Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ LFT_1 ‘to turn to one side, look back, divert, distract; gesture’ ↗lafata
▪ LFT_2 ‘left-handed’ ↗ʔalfatᵘ
▪ LFT_3 ‘turnip’ ↗lift
▪ ^†LFT_4 ‘gruel made from the white colocynth’: ^†lafītaẗ

♦ Semantic value spectrum in ClassAr (acc. to BAH2008): ‘to turn to one side, to turn back, to look back, to divert; to distract, to dissuade; to twist; to take care; eesture’

▪ …

–

▪ LFT_1: Akk lapātu ‘to touch lightly, grasp, affect, attack,…’; (caus.) šulputu ‘to make touch, overthrow, defeat, destroy,…’ (CAD), Hbr lāpat ‘to twist, clasp, turn, grasp with twisting motion’ (Klein1987); Aram lappēt ‘to twine around, cling to, clasp’ (Zammit2002); ClassAr ^†ʔalfatᵘ ‘strong-handed’, ^†lafata (vn. laft) ‘to turn, roll about in the mouth; to fold; to turn from’, lafata 'l-māšiyaẗ ‘he beat the camel or sheep or goats, not caring which of them he truck’ (lufataẗ ‘s.o. who beats his camels etc., in this way’), lafata 'l-kalām ‘he sent forth, or uttered, words, without caring what might be the meaning¹ ’ (Lane), ^†lift ‘half; side, edge; inclination towards’; ? ^†lafata (vn. laft) ‘to stir s.th. about and over’, ? ^†lafata (vn. laft, lift) ‘to bark a tree, remove the peel/rind’
▪ LFT_2: Akk (stdBab) lupputu ‘damaged, soiled’; laptu, f. lapittu ‘damaged; anomalous’, liptu A ‘(handi)work, craft, creation (with ref. to human beings), touch (in the physical sense); affliction, disease; (discoloured) spot’, lipittu ‘disease, work, craft’, ClassAr (Lane vii 1885) ^†ʔalfatᵘ ‘(he-goat) having crooked horn, having one of his horns twisted upon, or over the other (also lafat); (in the dial. of Qays) stupid, foolish, of little sense; of difficult or stubborn disposition (also: lafūt); (in the dial. of Tamīm) left-handed, who works with the left hand; (f. laftāʔᵘ) (woman) having distorted eyes’.
▪ LFT_3: Akk (oBab) laptu A ‘turnip’, var. reading (stdBab) liptu B ‘(a vegetable)’, postbibHbr lä̆p̄äṯ ‘turnip; vegetables eaten with bread’, Aram lip̄tā, Syr läp̄tā, lap̄tā, Ar lift ‘turnip’. – Accord. Klein1987, the nHbr ləpātît ‘Hirschfeldia (a genus of plants)’ is formed from lpt ‘to twist’ (cf. LFT_1); the author does not see it together with the lä̆p̄äṯ . – Cf. also the cognates of LFT_1? – Outside Sem: Copt (Sah) latp, (Boh) lapt, lebt ‘salt turnip, pickled turnip’.

1. in all directions, to all sides, turning aimlessly here and there? – SG.

▪ LFT_1: It is difficult to decide whether ‘to touch, grasp, affect’, as in Akk, or ‘to twist, turn’, as appearing in Ar, should be regarded as the older value. I tend to regard ‘to touch, grasp, affect’ as primary, perhaps with the notion of ‘turning, twisting and overthrowing’ already included (as in Hbr). From there, the meanings (a) ‘to distract (attention), attract (the view)’ etc., prominent in MSA, as well as (b) ‘to twist’ and (c) ‘to overthrow, destroy’ can be derived. From (a) is ‘side; half’ (*attention turned away to one side, focus on the other half). From (a), (b) or (c) is LFT_2 (see below). For Ar, Gabal2012 suggests the basic value of √LFT as ‘to twist s.th., turn s.th. from one condition into another, or from one side to the other, or around it so that it sticks to it’ (layy al-šayʔ ʔaw taḥwīluh ʕan ḥāl ʔaw waǧh ʔilà ʔāḫar, ʔaw ḥawla šayʔ fa-yamtasik).
▪ LFT_2 is probably dependent on LFT_1, since ‘left-handed’ originally seems to be either *‘twisted, anomalous’, i.e., s.th. that is “the other way round, turned upside down”, or *‘having a focus on the one/other side’. The value ‘left-handed’ is the only meaning of ʔalfatᵘ that survived into MSA. But ClassAr, where it also can mean ‘having crooked horn’ (goat, cattle)’ and, in the dialect of Qays, ‘stupid, foolish’ or ‘of difficult or stubborn disposition’, or ‘having distorted eyes’, shows that ‘left-handed’ is only one out of a variety of meanings that developed from a more general *‘twisted, distorted, anomalous’. Cf. also the fact that ‘left-handed’, for some ClassAr lexicographers, seems to have been a specific use of the word in the dialect of the Tamīm tribe.
▪ For LFT_3 a Copt etymology has been suggested (Youssef2003), while the nHbr word for a similar plant is explained as derived from ‘to twist’. So, perhaps, there is a relation between LFT_3 ‘turnip’ and LFT_1 ‘to twist, turn’? This would be an interesting parallel to Engl turnip that is thought to be composed of turn (»from its shape, as though turned on a lathe«, etymonline.com) and mEngl nepe ‘turnip’. However, given the fact that there are Akk and Syr cognates, the most probable etymology is (as also put forward by Ullmann, WKAS, following Zimmern1914) that the word is of Akk or Aram origin.
▪ ^†LFT_4: ClassAr ^†lafītaẗ, described as ‘[a certain kind of gruel] made by straining water [or juice, or a decoction] of the white colocynth, then putting it into a stone cooking-pot, and cooking it until it has become thoroughly done and thickened, and then sprinkling flour upon it’ (Lane vii 1885), looks distinct from the other values, though it is unlikely that it does not belong to one of them. But how?

–

lafat‑ لَفَتَ , i (laft)

ID … • Sw – • BP 1701 • APD … • © SG | 15Feb2021

√LFT

vb., I

to turn, bend, tilt, incline, direct, focus; to turn away, avert (s.th. ʕan from) – WehrCowan1979.

▪ …

▪ eC7 lafata Q 10:78 qālū ʔa-ǧiʔta-nā li-talfita-nā ʕammā waǧadnā ʕalayhi ʔābāʔa-nā ‘they said, “Have you come to turn us away from that [the faith] which we found our fathers upholding?”’ – ĭltafata Q 11:81 fa-ʔasri bi-ʔahli-ka bi-qiṭʕin min-a ’l-layli wa-lā yaltafit min-kum ʔaḥad ‘so, travel with your household in the dead of night, and let none of you look behind’

Akk lapātu ‘to touch lightly, grasp, affect, attack,…’; (caus.) šulputu ‘to make touch, overthrow, defeat, destroy,…’ (CAD), Hbr lāpat ‘to twist, clasp, turn, grasp with twisting motion’ (Klein1987); Aram lappēt ‘to twine around, cling to, clasp’ (Zammit2002); ClassAr ^†ʔalfatᵘ ‘strong-handed’, ^†lafata (vn. laft) ‘to turn, roll about in the mouth; to fold; to turn from’, lafata 'l-māšiyaẗ ‘he beat the camel or sheep or goats, not caring which of them he truck’ (lufataẗ ‘s.o. who beats his camels etc., in this way’), lafata 'l-kalām ‘he sent forth, or uttered, words, without caring what might be the meaning² ’ (Lane), ^†lift ‘half; side, edge; inclination towards’; ? ^†lafata (vn. laft) ‘to stir s.th. about and over’, ? ^†lafata (vn. laft, lift) ‘to bark a tree, remove the peel/rind’

2. in all directions, to all sides, turning aimlessly here and there? – SG.

It is difficult to decide whether ‘to touch, grasp, affect’, as in Akk, or ‘to twist, turn’, as appearing in Ar, should be regarded as the older value. I tend to regard ‘to touch, grasp, affect’ as primary, perhaps with the notion of ‘turning, twisting and overthrowing’ already included (as in Hbr). From there, the meanings (a) ‘to distract (attention), attract (the view)’ etc., prominent in MSA, as well as (b) ‘to twist’ and (c) ‘to overthrow, destroy’ can be derived. From (a) is ‘side; half’ (*attention turned away to one side, focus on the other half). From (a), (b) or (c) is ‘left-handed’, etc. (↗ʔalfatᵘ). For Ar, Gabal2012 suggests the basic value of √LFT as ‘to twist s.th., turn s.th. from one condition into another, or from one side to the other, or around it so that it sticks to it’ (layy al-šayʔ ʔaw taḥwīluh ʕan ḥāl ʔaw waǧh ʔilà ʔāḫar, ʔaw ḥawla šayʔ fa-yamtasik).

► lafata naẓarahū ʔilà, vb. I, to turn one’s eyes or one’s attention to; to direct s.o.’s eyes to, call s.o.’s attention to.
► lafata 'l-naẓar, vb. I, to catch the eye, attract attention; to be impressive, stately, imposing.

► ʔalfata, vb. IV, = I.
► talaffata, vb. V, to turn, turn around, turn one’s face (ʔilà to); to look around, glance around; to peer around: intr.
► ^BP#2366ĭltafata, vb. VIII, to turn, turn around, turn one’s face (ʔilà to); to wheel around, turn around; to address o.s. (ʔilà to); to pay attention, attend (to), heed, observe, bear in mind, consider, take into account, take into consideration (ʔilà s.th.); to take care (of), care (for): T-stem of I.
► ĭstalfata, vb. X, to attract (the eyes, attention); to claim, arouse, awaken (interest, attention, min of s.o.): ST-stem of I, autobenefactive (*‘to make s.o. turn his attention to o.s.’).

► laftaẗ, n.f., turnabout, aboutface; (pl. lafatāt) turn, turning; gesture; sideglance, glance, a furtive, casual, or quick, look: n.un. of vn. I.
► lafāt and lafūt, adj., ill-tempered, surly, sullen: lit., *‘turning around, looking around very much, be unquiet’? Or closer to the complex of *‘anomalous, distorted’ treated under ↗ʔalfatᵘ ?
► ĭltifāt, n., turn, inclination, turning; attention, notice, heed; regard; consideration; care, solicitude; sudden transition (styl.): vn. VIII | bi-dūni 'l-~, adv., inattentive(ly); inconsiderate of, without consideration for; ʕadam al-~, n., inattention; naẓara ʔilayhi bi-ʕayni 'l-~, vb. I, to give s.th. sympathetic consideration.
► ĭltifātaẗ, n.f., a turning; turn of the face or eyes; sideglance, glance: n.vic. of vn. VIII.
► ĭstilfāt, n., stimulation of attention: vn. X.
► ^BP#2418lāfit, adj., getting attention; interesting: PA I.
► ^BP#3385lāfitaẗ, n.f., sign (bearing an inscription): originally a PA f., lit. *‘the turner, the thing that makes the eyes/attention turn to it’.
► mulfit: ~ al-naẓar, adj., attracting attention, striking, conspicuous: PA IV.
► multafit, adj., turning around, looking; regardful; attentive; heedful, careful; considerate: PA VIII.

lift لِفْت

√LFT

turnip (Brassica rapa L.; bot.) – WehrCowan1979.

For this word, both a Copt and an Akk/Aram etymology have been suggested. See COGN and DISC below.

▪ …

▪ Akk (oBab) laptu A ‘turnip’, var. reading (stdBab) liptu B ‘(a vegetable)’ (CAD), postbibHbr lä̆p̄äṯ ‘turnip; vegetables eaten with bread’, Aram lip̄tā, Syr läp̄tā, lap̄tā, Ar lift ‘turnip’ (Klein1987). – Accord. Klein1987, the nHbr ləpātît ‘Hirschfeldia (a genus of plants)’ is formed from lpt ‘to twist’ (cf. ↗lafata); the author does not see it together with lä̆p̄äṯ ‘turnip’. – Cf. also the cognates of ↗lafata ? – Outside Sem: Copt (Sah) latp, (Boh) lapt, lebt ‘salt turnip, pickled turnip’.

▪ Youssef2003 suggested that the word is borrowed from Copt lapt, latp ‘salt turnip, pickled turnip’. However, cognates can be found already in Akk from oBab onwards. Zimmern1914: 57, and after him also Ullmann, WKAS, think that Ar lift is from Akk or Aram. nHbr has ləpātît for a similar plant, but Klein1987 does not relate this to ‘turnip’ but rather explains it as derived from lpt ‘to twist’.
▪ Could there be a relation between ‘turnip’ and ‘to twist, turn’ (↗lafata)? This would be an interesting parallel to Engl turnip that is thought by some to be composed of turn (»from its shape, as though turned on a lathe«, etymonline.com) and mEngl nepe ‘turnip’.
▪ The evidence of ClassAr dictionaries does not make things clearer. Some lexicographers seem to associate the word with Egypt (a fact that would support Youssef’s suggestion of a Copt provenience), for others it is simply sounds foreign, or “Nabataen”.¹
▪ Other meanings that the word could take in ClassAr are now obsolete and, with all likelihood, do not belong to ‘turnip’ but rather to ‘to turn aside’ (↗lafata). The value ^†‘half (of a thing, syn. šaqq), side (ṣiġw, ǧānib)’ seems to be derived from this notion, and the ^†‘cow, bull (syn. baqaraẗ)’ is probably literally the cattle *‘having crooked/twisted horn’. Still obscure remains the use of lift for ^†‘vulva of a lioness’ (because of its form?).

1. Cf. Lane vii 1885: »name now given in Egypt to the Brassica napus (of Linn., α edulis), the rape; also identified by some with ↗šalǧam (name given in Egypt to the Brassica napus β olifera); some dictionaries, among which also the Qāmūs, report that an authority shall have said, “I have not heard it from any person confided in for accuracy, and know not whether it be Ar or not”; Ibn al-Kubbī asserts it to be a Nabataean word.«

–

ʔalfatᵘ أَلْفَتُ , f. laftāʔᵘ , pl. luft

√LFT

adj.

left-handed – WehrCowan1979.

▪ …

▪ Akk (stdBab) lupputu ‘damaged, soiled’; laptu, f. lapittu ‘damaged; anomalous’, liptu A ‘(handi)work, craft, creation (with ref. to human beings), touch (in the physical sense); affliction, disease; (discoloured) spot’, lipittu ‘disease, work, craft’ (CAD); ClassAr ^†ʔalfatᵘ ‘(he-goat) having crooked horn, having one of his horns twisted upon, or over the other (also lafat); (in the dial. of Qays) stupid, foolish, of little sense; of difficult or stubborn disposition (also: lafūt); (in the dial. of Tamīm) left-handed, who works with the left hand; (f. laftāʔᵘ) (woman) having distorted eyes’ (Lane vii 1885).

▪ The meaning of the elative formation ʔalfatᵘ is probably dependent on ‘to (grasp and) turn, twist, overthrow’ as preserved in Ar ↗lafata ‘to turn aside’, as ‘left-handed’ originally seems to have been either *‘twisted, anomalous’, i.e., s.th. that is “the other way round, turned upside down”, or *‘having a focus on the one/other side (to which attention has been unduely attracted)’. The value ‘left-handed’ is the only meaning of ʔalfatᵘ that survived into MSA. But ClassAr, where it also can mean ^†‘having crooked horn’ (goat, cattle)’ and, in the dialect of Qays, ^†‘stupid, foolish’ or ^†‘of difficult or stubborn disposition’, or ‘having distorted eyes’, shows that ‘left-handed’ is only one out of a variety of meanings that developed from a more general *‘twisted, distorted, anomalous’. Cf. also the fact that ‘left-handed’, for some ClassAr lexicographers, seems to have been a specific use of the word in the dialect of the Tamīm tribe. This may be the reason why some dictionaries, among them also WKAS, do not list the value ‘left-handed’ at all.
▪ Another old meaning of ʔalfatᵘ, now obsolete, is ^†‘strong-handed, who hoists or wrings him who strives or grapples with him’ (TA, accord. to Lane vii 1885). This can be related directly to the primary value of √LFT, namely *‘to grasp, turn down, overthrow’, cf. ↗LFT, ↗lafata.

–

► lafāt and lafūt, adj., ill-tempered, surly, sullen: like ‘left-handed’ belonging to the complex of *‘anomalous, distorted’, or rather developed from *‘turning around, looking around very much, be unquiet, distracted’ treated under ↗lafata ?

Permanent link

http://www2.hf.uio.no/common/apps/permlink/permlink.php?app=polyglotta&context=ctext&uid=da57ccda-06ff-11ee-937a-005056a97067

Choose languages

Choose images, etc.

Choose languages

Choose display