Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ ḤLB_1 ʻmilk’ ↗¹ḥalab
▪ ḤLB_2 ʻrace track, arena’ ↗ḥalbaẗ
▪ ḤLB_3 ʻfenugreek’ ↗ḥulbaẗ
▪ ḤLB_4 ʻmahaleb (Prunus mahaleb; bot.)’ ↗maḥlab
▪ ḤLB_5 ʻAleppo’ ↗²Ḥalabᵘ

Other values, now obsolete, include (BK1860, Lane ii 1865, Dozy1881, Steingass1881, Hava1899):

▪ ^†ḤLB_6 ʻmorning and evening (Lane, BK: lit., the two milking times)’: ^†al-ḥalbatānⁱ (du.)
▪ ^†ḤLB_7 ‘venir de toutes parts, affluer / to assemble\collect o.s., come together from every quarter’: ^†ḥalaba (u, ḥalb, ḥulūb)
▪ ^†ḤLB_8 ʻto assist, come to the rescue (party)’: ^†ʔaḥlaba; also ^†ĭstaḥlaba
▪ ^†ḤLB_9 ‘the covering, exterior part, peel, or the like, (syn. qišr) of s.th.’: ^†ḥalab (Lane)
▪ ^†ḤLB_10 ‘vein on the two sides of the navel’, (BK) ‘veine du femur’: ^†ḥālib; du. ^†al-ḥālibānⁱ ‘les deux veines autour du nombril’
▪ ^†ḤLB_11 ʻgelée mince de lait, de riz, d’amidon et d’un peu de parfum’: ^†muḥallabaẗ; cf. also ^†muḥallabiyyaẗ ‘espèce de gelée’ (Dozy)
▪ ^†ḤLB_12 ‘a milky, evergreen plant much sought by sheep, gazelles’: ^†ḥullab, BK: ^†ḥallabaẗ
▪ ^†ḤLB_13 ʻstorax’: ^†ḥalbānaẗ
▪ ^†ḤLB_14 ʻmercury (mercurialis annua; bot.)’: ^†ḥilbāb, ^†ḥulbūb
▪ ^†ḤLB_15 ʻivy’: ^†ḥiliblāb; vulg. ḥalablūb (Dozy)
▪ ^†ḤLB_16 ʻ to be(come) black (hair)’ ^†ḥaliba; cf. also ^†ḥulub (pl. of which the sg. is not mentioned) ‘black (animals)’ (Lane, BK), ^†ḥulbūb ‘intensely black’.
▪ ^†ḤLB_17 ʻintelligent (humans)’: ^†ḥulub (pl. of which the sg. is not mentioned) (Lane, BK)

▪ DRS distinguishes eight main values of √ḤLB in Sem, five of which are represented in Ar: #ḤLB-1 (≙ EtymArab ḤLB_1) ʻmilk, to milk’, #ḤLB-5 (≙ our ḤLB_3) ʻfenugreek’, #ḤLB-6 (≙ our ^†ḤLB_16) ʻto be black’, #ḤLB-7 (≙ our ^†ḤLB_7) ʻherd (group of camels etc.) in line; to come from all sides’, and #ḤLB-8 (≙ our ḤLB_2) ʻrace track, arena’. It is not clear whether the authors were unaware of further values, esp. in Ar, or whether they considered these other values to be dependent on the five listed ones. Among the latter, only #ḤLB-1 ʻmilk, to milk’ is sufficiently documented outside Ar to allow for the assumption of a deeper (W?)Sem dimension and the reconstruction of a proto-form. Several of the other values may be derived from ʻmilk, to milk’, others perh. of foreign origin. But all this is highly speculative, and certainty or near-certainty can hardly be claimed for any assumption except for the origin of ʻmilk, to milk’, which for Huehnergard2011 is from protSem *x̣alab‑ ‘milk’, while Kogan2015 (82 #20) restricts his reconstruction to the WSem domain (protWSem *ḥalab‑ ‘milk’).
▪ For the other values, see below, section DISC.
▪ …

–

▪ DRS ḤLB-1 Akk ḫalābu ʻtraire’, Ug ḥlb ʻlait; beurre ou fromage’, Pun ḥlb, Hbr ḥālāb, Syr ḥalbā, Ar ḥalaba ʻtraire’, ḥalīb ʻlait’, Mhr ḥəlūb, Ḥrs ḥəlōb, Jib ḥɔ́lɔ́b, Soq ḥélɔb ʻtraire’; Jib ḥɔ́lɔ́b ʻbabeurre’, Soq ḥə́lub ʻyoghourt’; Mhr məḥlīb ʻjeune chamelon’, Jib maḥléb ʻchamelle; jeune génisse’, Gz Te Tña ḥalib ʻlait’, Amh ayb, Har ḥay, Arg hayu, ʻlait caillé, fromage crémeux’, Tña ḥaläbä ʻtraire; laitage’, Hbr ḥeleb ʻgraisse animale’. – MġrAr ḥallāb : pot à deux anses pour boire, ḥalbiyyaẗ ʻgargoulette’, Tña ḥilab ʻplat, écuelle, gamelle’, Amh malbiya : vase pour traire’. -2 Gz ḥalibā ʻpéché, faute’. -3 Gz ḥəlbat ʻnaseau’, Te ḥəlbät : corde de naseaux pour les chameaux. -4 Gz ḥalaba, Amh alläbä ʻfaire une marque, mettre un signet (dans un livre)’. -5 YemAr MġrAr ḥulbaẗ ʻfenugrec, ragoût végétal préparé avec du fenugrec’, Tña ḥəlbät, Amh: plat de carême fait d’orge, de poivron et de haricots. -6 Ar ḥaliba ʻêtre noir’, ḥulbūb ʻtrès noir’. -7 ḥalaba ʻvenir de toutes parts’, ḥalbaẗ ʻtroupeau en file’. -8 EgAr ḥalbaẗ ʻarène, ring’.
▪ Kogan2015, 82 #20: Ug ḥlb, Hbr ḥālāb, Syr ḥalbā, Ar ḥalab, ḥalīb, Gz ḥalib, Jib ḥɔ́lɔ́b, Soq ḥéḷob ‘milk’.

▪ ḤLB_1 (≙DRS #ḤLB-1) ʻmilk, to milk’: While Huehnergard2011 posits protSem *x̣alab‑ ‘milk’, Kogan2015 (82 #20) thinks that »[t]here is no trace of *ḥalab‑ ‘milk’ in Akk as nAss ḫalāpu ‘to milk’ and ḫilpu ‘milk’ are obvious Aram loanwords. The Akk semantic equivalent is šizbu ‘milk’, with no reliable etymology.« Kogan therefore restricts his reconstruction to protWSem.
▪ DRS #ḤLB-1 asks whether the first radical in √ḤLB shouldn’t perh. be analysed as a prefix *Ḥ‑ so that we actually might be dealing with *√Ḥ‑LB. No further discussion about the possible nature of such a prefix *Ḥ‑ ; for the remaining element *LB, the authors suggest to compare ^†LBʔ [^†libaʔ ‘biestings, first milk, colostrum’] and LBN [↗laban ‘milk’].
▪ With the exception of ḤLB_5 ʻAleppo’, ^†ḤLB_15 ʻivy’, ^†ḤLB_16 ʻto be black (hair)’ and ^†ḤLB_17 ʻintelligent (humans)’ (as well as, perh., ḤLB_4 ʻmahaleb; bot.’ and ^†ḤLB_9 ‘the covering, exterior part, peel, or the like, of s.th.’), all other values may be ultimately derived from ḤLB_1 ʻmilk, to milk’.
▪ ḤLB_2 (≙DRS #ḤLB-8) ḥalbaẗ ʻrace track, race ground, arena, hippodrome; (hence also:) horse race’: The original meaning seems to have been ‘troupeau dont les pièces viennent à la file, l’une après l’autre (BK), horses assembled from every quarter, for a race (Lane)’. With this, the semantics of ḥalbaẗ come close to that of a basic *ʻconfluence from several directions, with a common goal, contributing to achieving a common aim’, as expressed in ^†[v7] ‘to assemble, come together from every quarter’, ^†[v8] ʻto assist, come to the rescue of s.o.’, and ^†[v10] ‘vein on the two sides of the navel’, all of which may be developments from the primary value of [v1] ʻmilking’ (see below), the idea being that several quarters are “milked” to produce a substantial result. – In ClassAr, ḥalbaẗ may occasionally also replace ^†ḥalībaẗ (then also with the pl. ḥalāʔibᵘ) ʻcompanies, assemblies, troops; sons of the paternal uncle; a man’s assistants, auxiliaries, consisting of the sons of the paternal uncle in particular’. – If this etymology is correct, we are facing a rather curious\strange line of development: *ʻmilk > to milk > to “milk” parts of a clan\several quarters\regions > to come together, assemble from several parts etc. to assist in achieving a common goal (i.e., filling the “milk bowl”) > to line up for that goal > to race ground’.
▪ ḤLB_3 (≙DRS #ḤLB-5): Unless an isolated item and/or a loan from an unknown source, ḥulbaẗ ʻfenugreek’ may perh. be related to ḤLB_1 ʻmilk, to milk’, given the fact that »le fenugrec est recommandé aux accouchées et pour soutenir la lactation«, as observed by DRS (discussion of #ḤLB-5).
▪ ḤLB_4 : According to Huehnergard2011, maḥlab ʻmahaleb (Prunus mahaleb; bot.)’ is from ḥalaba ʻto milk’; but details remain unexplained. Do we have any data to support this hypothesis? According to BK1860, the mahaleb (St Lucie) cherries came from the Persian province of Azerbaijan and, thus, were of foreign origin—so perh. also the word itself? If Huehnergard is right, in which way then is the St Lucie cherry related to ʻmilk’ or the act of ʻmilking’? If not a loanword, did the plant get its name from the seeds, the cherry stones, which are white like milk? Or from the fragrant oil that was “milked”, i.e., extracted, from the seeds? Morphologically, the latter cannot be excluded, while the former would be rather unlikely. – See also [v11] and perh. also [v13], below.
▪ ḤLB_5 ʻAleppo’: Folk etymology often explains the name of the Syrian city ²Ḥalabᵘ as the place where Abraham would have milked his flocks, to associate the place with the holy man. Another folk etymology that likewise links ²Ḥalabᵘ ʻAleppo’ to ¹ḥalab ʻmilk’ holds that the name derives from the marble, white like milk, found at Aleppo. In reality, however, the name (which is attested in Akk, Eg, and Hittite as early as the 2nd millennium BCE) probably reflects much older linguistic strata. Among the etymologies that have been suggested is also an Amorite word for ʻiron’ or ʻcopper’, since the area served as a major source of these metals in antiquity.
▪ ^†ḤLB_6 ʻmorning and evening’: ClassAr lexicographers explain the dual expression ^†al-ḥalbatānⁱ as ʻthe two milking times’ (BK1860, Lane1865), thus linking [v6] to [v1].
▪ ^†ḤLB_7 (≙DRS #ḤLB-7) ^†ḥalaba (u, ḥalb, ḥulūb) ‘venir de toutes parts, affluer / to assemble\collect o.s., come together from every quarter’: see [v2], above, and next item.
▪ ^†ḤLB_8 ^†ʔaḥlaba (also ^†ĭstaḥlaba) ʻto assist, come to the rescue (party)’: This value seems to be a generalization/semantic extension of an earlier ʻto milk for s.o., support s.o. by providing milk for him/her’, attested, e.g., in the expression ʔaḥlaba ʔahlahū ʻhe milked for his family, conveyed to his tribe what had been milked’ (Lane1865). ^†ʔaḥlaba may also mean ʻto assist s.o. to milk, in milking’, hence the general sense of ʻto assist’ in ClassAr. From this, also the value ʻto assemble, come together from every quarter, to render aid\for war’ and hence also the general ^†[v7] ‘to come together from every quarter’ seem to be derived. See also [v2], above.
▪ ^†ḤLB_9 ^†ḥalab ‘the covering, exterior part, peel, or the like, (syn. qišr) of s.th.’ (Lane): relation (if any) to the other items unclear.
▪ ^†ḤLB_10 ^†ḥālib ‘vein on the two sides of the navel’, (BK) ‘veine du femur’, du. ^†al-ḥālibānⁱ ‘les deux veines autour du nombril’: the value seems to be related to the idea of *ʻflowing together, collecting, assembling’ (see values [v2], [v7], [v8], above) which in itself is prob. based on [v1] ʻmilk, to milk’.
▪ ^†ḤLB_11 ^†muḥallabaẗ ʻgelée mince de lait, de riz, d’amidon et d’un peu de parfum’; cf. also ^†muḥallabiyyaẗ ‘espèce de gelée’ (Dozy1881): The word was borrowed into Tu (muḥallebī, with ḥ pronounced [h]), then reimported into Ar (with /h/ instead of the original /ḥ/) as muhallabiyyaẗ, var. ↗mahallabiyyaẗ ‘dessert resembling blancmange, made of rice flour, milk and sugar’. The whiteness of the dish would prompt a spontaneous derivation of its name from [v1] ʻmilk’, but morphology – it is a PP II and would thus mean *ʻmade milky’ – seems to forbid such an etymology. Could it be a popular re-interpretation of ^†maḥlabiyyaẗ ʻperfume containing [v4] maḥlab’, used to flavour the sweet milky dish? Or *ʻdish flavoured with [v13] ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax/galbanum’ (only unreliably attested)?
▪ ^†ḤLB_12 ^†ḥullab ‘a milky, evergreen plant much sought by sheep or gazelles’: also ^†ḥallabaẗ (BK1860). Descriptions of the plant in ClassAr dictionaries suggest a connection of the plant’s name with [v1] ʻmilk’. Thus, ^†ḥullab may have its name either from the fact that »it increases the milk, and fattens; and gazelles are snared [while pasturing] upon it«, or from the fact that »when a piece of it is cut off, a milky fluid flows from it« (Lane ii 1865). – Perh. related to [v14]; see also [v15].
▪ ^†ḤLB_13 ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax’: To all of EtymArab’s knowledge, the word is not reliably attested (but appears in Hava1899 and Zaborski2013). In contrast, in Sem outside Ar, there is plenty of evidence of an aromatic gum resin called kʰalbánē in Grk, i.e., ‘galbanum’ (> Lat galbanum), identified by Zaborski2013 with Ar ^†ḥalbānaẗ: BiblHbr ḥälbᵊnāʰ, Aram ḥälbᵊnīṯā, TargAram ḥälbᵊnêtâ, ḥälbānᵊtâ, JudPalAram ḥlbnh, Syr ḥelbānīṯā, all ʻgalbanum’ (cf. prob. also Eg ḫa=ra=pa=ta */hilbatta/, n.f. ʻwater perfumed with galbanum’ – Hoch1994 #348). »Galbanum is an aromatic gum from a plant indigenous to Iran used in incense.¹ The use in perfuming water is supported by an Akk text that lists ḫilbanītu² among herbs for a ritual ablution« (Hoch1994 ibid.). The descriptions of galbanum and its use resemble quite closely those of storax which, like galbanum, is a natural resin that was used in antiquity as a perfume, incense, fragrant hair dye, or for flavouring wine. – Like others, Huehnergard2011 holds that Grk kʰalbanē is of NWSem origin, and ultimately from *ḥalab ‘milk’. In contrast, Hoch1994 thinks that »[t]he standard etymology of this word from ʻmilk’ is impossible, since, as the Grk transcription shows, the first consonant is /ḫ/ and not /ḥ/« (ibid.). – Given the scarce attestation in Ar, Hoch assumes that Ar ^†ḥalbānaẗ »is prob. a loan from Aram/Syr« (ibid., fn. 53).
▪ ^†ḤLB_14 ^†ḥilbāb or ^†ḥulbūb ʻmercury (mercurialis annua; bot.)’, a plant of the euphorbiaceae species: The identification of ^†ḥilbāb/ḥulbūb with ʻmercurialis annua’ seems doubtful, as ʻmercurialis annua’ does not have the milky juice that else is typical of the euphorbiaceae species. If the Ar word means another kind of euphorbia, it is prob. akin to [v1] ḥalab ʻmilk’, meaning a *ʻmilky plant’.
▪ ^†ḤLB_15 ^†ḥiliblāb, vulg. ḥalablūb ʻivy’ (Bustānī1860, Dozy1881): var. of ↗liblāb ʻivy’, prob. unrelated to [v1] ḥalab ʻmilk’, but identified by some with ^†[v12] ḥullab.
▪ ^†ḤLB_16 (≙DRS #ḤLB-6) ^†ḥaliba (a, ḥalab) ‘to be(come) black (hair)’; cf. also ^†ḥulub (pl. of which the sg. is not mentioned) ‘black (animals)’ (Lane, BK), ^†ḥulbūb ‘intensely black’: of obscure etymology.
▪ ^†ḤLB_17 ^†ḥulub (pl. of which the sg. is not mentioned) ʻintelligent (humans)’ (Lane, BK): prob. metaphoric use, but unclear of what – ^†[v16] ʻblack (hair)’? Relation (if any) to the other items of √ḤLB remains unclear so far.

1. It is also used to treat wounds. Cf. M. Stol, On Trees, Mountains, and Millstones in the Ancient Near East (Leiden: 1979), pp. 66-68. 2. CAD: ḫilbanītu ʻ(the resin) produced by the ḫilabānu-plant’; ḫilabānu: name of a plant

▪ According to Huehnergard2011, both Engl mahaleb and galbanum belong to the complex of [v1] ʻmilk’. However, there are other opinions, see [v4] and [v13] in section DISC above, as well as ↗ḥalab and ↗maḥlab, respectively.

–

¹ḥalab حَلَب

ID … • Sw – • BP … • APD … • © SG | 19Feb2021

√ḤLB

milk – WehrCowan1976.

▪ From protSem *x̣alab‑ ‘milk’ (Huehnergard2011) or protWSem *ḥalab‑ ‘milk’ (Kogan2015: 82 #20; the author thinks that »[t]here is no trace of *ḥalab‑ ‘milk’ in Akk as nAss ḫalāpu ‘to milk’ and ḫilpu ‘milk’ are obvious Aram loanwords« and therefore restricts his reconstruction to the WSem sphere only).
▪ DRS #ḤLB-1 asks whether the first radical in √ḤLB shouldn’t perh. be analysed as a prefix *Ḥ‑ so that we actually might be dealing with *√Ḥ‑LB. No further discussion about the possible nature of such a prefix *Ḥ‑ ; for the remaining element *LB, the authors suggest to compare ^†LBʔ [^†libaʔ ‘biestings, first milk, colostrum’] and LBN [↗laban ‘milk’].
▪ With the exception of ↗²Ḥalabᵘ ʻAleppo’ (and a few ClassAr items, see root entry ↗√ḤLB) as well as, perh., ↗maḥlab ʻmahaleb, St Lucie cherry (bot.)’, most values attached to √ḤLB may be ultimately derived from a primary ʻmilk, to milk’ – even ↗ḥalbaẗ ʻrace track, race ground, arena, hippodrome; horse race’. A semantic bridge to many of those other meanings may be the basic idea of a *ʻconfluence (of streams of milk) from several directions (of the udder), with a common goal, contributing to achieving a common aim (filling the milking bowl)’. If this assumption is correct, we are facing a rather curious\strange line of development: *ʻmilk > to milk > to “milk” parts of a clan\several quarters\regions > to come together, assemble from several parts etc. to assist in achieving a common goal (i.e., filling the “milk bowl”) > to line up for that goal > to race ground’ – see root entry ↗√ḤLB for more details.
▪ For ↗mahallabiyyaẗ ‘dessert resembling blancmange’ and ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻgalbanum; storax’, see below, section DISC.
▪ ….

▪ In ClassAr, also fig. use of ḥalab ʻmilk’ is attested, cf., e.g., the values ‘date-wine’ (“milked” from dates; see also ḥalab al-karm, ḥalab al-ʕaṣīr ‘wine’ from grapes) and ‘(certain type of) tax’ (“milked” out of the population) – BK1860, Lane ii 1865, Steingass1881, Hava1899.
▪ ClassAr lexicographers explain the dual expression ^†al-ḥalbatānⁱ as ʻthe two milking times’ (BK1860, Lane1865), thus linking ḥalbaẗ to ʻmilk’.
▪ ClassAr ^†ʔaḥlaba, vb. IV, (also ^†ĭstaḥlaba, vb. X) ʻto assist, come to the rescue (party)’ seems to be a generalization/semantic extension of an earlier ʻto milk for s.o., support s.o. by providing milk for him/her’, attested, e.g., in the expression ^†ʔaḥlaba ʔahlahū ʻhe milked for his family, conveyed to his tribe what had been milked’ (Lane1865). ^†ʔaḥlaba may also mean ʻto assist s.o. to milk, in milking’, hence the general sense of ʻto assist’ in ClassAr. From this, also the value ʻto assemble, come together from every quarter, to render aid\for war’ and hence also the general ^†ḥalaba (u, ḥalb, ḥulūb) ‘to come together from every quarter’ seem to be derived. – See also ↗ḥalbaẗ ʻrace track\ground, arena, hippodrome; horse race’.
▪ ClassAr ^†ḥālib ‘vein on the two sides of the navel’, (BK) ‘veine du femur’, du. ^†al-ḥālibānⁱ ‘les deux veines autour du nombril’, seem to be related to the idea of *ʻconfluence, collecting, assembling’, derived from ʻto milk’, see above.
▪ …

▪ Unless an isolated item and/or a loan from an unknown source, also ↗ḥulbaẗ ʻfenugreek’ may be related to ʻmilk, milking’, given the fact that »le fenugrec est recommandé aux accouchées et pour soutenir la lactation«, as observed by DRS (discussion of #ḤLB-5).
▪ Etymologies that connect the name of the Syrian city ²Ḥalabᵘ ʻAleppo’ with ʻmilk, milking’, as the place where Abraham allegedly would have milked his flocks, are folk etymologies. The same holds for the popular explanation of the name as deriving from the marble, white like milk, found at Aleppo. In reality, the name is much older, perh. of Amorite origin; see ↗²Ḥalabᵘ.
▪ According to Huehnergard2011, maḥlab ʻmahaleb (Prunus mahaleb, St Lucie cherry; bot.)’ is from ḥalaba ʻto milk’; but details remain unexplained, see ↗maḥlab.
▪ Traditionally, also (the scarcely attested) ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax; galbanum’ belongs to the complex of ʻmilk, milking’, as the aromatic substance is a resin “milked” from some plant. In contrast, however, Hoch1994 does not believe that this »standard etymology« is true »since, as the Grk transcription [kʰalbánē] shows, the first consonant is /ḫ/ and not /ḥ/« (#348). – Given the scarce attestation in Ar, Hoch assumes that Ar ^†ḥalbānaẗ »is prob. a loan from Aram/Syr« (ibid., fn. 53).
▪ Traditionally, also the popular blancmange-like dessert called ↗mahallabiyyaẗ (with h, not ḥ), var. muhallabiyyaẗ, is explained as a derivation from ḥalab ʻmilk’. However, while the h instead of ḥ may be due to a re-import from Tu (where the originally Ar word lost emphatic ḥ), the morphological structure of the word – a f. nisba based on a PP II – runs contrary to such an interpretation, as form II is not attested and a nisba of PP II ʻmilk’ would mean *ʻbelonging to s.th. made milky, or milk-like’. Therefore, are we perh. dealing with a popular re-interpretation of ^†maḥlabiyyaẗ ʻperfume containing ↗maḥlab’, used to flavour the sweet milky dish, or *ʻdish flavoured with ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax/galbanum’ (see above)?
▪ …

▪ Engl galbanum, from Grk kʰalbanē, of NWSem origin (compare Hbr ḥelbᵊnâ, Aram ḥelbānitā ‘galbanum’, from *ḥalab ‘milk’, cf. Ar ḥalab, ḥalīb) – Huehnergard2011. Cf., however, above, section DISC.
▪ Engl mahaleb, from Ar maḥlab ʻmahaleb’, from ḥalaba ʻto milk’ – Huehnergard2011. Cf., however, discussion s.v. ↗maḥlab.

►ḥalaba, i, u (ḥalb), vb. I, to milk (an animal): perh. denom. | ḥalaba ’l-dahra ʔašṭurahū, expr., he has seen good and bad days.
►taḥallaba, vb. V, 1a to run, drip, trickle, ooze, seep, leak; b to water, drool (mouth, with appetite): Dt-stem, denom. | tataḥallabu lahū ’l-ʔafwāh, expr., adj., making the mouth water, appetizing; taḥallaba ’l-luʕābu fī famī, expr., my mouth was watering.
►ĭḥtalaba, vb. VIII, to milk (an animal): Gt-stem, self-ref.
►ĭstaḥlaba, vb. X, 1a to milk (an animal); b to squeeze juice (from): *Št-stem, desiderative.

►ḥalb, n., milking: vn. I.
► ^BP#2272ḥalīb, n., milk: quasi-PP I. | laban ḥalīb, n., cow’s milk (EgAr)
►ḥalūb, adj., lactiferous: adj. formation | baqaraẗ ḥalūb, n.f., milk cow; al-māšiyaẗ al-ḥalūb, n.f., dairy cattle
►ḥallāb, n., milker: n.prof.
►ḥallābaẗ, n.f., 1a milkmaid, dairymaid; b dairywoman: n.prof.f.; 2 milk cow: ints. formation.
►ḥālib, n., ureter: PA I, prob. more originally ʻspermatic duct’ (< *ʻgiving milk’).
►mustaḥlab, n., emulsion: PP X. | mustaḥlab al-lawz, n., almond milk.

For other values attached to the root (some of which perh. dependent on ḥalab), cf. ↗ḥalbaẗ, ↗ḥulbaẗ, ↗maḥlab, ↗ḥālib, ↗²Ḥalabᵘ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√ḤLB.

ḥalbaẗ حَلْبة , pl. ḥalabāt

ID … • Sw – • BP 4626 • APD … • © SG | 19Feb2021

√ḤLB

n.f.

1a race track; barena; c dance floor; 2 race horses – WehrCowan1976.

▪ Counted as distinct item in DRS (#ḤLB-8), but perh. related to ↗ḥalab ʻmilk’ (and ʻmilking’) via a shared concept of *ʻconfluence (of streams of milk) from several directions (of the udder), with a common goal, contributing to achieving a common aim (filling the milking bowl)’. If this assumption is correct, we are facing a rather curious\strange line of development: *ʻmilk > to milk > to “milk” parts of a clan\several quarters\regions > to come together, assemble from several parts etc. to assist in achieving a common goal (i.e., filling the “milk bowl”) > to line up for that goal > race ground’ – see root entry ↗√ḤLB for more details.
▪ …

▪ …

▪ DRS ḤLB-1-7 […]. -8 EgAr ḥalbaẗ ʻarène, ring’.
▪ …

▪ In ClassAr, the vb. I ^†ḥalaba (u, ḥalb, ḥulūb) is attested with the meaning ‘to come together from every quarter’, which seems to be fig. use of ʻmilking’ (coming together seen as a kind of confluence). Morphologically, ḥalbaẗ could thus be interpreted as a singulative of the vn. ḥalb, i.e., as an *ʻinstance of confluence (of several streams, from various directions)’, hence also the place where this confluence happens, and also the .
▪ DRS ḤLB-8 qualifies ḥalbaẗ as a specifically EgAr term. But this seems to be a mistake.
▪ …

–

►ḥalbaẗ al-raqṣ, n.f., dance floor
►ʔinnahū laysa min tilka ’l-ḥalbaẗ, expr., he is not made for that, he doesn’t belong there, it is not in his line
►farīs ḥalbaẗ bi-, n./adj., a master of, excelling or outstanding in.

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗¹ḥalab, ↗ḥulbaẗ, ↗maḥlab, ↗ḥālib, ↗²Ḥalabᵘ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√ḤLB.

ḥulbaẗ حُلْبة , EgAr ḥilbaẗ

√ḤLB

n.f.

1 fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum; bot.); 2 tonic, prepared of yellowish grains, for women in childbed (EgAr, SyrAr) – WehrCowan1976.

▪ Counted as distinct item in DRS (#ḤLB-5), but perh. related to ↗ḥalab ʻmilk’. Unless an isolated item and/or a loan from an unknown source, ḥulbaẗ ʻfenugreek’ may have its name from the fact that »le fenugrec est recommandé aux accouchées et pour soutenir la lactation«, as observed by DRS. But this is not the only function/application, as the more detailed entry in Lane ii 1865 makes clear: »used medicinally; and made to germinate (in a vessel of water), and eaten; useful as a remedy for diseases of the chest, for cough, asthma, phlegm, and hæmorrhoids, for giving strength to the back, for the liver and the bladder, and as a stimulant to the venereal faculty, alone or compounded; kind of food called farīqaẗ which is given to women when childbearing«. In this description, the connection to ʻmilk’ is not especially obvious, so the word may still have a different etymology.
▪ DRS #ḤLB-5 marks ḥulbaẗ as an item specific to YemAr and MġrAr, but this labelling is prob. doubtful.
▪ …

▪ …

▪ DRS ḤLB-5 YemAr MġrAr ḥulbaẗ ʻfenugrec, ragoût végétal préparé avec du fenugrec’, Tña ḥəlbät, Amh: plat de carême fait d’orge, de poivron et de haricots.
▪ …

▪ See above, section CONC.

–

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗¹ḥalab, ↗ḥalbaẗ, ↗maḥlab, ↗ḥālib, ↗²Ḥalabᵘ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√ḤLB.

maḥlab مَحْلَب

√ḤLB

mahaleb (Prunus mahaleb; bot.) – WehrCowan1976.

▪ According to Huehnergard2011, Ar maḥlab ʻmahaleb’ is from ḥalaba ʻto milk’, cf. ↗ḥalab ʻmilk’ (n.). But do we have data to support this hypothesis, and what would the St Lucie cherry have in common with milk? Morphology does not support such an etymology either, as the maFʕaL pattern usually is a n.loc. signifying a place. Accord. to BK1860, the word means ‘noyaux semblables à ceux de cerises, venant d’Aderbaïdjan, province de la Perse’. The foreign provenance could be an indicator of the name being a borrowing. Another option may be that the cherry was called after the »spice obtained from the seeds inside the cherry stones […]. The seeds have a fragrant smell and have a taste comparable to bitter almonds with cherry notes. […] The chemical constituents are still uncertain, but the spice is prepared from the seeds, either by grinding and powdering the seed kernels, or in oil extracted from the seeds« (en.wiki). The maFʕaL form would allow an interpretation of maḥlab as ʻproduct squeezed (= “milked”) from the mahaleb seeds’.
▪ …

▪ …

▪ Cf. ↗ḥalab ʻmilk’?

▪ Traditionally, also the popular blancmange-like dessert called ↗mahallabiyyaẗ (with h, not ḥ), var. muhallabiyyaẗ, is explained as a derivation from ↗ḥalab ʻmilk’. However, while the h instead of ḥ may be due to a re-import from Tu (where the originally Ar word lost emphatic ḥ), the morphological structure of the word – *muḥallabiyyaẗ would be a f. nisba based on a PP II – runs contrary to such an interpretation, as form II is not attested and a nisba of PP II ʻmilk’ would mean *ʻbelonging to s.th. made milky, or milk-like’. Therefore, are we perh. dealing with a popular re-interpretation of ^†maḥlabiyyaẗ ʻperfume containing maḥlab’, used to flavour the sweet milky dish? (Or else *ʻdish flavoured with ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax/galbanum’, see ↗ḥalab and root entry ↗√ḤLB?)
▪ …

▪ Accord. to Huehnergard2011, Engl mahaleb is from Ar maḥlab ʻmahaleb’, from ḥalaba ʻto milk’ (↗ḥalab ʻmilk’). But see above, section CONC.

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗¹ḥalab, ↗ḥalbaẗ, ↗ḥulbaẗ, ↗ḥālib, ↗²Ḥalabᵘ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√ḤLB.

ḥālib حالِب

√ḤLB

ureter – WehrCowan1976.

▪ Lit. *ʻthe milk-giving one (like the udder gives milk)’, prob. more originally ʻspermatic duct’, PA I of ḥalaba ʻto milk (an animal)’, from protWSem *ḥalab‑ ʻmilk’, see ↗ḥalab.

▪ …

▪ ↗ḥalab.

▪ See above, section CONC.

–

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗¹ḥalab, ↗ḥalbaẗ, ↗ḥulbaẗ, ↗maḥlab, ↗²Ḥalabᵘ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√ḤLB.

²Ḥalabᵘ حَلَبُ

√ḤLB

n.geogr.

Aleppo – WehrCowan1976.

▪ »According to a popular legend in the Middle Ages, the name Aleppo (Ḥalab) came from the Ar vb. ḥalaba ʻto milk’ because Abraham would have milked his flocks here. This origin myth thus linked Aleppo to one of the most prestigious figures in the Muslim tradition. In reality, however, Ḥalab derives from the name the city had as early as the second millennium B.C.E. (Khalab in Hittite, Khrb in Eg, and Khallaba in Akk)« – A.-M. Eddé, “Aleppo (pre-Ottoman)”, in EI³.
▪ When the name first appears in the sources the city »already had a very long past behind it. It seems that a rural settlement was formed there in prehistoric times and that this village gradually gained ascendance over the others in the area, owing to the relatively wide resources of its site and in particular to the presence there of a rocky eminence on which the citadel still stands today: it was this acropolis, one of the strongest and the most easily manned defensive positions in the whole of northern Syria, which enabled the masters of the place to extend control over their neighbours so as to found the “great kingdom” which was, in the 20th century B.C., to enter into relations with the Hittites of Anatolia« – J. Sauvaget, “Ḥalab”, in EI².
▪ »[The name Ḥalab] is of obscure origin. Some have proposed that Ḥalab means ʻiron’ or ʻcopper’ in Amorite languages, since the area served as a major source of these metals in antiquity. Another possibility is that Ḥalab means ʻwhite’, as this is the word for ʻwhite’ in Aramaic, the local language which preceded regional Arabization« – en.wiki, “Aleppo#Etymology”.

▪ …

–

▪ See above, section CONC.

▪ The form Aleppo represents the Italianised version of the Arabic name.

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗¹ḥalab, ↗ḥalbaẗ, ↗ḥulbaẗ, ↗maḥlab, ↗ḥālib, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√ḤLB.

Permanent link

http://www2.hf.uio.no/common/apps/permlink/permlink.php?app=polyglotta&context=ctext&uid=d839cb50-06ff-11ee-937a-005056a97067

Choose languages

Choose images, etc.

Choose languages

Choose display