sifu

See also: sìfú

English

Alternative forms

• shifu (from Mandarin), see 師傅／师傅 (shīfu)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Cantonese 師傅／师傅 (si1 fu6-2, “master”) and 師父／师父 (si1 fu6-2, “my master”), both also conveying the sense of teacher.

Noun

sifu (plural sifu or sifus)

1. A pair of Cantonese terms, homophones, used in English to mean "master" or "teacher" in the context of martial arts, especially kung fu and tai chi, also used to denote "spiritual father" in esoteric uses.
   • 1998, Dana Stabenow, Fire and Ice, page 134:

     Who is -- don't get cute with me, you dumb bastard, I'm your sifu.

Synonyms

• (martial arts): sensei
• (esoteric): guru

Translations

martial arts instructor

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 師傅／师傅 (si¹ fu^6-2), 师傅 (si¹ fu⁶, si¹ fu²)

  Mandarin: 師傅／师傅 (zh), 师傅 (zh) (shīfu)

  Min Nan: 師傅／师傅 (zh-min-nan), 师傅 (sai-hū)

• Finnish: mestari (fi)
• French: sifu m or f, shifu m or f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Shifu m or f
• Japanese: 先生 (ja) (せんせい, sensei)
• Korean: 사부 (ko) (sabu), 선생님 (ko) (seonsaengnim)
• Persian: سی‌فو (si-fu)
• Russian: ши́фу m or f (šífu), си́фу m or f (sífu), ма́стер (ru) m (máster)
• Sanskrit: गुरु (sa) m (guru)

Anagrams

• FIUs, Sufi

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Swahili

Etymology

From Arabic [Term?].

Verb

-sifu (infinitive kusifu)

1. praise, admire

Inflection

Conjugation of -sifu
Positive present -nasifu Subjunctive -sifu Negative -sifu Imperative singular sifu
Infinitives
Positive kusifu Negative kutosifu
Imperatives
Singular sifu Plural sifuni
Tensed forms
Habitual husifu Positive past positive subject concord + -lisifu Negative past negative subject concord + -kusifu
Positive present (positive subject concord + -nasifu) Singular Plural 1st person ninasifu/nasifu tunasifu 2nd person unasifu mnasifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anasifu wanasifu other classes positive subject concord + -nasifu
Negative present (negative subject concord + -sifu) Singular Plural 1st person sisifu hatusifu 2nd person husifu hamsifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hasifu hawasifu other classes negative subject concord + -sifu
Positive future positive subject concord + -tasifu Negative future negative subject concord + -tasifu
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -sifu) Singular Plural 1st person nisifu tusifu 2nd person usifu msifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) asifu wasifu other classes positive subject concord + -sifu
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -sisifu Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngesifu Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singesifu Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngalisifu Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singalisifu
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -asifu) Singular Plural 1st person nasifu twasifu 2nd person wasifu mwasifu 3rd person m-wa(I/II) asifu wasifu m-mi(III/IV) wasifu yasifu ji-ma(V/VI) lasifu yasifu ki-vi(VII/VIII) chasifu vyasifu n(IX/X) yasifu zasifu u(XI) wasifu see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwasifu pa(XVI) pasifu mu(XVIII) mwasifu
Perfect positive subject concord + -mesifu "Already" positive subject concord + -meshasifu "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jasifu "If/When" positive subject concord + -kisifu "If not" positive subject concord + -siposifu Consecutive kasifu / positive subject concord + -kasifu Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kasifu
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -nisifu -tusifu 2nd person -kusifu -wasifu/-kusifuni/-wasifuni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -msifu -wasifu m-mi(III/IV) -usifu -isifu ji-ma(V/VI) -lisifu -yasifu ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kisifu -visifu n(IX/X) -isifu -zisifu u(XI) -usifu see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kusifu pa(XVI) -pasifu mu(XVIII) -musifu Reflexive -jisifu
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -sifu- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -sifuye -sifuo m-mi(III/IV) -sifuo -sifuyo ji-ma(V/VI) -sifulo -sifuyo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -sifucho -sifuvyo n(IX/X) -sifuyo -sifuzo u(XI) -sifuo see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -sifuko pa(XVI) -sifupo mu(XVIII) -sifumo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -sifu) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yesifu -osifu m-mi(III/IV) -osifu -yosifu ji-ma(V/VI) -losifu -yosifu ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chosifu -vyosifu n(IX/X) -yosifu -zosifu u(XI) -osifu see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kosifu pa(XVI) -posifu mu(XVIII) -mosifu
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.