مصحف
Arabic
Etymology
Borrowed from Ge'ez መጽሐፍ (mäṣḥäf), as in Ethiopian Semitic such is the usual word for “book” and the root more generally relates to the concept of “writing”. The other words in the Arabic root ص ح ف (ṣ ḥ f) are from this noun.
According to the fifteenth-century scholar al-Suyūṭī in his book Al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān, the early Muslims debated what to call a copy of the Qur'an following Muhammad's death. One person suggested سِفْر (sifr), which refers to a book of the Bible in Christianity and Judaism; however مُصْحَف (muṣḥaf), which al-Suyūṭī explicitly says is an Ethiopian word, was chosen to better distinguish between the Bible and the Qur'an.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /musˤ.ħaf/, /masˤ.ħaf/
Noun
مُصْحَف or مَصْحَف • (muṣḥaf or maṣḥaf) m (plural مَصَاحِف (maṣāḥif))
Declension
| singular | basic singular triptote | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | construct | |
| informal | مُصْحَف; مَصْحَف muṣḥaf; maṣḥaf |
الْمُصْحَف; الْمَصْحَف al-muṣḥaf; al-maṣḥaf |
مُصْحَف; مَصْحَف muṣḥaf; maṣḥaf |
| nominative | مُصْحَفٌ; مَصْحَفٌ muṣḥafun; maṣḥafun |
الْمُصْحَفُ; الْمَصْحَفُ al-muṣḥafu; al-maṣḥafu |
مُصْحَفُ; مَصْحَفُ muṣḥafu; maṣḥafu |
| accusative | مُصْحَفًا; مَصْحَفًا muṣḥafan; maṣḥafan |
الْمُصْحَفَ; الْمَصْحَفَ al-muṣḥafa; al-maṣḥafa |
مُصْحَفَ; مَصْحَفَ muṣḥafa; maṣḥafa |
| genitive | مُصْحَفٍ; مَصْحَفٍ muṣḥafin; maṣḥafin |
الْمُصْحَفِ; الْمَصْحَفِ al-muṣḥafi; al-maṣḥafi |
مُصْحَفِ; مَصْحَفِ muṣḥafi; maṣḥafi |
| dual | indefinite | definite | construct |
| informal | مُصْحَفَيْن; مَصْحَفَيْن muṣḥafayn; maṣḥafayn |
الْمُصْحَفَيْن; الْمَصْحَفَيْن al-muṣḥafayn; al-maṣḥafayn |
مُصْحَفَيْ; مَصْحَفَيْ muṣḥafay; maṣḥafay |
| nominative | مُصْحَفَانِ; مَصْحَفَانِ muṣḥafāni; maṣḥafāni |
الْمُصْحَفَانِ; الْمَصْحَفَانِ al-muṣḥafāni; al-maṣḥafāni |
مُصْحَفَا; مَصْحَفَا muṣḥafā; maṣḥafā |
| accusative | مُصْحَفَيْنِ; مَصْحَفَيْنِ muṣḥafayni; maṣḥafayni |
الْمُصْحَفَيْنِ; الْمَصْحَفَيْنِ al-muṣḥafayni; al-maṣḥafayni |
مُصْحَفَيْ; مَصْحَفَيْ muṣḥafay; maṣḥafay |
| genitive | مُصْحَفَيْنِ; مَصْحَفَيْنِ muṣḥafayni; maṣḥafayni |
الْمُصْحَفَيْنِ; الْمَصْحَفَيْنِ al-muṣḥafayni; al-maṣḥafayni |
مُصْحَفَيْ; مَصْحَفَيْ muṣḥafay; maṣḥafay |
| plural | basic broken plural diptote | ||
| indefinite | definite | construct | |
| informal | مَصَاحِف maṣāḥif |
الْمَصَاحِف al-maṣāḥif |
مَصَاحِف maṣāḥif |
| nominative | مَصَاحِفُ maṣāḥifu |
الْمَصَاحِفُ al-maṣāḥifu |
مَصَاحِفُ maṣāḥifu |
| accusative | مَصَاحِفَ maṣāḥifa |
الْمَصَاحِفَ al-maṣāḥifa |
مَصَاحِفَ maṣāḥifa |
| genitive | مَصَاحِفَ maṣāḥifa |
الْمَصَاحِفِ al-maṣāḥifi |
مَصَاحِفِ maṣāḥifi |
Descendants
- → Azerbaijani: müshəf
- → Hebrew: מִצְחָף (mitskháf)
- → Lishana Deni: מסחף (masḥaf, “book”)
- → Northern Kurdish: mishef
- → Indonesian: mushaf
- → Swahili: msahafu
- → Persian: مصحف (moshaf)
- → Ottoman Turkish: مصحف (mushaf)
- > Turkish: mushaf (inherited)
- → Uyghur: مۇسھەپ (mushep)
- → Uzbek: mushaf
References
- Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 248
- Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 192–194
- Leslau, Wolf (1991) “ጸሐፈ”, in Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 552
- Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft[1] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, , pages 49–50