Learn ArabicB1 › سُفْلِيّ

سُفْلِيّ

lower /ˈsuf.liː/

adjectiveB1#2064 most common

Also: bottom, nether, inferior

Example sentences

الدُّرْجُ السُفْلِيُّ مفتوح.
The lower drawer is open.
نسكن في الطابق السُفْلِيّ من البناية.
We live on the lower floor of the building.
يؤلمني ضِرْسي السُفْلِيّ منذ الصباح.
My lower molar has hurt since this morning.
يقع المطبخ في الجزء السُفْلِيّ من المنزل.
The kitchen sits in the lower part of the house.
اعتقد القدماء أنّ العالَم السُفْلِيّ مأوى الأرواح.
The ancients believed the underworld was the abode of the spirits.
استخدم الكاتب صورة الطابق السُفْلِيّ رمزاً للطبقات المهمّشة في المجتمع.
The writer used the image of the lower floor as a symbol for the marginalized classes in society.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeسُفْلِيٌّسُفْلِيّونَ
Genitiveسُفْلِيٍّسُفْلِيّينَ
Accusativeسُفْلِيّاًسُفْلِيّينَ
Vocativeيا سُفْلِيّيا سُفْلِيّونَ

Word family

سُفْلbottom, lower part
أَسْفَلlower, lowestسافِلlow, base
سَفَلَto be or become low
سَفالةbaseness, vileness

Etymology

The word comes from the Semitic root s-f-l, meaning to be low or to sink down. The base sense sits in verbs like سَفَلَ (to be low) and the noun سُفْل (the bottom part). Adding the nisba suffix ـِيّ turns this into a relational adjective meaning of the lower part.

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