▪ FTḤ_1 ‘to open’ ↗fataḥa ▪ FTḤ_2 ‘judgment, decision’ ↗fatḥ ▪ FTḤ_3 ‘…’ ↗… ♦ Semantic value spectrum in ClassAr (acc. to BAH2008): ‘aperture, space, to open; to find a way, key; to conquer, conquest, victory; to initiate; to adjudicate, judgement’. There is a degree of overlapping between the two senses of ‘seeking victory’ and ‘seeking judgement’ because victory in battle is regarded as a kind of judgement between the antagonists’
1 to open; 2 to switch on, turn on (lights, TV); 3a to dig (a canal); 3b to build (a road); 4 to open, preface, introduce, begin; 5 to reveal, disclose; 6a to grant victory or success (God); 6b to open the gates (of profit) (God); 6c to conquer, capture; 7 to infuse, imbue, inspire, endow; 8 (gram.) to pronounce with the vowel a. – WehrCowan1976.
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994# 1989: protSem *p˅taḥ‑ ‘open’, CCh *p˅t˅H‑ (reconstructed from pəth‑ ‘open (of eyes or anus)’ in 1 lang), ECh *pit‑ ‘open’, all perh. from a hypothetical AfrAs *pitaḥ‑ ‘to open’. ▪ Ehret1995#89: an extension in »iterative« *‑ḥ (» > extendative sense«) from a bi‑consonantal »pre‑protSem« root *pṭ ‘to break apart’ < AfrAs *‑feeť‑ or *‑fooť‑ ‘to separate (tr.)’. – Other extensions from the same pre‑Sem root: ↗FṬR, ↗FṬM. ▪ …
…
►fattaḥa, vb. II, to open (also of a flower): D‑stem, ints. ►fātaḥa, vb. III, 1a to address first, speak first; 1b to open the conversation or talk; 2 to disclose, let s.o. in on s.th.: L‑stem, assoc. ►tafattaḥa, vb. V, 1 to open, open up, unfold (intr.); 2a to be opened (so that s.o. becomes perceptible); 2b to be open, be responsive (heart): Dt‑stem, intr./pass. ►ĭnfataḥa, vb. VII, 1a to open, open up, unfold (intr.); 1b to be opened: N‑stem, pass./intr. ►BP#1720ĭftataḥa, vb. VIII, 1 to open, inaugurate; 2 to introduce, preface, begin; 3 to conquer, capture: Gt‑stem. ►ĭstaftaḥa, vb. X, 1 to begin, start, commence; 2 to seek the assistance of God (against s.th.), implore God for victory: *Št‑stem, desiderative. ►BP#910fatḥ, 1 opening; 2 introduction, commencement, beginning; 3 pl. futūḥ, futūḥāt, n., 3a conquest; 3b victory, triumph; 4 pl. futūḥāt, alms; donations, contributions (for a zāwiyaẗ; Tun.): vn. I. ►BP#4634fatḥaẗ, 1 the vowel point a; 2 opening; porthole: < n.vic. ►futḥaẗ, pl. futaḥ, ‑āt, n.f., 1 opening, aperture, breach, gap, hole; 2 sluice. ►fattāḥ, n., openor (of the gates of profit, of sustenance; one of the attributes of God): ints. formation. ►fattāḥaẗ, n.f., can opener: ints. formation, f. for instr. ►BP#1845miftāḥ, pl. mafātīḥᵘ, n., 1 key; 2 switch; 3 lever (peadal (of a vehicle); 4 knob (on the radio); knob (in the radio; stopp; valve; peg, pin): n.instr. ►miftāḥǧī, n., (railroad) switchman: n.prof. in (Tu) ‑ǧī. ►mufātaḥaẗ, n.f., opening of a conversation: vn. III. ►BP#3577ĭnfitāḥ, n., 1 opening up, welcoming; 2 openness: vn.VII. ►BP#1780ĭftitāḥ, n., 1 opening, inauguration; 2 introduction, beginning: vn.VIII. ►BP#4865ĭftitāḥī, adj., 1 opening; 2 introductory ►ĭftitāḥiyyaẗ, n.f., 1 editorial, leading article, leader; 2 overture (mus.) ►ĭstiftāḥ, n., 1 start, beginning, commencement, inception, incipience; 2 earnest money, handsel: vn. X. ►BP#2577fātiḥ, 1 n., opener; 2 beginner; 3 conqueror, victor; 4 adj., clear (color): PA I | fātiḥ al‑baḫt, n., fortuneteller. ►BP#4349fātiḥaẗ, pl. fawātiḥᵘ, n.f., 1 start, opening, beginning, commencement, inception; 2 incipience; 3 introduction, preface, preamble, proem: PA I.f. ►BP#1045maftūḥ, adj., open, opened: PP I. ►mufattiḥ, 1 adj., appetizing; 2 (pl. ‑āt), n., aperitif: PA II. ►muftataḥ, n., start, beginning, commencement, inception, opening, inauguration: n.loc.
▪ Jeffery1938: »The verb fataḥa ‘to open’, with its derivatives, is commonly used and is genuine Ar, but in these two passages1
where it has a peculiar technical meaning, Muḥammad seems to be using, as Horovitz, KU, 18, n., noted, an Eth [Gz] word fətḥ, which had become specialized in this sense and is used almost exclusively of legal affairs, e.g. fatḥa ‘to give judgment’, tafatḥa ‘iudicari’, tafātḥa ‘litigare’, fətḥat ‘iudicium’, and fətḥ which is both ‘iudicium’ and ‘sententia iudicis’. This sense had already become domiciled in SArabia, as we see from the use of [SAr] ftḥ in the inscriptions (Rossini, Glossarium, 221).«