▪ [gnrl] : There is hardly any value in this root that does not seem to be ultimately based on [v1] ‘foot’, though exact details remain unclear in many cases. The hypothesis of ‘foot’ as the overall etymon is corroborated by the fact that no other value but [v1] ‘foot’ has cognates in Sem and the broad spectrum of other meanings covered by √RǦL apparently is an Ar idiosyncrasy.
▪ [v1] : As Kogan2011 #6.3.2 observes, »[t]here is no single protSem term for ‘foot’. [… cf. Ar ↗
faʕama ‘to have fat hips; to be fat (arms)’]. Reflexes of *
rigl- ‘foot’ are attested throughout CSem (Hbr, Syr, Ar, Sab […; see]
SED I No. 228) except Ug and Phoen […]. There is no consensus about whether Gz
ʔəgr and related EthSem terms (
SED I #7) are connected with *
rigl- (similar forms in Ar dialects, such as DaṯAr
ʔižr, SyrAr
ʔəžər, make the picture especially complicated. […].« – V. Christian thought √RǦL was an extension in -L from the 2-cons. root nucleus *RǦ , reflected in Ar ↗
raǧǧa ʻ(to rustle, shake, rock >) be convulsed, tremble, quake, sway, be excited, be distressed; to move, (move away >) deter’, reduplicated in
raǧraǧa ‘to be moved, tremble, quiver, sway, be faint’. According to the author, the basic value of RǦL, assumed to be *‘to shake > to hit’, also produced ¹
riǧl ʻ(to hit > kick >) foot’ and
raǧlaẗ ʻfirm step’, whereas [v4]
raǧul ʻman’ probably was *‘strong one < who beats < who makes tremble\shake’.
1
▪ [v2] : ‘Swarm (esp. of locusts)’ is prob. based on, or akin to,
†[v8] ‘to let/set free’, and is thus *‘(s.th., animal, etc.) set free and now spreading freely, uncontrollably’, cf. also below, values [v3], [v5], [v6],
†[v9], and
†[v10].
▪ [v3] : The use of
riǧl for ‘common purslane’ seems to be motivated by the plant’s similarity with ‘curly hair’, which would make [v3] ³
riǧl dependent on
†[v9]
†raǧil~
raǧl~
raǧal ‘curly (hair)’ and, via the latter, on
†[v8] *‘to be set free and spread uncontrollably’, cf. also [v2] ²
riǧl ‘swarm (esp. of locusts)’.
▪ [v4] : ‘Man’ and derivatives (‘to behave like a man, masculinity, virility, manhood, etc.’) are prob. from ‘pedestrian’ (in Syr also ‘foot-soldier’), cf. the EgAr form
rāgil which looks very much like a PA I, ‘going by foot’. But it could also be based on
†riǧlaẗ~
ruǧlaẗ ‘vigour in walking’. See also V. Christian’s view, sketched above sub [v1].
▪ [v5] :
raǧǧala ‘to comb (hair)’ is a D-stem with (prob.) the original caus. meaning of *‘to let (hair) fall down freely’, thus derived from
†[v8], cf. also values [v2], [v3], [v6],
†[v9], and
†[v10].
▪ [v6] : The notion of ‘improvisation, extemporisation’, associated with the Gt-stem
ĭrtaǧala, is most likely a development from
†[v8] *‘to let/set free to spread/unfold spontaneously, uncontrolled’, itself prob. derived from [v1] ‘foot’; cf. also [v2], [v3], [v5],
†[v9],
†[v10]. Derivation from [v4] ‘man’ – improvisation as proof of ‘manliness, manly virtue’ – looks less likely, though perh. not impossible, cf. DaṯAr (Dt-stem)
taraǧǧal »‘marchander’, […] et en cela faire preuve de
raǧālaẗ ou
m?rǧalaẗ [<
raǧul]« Landberg1923 (s.v.
raqam) – in the extemporisation of verses, the ideas of *‘letting free’ and *‘manly virtue’ may overlap like in bargaining for a good price.
▪ [v7] : Etymology obscure. The idea that ‘cooking kettle, caldron; boiler’ could be from [v1] ‘foot’ (as *‘kettle with “feet”’) is rejected by some sources. If not *‘kettle
with feet’, is
mirǧal then a *‘kettle
put/set down on (some kind of) feet (e.g., stones)’? (Cf.
†ʔarǧala ‘to set down, discharge’, denom. vb. IV, from ¹
riǧl ‘foot’). In principle, the
miFʕaL pattern is used to form a n.instr., but this does not seem very meaningful for any of the other values that one may imagine as possible bases.
▪
†[v8] : The value ‘set free with its mother’ (said of a suckling) is with all likelihood based on [v1] ‘foot’, from *‘newly born, managing/strong enough to stand on its own
feet and to run around
and/or to drink from her teats’. Apparently, the freedom and lack of control granted to a suckling or a foal was the model on which further ideas were developed, esp.
†ʔarǧala ‘to let free; (
fig.) to grant a respite to s.o.’, as well values [v2], [v3], [v5], and [v6], discussed above, in addition to
†[v9] and
†[v10], below.
▪
†[v9] : The fact that the same words (
†raǧil~
raǧl~
raǧal) are used in ClassAr to express both
†‘somewhat curly (hair) and
†‘set free’ makes it rather likely that
†[v9] represents some kind of fig. use of
†[v8], so that the original meaning of ‘curly hair’ would be *‘hair “set free”, hair that grows without control, like a young foal running/hopping freely around’; for related values see [v2], [v3], [v5], [v6], and
†[v10].
▪
†[v10] : The term
†muraǧǧal for ‘variegated’ (said of a garment) is prob. extended use of
†muraǧǧal in the sense of ‘leaving traces of wings on the sand (locusts)’, a PP II which is evidently derived from [v2] ‘swarm (esp. of locusts)’, as such akin to [v3], [v5], [v6],
†[v8], and
†[v9].
▪
†[v11] : The value ‘hard ground’ is mentioned also by BAH2008 as one of the chief values attached to √RǦL in ClassAr. The corresponding item,
†raǧlà~
raǧlāʔᵘ is the f. of the elative
†ʔarǧalᵘ, meaning ‘white-spotted on one foot; large-footed’ (evidently from [v1] ‘foot’). It thus seems that ‘hard ground’ is somehow based on ‘foot’, though it seems difficult to find the tertium comparationis that would connect the two.
▪
†[v12] : In ClassAr, the term
†riǧl appears not only with the values ‘foot’ (↗¹
riǧl = [v1]), ‘swarm (esp. of locusts)’ (↗²
riǧl = [v2]) and ‘common purslane (↗³
riǧl’ = [v3]’), but also with still other values, as diverse as ‘blank paper; misfortune; precedence;
riǧl time’). We may assume that these are somehow based on [v1], [v2], or [v3], but it is complete unclear how exactly one can get from the latter to the former.