▪ ḪYL_1 ʻto imagine, fancy, think, believe, suppose; (D-stem) to suggest, make believe; (Gt- and Lt-stems) to feel self-important, be conceited; to behave in a pompous, arrogant manner, swagger, strut about’ ↗ḫāla; ʻghost, spectre, phantom, fantasy, chimera; vision, imagination; shadow, trace, dim reflection’ ↗ḫayāl; ʻmole, birthmark; patch, beauty spot’ ↗²ḫāl ▪ ḪYL_2 ʻgreen woodpecker’ ↗ʔaḫyal ▪ ḪYL_3 ʻhorses’ ↗ḫayl♦ Semantic value spectrum in ClassAr (acc. to BAH2008): (There is a degree of overlapping between this root and ḪWL:) ‘imagining, to fancy, to suppose, to guess, to presuppose, to foresee; spectre, ghost, apparition, shadow; pride, conceit, snobbery; horse riders, horses; maternal uncle and aunt; mole (on skin)’
▪ [v1] : Although the semantic field built around the idea of ʻfantasy, imagination’ in Ar is rather broad and diversified and thus points to a long history and the genuineness of the root, the corresponding Ar items remain without obvious cognates in Sem. The picture changes slightly if we regard ʻfantasy, imagination’ (DRS #ḪYL-2) and ʻmole, birthmark; patch, beauty spot’ (DRS #ḪYL-4) as possibly belonging together, both sharing the basic idea of *ʻappearing, becoming visible’; moreover, in older times, birthmarks were often seen as omina, thus evoking a certain vision.1
Should the two be akin, then the Ar lexemes would perh. get at least one relative in Akk, and ²ḫāl ʻmole, birthmark; patch, beauty spot’ could be tentatively interpreted as *ʻmark\sign appearing, becoming visible (on the face or skin of a newborn child)’, or the complex of ʻfantasy, imagination’ could be regarded as derived from ²ḫāl, a fantasy or imagination appearing like a mole or a beauty spot on the face\skin of a newborn. But this is unsecured speculation that cannot build on harder data than the mere possibility of semantic dependence. The Akk “relative” signifying ʻblack mole (on the face and body); black spot (a disease of barley)’ may also be unrelated: while von Soden (on whom the data given in DRS are built) gives it as Akk ḫālu, CAD quotes it as Akk ḫalû (from oBab on), in which case it would belong together with Ar †ḥalaʔ ʻpustules upon the lips (Hava1899) / boutons aux lèvres à la suite de la fièvre (BK1860)’ rather than with ²ḫāl.2 ▪ [v2] : The modern use of ʔaḫyal for ʻgreen woodpecker’ may be dependent on [v1], more specifically on ²ḫāl in the sense of ʻpatch, beauty spot’, as the bird has white spots on some of its feathers (DRS #ḪYL-4). In older times, the word signified some (less specified) kind of bird that may have been called ʔaḫyal on account of its association with evil omen. Others explain it as an epithet based on taḫayyul, thus meaning *ʻthe one who feels self-important, conceited, the arrogant one’. – The word may have a cognate in a Hbr hapax. MilitarevKogan2005 (SED II #107) tentatively reconstruct protSem *ḫ˅l‑ ‘kind of bird’, adding that the reconstruction is little reliable, due to scarce attestation. ▪ [v3] : Ar ḫayl for ʻhorses’ stands isolated within Sem (Jib aḫyel ‘faire galoper’ could be an Arabism). Given that it cannot be connected to [v1] or [v2], it may belong to the complex of *ʻpower, strength’ (cf. DRS #ḪYL-5 in section COGN, below), otherwise realised in Ar by ↗√ḤW/YL (< protSem *ḥayl‑/*ḫayl‑ ‘strength’ – Kogan2015: 118 #12), rather than to √ḪYL or √ḪWL.3
According to Kogan (ibid., fn. 340), ḫayl ‘horses; riders’ has been interpreted already quite often as belonging together with ‘strength, power, might’ (cf. Marrassini 1971: 59). ▪ …
▪ DRS 10 (2012) #ḪYL-1 Akk ḫiālu, ḫālu ‘frémir, éprouver les douleurs de l’accouchement’, ḫīlū ‘douleurs de l’accouchement’, Ug ḫl ‘éprouver de telles douleurs’; ‘sautiller’, ḫl ‘angoisse, douleur’, Hbr ḥīl ‘douleur (en particulier celle de l’accouchement), crainte, tremblement d’angoisse’, ? Soq meḥailil, muhailil ‘peureux’. -2 Ar ḫāla, ḫayyala ‘s’imaginer, se figurer’, ḫayāl ‘fantôme, ombre’, ḫāl ‘outrecuidance, arrogance, présomption’, YemAr ḫayāl ‘convoiter’. -3 Ar ḫayl ‘chevaux’, ḫayyālaẗ ‘troupeau de chevaux’, Jib aḫyel ‘faire galoper (son cheval)’. -4 Akk ḫālu ‘tache noire sur la peau’, Ar ḫāl ‘signe sur le visage, grain de beauté’, ʔaḫyalᵘ ‘qui a des grains de beauté (sur le visage)’, ḫīlān ‘signe, signe sur le corps ou le visage, grain de beauté’. -5 Hbr ḥayil ‘puissance’, SyrAr ḥēl, ‘vigueur, allant’, Sab ḫyl ‘pouvoir, puissance’, Qat ‘ressources, aide’, Gz ḫayl, Tña ḥayli, Te ḥil, Amh Gur hayl ‘pouvoir, puissance’. -6 Soq ḥal, ḥēl ‘aine’. -7 Tña ḫayal ‘cerf, grande antilope’. -8 Akk ḫīl‑ ‘résine’. ▪ … ▪ …
▪ As is clear from [v…] and [v…], there is some overlapping between √ḪYL and ↗√ḪWL, and prob. also ↗√ḤW/YL. ▪ The value *ʻto be in labour; have labour pains’ (protSem *ḫyl – SED I #33) does not seem to have cognates in Ar, although it is quite widely attested throughout Sem (see DRS #ḪYL-1 in section COGN, above, and SED I #33). ▪ … ▪ …
1 to imagine, fancy, think, believe, suppose (ʔanna that); 2 to consider, deem, think (s.o. to be ..., s.th. to be ...), regard (s.o. as, s.th. as) – WehrCowan1976.
▪ Akin to ²ḫāl ʻmole, birthmark; patch, beauty spot’, sharing with it a basic idea of *ʻappearing, becoming visible’? If so, then ḫāla ʻto imagine, etc.’ is perh. also akin to ↗ʔaḫyal ʻgreen woodpecker’ (modern meaning) (< *ʻhaving spots on its wings’) – see DISC below. ▪ …
▪ …
▪ DRS 10 (2012) #ḪYL-1 […]. -2 Ar ḫāla, ḫayyala ‘s’imaginer, se figurer’, ḫayāl ‘fantôme, ombre’, ḫāl ‘outrecuidance, arrogance, présomption’, YemAr ḫayāl ‘convoiter’. -3 […]. -4 Akk ḫālu ‘tache noire sur la peau’, Ar ḫāl ‘signe sur le visage, grain de beauté’, ʔaḫyalᵘ ‘qui a des grains de beauté (sur le visage)’, ḫīlān ‘signe, signe sur le corps ou le visage, grain de beauté’. -5-8 […]. ▪ … ▪ …
▪ Although the semantic field built around the idea of ʻfantasy, imagination’ in Ar is rather broad and diversified (cf. DERIV) and thus points to a long history and the genuineness of the root, the corresponding Ar items remain without obvious cognates in Sem. Things will look slightly different if we regard ʻfantasy, imagination’ (DRS #ḪYL-2) and ʻmole, birthmark; patch, beauty spot’ (DRS #ḪYL-4) as possibly belonging together, both sharing the basic idea of *ʻappearing, becoming visible’; moreover, in older times, birthmarks were often seen as omina, thus evoking a certain vision, esp. the imagination of an evil threatening the future; cf. also the fact that one explanation of the name ʔaḫyal given to a certain type of bird was its association with an evil omen.1
Thus, ²ḫāl ʻmole, beauty spot’ could be tentatively interpreted as *ʻmark\sign appearing, becoming visible (on the face or skin of a newborn)’, or the complex of ʻfantasy, imagination’ could be regarded as derived from ²ḫāl, a fantasy or imagination appearing like a mole or a beauty spot on the face\skin of a newborn. But this is unsecured speculation that cannot build on harder evidence than the mere possibility of semantic dependence. A possible Akk cognate of Ar ²ḫāl, signifying ʻblack mole (on the face and body); black spot (a disease of barley)’, may just as well be unrelated: while von Soden (on whom the data given in DRS are built) gives it as Akk ḫālu, CAD quotes it as Akk ḫalû (from oBab on), in which case it would belong together with Ar †ḥalaʔ ʻpustules upon the lips (Hava1899) / boutons aux lèvres à la suite de la fièvre (BK1860)’ rather than with ²ḫāl.2 ▪ Accord. to Lane ii (1865), the form V vb. †taḫawwala (from √ḪWL) is found as a variant of ʔaḫāla, vb. IV, in the ClassAr expr. †ʔaḫāla fīhi ḫālan min al-ḫayr ʻto bode well of s.th.’. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that ²ḫāl ʻmole, birthmark; patch, beauty spot’ is treated s.r. √ḪWL in some dictionaries, incl. WehrCowan, not sub √ḪYL. ▪ The modern use of ↗ʔaḫyal for ʻgreen woodpecker’ may be dependent on ²ḫāl in the sense of ʻpatch, beauty spot’, as the bird has white spots on some of its feathers (DRS #ḪYL-4). In older times, the word signified some (less specified) kind of bird that may have been called ʔaḫyal on account of its association with evil omen (ḫayāl). Others explain it as an epithet based on taḫayyul, thus meaning *ʻthe one who feels self-important, conceited, the arrogant one’ (cf. ḫuyalāʔᵘ, ḫaylūlaẗ, maḫīlaẗ ʻconceit, haughtiness, snobbery, arrogance, etc.’). ▪ … ▪ …
►ḫayyala, vb. II, to make (ʔilà s.o.) believe (ʔanna that), suggest (ʔilà to s.o., a s.th.), give s.o. (ʔilà) the impression that: D-stem, caus. | ḫuyyila ʔilayhi (lahū) ʔanna, expr., he imagined, fancied, thought that..., it seemed, it appeared to him that...; ʕalà mā ḫayyalat (al-nafs being understood), expr., as the heart dictates, i.e., as chance will have it, at random, unhesitatingly ►ʔaḫāla, vb. IV, to be dubious, doubtful, uncertain, intricate: *Š-stem, denom (from ḫayāl?) ►BP#4140taḫayyala, vb. V, 1 to imagine, fancy (s.th.); 2 to present itself, reveal itself (li‑ to s.o.’s mind), become the object of imagination, appear ( = II; li‑ to s.o.): Dt-stem, intr., self-ref./refl. | ~ fīhi ’l-ḫayr, vb., to suspect good qualities in s.o., have an inkling of s.o.’s good qualities, think, well of s.o., have a good opinion of s.o. ►taḫāyala, vb. VI, 1 to pretend (bi‑, li‑ to s.o. s.th., that ...), act (li‑ toward s.o., bi‑ as if); 2 to feel self-important, be conceited; 3 to behave in a pompous manner, swagger, strut about; 4 to conceive eccentric ideas, get all kinds of fantastic notions, have a bee in one’s bonnet; 5 to appear dimly, in shadowy outlines; 6 to appear, show (ʕalà on), hover (ʕalà about; e.g., a smile about s.o.’s lips), flit (ʕalà across, e.g., a shadow across s.o.’s face, etc.): Lt-stem, pretentious. ►ĭḫtāla, vb. VIII, 1 to feel self-important, be conceited; 2 to behave in a pompous manner, swagger, strut about: Gt-stem, self-ref.► ²ḫāl, pl. ḫīlān, n., 1 (pl. ʔaḫwāl, huʔūl, ḫuʔūlaẗ) ↗¹ḫāl (√ḪWL); 2a mole, birthmark (on the face); b patch, beauty spot ►BP#1975ḫayāl, pl. ʔaḫyilaẗ, n., 1a disembodied spirit, ghost, specter; b phantom, apparition; c phantasm, fantasy, chimera, vision; 2a imagination; b shadow, trace, dim reflection | ~ šakk, n., slightest doubt; ~ al-ṣaḥrāʔ, n., scarecrow; ~ al-ẓill, n., shadow play ►ḫayālaẗ, pl. ‑āt, n.f., 1 ghost, spirit, specter; 2 phantom; 3 phantasm, fantasy, chimera ►BP#3946ḫayālī, adj., 1 imaginary, unreal; 2 ideal, ideational, conceptual; 3 utopian: nisba formation, from ḫayāl ►ʔaḫyalᵘ, adj., more conceited, haughtier, prouder: elative formation (from ḫayāl?) ►ʔaḫyal, pl. ḫīl, ʔaḫāyilᵘ, n., green woodpecker: lit., *ʻthe arrogant one’ or *ʻthe one with spots on its wings’? ►ḫuyalāʔᵘ, n.f., 1 conceit, conceitedness, haughtiness, pride; 2al‑~, adv., haughtily, proudly ►ḫaylūlaẗ, n.f., conceit, conceitedness, snobbery, arrogance, haughtiness ►maḫīlaẗ, n.f., 1 conceit, conceitedness, snobbery, arrogance, haughtiness; 2 pl. maḫāyilᵘ, nonhum.pl., indication, sign, symptom, characteristic; 3 visions, mental images, imagery ►taḫyīl, n., play acting | fann al‑~, n., dramatic art ►taḫayyul, pl. ‑āt, n., imagination, phantasy; 2 delusion, hallucination, fancy, whim, fantastic notion ►taḫayyulī, adj., fantastic, fanciful, imaginary ►ĭḫtiyāl, n., 1 pride; 2 arrogance, haughtiness ►muḫayyilaẗ, n.f., imagination, phantasy ►muḫīl, adj., 1 dubious, doubtful, uncertain, intricate, tangled, confused; 2 confusing, bewildering ►muḫtāl, adj., conceited, haughty, arrogantFor other values of the root, cf. ↗ḫayl and ↗ʔaḫyal as well as, for the whole picture, root entries ↗√ḪYL and √ḪWL.
▪ Accord. to Lane ii (1865) (see below, section HIST), ʻgreen woodpecker’ is a modern use, while in older times it meant a certain bird. Some ClassAr lexicographers explain the name of this bird as an epithet based on taḫayyul, thus meaning *ʻthe one who feels self-important, conceited, the arrogant one’; for others, it is connected to the idea of a bad omen. The more modern use could be due to the spots on the bird’s wings, reminding of a ²ḫāl ʻmole, birthmark; patch, beauty spot’ (see ↗ḫāla). ▪ (MilitarevKogan2005 SED II #107:) From protSem *ḫ˅l- ‘kind of bird’ (not very reliable, due to scarce attestation: in Hbr and Ar only, both not secured). ▪ …
▪ Lane ii (1865): ʻa certain bird that alights upon the rump of the camel and is app. for that reason held to be of evil omen;1
applied in the present day to the green wood-pecker (picus viridis), and to the common roller (coracias garrula), so called because upon its wings are colours differing from its general colour, or because diversified with black and white, or the ↗šāhīn (a species of falcon)’. ▪ …
▪ MilitarevKogan2005 (SED II) #107: Hbr ḥōl ‘name of a fabulous bird, Phoenix’ (hapax in Job 29.18), Ar ʔaḫyal ‘faucon blanc de bon nid; oiseau à plumage bigarre, et regardé comme de mauvais augure’. ▪ DRS 10 (2012) #ḪYL-1 […]. -2 Ar ḫāla, ḫayyala ‘s’imaginer, se figurer’, ḫayāl ‘fantôme, ombre’, ḫāl ‘outrecuidance, arrogance, présomption’, YemAr ḫayāl ‘convoiter’. -3 […]. -4 Akk ḫālu ‘tache noire sur la peau’, Ar ḫāl ‘signe sur le visage, grain de beauté’, ʔaḫyalᵘ ‘qui a des grains de beauté (sur le visage)’, ḫīlān ‘signe, signe sur le corps ou le visage, grain de beauté’. -5-8 […]. ▪ … ▪ …
▪ See above, section CONCISE. ▪ …
–
For other values of the root, cf. ↗ḫāla and ↗ḫayl as well as, for the whole picture, root entries ↗√ḪYL and √ḪWL.
▪ The term ḫayl for ‘horses’ is an Ar idiosyncrasy. But, as Kogan2011 (#5.1.3.2) states, there is also »no deeply rooted common term for ‘horse’« in Sem. (For other terms, cf. ↗ḥiṣān, ↗faras, EgAr ↗sīsī.) ḫayl may belong to the complex of *ʻpower, strength, might’ (↗√ḤW/YL, with ḫ in ḫ from *ḥ); thus, it may originally be *ʻthe powerful one’. ▪ …
▪ The Ar term ḫayl for ʻhorses’ stands isolated within Sem (Jib aḫyel ‘faire galoper’ could be an Arabism). Given that it cannot be connected to other items of ↗√ḪYL or ↗√ḪWL, it may be true what earlier research often suggested,3
, namely that it belongs to the complex of *ʻpower, strength, might’ (cf. DRS #ḪYL-5 in section COGN, above), otherwise realised in Ar by ↗√ḤW/YL (< protSem *ḥayl‑/*ḫayl‑ ‘strength’ – Kogan2015: 118 #12), rather than to √ḪYL or √ḪWL.4 ▪ … ▪ …
►sabāq al-ḫayl, n., horse racing, horse race►ḫayyala, vb. II, to gallop (on horseback): D-stem, denom. ►ḫayyāl, pl. -aẗ, ‑ūn, n., horseman, rider: ints. formation / n.prof. ►ḫayyālaẗ, n.f., cavalry (Ir.; Eg. 1939) | sariyyaẗ ḫayyālaẗ, n.f., cavalry squadron (Eg. 1939)For other values of the root, cf. ↗ḫāla and ↗ʔaḫyal as well as, for the whole picture, root entries ↗√ḪYL and √ḪWL.
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