Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ Out of the 5 values given by DRS for the root ZʕM in Sem, 3 are represented in Ar, of which only 1 in MSA (1 in ClassAr, 1 in EAr).
▪ ZʕM_1 : apparently without cognates in Sem. – For ClassAr zaʕama (u, z˅ʕm), Hava1899 gives the value ‘to assert s.th. true or false’, DRS has ‘parler, dire, énoncer une opinion’ as the basic value from which the others derive. The zaʕīm is the one who has the authority to decide between true and false, good and bad, right and wrong.
▪ ZʕM_2 : ClassAr ^†zaʕāʔimᵘ is obviously the pl. of an (obsol.) sg. that, according to regular patterns, should be assumed to be ^†*zaʕīmaẗ. Etymology obscure. Borrowed from a SAr lang?
▪ ZʕM_3 : The vb. I ^†zaʕima ‘to covet, desire eagerly (fī s.th.)’, which is not found in MSA any longer, belongs to ZʕM_1 ‘to assert, pronounce an opinion’: if you are convinced that s.th. is right, true, or good, and express your opinion vehemently, you may attach your emotions to it, hence desire it.
▪ ZʕM_4 ^†zaʕamaẗ ‘glory, dignity, power’: from ZʕM_1; lit., quality of a zaʕīm.
▪ ZʕM_5 ^†zuʕmī ‘truthful; mendacious’: from ZʕM_1; lit., subject to zuʕm, i.e., s.th. the quality of which still has to be tested and asserted, s.th. that can be either so or so.
▪ ZʕM_6 ^†zaʕūm ‘having little fat; having much fat (she-camel, sheep, goat)’: from ZʕM_1; lit., (animal) »of which one doubts whether there be in her fat or not, and which is therefore felt with the hand, in order that one may know if she be fat or lean« (Lane). – Cf. also the less equivocal ^†zaʕim ‘(of roasted meat:) dripping with its gravy; succulent, dripping with its juice or fat’ (ibid.)

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▪ DRS 8 (1999)#ZʕM-1 Ar zaʕama ‘parler, dire, énoncer une opinion’, zaʕima ‘désirer ardemment’, zaʕīm ‘garant, chef, prince’, zaʕamat ‘gloire, dignité, pouvoir’; HispAr zaʕam ‘prétendre, se vanter, faire le brave’, MġrAr zʕəm ‘prétendre, alléguer’, zaʕma adv. ‘prétendument, comme si, feignant de; par exemple, c’est-à-dire, dans l’espoir de’, zʕama ‘audace, intrépidité’; Sab zʕm ‘déclaration’, Mhr zəʕīm, Jib zʕim ‘chef de famille’, əzteʕim ‘être, décider en chef de famille’, Gur žamä ‘convoiter, désirer ardemment’. -2 Ar zaʕāʔimᵘ (pl.) : sorte de vaisseau, S Ar zaʕīma, Jib zʕĩt, Te zəʕimät ‘bateau, barque’. -3 EAr zaʕam ‘se fâcher, mépriser’. -4 Soq əzʕam ‘être assis, rester’. -5 Gz zəʕəme ‘frange, touffe de cheveux (?)’.

▪ Little is known about this root. ZʕM_1 and ZʕM_2 seem to be separate values, the former probably an exclusively Ar root, the latter perh. shared between Ar, modSAr and EthSem (but probably Te < Ar).
▪ The obsolete values ZʕM_3 through ZʕM_6 all depend on ZʕM_1.

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zaʕam‑ زَعَمَ , u (zaʕm)

√ZʕM

vb., I

1 to maintain, allege, claim, pretend (ʔanna that), declare (ʔanna to someone that); 2 to believe; 3 to take (s.o. for or to be…), regard (s.o. as) – WehrCowan1979.

▪ Original meaning probably ‘to be outspoken on s.th., express one’s opinion on s.th. clearly/vehemently, make a clear choice between two alternatives (true/false, right/wrong, good/bad, etc.)’.

▪ …

▪ DRS 8 (1999)#ZʕM-1: Ar zaʕama ‘parler, dire, énoncer une opinion’, zaʕima ‘désirer ardemment’, zaʕīm ‘garant, chef, prince’, zaʕamat ‘gloire, dignité, pouvoir’; HispAr zaʕam ‘prétendre, se vanter, faire le brave’, MġrAr zʕəm ‘prétendre, alléguer’, zaʕma adv. ‘prétendument, comme si, feignant de; par exemple, c’est-à-dire, dans l’espoir de’, zʕama ‘audace, intrépidité’; Sab zʕm ‘déclaration’, Mhr zəʕīm, Jib zʕim ‘chef de famille’, əzteʕim ‘être, décider en chef de famille’, Gur žamä ‘convoiter, désirer ardemment’.

▪ From the basic value of making a clear choice between two alternatives and being outspoken about one’s opinion derives the word for ‘leader’, zaʕīm (i.e., the one who has the authority to decide between true and false, good and bad, right and wrong), and a large number of other values, now obsolete, like ^†‘to desire eagerly’ (zaʕima), ^†‘glory, dignity, power’ (zaʕamaẗ, the attributes of a zaʕīm), ^†‘truthful; mendacious’ (zuʕmī, quality that still has to be tested and asserted, s.th. that can be either good or bad, right or wrong), ^†‘having little fat; having much fat (she-camel, sheep, goat)’ (zaʕūm, animal »of which one doubts whether there be in her fat or not, and which is therefore felt with the hand, in order that one may know if she be fat or lean« – Lane), cf. ↗ZʕM.

▪ zeamet ‘large fief, share of a zaʕīm ’, i.e., (under Ottoman rule) of the yearly value of 20,000 aspers and upwards; for each three thousand of which, the possessor ws held to take a man-at-arms to the wars, when called out (Redhouse1890) (<1481 Fātiḥ Sulṭān Meḥmed, Ḳānūnnāme-i ʔĀl-i ʕOs̱mān) – Nişanyan_25Mar2013.

► zaʕama li-nafsi-hī, vb. I, expr., to claim for o.s. (s.th.)

► tazaʕʕama, vb. V, 1 to set o.s. up as leader; 2 to be the leader (of), lead, command (a body of soldiers, or the like); 3 to pretend to be the leader, pose as leader, be bossy: tD-stem, intr./refl.
► zaʕm, n., allegation, claim: lexicalized vn. I | fī zaʕmi-him, expr., as they claim, as they say.
► ^BP#1173zaʕīm, pl. zuʕamāʔᵘ, n., 1 leader; 2 ringleader; 3 colonel (Ir. 1922); 4 brigadier general (mil.; formerly Syr.); 5 guarantor (bi‑ of): ints. formation, adj. > n.
► ^BP#4777zaʕāmaẗ, n.f., 1 leadership; 2 leading position in politics: quasi-vn. I.
► mazāʕimᵘ, n.pl., 1 allegations; 2 claims, pretensions; 3 assumptions, conjectures: pl. from an obsol. sg. *mazʕam(aẗ), n.loc.
► ^BP#3847mazʕūm, adj., 1 pretended, claimed; 2 alleged, so-called: PP I.

zaʕīm زَعِيم , pl. zuʕamāʔᵘ

√ZʕM

1 leader; 2 ringleader; 3 colonel (Ir. 1922); 4 brigadier general (mil. ; formerly Syr.); 5 guarantor (bi‑ of) – WehrCowan1979.

▪ ints. formation, adj. > n.
▪ From ↗zaʕama, a vb. I with the basic value ‘to make a clear choice between two alternatives and be outspoken about one’s opinion’. A zaʕīm therefore is s.o. who is able, and has the authority, to decide between true and false, good and bad, right and wrong.

▪ …

↗zaʕama, ↗ZʕM.

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