ܢܦܫܐ

Inherited from Aramaic נַפְשָׁא (nap̄šā), from Proto-Semitic *napš-; compare Akkadian 𒍣 (napištum), Arabic نَفْس (nafs), Hebrew נֶפֶשׁ (néfesh), and Ugaritic 𐎐𐎔𐎌 (npš /⁠napšu⁠/). The final senses of “self” and “same” are a semantic loan from Classical Syriac as a substitute of the Kurdish loanword ܓܵܢܵܐ (gānā).

• (Standard) IPA^(key): [nafʃɑː]
• (Nineveh Plains) IPA^(key): [noːʃɑː]
• (Urmia) IPA^(key): [noːʃɑː]

ܢܲܦ̮ܫܵܐ • (nafšā) f sg (plural ܢܲܦ̮̈ܫܵܬ݂ܵܐ (nafšāṯā))

1. soul (the core or essential aspect required for being)
2. psyche (the human mind as the central force in thought, emotion, and behavior of an individual)
3. person, soul (e.g., in a census, as a numerative in statistics)
4. self (one individual’s personality, character, demeanor, or disposition)

   Synonyms: ܪܘܼܚܵܐ (rūḥā), (dialectal) ܓܵܢܵܐ (gānā)

   ܩܛܝܼܠ ܠܹܗ ܢܲܦ̮ܫܹܗ ― qṭīl lēh nafšēh ― He killed himself. [reflexive]

   ܚܙܹܐ ܠܝܼ ܢܲܦ̮ܫܝܼ ܒܢܲܘܪܵܐ. ― ḥzē lī nafšī b-nawrā. ― I saw myself in the mirror. [reflexive]

5. same used before or after the noun with an enclitic pronoun attached to it

   ܡܸܢܕܝܼ ܢܲܦ̮ܫܹܗ ― mindī nafšēh ― the same thing (literally, “the thing itself”)

   ܦܲܪܨܘܿܦܵܐ ܢܲܦ̮ܫܹܗ ― parṣōpā nafšēh ― the same person (literally, “the person himself”)

   ܫܵܥܬ݂ܵܐ ܢܲܦ̮ܫܵܗ̇ ― šāˁṯā nafšāh ― the same hour (literally, “the hour itself”)

• ܢܲܦ̮ܫܵܢܵܐ (nafšānā, “animate”)
• ܢܲܦ̮ܫܵܢܵܝܵܐ (nafšānāyā, “psychological”)
• ܒܢܲܦ̮ܫܵܐ (bnafšā, “actually, in fact; by one’s self”)

• ܟܝܵܢܵܐ (kyānā, “nature”)
• ܦܲܪܨܘܿܦܵܐ (parṣōpā, “person”)
• ܩܢܘܿܡܵܐ (qnōmā, “hypostasis”)
• ܐܲܦܹ̈ܐ (appē, “hypostatic properties”)
• ܪܘܼܚܵܐ (rūḥā, “spirit”)
• ܝܵܬ݂ܵܐ (yāṯā, “essence”)

• “ܢܲܦ̮ܫܵܐ”, in Sureth Dictionary, Association Assyrophile de France, 4 October 2022 (last accessed)
• “ܢܲܦ̮ܫܹܗ”, in Sureth Dictionary, Association Assyrophile de France, 4 October 2022 (last accessed)

From Proto-Semitic *napš-. Compare Akkadian 𒍣 (ZI /⁠napištum⁠/), Arabic نَفْس (nafs), Hebrew נֶפֶשׁ (nép̄eš), and Ugaritic 𐎐𐎔𐎌 (npš /⁠napšu⁠/).

• IPA^(key): [nafʃɑ]

ܢܦܫܐ • (nap̄šā) f (plural ܢܦܫܬܐ)

1. soul, life, breath of life
2. self, oneself
3. person
4. funeral stele, tombstone

• ܢܦܫܢܐ
• ܢܦܫܢܐܝܬ
• ܢܦܫܢܘܬܐ
• ܢܦܫܢܝܐ
• ܢܦܫܢܝܘܬܐ

• “npš”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Costaz, Louis (2002), Dictionnaire syriaque-français ∙ Syriac–English Dictionary ∙ قاموس سرياني-عربي, 3rd edition, Beirut: Dar El-Machreq, page 210a
• Payne Smith, Jessie (1903), A Compendious Syriac Dictionary Founded Upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, D.D., Oxford: Clarendon Press, pages 346b–347a
• Sokoloff, Michael (2009), A Syriac Lexicon: A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum, Winona Lake, Indiana; Piscataway, New Jersey: Eisenbrauns; Gorgias Press, →ISBN, page 938a