afus

Kabyle

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber *a-fuʔs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /afus/

Noun

afus m (plural ifassen, feminine equivalent tafust)

1. (anatomy) hand

   Argaz-nni yerfed afus nnes akken ad d-yefk yiwen sswal.

   The man raised his hand to ask a question.

2. handful

   Synonyms: lkʷemca, tummeẓt, tiseggʷilt

3. sleeve

   Synonym: lkʷemm

4. handle
5. help

   Synonyms: ambʷafeq, ttawil, lemɛawna

Inflection

Inflection of afus

	singular	plural
free state	afus	ifassen
annexed state	ufus	ifassen

References

• Association Culturelle Numidya (2025), “Amawal, dictionnaire kabyle-français en ligne”, in Amawal‎^[1], retrieved 2025
• Dallet, Jean-Marie (1982), Dictionnaire kabyle-français: parler des At Mangellat, Algérie (in French), Paris, France

Tashelhit

Picture dictionary

afus

idikl

tawltimt

ikmz

mmlɣ

magurtn

warism

taḍaṭṭ

Click on labels in the image

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iɣil

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic

Proto-Berber *a-fuʔs

Tashelhit afus

Inherited from Proto-Berber *a-fuʔs (“hand”), from Proto-Afroasiatic. Cognate with Zenaga ävuʔš (“hand”), Tuareg ăfus (“hand”), Ghadames ōfess (“hand”), and possibly Aramaic [script needed] (psʔ, “palm”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /afus/

Noun

afus m (construct state ufus, plural ifassn, Tifinagh spelling ⴰⴼⵓⵙ, Arabic spelling آفوس)

1. (anatomy) hand, arm

   سّيرد يفاسّن نّك س الصّابون.

   ssird ifassn nnk s ṣṣabun.

   Wash your hands with soap.

2. (by extension) handle

   آفوس ن وسمّاود. ― afus usmmawd ― sickle handle

3. (figurative) help, aid
4. (figurative) fraction, tribal section, clan

Inflection

Inflection of afus

	singular	plural
free state	afus	ifassn
annexed state	ufus	ifassn

Derived terms

• all afus (“to stop”)
• amẓ afus (“economize”)
• g afus (“to steal”)
• imi n ufus (“wrist”)

See also

• aḍaḍ (“finger”)
• aḍaṛ (“foot”)
• ixf (“head”)
• iɣir (“shoulder”)
• tiɣssa (“body”)

References

• Stroomer, Harry (2025), Dictionnaire berbère tachelḥiyt-français — Tome 1 a—e (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 188/1) (in French), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 110b