الصين

Arabic

Etymology

From Middle Persian 𐭰𐭩𐭭 (čīn, “China”), from Sanskrit चीन (cīna, “China”), itself usually derived from Old Chinese 秦 (*zin, “Qin”). It's one of the Arabic country names which require the definite article ال (al-). See “Names of China” at Wikipedia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /asˤ.sˤiːn/

Proper noun

الصِّين • (aṣ-ṣīn) f

1. China (a region and country in East Asia)
2. (Druze faith) Shambhala, an occulted land where particularly pious Druze are believed to dwell in their afterlife

Declension

Declension of noun الصِّين (aṣ-ṣīn)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	—	الصِّين aṣ-ṣīn	—
Nominative	—	الصِّينُ aṣ-ṣīnu	—
Accusative	—	الصِّينَ aṣ-ṣīna	—
Genitive	—	الصِّينِ aṣ-ṣīni	—

Related terms

• صِينِيّ (ṣīniyy)
• صِينِيَّة (ṣīniyya)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “صين”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic الصِّين (aṣ-ṣīn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˤsˤiːn/, [(ɪ)sˤˈsˤiːn]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Proper noun

الصين • (iṣ-ṣīn) f

1. China (a country in Asia)

Related terms

• صيني (ṣīni, “Chinese”)