طفل

Arabic

Root
ط ف ل (ṭ-f-l)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tˤifl/

Noun

طِفْل • (ṭifl) m (plural أَطْفَال (ʔaṭfāl))

1. child (a minor)
2. (collective) children (a minor)
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 22:05:

     وَنُقِرُّ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ مَا نَشَاءُ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ثُمَّ نُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُوا أَشُدَّكُمْ

     wanuqirru fī l-ʔarḥāmi mā našāʔu ʔilā ʔajalin musamman ṯumma nuḵrijukum ṭiflan ṯumma litabluḡū ʔašuddakum

     ˹Then˺ We settle whatever ˹embryo˺ We will in the womb for an appointed term, then bring you forth as infants, so that ye may reach your prime. Some of you ˹may˺ die ˹young˺, while others are left to reach the most feeble stage of life so that they may know nothing after having known much.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 24:31:

     أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ

     ʔawi ṭ-ṭifli allaḏīna lam yaẓharū ʕalā ʕawrāti n-nisāʔi

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of noun طِفْل (ṭifl)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	طِفْل ṭifl	الطِّفْل aṭ-ṭifl	طِفْل ṭifl
Nominative	طِفْلٌ ṭiflun	الطِّفْلُ aṭ-ṭiflu	طِفْلُ ṭiflu
Accusative	طِفْلًا ṭiflan	الطِّفْلَ aṭ-ṭifla	طِفْلَ ṭifla
Genitive	طِفْلٍ ṭiflin	الطِّفْلِ aṭ-ṭifli	طِفْلِ ṭifli
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	طِفْلَيْن ṭiflayn	الطِّفْلَيْن aṭ-ṭiflayn	طِفْلَيْ ṭiflay
Nominative	طِفْلَانِ ṭiflāni	الطِّفْلَانِ aṭ-ṭiflāni	طِفْلَا ṭiflā
Accusative	طِفْلَيْنِ ṭiflayni	الطِّفْلَيْنِ aṭ-ṭiflayni	طِفْلَيْ ṭiflay
Genitive	طِفْلَيْنِ ṭiflayni	الطِّفْلَيْنِ aṭ-ṭiflayni	طِفْلَيْ ṭiflay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَطْفَال ʔaṭfāl	الْأَطْفَال al-ʔaṭfāl	أَطْفَال ʔaṭfāl
Nominative	أَطْفَالٌ ʔaṭfālun	الْأَطْفَالُ al-ʔaṭfālu	أَطْفَالُ ʔaṭfālu
Accusative	أَطْفَالًا ʔaṭfālan	الْأَطْفَالَ al-ʔaṭfāla	أَطْفَالَ ʔaṭfāla
Genitive	أَطْفَالٍ ʔaṭfālin	الْأَطْفَالِ al-ʔaṭfāli	أَطْفَالِ ʔaṭfāli

Descendants

• Maltese: tifel
• → Persian: طفل (tefl)
• → Turkish: tıfıl
• → Urdu: طفل (tifl)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “طفل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtˤɪfl]

Noun

طفل • (ṭifl) f (plural اطفال (aṭfāl))

1. child

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [tifl]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɪfl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɪfl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰɪfl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰifl̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰefl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰifl]

Readings
Classical reading?	tifl
Dari reading?	tifl
Iranian reading?	tefl
Tajik reading?	tifl

Noun

Dari	طفل
Iranian Persian
Tajik	тифл

طفل • (tefl)

1. infant

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tˤifl/, [ˈtˤɪ.f(ɪ)l]

• Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

Noun

طفل • (ṭifl) m (plural أطفال (ʔaṭfāl), feminine طفلة (ṭifle))

1. (formal) young child, toddler, baby

See also

• بيبي (bēbi, “baby”)
• ولد (walad, “child; boy”)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian طفل (tifl), from Arabic طِفْل (ṭifl).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪ɪfl/
• Rhymes: -ɪfl

Noun

طِفْل • (tifl) m (formal plural اطفال, Hindi spelling तिफ़्ल)

1. boy, child

Further reading

• “طفل”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “طفل”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “طفل”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.