nfr

See also: NFR

Translingual

Symbol

nfr

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Nafaanra.

See also

  • Wiktionary’s coverage of Nafaanra terms

Egyptian

FWOTD – 13 January 2016

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Afroasiatic *fir- (to be good) with an additional *nV- prefix.[1] Compare also Tamahaq ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵔ (ifrar, best) and Saho feer (good).

Pronunciation

 
  • (adjective): (reconstructed) IPA(key): /ˈnaːfiɾ//ˈnaːfiʔ//ˈnaːfa//ˈnoːfə/

Verb


 3-lit.

  1. (intransitive) to be(come) of superior or admirable quality, to be(come) fine, good, or wonderful
    • 12th Dynasty, coffin of Nakhtankh, British Museum EA 35285:





      […] qrst nfrt m jz.f nfr n ẖrt-nṯr […]
      […] a good burial in his wonderful tomb of the necropolis […]
  2. (intransitive) to be(come) pleasant or gratifying to the senses
    1. (intransitive) to be(come) beautiful or fair, to look good
    2. (intransitive, of scents and flowers) to smell good
    3. (intransitive, of food and drinks) to taste good
  3. (intransitive, of periods of time) to be(come) pleasant or enjoyable to live through
  4. (intransitive, of people) to acquire or have good or pleasant qualities, to be capable, agreeable, or benevolent
  5. (intransitive, of work) to be done well or competently
  6. (intransitive, of medicine) to be(come) effective
  7. (intransitive, of names) to acquire or have a good reputation

Inflection

Conjugation of nfr (triliteral / 3-lit. / 3rad.) — base stem: nfr, geminated stem: nfrr
infinitival forms imperative
infinitive negatival complement complementary infinitive1 singular plural
nfr
nfrw, nfr
nfrt
nfr
nfr
‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem periphrastic imperfective2 periphrastic prospective2
nfr
ḥr nfr
m nfr
r nfr
suffix conjugation
aspect / mood active contingent
aspect / mood active
perfect nfr.n
consecutive nfr.jn
terminative nfrt
perfective3 nfr
obligative1 nfr.ḫr
imperfective nfr
prospective3 nfr
potentialis1 nfr.kꜣ
subjunctive nfr
verbal adjectives
aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles
active active passive
perfect nfr.n
perfective nfr
nfr
nfr, nfrw5, nfry5
imperfective nfr, nfry, nfrw5
nfr, nfrj6, nfry6
nfr, nfrw5
prospective nfr, nfrtj7
nfrtj4, nfrt4

1 Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian.
2 Used mostly since Middle Egyptian.
3 Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective.
4 Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. 5 Only in the masculine singular.
6 Only in the masculine.
7 Only in the feminine.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Adjective


  1. perfective active participle of nfr: fine, beautiful, pleasant, etc.

Inflection

Declension of nfr (perfective active participle)
masculine feminine
singular nfr
nfrt
dual nfrwj
nfrtj
plural nfrw
nfrwt1, nfrt2
1 Archaic in Middle Egyptian when modifying a noun.
2 From Middle Egyptian, this feminine singular form was generally used for the plural.
In Late Egyptian, the masculine singular form was used with all nouns.

Along with bjn and ꜥꜣ, nfr is one of the few Egyptian adjectives that continued to show remnants of gender and number inflection into Late Egyptian (and beyond).[3]

Alternative forms

See the ‘Alternative forms’ section under the verb above.

Derived terms

See the ‘Derived terms’ under the verb above.

Descendants

Noun


 m

  1. fine or good person
  2. (with following genitive) benefactor (of someone), welldoer
  3. (with following plural genitive) the best (person) among…, the best one of…

Inflection

Declension of nfr (masculine)
singular nfr
dual nfrwj
plural nfrw

Alternative forms

See the ‘Alternative forms’ section under the verb above.

Derived terms

Noun


 m

  1. good, goodness, pleasingness (in opposition to bjn)
  2. good qualities or deeds (of a person)
  3. something fine, good, beautiful, pleasing

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Interjection


  1. good, sure, fine
  2. correct, that’s right

Adverb


  1. well

Alternative forms

See the ‘Alternative forms’ section under the verb above.

Particle


 proclitic

  1. not even, not at all

Usage notes

In Middle Egyptian, this particle is found only in the constructions nfr pw, nfr n, and nfr ꜣ.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

  • nfrw (depletion, deficiency, zero)

References

  1. ^ Orel, Vladimir E., Stolbova, Olga V. (1995) “*fir-”, in Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary: Materials for a Reconstruction (Handbuch der Orientalistik; I.18), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill
  2. 2.0 2.1 Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 39, 56
  3. ^ Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 66