صنف

Where it comes from

In the root ص ن ف (ṣ n f) one also finds صِنْفَة (ṣinfa, “border of a garment”), which fits Ge'ez ጽንፍ (ṣənf, “extremity, edge, border, fringe etc.”), suspiciously enough with alternative vocalization as in Arabic ጸንፍ (ṣänf). Due to the restricted semantic range and the varying vocalization one wonders about a borrowing from Aramaic. Christian Palestinian Aramaic has ܨܢܦܬܐ (“border, fringe (of a garment)”) and Jewish Palestinian Aramaic צנפה (ṣanpā, “border, fringe (of a garment)”) and צנף (“to wrap or gird oneself”), but Jewish Babylonian Aramaic סנפא, סינפא (sinpā, “side-room”) seems also similar, via the idea of an anyhow abstract pigeonhole or خَانَة (ḵāna) things are fitted into, not emphatic but no doubt related because in the same isolect there is the geminate verb סנפ (“to gird”), which is also found in Classical Syriac, while the Syriac base stem ܣܢܱܦ (snap̄) means “to introduce, to insert”; apparently a Western Aramaic—Eastern Aramaic anlaut variation. For the meaning development in to a “sort” also contrast نَمَط (namaṭ, “drugget, horse-rug; pattern, manner”). In modern Hebrew, סְנִיף (snif) is used as “branch, affiliate”.

The ultimate origin is suggested by the Dictionnaire du faisceau dialectal arabe andalou as ultimately Akkadian [script needed] (ṣiliptu, “diagonal”), related to Akkadian [script needed] (ṣalāpu, “to distort”), well also found in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic צלפ / Classical Syriac ܨܠܦ (ṣlap̄, “to split, to wound”), the geminate stem in Syriac and Jewish Literary Aramaic “to perforate” and “to wound”, the Syriac causative stem “to open up as to show”, with an unemphatic variant Jewish Babylonian Aramaic סלף (“to wound”), Jewish Literary Aramaic סלף (“to wound”).

Where it comes from

Probably borrowed from Middle Persian *čamp with Middle Persian č rendered as Arabic ṣ, as found in other borrowings from Persian: صَنْج (ṣanj), صَارُوج (ṣārūj), صَهْرِيج (ṣahrīj), الصِّين (aṣ-ṣīn).