جنفيص

Back-formation from جُنْفَيْصَة (jinfayṣa, “piece of burlap, of sackcloth”), which was a diminutive of the original singulative جِنْفَاصَة (jinfāṣa) of جِنْفَاص (jinfāṣ, “burlap, sackcloth”). Singulatives on similar templates very often shifted to the diminutive pattern فُعَّيْل/فُعْلَيْق (CuCCayC) in North Levantine Arabic, like بِزَّيْقَة (bizzayʔa, “slug, snail”) or خِبَّيْزة (ḵibbayze, “mallow”). Once this singulative was created, it was extremely common for a new collective to be backformed from it, like بزّيق (bizzayʔ, “slugs, snails”) or خبّيز (ḵibbayz, “mallow”).

It is possible that the initial shift of the singulative to a diminutive pattern was for extra individuation from the collective, although the shift affected more than just singulatives: consider مُرْجَيْحَة (mirjayḥa, “swingset”) and حُزَّيْرَة (ḥizzayra, “riddle”), both with no collective.

• IPA^(key): /ʒin.ˈfeːsˤ/ [ʒenˈfeːsˤ, -ɛːsˤ]; /ʒun-/ [ʒon-]
• IPA^(key): /ʒin.ˈfajsˤ/ [ʒenˈfɑjsˤ]; /ʒun-/ [ʒon-]

جِنْفَيْص or جُنْفَيْص • (jinfayṣ, jinfēṣ, or junfayṣ, junfēṣ) m (collective, singulative جنفيصة f (jinfayṣa))

1. alternative form of جِنْفَاص (jinfāṣ, “burlap, sackcloth”)