tf

Translingual

Symbol

tf

(General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages) a voiceless dental affricate (IPA [tθ]).

English

Phrase

tf

(Internet slang, text messaging, vulgar) Initialism of the fuck.
Alternative form: TF

tf is that?

Anagrams

F.T., FT, FT%, Ft, Ft., ft, ft., ft³

Egyptian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɛf/
- Conventional anglicization: tef

Determiner

f sg distal demonstrative determiner

that

Usage notes

This demonstrative was originally a determiner but could later be used alone, like a pronoun. When used as a determiner it follows or precedes the noun it describes.

It forms a contrastive pair with the demonstrative tn, in which tf is distal.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns¹	adverbs
number	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
gender	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal to speaker	pn	tn	*jpnj	jptnj, jptntj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	*jpfj	jptfj, jptftj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, p	tj, tw	jpwj	jptwj, jptwtj	jpw	jptw, jptwt	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners and pronouns			adverbs
number	singular		plural¹
gender	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’ and vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles

	masculine	feminine	plural	adverb
pronoun	pꜣw			dj
determiners and pronouns	pꜣj	tꜣj	nꜣj
possessive determiners¹	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ²
indefinite articles	wꜥ²		nhꜣy²
Used with suffix pronouns. Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of tf

tfꜣ

[since the Middle Kingdom]

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɛf/
- Conventional anglicization: tef

Verb

2-lit.

(intransitive) to spit (+ m: to spit (something) out) [Pyramid Texts, rarely later]

Usage notes

Used chiefly in the context of old religious texts, and particularly in the Heliopolitan cosmogony to describe the creation of the goddess Tefnut from Atum’s spit.

Inflection

Conjugation of tf (biliteral / 2-lit. / 2rad.) — base stem: tf, geminated stem: tff

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive¹	singular	plural
tf	tfw, tf	tft	tf, j.tf	tf, j.tf

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective²		periphrastic prospective²
tf	ḥr tf	m tf	r tf

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	contingent
aspect / mood	active	aspect / mood	active
perfect	tf.n	consecutive	tf.jn
terminative	tft	consecutive	tf.jn
perfective³	tf	obligative¹	tf.ḫr
imperfective	tf, j.tf¹	obligative¹	tf.ḫr
prospective³	tf	potentialis¹	tf.kꜣ
subjunctive	tf, j.tf¹	potentialis¹	tf.kꜣ

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms	participles
aspect / mood	active	active	passive
perfect	tf.n	—	—
perfective	tf	tf	tff, tffj⁶, tf², tfw^{2 5}, tfy^{2 5}
imperfective	j.tf¹, tf, tfy, tfw⁵	j.tf¹, j.tfw^{1 5}, tf, tfj⁶, tfy⁶	tf, tfw⁵
prospective	tf, tftj⁷	tftj⁴, tft⁴
Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. Only in the masculine singular. Only in the masculine. Only in the feminine.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of tf

tf

df

ṯf

tf

[Late Period]

[Greco-Roman Period]

in hieratic

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

(reconstructed) IPA^(key): /tif/ → /tif/ → /tef/ → /tef/

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /tɛf/
- Conventional anglicization: tef

Noun

m

spittle [Pyramid Texts]

Inflection

Declension of tf (masculine)

singular	tf
dual	tfwj
plural	tfw

Descendants

Bohairic Coptic: ⲑⲁϥ (thaf), ⲑⲏϥ (thēf)
Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲁϥ (taf)

References

James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 54–55.
Edel, Elmar (1955-1964) Altägyptische Grammatik, volume 1, Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, § 182 et seq., page 83 et seq.
Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1931) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 5, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 297.6–297.9
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN

^ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 42

Swedish

Alternative forms

t.f.

Adjective

tf (not comparable)

Abbreviation of tillförordnad., acting (e.g. manager)

References

tillförordna in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

[1] Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 42

[1]