sifu

See also: sìfú

English

Alternative forms

• shifu (from Mandarin)

Etymology

From Cantonese 師傅／师傅 (si1 fu6-2, “master”) and 師父／师父 (si1 fu6-2, “my master”), both also conveying the sense of teacher.

Noun

sifu (plural sifu or sifus)

1. A master or teacher in the context of martial arts, especially kung fu and tai chi.
   • 1998, Dana Stabenow, Fire and Ice, page 134:

     Who is -- don't get cute with me, you dumb bastard, I'm your sifu.

2. A spiritual father in esoteric contexts.

Synonyms

• (martial arts): sensei
• (esoteric): guru

Translations

martial arts instructor

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 師傅 / 师傅 (si¹ fu⁶, si¹ fu²)

  Hokkien: 師傅 / 师傅 (zh-min-nan) (sai-hū)

  Mandarin: 師傅 / 师傅 (zh) (shīfu)

• Finnish: mestari (fi)
• French: sifu m or f, shifu m or f
• German: Shifu m or f
• Japanese: 先生 (ja) (せんせい, sensei)
• Korean: 사부 (ko) (sabu), 선생님 (ko) (seonsaengnim)
• Persian: سی‌فو (si-fu)
• Russian: ши́фу m or f (šífu), си́фу m or f (sífu), ма́стер (ru) m (máster)
• Sanskrit: गुरु (sa) m (guru)

Anagrams

• FIUs, Sufi, USFI

Afar

Etymology

Cognate with Saho sifo (“tailhair”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsifu/ [ˈsɪfʊ]
• Hyphenation: si‧fu

Noun

sífu m (singulative sifóyta m, plural sifitté f or sifoofá f)

1. (collective) woodchips
2. (collective) long tailhairs of a camel

Declension

Declension of sífu
absolutive	sífu
predicative	sífu
subjective	sifí
genitive	sifí
Postpositioned forms l-case síful k-case sífuk t-case sífut h-case sífuh

References

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “sìfu”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN, page 191

Old English

Numeral

sifu (Northumbrian)

1. alternative form of seofon

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic [Term?].

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Verb

-sifu (infinitive kusifu)

1. to praise, admire, commend
2. (reflexive) to boast, brag

Conjugation

Conjugation of -sifu
Positive present -nasifu Subjunctive -sifu Negative -sifu Imperative singular sifu
Infinitives
Positive kusifu Negative kutosifu
Imperatives
Singular sifu Plural sifuni
Tensed forms
Habitual husifu Positive past positive subject concord + -lisifu Negative past negative subject concord + -kusifu
Positive present (positive subject concord + -nasifu) Singular Plural 1st person ninasifu/nasifu tunasifu 2nd person unasifu mnasifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anasifu wanasifu other classes positive subject concord + -nasifu
Negative present (negative subject concord + -sifu) Singular Plural 1st person sisifu hatusifu 2nd person husifu hamsifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hasifu hawasifu other classes negative subject concord + -sifu
Positive future positive subject concord + -tasifu Negative future negative subject concord + -tasifu
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -sifu) Singular Plural 1st person nisifu tusifu 2nd person usifu msifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) asifu wasifu other classes positive subject concord + -sifu
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -sisifu Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngesifu Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singesifu Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngalisifu Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singalisifu
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -asifu) Singular Plural 1st person nasifu twasifu 2nd person wasifu mwasifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) asifu wasifu m-mi(III/IV) wasifu yasifu ji-ma(V/VI) lasifu yasifu ki-vi(VII/VIII) chasifu vyasifu n(IX/X) yasifu zasifu u(XI) wasifu see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwasifu pa(XVI) pasifu mu(XVIII) mwasifu
Perfect positive subject concord + -mesifu "Already" positive subject concord + -meshasifu "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jasifu "If/When" positive subject concord + -kisifu "If not" positive subject concord + -siposifu Consecutive kasifu / positive subject concord + -kasifu Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kasifu
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -nisifu -tusifu 2nd person -kusifu -wasifu/-kusifuni/-wasifuni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -msifu -wasifu m-mi(III/IV) -usifu -isifu ji-ma(V/VI) -lisifu -yasifu ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kisifu -visifu n(IX/X) -isifu -zisifu u(XI) -usifu see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kusifu pa(XVI) -pasifu mu(XVIII) -musifu Reflexive -jisifu
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -sifu- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -sifuye -sifuo m-mi(III/IV) -sifuo -sifuyo ji-ma(V/VI) -sifulo -sifuyo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -sifucho -sifuvyo n(IX/X) -sifuyo -sifuzo u(XI) -sifuo see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -sifuko pa(XVI) -sifupo mu(XVIII) -sifumo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -sifu) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yesifu -osifu m-mi(III/IV) -osifu -yosifu ji-ma(V/VI) -losifu -yosifu ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chosifu -vyosifu n(IX/X) -yosifu -zosifu u(XI) -osifu see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kosifu pa(XVI) -posifu mu(XVIII) -mosifu
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

Related terms

• sifa