَا ṣabāyā

Etymology 2

Noun

صِبْيَة or صُبْيَة • (ṣibya or ṣubya) m pl

1. plural of صَبِيّ (ṣabiyy)

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic صَبِيّة (ṣabiyya). For the euphemism compare Arabic حُبَاب (ḥubāb, “friend, beloved; snake”) and Ge'ez ዐርክት (ʿärəkt, “female friend; snake”).

Noun

صبية • (ṣabiyye) f (plural صبايا (ṣabāya))

1. a female teenager or a young woman, chiefly unmarried
2. (Bedouinic, euphemistic) snake

Usage notes

• Similarly to girl, the North Levantine word referred originally to an unmarried woman up to circa 20 years of age. With the rise of the average marriage age it may now be significantly stretched, though probably not beyond 30 years.
• The masculine equivalent is شب (šabb), which see for more.
• صبية is widely interchangeable with بنت (bint), though the latter is broader as it includes little girls and also means “daughter”.

References

• “Aus einem Briefe des Herrn Consul Wetzstein an Prof. Fleischer”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[1] (in German), volume 23, 1868 November 30, page 312 of 309–313
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[2] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 89

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic صَبِيّة (ṣabiyya).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˤa.bij.je/, [sˤaˈbij.je], [-a]

• Audio (Jerusalem)

  (file)

Noun

صبيّة • (ṣabiyye) f (plural صبايا (ṣabāya), masculine صبي (ṣabi))

1. girl, young woman, female teenager

See also

• بنت (bint, “girl”)، فتاة (fatā, “girl”)