سفرة

Arabic

Etymology

From the root س ف ر (s-f-r) meaning “to send off”, “to journey”; originally a provisions for a traveler. The Bedouin practice was to hold food within a leather sheet that was wrapped around the food and tied closed while traveling, then spread out again flat when the meal was to be consumed. Compare Aramaic ܨܘܦܪܐ.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /suf.ra/

Noun

سُفْرَة • (sufra) f (plural سُفَر (sufar))

traveling provision, victuals
leather sheet, eating mat, place mat, tablecloth
dining table, table board
هُنَاكَ يَجْلِسُ جَمِيعُ أَفْرَادِ الْعَائِلَةِ حَوْلَ السُّفْرَةِ.
hunāka yajlisu jamīʕu ʔafrādi l-ʕāʔilati ḥawla s-sufrati.
There are all the family (members) sitting around the dining table.

Declension

Declension of noun سُفْرَة (sufra)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
Singular	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُفْرَة sufra	السُّفْرَة as-sufra	سُفْرَة sufrat
Nominative	سُفْرَةٌ sufratun	السُّفْرَةُ as-sufratu	سُفْرَةُ sufratu
Accusative	سُفْرَةً sufratan	السُّفْرَةَ as-sufrata	سُفْرَةَ sufrata
Genitive	سُفْرَةٍ sufratin	السُّفْرَةِ as-sufrati	سُفْرَةِ sufrati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُفْرَتَيْن sufratayn	السُّفْرَتَيْن as-sufratayn	سُفْرَتَيْ sufratay
Nominative	سُفْرَتَانِ sufratāni	السُّفْرَتَانِ as-sufratāni	سُفْرَتَا sufratā
Accusative	سُفْرَتَيْنِ sufratayni	السُّفْرَتَيْنِ as-sufratayni	سُفْرَتَيْ sufratay
Genitive	سُفْرَتَيْنِ sufratayni	السُّفْرَتَيْنِ as-sufratayni	سُفْرَتَيْ sufratay
Plural	sound feminine plural
Plural	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سُفَر،سُفْرَات ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَات ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَات ?
Nominative	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتٌ ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَاتُ ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتُ ?
Accusative	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتٍ ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?
Genitive	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتٍ ?	السُّفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?	سُفَر،سُفْرَاتِ ?

Descendants

Gulf Arabic: صفرة
→ Indonesian: seperah
→ Persian: سفره (sofre)
- → Armenian: սուփրա (supʻra)
- → Azerbaijani: süfrə
- → Central Kurdish: سفرە (sifre)
- → Georgian: სუფრა (supra)
  - → English: supra
- → Ottoman Turkish: سفره (sofra)
  - Turkish: sofra
  - → Albanian: sofër
  - → Aromanian: sufrã, sofrã
  - → Bulgarian: софра́ (sofrá)
  - → Crimean Tatar: sofra
  - → Laz: სოჶრა (sofra)
  - → Romanian: sofra
  - → Serbo-Croatian: sȍfra, sȍpra, sȍvra

References

Behnstedt, Peter, Woidich, Manfred (2012) Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte – Band II: Materielle Kultur (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 100/II) (in German), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 101–102
Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 83
Lane, Edward William (1863) “سفرة”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎, London: Williams & Norgate, page 1371
Wehr, Hans (1979) “سفرة”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN