إصبع

Arabic

Root
ص ب ع (ṣ b ʕ)
2 terms

Alternative forms

أُصْبَع (ʔuṣbaʕ), أَصْبَع (ʔaṣbaʕ), أُصْبِع (ʔuṣbiʕ), أَصْبِع (ʔaṣbiʕ), أُصْبُع (ʔuṣbuʕ), أَصْبُع (ʔaṣbuʕ), أُصْبُوع (ʔuṣbūʕ)

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ʔiṣbaʕ-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔisˤ.baʕ/, /ʔisˤ.biʕ/, /ʔisˤ.buʕ/

Noun

إِصْبَع or إِصْبِع or إِصْبُع • (ʔiṣbaʕ or ʔiṣbiʕ or ʔiṣbuʕ) f or m (plural أَصَابِع (ʔaṣābiʕ))

finger, toe
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:19:
  أَوْ كَصَيِّبٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فِيهِ ظُلُمَاتٌ وَرَعْدٌ وَبَرْقٌ يَجْعَلُونَ أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِم مِنَ الصَّوَاعِقِ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ
  ʔaw kaṣayyibin mina s-samāʔi fīhi ẓulumātun waraʕdun wabarqun yajʕalūna ʔaṣābiʕahum fī ʔāḏānihim mina ṣ-ṣawāʕiqi ḥaḏara l-mawti
  Or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness, thunder and the flash of lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears by reason of the thunder-claps, for fear of death.
- 2018, وَجْدِيّ الْأَهْدَل, أرض المؤامرات السعيدة, Bayrūt: Nawfal / Hachette Antoine, →ISBN, page 47:
  كان هناك ولد صغير يتكلّم ويحاول أن يشبّ على أصابعه لينظر من النافذة.
  There was a small boy talking and trying to rear on his toes to look through the window.
piano key
popsicle
lollipop

Usage notes

Generally feminine.

Declension

Declension of noun **إِصْبَع** (ʔiṣbaʕ)
singular	basic singular triptote
singular	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	إِصْبَع ʔiṣbaʕ	الْإِصْبَع al-ʔiṣbaʕ	إِصْبَع ʔiṣbaʕ
nominative	إِصْبَعٌ ʔiṣbaʕun	الْإِصْبَعُ al-ʔiṣbaʕu	إِصْبَعُ ʔiṣbaʕu
accusative	إِصْبَعًا ʔiṣbaʕan	الْإِصْبَعَ al-ʔiṣbaʕa	إِصْبَعَ ʔiṣbaʕa
genitive	إِصْبَعٍ ʔiṣbaʕin	الْإِصْبَعِ al-ʔiṣbaʕi	إِصْبَعِ ʔiṣbaʕi
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	إِصْبَعَيْن ʔiṣbaʕayn	الْإِصْبَعَيْن al-ʔiṣbaʕayn	إِصْبَعَيْ ʔiṣbaʕay
nominative	إِصْبَعَانِ ʔiṣbaʕāni	الْإِصْبَعَانِ al-ʔiṣbaʕāni	إِصْبَعَا ʔiṣbaʕā
accusative	إِصْبَعَيْنِ ʔiṣbaʕayni	الْإِصْبَعَيْنِ al-ʔiṣbaʕayni	إِصْبَعَيْ ʔiṣbaʕay
genitive	إِصْبَعَيْنِ ʔiṣbaʕayni	الْإِصْبَعَيْنِ al-ʔiṣbaʕayni	إِصْبَعَيْ ʔiṣbaʕay
plural	basic broken plural diptote
plural	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	أَصَابِع ʔaṣābiʕ	الْأَصَابِع al-ʔaṣābiʕ	أَصَابِع ʔaṣābiʕ
nominative	أَصَابِعُ ʔaṣābiʕu	الْأَصَابِعُ al-ʔaṣābiʕu	أَصَابِعُ ʔaṣābiʕu
accusative	أَصَابِعَ ʔaṣābiʕa	الْأَصَابِعَ al-ʔaṣābiʕa	أَصَابِعَ ʔaṣābiʕa
genitive	أَصَابِعَ ʔaṣābiʕa	الْأَصَابِعِ al-ʔaṣābiʕi	أَصَابِعِ ʔaṣābiʕi

Derived terms

تَصَبَّعَ (taṣabbaʕa, “to digitate, to form finger-like structures or carbuncles”)
صَبَعَ (ṣabaʕa, “to point with the finger”)
صَبَّعَ (ṣabbaʕa, “to finger”)
صَبِيع (ṣabīʕ, “carbuncle”)

Descendants

Cypriot Arabic: ispec
Egyptian Arabic: صباع (ṣubāʕ), صابع (ṣābiʕ), صوبع (ṣōbaʕ)
Hijazi Arabic: أصباع (ʔuṣbāʕ)
Maltese: suba’, seba’, saba’
Moroccan Arabic: صبع (ṣbuʕ, ṣbaʕ)
South Levantine Arabic: أصبع (ʔuṣbaʕ)

References

Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881) “صبع”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎^[1] (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 815–816
Kogan, Leonid (2011) “Proto-Semitic Lexicon”, in Weninger, Stefan, editor, The Semitic Languages. An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft – Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science; 36), Berlin: De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 224
Lane, Edward William (1863-1893) “صبع”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1646–1647.
Wehr, Hans (1979) “صبع”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 586