Root · 0 in the Quran · 1 in 1 text of the library
سدف (root sdf)
السين والدال والفاء أصل صحيح يدل على إرسال شيء على شيء غطاء له
Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha
The family of the root
Patterns computed · our dataThe words of س د ف that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.
15 words2 verbs1 verbal noun3 participles2 intensives and elatives5 other nouns2 plurals
- سَدَفdarkness; twilight
- سَدَّفَhe cut it in pieces
- أَسْدَفَit became dark
- مَسْدُوفveil, or curtain, let down
- مُسَدَّفcamel's hump cut into pieces or slices
The whole family6 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs2سَدَّفَ · أَسْدَفَ
The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →
Verbal nouns1تَسْدِيف
The action itself, named as a noun (maṣdar).grammar →
- تَسْدِيفForm II · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles3مَسْدُوف · مُسَدَّف · مُسْدِف
The one who does it, and the one it is done to.grammar →
Intensives, qualities and the elative2أَسْدَف · سَدِيف
The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →
Other nouns5سَدَف · سَدْفَة · سُدْفَة
Nouns on other patterns; their meaning is learned word by word.grammar →
Reference
Why this shape?What each of the 10 patterns does
What each pattern does. The pattern gives a tendency, not a rule: many words have drifted into meanings of their own.
The pattern machinePour the root into a pattern; see whether the word exists
Choose a pattern; the root's letters pour into it. Then see whether the word exists in our sources. The machine makes shapes; only usage makes words.
Not in our sources. A possible shape, not a word we can show: the Quran, the library and Lane do not have it for this root.
Place noun with -a. The place noun with the feminine -a. Sometimes it is only a variant of mafʿal; often it names the place where a thing is found in abundance (maʾsada, 'a place full of lions'). So maktab is the place of writing, and maktaba, where writings are gathered: a library, a bookshop. Our summary AI
But: maktaba is not in our classical dictionaries for k-t-b: Lane and al-Jawharī give maktab ('a school'), none gives maktaba. Its sense of 'library, bookshop' fits the pattern of abundance, but that is our reading of the pattern, not a classical entry. Many mafʿala words are single items of usage (maqbara 'cemetery'), which the grammarians call heard, not formed by rule.
The grammarians on this pattern (4)
ما يكون مفعلة لازمة لها الهاء والفتحة … وذلك إذا أردت أن تكثر الشيء بالمكان، وذلك قولك: أرض مسبعة، ومأسدة
Chapter on what is mafʿala, with the -a and the a-vowel always: that is when you mean that a thing abounds in a place, as you say 'a land of many beasts of prey (masbaʿa), of many lions (maʾsada)' AI
Sībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 3rd ed. (Cairo: al-Khānjī, 1988), 4:94 · OpenITI line 21027–21028 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
و نحو المظنة و المقبرة فتحا و ضما ليس بقياس
and words like maẓinna and maqbara (with a or u) are not by rule AI
Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646/1249), al-Shāfiya fī ʿilm al-taṣrīf, ed. Ḥasan Aḥmad al-ʿUthmān (Mecca: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1995), 1:30 · OpenITI line 223 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- “designate the place where the object signified by the noun from which they are formed, is found in large numbers or quantities” Wright, Grammar I, §247, p. 148 ↗ · on nouns of abundance, maf'ala · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
- “Nouns of time and place not unfrequently take the feminine form” Wright, Grammar I, §225, p. 128 ↗ · on maf'ala as a variant of maf'al · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
About thisWhat “attested” means here; the sources
Attested means found in our data: the Quranic Arabic Corpus (lemmas, verb Forms, participles, verbal nouns, plurals), the library's words (automatic analysis), Lane's Lexicon (his headwords, the Forms he numbers, the verbal nouns and plurals he names) and Ibn Fāris's entry. Nothing is generated for this list. Meanings are Lane's first gloss in his entry, or else the analyser's gloss (“auto”). Vowelling follows the corpus, then Lane, then the analyser; verbs are given in the regular perfect. Lane's Lexicon thins out after qāf, and a few of his entries cover several roots at once: those roots show no Lane. The patterns, written with ف ع ل, are computed by us.
The dictionaries
Ibn Fāris · 395السين والدال والفاء أصل صحيح يدل على إرسال شيء على شيء غطاء له يقال أسدفت القناع أرسلته والسدفة اختلاط الظلام والسديف شحم السنام كأنه مغط لما تحته وجمع السدفة سدف قال — نحن بغرس الودى أعلمنا … منا بركض الجياد في السدف …
Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), Maqāyīs al-Lugha. Seeks each root's original sense (aṣl).
Letters & sound
- سsīntongue-tip, by the front teeth · voiceless, continuantSīb. · I. Jinnī
- دdāltongue-tip, roots of the teeth · voiced, stopSīb. · I. Jinnī
- فfāʾlower lip and upper teeth · voiceless, continuantSīb. · I. Jinnī
How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.
Sharing two of its three letters (computed; kinship of form, not of meaning)
Reference
How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
س
ومما بين طرف اللسان وفويق الثنايا مخرج الزاي، والسين، والصاد
From between the tip of the tongue and just above the front teeth is the place of the zāy, the sīn and the ṣād. Sībawayh, line 26560 ↗
ومما بين الثنايا وطرف اللسان، مخرج الصاد والزاي والسين
From between the front teeth and the tip of the tongue is the place of the ṣād, the zāy and the sīn. Ibn Jinnī, line 983 ↗
د
ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا مخرج الطاء، والدال، والتاء
From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26559 ↗
ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا، مخرج الطاء والدال والتاء
From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 982 ↗
ف
ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى مخرج الفاء
From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26562 ↗
ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى، مخرج الفاء
From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 985 ↗
Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.
In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
س
Level of existence: ما ظهر في الماء · what appears in water
Divine Name: المحيي · al-Muḥyī, the Life-Giver
Lunar mansion: النعائم · al-Naʿāʾim
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62110Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
السين والشين فطبعهما الحرارة واليبوسة
Sīn and shīn: their nature is heat and dryness.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2581د
Level of existence: السماء الدنيا · the lowest heaven (al-samāʾ al-dunyā)
Divine Name: المبين · the Clarifier (al-Mubīn)
Lunar mansion: الأكليل · al-Iklīl
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64682Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة
The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582ف
Level of existence: الملائكة · the angels
Divine Name: القوى · the Strong (al-Qawī)
Lunar mansion: سعد الأخبية · Saʿd al-Akhbiya
Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 65823Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗
Nature (ch. 2)
المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة
The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.
Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac
English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
س
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي إشارة إلى الشيء المليح الذي من طبعه الرقة.
It is an indication of the comely thing whose nature is delicacy.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القبيح الخشن، أو إشارة إلى سواد حسا ومعنى.
It is an indication of the ugly, rough thing, or of blackness, sensible and figurative.
With kasra ـِ
وبالكسر إشارة إلى الشيء الطابع وتكون الإشارة منه.
With kasra it is an indication of the impressing/stamping thing, and the indication proceeds from it.
د
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي إشارة إلى خارج عن الذات.
It is an indication of something external to the self.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي إشارة إلى ما هو قليل أو قبيح ومعه غضب فيهما.
It is an indication of what is small or ugly, accompanied by anger in both cases.
With kasra ـِ
فهي إشارة إلى ما في الذات أو إلى ما هو داخل عليها أو إلى ما هو قريب منها.
It is an indication of what is in the self, or what is entering upon it, or what is near to it.
ف
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي لنفي الخبث بعد ما كان جنسه معلوما بالخبث، فهي إشارة إلى أنه طاهر وجنسه خبيث، والخبث مثل المعاصي وما أشبهها.
It is for negating foulness in something whose genus is known for foulness. It thus indicates that the thing is pure while its genus is foul; foulness being like sins and the like.
With ḍamma ـُ
فهي لتزويل الخبث.
It is for removing foulness.
With kasra ـِ
فهي إشارة إلى الذات وما احتوت عليه، وفي بعض الأحيان قد يكون معها التقليل.
It is an indication of the self and what it contains; at times it may carry a sense of diminution.
Two-letter nucleus15 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterس د
Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 14721 ↗
- سدرالسين والدال والراء أصل واحد يدل على شبه الحيرة واضطراب الرأي يقولون السادر المتحير ويقولون سدر بصره يسدر وذلك إذا اسمد وتحير ويقولون السادر هو الذي لQ 4 · L14722
- سدعالسين والدال والعين ليس بأصل يعول عليه ولا يقاس عليه لكن الخليل ذكر الرجل المسدعL14727
- سدفالسين والدال والفاء أصل صحيح يدل على إرسال شيء على شيء غطاء لهL14731
- سدكالسين والدال والكاف كلمة واحدة لا يقاس عليها تقول سدك به إذا لزمهL14737
- سدسالسين والدال والسين أصل في العدد وهو قولهم السدس جزء من ستة أجزاء وإزار سديس أي سداسي والسدس من الورد في أظماء الإبل أن تنقطع الإبل عن الورد خمسة أيامQ 5 · L14738
- سدمالسين والدال والميم أصل في شيء لا يهتدى لوجههL14747
- سدوالسين والدال والواو أصل واحد يدل على إهمال وذهاب على وجهL14754
- سدحالسين والدال والحاء أصل واحد يدل على بسط على الأرض وذلك كسدح القربة المملوءة إذا طرحها بالأرض وبها يشبه القتيلL14768
- سدخالسين والدال والخاء لا أصل له في كلام العرب ولا معنى لقول منL14775
- سرفالسين والراء والفاء أصل واحد يدل على تعدي الحد والإغفال أيضا للشيء تقول في الأمر سرف أي مجاوزة القدر وجاء في الحديث : ( الثالثة في الوضوء شرف والرابعةQ 23 · L14787
- سرقالسين والراء والقاف أصل يدل على أخذ شيء في خفاء وسترQ 9 · L14799
- سروالسين والراء والحرف المعتل باب متفاوت جدا لا تكاد كلمتان منه تجتمعان في قياس واحد فالسرو سخاء في مروءةL14802
- سربالسين والراء والباء أصل مطرد وهو يدل على الاتساع والذهاب في الأرضQ 4 · L14814
- سرحالسين والراء والحاء أصل مطرد واحد وهو يدل على الانطلاقQ 7 · L14839
- سردالسين والراء والدال أصل مطرد منقاس وهو يدل على توالي أشياء كثيرة يتصل بعضها ببعضQ 1 · L14849
In the sister scriptsHebrew ס/ש ד פSyriac ܣ/ܫ ܕ ܦ
| Arabic | س د ف |
| Hebrew | ס/ש ד פ |
| Syriac | ܣ/ܫ ܕ ܦ |
| Ancient South Arabian (musnad) | 𐩯/𐩦 𐩵 𐩰 |
| Phoenician | 𐤎/𐤔 𐤃 𐤐 |
Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.
Reference