Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ NǦM_1a ‘to appear, come in sight, rise (star), begin, commence, set in’ ↗naǧama
▪ NǦM_1b ‘origin, source; to originate, spring, result (from)’ ↗naǧama
▪ NǦM_1c ‘star (also metaph.: celebrity), the Pleiads, constellation, asterism; asterisk’ ↗¹naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ
▪ NǦM_1d ‘to observe the stars, predict the future, practice astrology; astrologer; (EgAr) jinx’ ↗¹naǧǧama
▪ NǦM_1e ‘to pay in instalments; to accomplish (step by step)’ ↗²naǧm
▪ NǦM_1f ‘to cease, be over (cold, rain); to dissolve, disappear, evaporate (cloud)’ ↗²naǧm
▪ NǦM_1g ‘mine, pit’ ↗¹manǧam
▪ NǦM_1h ‘ankle, ankle-bone’ ↗manǧim
▪ ^†NǦM_1i ‘iron-beam of a balance | cette partie de la balance sur laquelle se trouve l’indicateur des poids’ ↗^†minǧam
▪ NǦM_1j ‘well traced road; way out | chemin bien tracé et large’: ^†²manǧam.
▪ NǦM_1k (AlgAr) ‘to have the power, be able to do s.th.; ressources | pouvoir, être en état de faire qc’ ↗naǧām
▪ NǦM_1l/2 ‘plants with no stalk; herbs, herbage, quack\couch grass, quitch’ ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧīl.

♦ Semantic value spectrum in ClassAr (acc. to BAH2008): ‘star (particularly Pleiades or the Seven Sisters), instalments, fixed terms, astrology, to tell the future, (of a star) to rise, to appear; plants with no stalk, to sprout; to show up’

▪ √NǦM looks like an exclusively Ar root.
▪ Despite the semantic diversity within the root, all values (except perh. the last in the above list, [v1l/2]) seem to derive from one basic value, prob. [v1a] ‘to appear, come in sight’.
▪ The root may be a specification in ‑M from a bi-consonantal root nucleus *NǦ‑ ‘breaking through [and welling\pouring out, i.e., eruption] of s.th. thick, but not hard\solid\strong, from within s.th.’

–

▪ Zammit2002: Ø (no cognates in any Sem language)
▪ Nişanyan (s.v. nücum) lists Aram nagəm ‘to appear’ as a parallel, but as already PayneSmith1901 (s.v. Syr NGM) knew, this is an Arabism.

General remarks
▪ The root does not seem to have cognates in any other Sem language (no cognates listed in Zammit2002) nor outside Sem.
▪ Nişanyan (s.v. nücum) lists Aram nagəm ‘to appear’ as a parallel, but as already PayneSmith1901 (s.v. Syr NGM) knew, this is an Arabism.
▪ BadawiHinds1986 identify (for EgAr) two NGM roots, marked ¹NGM (comprising EgAr nagam, nagmaẗ, nigmaẗ) and ²NGM (mangam only). Cf., however, the discussion of [v1g] ¹manǧam, below.
▪ Gabal2012: According to the author, Ar √NǦM is composed of the bi-cons. root nucleus *NǦ‑ ‘breaking through [and welling\pouring out, i.e., eruption] of s.th. thick, but not hard\solid\strong, from within s.th.’ (nafāḏ kaṯīf ġayr šadīd min bāṭin al-šayʔ) (see ↗*NǦ‑_2) and a modifying R₃ *‑M, adding the notion of *‘closing\rewelding a gaping opening over what is inside’ (ĭltiʔām ẓāhir al-ǧurm ʕalà mā fī ǧawfih), together producing the basic meaning of *‘partial breaking through of s.th. soft\fine through a closed\covered\rewelded surface’ (nafāḏ ǧuzʔī ʔay daqīq min saṭḥ multaʔim). Other roots/items containing the same nucleus (Qur’anic only) are: ^†naǧǧa ‘to seep, ooze’, ↗naǧā (naǧw) ‘to save o.s., be rescued, escape’, ↗naǧd ‘highland, upland, tableland, plateau; the Nejd’, and ↗naǧas ‘impurity, dirt, filth, defilement’.
▪ Most values seem to be dependent on either [v1a] ‘to appear, come in sight’ or [v1c] ‘star’. It is hard to decide which of the two is the primary one, whether the vb. is denominal or the n. is deverbal; the latter seems slightly more likely (see details below, s.v. [v1a]). – For the link between these and [v1g] ‘mine, pit’ as well as [v1l/2] ‘plants with no stalk; herbs, herbage, quack\couch grass, quitch’, see s.v. below. – Values [v1i] ‘iron-beam of a balance’ and [v1j] ‘well traced road, way out’ remain of obscure semantics.

Individual values (as found, in addition to WehrCowan1979, in Kazimirski1860, Dozy1881, Steingass1884, Hava1899, BadawiHinds1986):
▪ NǦM_1a : naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight, rise (star), begin, commence, set in’, hence also the further meanings in ClassAr, such as ^†‘to break forth, grow (teeth, horns, plants); come forward, come out | surgir (a heretic, an innovator); to ooze (water)’. – It is hard to decide whether this value represents the primary meaning (so that [v1c] would be deverbal, a ‘star’ as *‘the appearing one, rising in the sky’), or whether it is denominal from [v1c] (so that ‘to appear’ would originally be *‘to do the same as a star, i.e., rise, come in sight’). BAH2008, by letting [v1c] feature first in their list, seem to favour the idea that the vb. [v1a] is denominal. The fact, however, that all other Sem languages use other words for ‘star’ (all akin to Ar ↗kawkab) rather points to secondary nature of naǧm.
▪ NǦM_1b : naǧama ‘to originate, spring, result (from)’; cf. also ^†naǧm ‘certain\true origin | origine certaine et authentique, non contestée’; ^†laysa li-hāḏā ’l-ḥadīṯ naǧm, expr., ‘this information is groundless, i.e., il n’y a rien de vrai, de sérieux dans ceci’. – The value depends on [v1a], indicating the *‘place where s.th. appears from, where s.th. originates from’.
▪ NǦM_1c : ¹naǧm ‘star (also metaph.: celebrity), the Pleiads, constellation, asterism; asterisk’; cf. also ^†‘star of nativity, nativity’; yanẓuru fī ’l-nuǧūm, expr., ‘he ponders over what he has to do’; ʕilm al-nuǧūm ‘(lit., science of the stars =) astronomy, astrology’ (see [v1d]); metaphorical use in LevAr ^†naǧmaẗ ‘blaze (i.e., a *star) on a beast’. – As mentioned above, s.v. [v1a], in the light of the absence of Sem cognates of naǧm, this value is likely not the primary value in the root; rather is the ‘star’ dependent on [v1a], originally being *‘the appearing\rising one’.
▪ NǦM_1d : ¹naǧǧama ‘to observe the stars, predict the future, practice astrology’; tanǧīm, ʕilm al-nuǧūm ‘astrology’; naǧǧām, munaǧǧim, mutanaǧǧim ‘astrologer’; (EgAr) nagm ‘jinx’. – Cf. also ^†naǧm ‘horoscope, prediction’. – The value is clearly depending on [v1c] ‘star’, and so is also the special meaning of naǧǧama, ^†‘to expose a little mud to the air [i.e., to the stars] overnight to be able to judge the next flooding of the Nile (use practiced in Egypt)’. – According to HDAL_200620, the earliest attestation of munaǧǧim is from ca. 660 CE (ʕAlī b. ʔAbī Ṭālib), and of naǧm as ‘astrology’ from ca. 732 CE (saying reported by Wahb b. Munabbih).
▪ NǦM_1e : naǧǧama ‘to accomplish s.th. step by step; to pay in instalments’, ²naǧm ‘instalment’. – Cf. also ^†naǧm ‘appointed time, term; pay, wages’; ^†ǧaʕaltu mālī ʕalayhi nuǧūman, expr., ‘I allowed him to pay his debt by instalments’. – Like [v1d], also [v1e] is dependent on [v1c] ‘star’, developed from ^†‘to fix s.th. according to the course of stars, hence, at appointed terms’, hence ‘pay (a debt, wages, etc.) by instalments’ and ‘to accomplish gradually, step by step’, then also ‘to accomplish’ (in general; but this could also be a caus. formation from [v1a], lit. meaning *‘to make appear’), hence probably also [v1k] ‘to be able, have the ability to do s.th.’ (from *‘to be capable of accomplishing s.th. step by step’). – According to HDAL_200620, the value ‘to accomplish s.th. gradually, step by step, at appointed terms’ is attested as early as ca. 609 CE in a verse by the pre-Islamic poet Zuhayr b. ʔAbī Sulmà. From lC7, we have a statement by Ibn ʕAbbās as attestation of the use of nuǧūm as ‘instalments, successive parts’, and another by Saʕd b. ʔAbī Waqqāṣ for munaǧǧam (PP II) in the same sense. The early attestations can certainly be explained from the fact that, as al-Bustānī has it, »the Arabs used to measure time (tuwaqqit) according to the rising of the stars because they did not know how to calculate but remembered the times of the year by natural phenomena [ʔanwāʔ, lit., tempests]. They also called the time at which it [i.e., a tempest etc.] was due [or to be expected], metaphorically, a ‘star’ because its happening was not to be known but by [the observation of] the stars. Then they extended this meaning [even farther], calling also a due payment a ‘star’ because it was due […] at the time when [its] star rose« (1869: 2136).
▪ ^†NǦM_1f : ʔanǧama, vb. IV, and ĭntaǧama, vb. VIII, ‘to cease, be over (rain, cold), clear away (weather) | cesser tout à coup; to dissolve, disappear, evaporate (cloud); se rasséréner, se remettre tout à coup au beau’, cf. ʔanǧamat-i ’l-samāʔ, or absol. ʔanǧamat. – The value is probably dependent on [v1a] ‘to appear, come in sight’, as the sky *‘reappears, comes in sight’ again when the clouds dissolve; alternatively, one may think of a development based on the idea of gradual change and accomplishment expressed in [v1e].
▪ NǦM_1g : ¹manǧam ‘mine, pit’. – The value is a n.loc., apparently derived from either [v1a] (*‘place where s.th. [sc. the metal ore] appears’) or [v1b] (*‘source’ of the metal ore) or [v1c] (*‘place where the metal ore flashes up like stars’).
▪ NǦM_1h : manǧim ‘ankle, ankle-bone’. – Obviously a maFʕiL formation from [v1a], signifying the bone that protrudes (*‘appears, shows) on the sides of a foot.
▪ ^†NǦM_1i : ^†minǧam ‘iron-beam of a balance | cette partie de la balance sur laquelle se trouve l’indicateur des poids’. – Relation to other values not clear. The word is a n.instr., coined along the miC₁C₂aC₃ pattern, and should therefore signify a tool serving to carry out an action designated by the vb. naǧama.
▪ ^†NǦM_1j : ^†²manǧam ‘well traced road; way out | chemin bien tracé et large’. – Relation to other values not clear. The word is a n.loc., so it should indicate the place where an action signified by the vb. naǧama is carried out, or takes place. According to Kazimirski1860 who gives the first meaning of manǧam as ‘source, origine, lieu où la chose naît, où elle apparaît (p.ex. origine de l’erreur, du mal, etc.)’, the original meaning is dependent on [v1a] ‘to appear’ or [v1b] ‘source, origin, to originate’. Is the ‘well traced road’ the *‘road that appears (as a way out)’? The fact that manǧam also can signify a ‘mine, pit’ does not bring any light in this.
▪ ^†NǦM_1k : AlgAr naǧǧam ‘to have the power, be able to do s.th.’, AlgAr naǧām ‘ressources’ (Dozy1881); cf. also DaṯAr naǧǧam ‘to be able to bear (e.g., the cold)’ (Zetterstéen1942). – This value seems to be a further development of [v1e] ‘to accomplish’ or [v1a] ‘to appear’, with emphasis on the ability to accomplish or make appear s.th.
▪ NǦM_1l/2 : ³naǧm ‘plants with no stalk; graminaceous plant, herbs, herbage, quack\couch grass, quitch’; in ClassAr also ^†naǧmaẗ, ^†naǧamaẗ ‘dactylis repens, species of dog-grass’. In ClassAr lexicography, the word is derived from [v1a] ‘to appear’ as the plant simply “appears”, without stalk. This etymology may be true, but there is also conspicuous overlapping with ↗naǧīl. In any case, the value is attested already in pre-Islamic poetry (c. 600 CE), then perh. also in the Qur’an (in one interpretation of Q 55:6).

–

naǧam‑ نجم , u (nuǧūm)

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

√NǦM

vb., I

1 to appear, come in sight, rise (star), begin, commence, set in; 2 to result, follow, ensue, arise, proceed, derive, originate, spring (min or ʕan from) – WehrCowan1979.

▪ The item belongs to a root that seems to be an exclusively Ar root without immediate cognates in Sem or outside. However, the root may be a specification in ‑M from a bi-consonantal root nucleus *NǦ‑ ‘breaking through [and welling\pouring out, i.e., eruption] of s.th. thick, but not hard\solid\strong, from within s.th.’ (Gabal2012).
▪ At first sight, one may assume dependence of the vb. naǧama on ↗naǧm ‘star’, but given the fact that the latter has no cognates in Sem (where ‘star’ is expressed by words akin to Ar ↗kawkab) it is more likely that naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’ is the primary value, while naǧm an idiosyncratic secondary formation.
▪ [v2] dependent on [v1].

▪ [v1] first attestation <588 CE in a verse by ʕAdiyy b. Zayd al-ʕIbādī – HDAL_200620.
▪ [v2] most frequent in MSA in the PA nāǧim ‘originating, resulting (min, ʕan from)’.
▪ From naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’ are also further meanings, now obsolete but attested in ClassAr, such as ^†‘to break forth, grow (teeth, horns, plants)’, ^†‘to come forward, come out | surgir (a heretic, an innovator)’, ^†‘to ooze (water)’.

▪ Nişanyan (s.v. nücum) lists Aram nagəm ‘to appear’ as a parallel, but as already PayneSmith1901 (s.v. Syr NGM) knew, this is an Arabism.

▪ BadawiHinds1986 identify (for EgAr) two NGM roots, marked »¹NGM« (comprising EgAr nagam, nagmaẗ, nigmaẗ) and »²NGM« (mangam only). But as the discussion of [v1g] in root entry ↗√NǦM shows, there is no reason to think that ¹manǧam ~ EgAr mangam should be from another root than the other items.
▪ Gabal2012: According to the author, Ar √NǦM is composed of the bi-cons. root nucleus *NǦ‑ ‘breaking through [and welling\pouring out, i.e., eruption] of s.th. thick, but not hard\solid\strong, from within s.th.’ (nafāḏ kaṯīf ġayr šadīd min bāṭin al-šayʔ) (see ↗*NǦ‑_2) and a modifying R₃ *‑M, adding the notion of *‘closing\rewelding a gaping opening over what is inside’ (ĭltiʔām ẓāhir al-ǧurm ʕalà mā fī ǧawfih), together producing the basic meaning of *‘partial breaking through of s.th. soft\fine through a closed\covered\rewelded surface’ (nafāḏ ǧuzʔī ʔay daqīq min saṭḥ multaʔim). Other roots/items containing the same nucleus (Qur’anic only) are: ^†naǧǧa ‘to seep, ooze’, ↗naǧā (naǧw) ‘to save o.s., be rescued, escape’, ↗naǧd ‘highland, upland, tableland, plateau; the Nejd’, and ↗naǧas ‘impurity, dirt, filth, defilement’. – Cf. also Ehret’s (1995) assumption of a pre-protSem *NG ‘to seep, ooze’.
▪ Most values in the root √NǦM seem to be dependent on either naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’ or ‘star’ (i.e., values [v1a] and [v1c] in root entry ↗√NǦM, respectively). It is hard to decide whether ‘to appear, come in sight’ is the primary meaning of the root (so that ‘star’ would be deverbal, as *‘the appearing one, the thing that comes in sight in the sky at night’), or whether it is denominal from ‘star’ (so that ‘to appear’ would be, originally, *‘to do the same as a star, namely, to rise, appear, come in sight’). BAH2008, by letting ‘star’ feature first in their list of the values attached to √NǦM in ClassAr, seem to favour the idea that the vb. is denominal. The fact, however, that all other Sem languages use other words for ‘star’ (all akin to Ar ↗kawkab) rather points to a secondary nature of naǧm.
▪ [v2] depends on [v1], focusing on the place where s.th. appears, i.e., its ‘origin, source’ (value attested for the vn. naǧm in ClassAr; cf. also ^†naǧm ‘certain\true origin | origine certaine et authentique, non contestée’ and the idiomatic phrase ^†laysa li-hāḏā ’l-ḥadīṯ naǧm ‘this information is groundless, i.e., il n’y a rien de vrai, de sérieux dans ceci’.

–

▪ Most of the items listed here are rather from the n. ↗¹naǧm (or its f. form, ↗naǧmaẗ) than from the vb. naǧama. However, given that we cannot be absolutely sure whether naǧama is dependent on naǧm or vice versa, the whole spectrum is listed here nevertheless.
▪ Values that are not listed in WehrCowan1979 but found in al-Mawrid (Baalbakki1995), are marked "(M)".

► naǧama qarnuh, expr., to begin to show: metaphorical use; lit., *his horn appeared.

► naǧǧama, vb. II, 1 to observe the stars; to predict the future from the stars, practice astrology: (D-stem, denom. from ¹naǧm, see ↗¹naǧǧama; 2 to pay in instalments: D-stem, denom. from ²naǧm, see ↗²naǧǧama.
► tanaǧǧama, vb. V, to observe the stars, predict the future from the stars: Dt-stem, denom. from ¹naǧm, intr. of ↗¹naǧǧama.

► ^BP#1019naǧm, n., 1 (pl. nuǧūm, ʔanǧum) celestial body; star; lucky star; constellation, asterism: ↗¹naǧm; 2 (pl. nuǧūm) instalment, partial payment: ↗²naǧm; 3 (coll.) herbs, herbage, grass; (M) quack grass, couch grass, quitch: ↗³naǧm (? = ↗naǧīl).
► ^BP#3363naǧmaẗ, pl. naǧamāt, n.f., star; asterisk (typ.): (singulative?) f. of ↗¹naǧm.
► naǧmī, adj., 1 star-shaped, stelliform, starlike, stellate, stellular, stellar, astral; 2 in instalments, instalment‑ (in compounds): nisba formation from ↗¹naǧm (and/or ↗naǧmaẗ) and ²naǧm, respectively.
► (M) naǧmiyyaẗ, n.f., aster (bot.): abstr. formation in f. nisba ‑iyyaẗ for scientific classification, from ↗¹naǧm; a neol.?
► (M) naǧmiyyāt, n.f.pl., asteroidea (zool.): abstr. formation in f.pl. nisba ‑iyyāt for scientific grouping, from ↗¹naǧm; a neol.?.
► nuǧaymaẗ, pl. ‑āt, n.f., small star, starlet: dimin. of ↗naǧmaẗ.
► naǧām, n., (AlgAr) resources: see ↗s.v.
► naǧǧām, munaǧǧim, ^†mutanaǧǧim, pl. ‑ūn, n., astrologer: n.prof. (I) and PA II, ^†PA V, respectively, from ↗¹naǧm.
► ¹manǧam, pl. manāǧimᵘ, n., 1 source, origin; 2 mine; pit: n.loc., lit., *‘place where s.th. appears, comes in sight’, cf. ↗¹manǧam.
► ^†²manǧam, n., well traced road; way out | chemin bien tracé et large: same morphology as ↗¹manǧam, but semantic relation to √NǦM unclear.
► manǧamī, adj., mining (in compounds): nisba formation from ↗¹manǧam.
► manǧim, n., ankle-bone: maFʕiL formation from naǧama, signifying the bone that protrudes (*‘appears, shows’) on the sides of a foot.
► ^†minǧam, n., 1 = manǧim; 2 iron-beam of a balance | cette partie de la balance sur laquelle se trouve l’indicateur des poids’: relation to other NǦM values not clear; the word is a n.instr., coined along the familiar miC₁C₂aC₃ pattern, and should therefore signify a tool serving to carry out an action designated by the vb. naǧama.
► tanǧīm, n., astrology: vn. II, ↗¹naǧm, ↗¹naǧǧama.
► ^BP#4120nāǧim, adj. originating, resulting (ʕan, min from): PA I [v2].
► manǧūm, adj., starred; marked with a star or asterisk: neol., PP I from a hypothetical *naǧama ‘to mark with a star or asterisk’, denominal from ↗naǧmaẗ.

¹naǧǧam‑ نجّم (tanǧīm)

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

√NǦM

vb., II

1 to observe the stars; to predict the future from the stars, practice astrology; 2 to pay in instalments ↗²naǧm, ↗²naǧǧama – WehrCowan1979.

▪ D-stem, denom. from ↗¹naǧm ‘star’ (from ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’).
▪ [v2] ‘to pay in instalments’, too, is related etymologically to the observation of stars, but treated separately here due to distinction in modern semantics.

▪ First attestation of vb. II in the meaning ‘to expect a tempest from the rising of its star’ <748 CE in a verse by the poet Ibn al-Dumaynaẗ, but naǧm in the sense of ‘astrology’, and munaǧǧim ‘astrologer’, are attested earlier (ca. 732 CE in a saying reported by Wahb b. Munabbih, and ca. 660 CE in a saying ascribed to ʕAlī b. ʔAbī Ṭālib, respectively) – HDAL_200621.

–

▪ The value is clearly dependent on ↗¹naǧm ‘star’, and so is also the special meaning of naǧǧama, ^†‘to expose a little mud to the air [i.e., to the stars] overnight to be able to judge the next flooding of the Nile (practiced in Egypt)’.
▪ EgAr distinguishes between ni gmaẗ ‘star’and na gmaẗ ‘jinx’. The EgAr vb. I nagam, i, ‘to jinx, put the evil eye on’ (as, e.g., in dōl nās wiḥšīn nagamū-na w-ḥasadū-na ‘they are bad people, they’ve jinxed us and put the evil eye on us’) signifies a magic practice based on the belief in the power of the stars – BadawiHinds1986.
▪ From the observation of the course of the stars and the moments they rise are not only the values ‘to predict the future, (and, in Egypt) the flooding of the Nile’ as well as ‘to practice astrology’, but also ↗²naǧǧama ‘to fix s.th. according to the course of stars, hence, to accomplish s.th. at appointed terms’, and then also ‘to pay in instalments’ (cf. also ^†naǧm ‘appointed time, term’, and ↗²naǧm ‘instalment’). Al-Bustānī1869 explained the relation between the observation of the stars and paying one’s debts by the fact that, as he put it, »the Arabs used to measure time (tuwaqqit) according to the rising of the stars because they did not know how to calculate but remembered the times of the year by natural phenomena [ʔanwāʔ, lit., tempests]. They also called the time at which it [i.e., a tempest etc.] was due [or to be expected], metaphorically, a ‘star’ because its happening was not to be known except by [the observation of] the stars. Then they [sc. the Arabs] extended this meaning [even farther], calling also a due payment a ‘star’ because it was due […] at the time when [its] star rose« (1869: 2136).

–

► tanaǧǧama, vb. V, to observe the stars, predict the future from the stars: Dt-stem, intr. of ¹naǧǧama, denom. from ¹naǧm.

► naǧǧām and munaǧǧim, ^†mutanaǧǧim, pl. ‑ūn, n., astrologer: n.prof. (I) and PA II, ^†PA V, respectively.
► tanǧīm, n., astrology: vn. II.

For other items of the root, see ↗naǧama, ↗²naǧǧama, ↗¹naǧm, ↗²naǧm, ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ, ↗¹manǧam, ↗²manǧam, ↗manǧim, ↗^†minǧam, (AlgAr) ↗naǧām, and, for the whole picture, root entry ↗√NǦM.

²naǧǧam‑ نجّم (tanǧīm)

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

√NǦM

vb., II

1 ↗¹naǧǧama; 2 to pay in instalments – WehrCowan1979

▪ D-stem, denom. from ↗²naǧm.
▪ Semantics dependent on ↗¹naǧǧama, the observation of the stars (↗¹naǧm), see DISC below.

▪ First attestation in the meaning ‘to do at appointed terms’ <609 CE in a verse by the pre-Islamic poet Zuhayr b. ʔAbī Sulmà – HDAL_200620.

–

▪ The value ‘to pay in instalments’ of naǧǧama is a semantic extension made on the basis of the vb.’s more original value, which is ‘to observe the stars’ (↗¹naǧǧama, from ↗¹naǧm ‘star’). Semantics can be thought to have developed along the line ‘to observe the stars’ > ‘to fix s.th. according to the course of stars, i.e., according to the time at which a certain star (or group of stars) appears in the sky, hence, to accomplish s.th. at appointed terms’ > ‘to pay in instalments’ (cf. also ^†naǧm ‘appointed time, term’, and ↗²naǧm ‘instalment’). Al-Bustānī1869 explained the relation saying that, »The Arabs used to measure time (tuwaqqit) according to the rising of the stars because they did not know how to calculate but remembered the times of the year by natural phenomena [ʔanwāʔ, lit., tempests]. They also called the time at which it [i.e., a tempest etc.] was due [or to be expected], metaphorically, a ‘star’ because its happening was not to be known except by [the observation of] the stars. Then they [sc. the Arabs] extended this meaning [even farther], calling also the due payment [of a debt] a ‘star’ because it was due […] at the time when [its] star rose« (1869: 2136).

–

► naǧmī, adj., 1 ↗¹naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ; 2 in instalments, instalment‑ (in compounds): nisba formation from ↗²naǧm.

For other items of the root, see ↗naǧama, ↗¹naǧǧama, ↗¹naǧm, ↗²naǧm, ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ, ↗¹manǧam, ↗²manǧam, ↗manǧim, ↗^†minǧam, (AlgAr) ↗naǧām, and, for the whole picture, root entry ↗√NǦM.

¹naǧm نَجْم , pl. nuǧūm, ʔanǧum

ID 848 • Sw 74/152 • BP 1019 • APD … • © SG | 15Feb2021

√NǦM

n.coll.

1 celestial body; star; lucky star; constellation, asterism; 2 ↗²naǧm; 3 ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧīl – WehrCowan1979.

▪ One is tempted to assume that ¹naǧm ‘star’ is the etymon of all (or at least most) lexical items and semantic values encountered in the root √NǦM. However, given that ¹naǧm ‘star’ is without cognates in Sem – in other Sem languages, the term for ‘star’ is expressed by words akin to Ar ↗kawkab – it is more likely that naǧm is an Ar idiosyncrasy, a secondary formation from ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’, literally meaning *‘the appearing, rising one’.
▪ [v2] and [v3] are dependent on [v1] or ↗naǧama: [v2] ‘instalment, partial payment’ is from ‘payment due at an appointed term’, from ‘term (date/time) of the rising of a star, to be known by observation of the stars (↗¹naǧǧama)’, from ¹naǧm ‘star’. [v3] ‘plants with no stalk; herbs, herbage, quack\couch grass, quitch’ may be the *‘plants that appear on the ground like stars, or cover it like stars’ or *‘plants somehow appearing from the ground’ – unless it is the result of a phonological-semantic confusion, due to a merging with naǧl, see ↗naǧīl.

▪ Older pl.s, found in ClassAr dictionaries in addition to nuǧūm and ʔanǧum: ^†ʔanǧām, ^†nuǧum.
▪ [v1] ‘bright star’: first attestation <230 CE in a verse by the pre-Islamic poet ʔAws b. Zayd Manāt al-ʕAbdī – HDAL_200620; then also ▪ eC7 Q 6:97 wa-huwa ’llaḏī ǧaʕala lakum-u ’l-nuǧūma li-tahtadū bihā fī ẓulumāti ’l-barri wa’l-baḥri ‘and He it is who has made the stars for you to use as a guide through the darkness of land and sea’.
▪ naǧm is also attested as ^†‘astrology’, <732 CE, in a saying reported by Wahb b. Munabbih – HDAL_200620. For this value, cf. esp. ↗¹naǧǧama.
▪ Another earlier value of naǧm, ^†‘mine, pit’, has become obsolete now (replaced by ↗¹manǧam). Its earlier use can be explained as either *‘place where s.th. (esp., metal ore) sparkles like stars in the sky’, or *‘place where s.th. (e.g., metal ore) appears, comes in sight’ (↗naǧama).

–

▪ See above, section CONC.
▪ …

–

► naǧm ḏū ḏanab, n., comet: lit., star with a tail
► nuǧūm al-sīnamā, pl., film stars, movie stars: neol.
► (M) naǧm al-baḥr, n., starfish, sea star: neol.?
► (M) naǧm al-quṭb, al‑naǧm al‑quṭbī, n., Polaris, the North Star, polestar, polar star: …

► naǧǧama, vb. II, 1 to observe the stars; to predict the future from the stars, practice astrology; 2 ↗²naǧǧama: D-stem, denom. from ↗naǧm.
► tanaǧǧama, vb. V, to observe the stars, predict the future from the stars: Dt-stem, denom. from naǧm.

► ^BP#3363naǧmaẗ, pl. naǧamāt, n.f., star; asterisk (typ.) | naǧmaẗ sīnamāʔiyyaẗ, n.f., film star, movie star; naǧmaẗ raqṣ, n.f., ballet star; maraḍ al-naǧmaẗ, n.f., a disease afflicting horses; (M) naǧmaẗ al-baḥr, n.f., starfish, sea star; (M) naǧmaẗ al-ṣabāḥ, n.f., morning glory (bot.): (?singulative) f. of ¹naǧm.
► naǧmī, adj., 1 star-shaped, stelliform, starlike, stellate, stellular, stellar, astral: nisba formation from ¹naǧm and/or naǧmaẗ; 2 ↗²naǧm.
► (M) naǧmiyyaẗ, n.f., aster (bot.): abstr. formation in f. nisba ‑iyyaẗ for scientific classification.
► (M) naǧmiyyāt, n.f.pl., asteroidea (zool.): abstr. formation in f.pl. nisba ‑iyyāt for scientific grouping.
► naǧǧām and munaǧǧim, ^†mutanaǧǧim, pl. ‑ūn, n., astrologer: n.prof. (I) and PA II, ^†PA V, respectively.
► manǧam, pl. manāǧimᵘ, n., 1 source, origin; 2 mine; pit: n.loc., either *‘place where s.th. (e.g., metal ore) sparkles like stars in the sky’, or *‘place where s.th. (e.g., metal ore) appears, comes in sight (↗naǧama)’.
► manǧamī, adj., mining (in compounds): nisba formation from manǧam.
► tanǧīm, n., astrology: vn. II, from ↗¹naǧǧama ‘to observe the stars’, from ¹naǧm.
► manǧūm, adj., starred; marked with a star or asterisk: neol., rather from ↗naǧmaẗ than from ¹naǧm.

For other items of the root, see ↗naǧama, ↗²naǧǧama, ↗²naǧm, ↗³naǧm, ↗²manǧam, ↗manǧim, ↗^†minǧam, (AlgAr) ↗naǧām, and, for the whole picture, root entry ↗√NǦM.

²naǧm نَجْم , pl. nuǧūm

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

√NǦM

1 ↗¹naǧm; 2 instalment, partial payment; 3 ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧīl – WehrCowan1979.
conc

▪ The value ‘instalment, partial payment’ is derived from ‘payment due at an appointed term’, from ‘term (date/time) of the rising of a star, to be known by observation of the stars (↗¹naǧǧama)’, from ¹naǧm ‘star’.

▪ <687 CE in a statement by Ibn ʕAbbās, saying ʔunzila ’l-qurʔānu ʔilà samāʔi ’l-dunyā ǧumlaẗan wāḥidaẗan ṯumma ʔunzila ʔilà ’l-ʔarḍi nuǧūman ‘the Qur’an was sent down to the world’s heaven as one whole, then it was sent down to earth in instalments’ – HDAL_200620.

–

▪ See above, section CONC.

–

► nuǧūman, adv., in instalments: ḥāl‑acc., pl., indicating mode of payment

► naǧǧama, vb. II, 1 ↗¹naǧǧama; 2 to pay in instalments: D-stem, denom.

► naǧmī, adj., 1 ↗¹naǧm; 2 in instalments, instalment‑ (in compounds): nisba formation.

For other items of the root, see ↗naǧama, ↗¹naǧǧama, ↗¹naǧm, ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ, ↗¹manǧam, ↗²manǧam, ↗manǧim, ↗^†minǧam, (AlgAr) ↗naǧām, and, for the whole picture, root entry ↗√NǦM.

³naǧm نَجْم , pl. nuǧūm, ʔanǧum

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

√NǦM

1 ↗¹naǧm; 2 ↗²naǧm; 3 (coll.) herbs, herbage, grass; (M) quack grass, couch grass, quitch – WehrCowan1979.

▪ In ClassAr lexicography, the word is explained as ‘plants with no stalk; graminaceous plant, herbs, herbage, quack\couch grass, quitch’ and usually derived from ↗naǧama ‘to appear’, as the plant simply “appears”, without stalk. This etymology may be true, but there is also conspicuous overlapping with ↗naǧīl, so that it may also be the result of a phonological-semantic confusion, due to a merging with the semantics of √NǦL.

▪ <600 CE in a verse by the pre-Islamic poet al-Ḥāriṯ b. Ẓālim al-Murrī al-Ġaṭafānī – HDAL_200620.
▪ Then also ▪ eC7 (plants with no stalk, herbage – in one interpretation of Q 55:6) Q 55:6 wa’l-naǧmu wa’l-šaǧaru yasǧudāni ‘the plants and the trees prostrate (or, fall into the Grand Design)’ – BAH2008.
▪ In ClassAr also attested as ^†naǧmaẗ, ^†naǧamaẗ ‘dactylis repens, species of dog-grass’.

…

See above, section CONC.

–

naǧmaẗ نَجْمَة , pl. naǧamāt, nuǧūm

√NǦM

n.f.f., n.un.

1 star; 2 asterisk (typ.) – WehrCowan1979; 3 (EgAr) a jinx – BadawiHinds1986.

▪ Morphologically, naǧmaẗ is a singulative (n.un.), signifying either a single, specific star (from the collective ↗¹naǧm ‘stars’) or one incident of ‘rising, appearing’ (from the vn. naǧm of the vb. ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’).
▪ [v2] is a neologism.
▪ [v3]: EgAr distinguishes between ni gmaẗ ‘star’ and nagmaẗ ‘jinx’ (corresponding vb.: nagam, i, ‘to jinx, put the evil eye on s.o.’, as in dōl nās wiḥšīn nagamū-na w-ḥasadū-na ‘they are bad people, they’ve jinxed us and put the evil eye on us’ – BadawiHinds1986).

▪ …

–

▪ BadawiHinds1986 distinguishes 2 roots: »¹NGM« (comprising ni gmaẗ ‘star’, na gmaẗ ‘jinx’, and nagam ‘to jinx’) and »²NGM« (containing only mangam ‘mine, pit’). Etymologically, however, this distinction does not make sense, as also ‘mine, pit’ (originally, *‘place where s.th., e.g., metal ore etc., appears’) is based on the same ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’ are also ¹naǧm and naǧmaẗ (*‘the rising, appearing one’).

–

► naǧmaẗ sīnamāʔiyyaẗ, n.f., film star, movie star: neol.
► naǧmaẗ raqṣ, n.f., ballet star: neol.
► maraḍ al-naǧmaẗ, n.f., a disease afflicting horses: prob. so called after the macula appearing on the sick animal’s skin, cf. LevAr ^†naǧmaẗ ‘blaze (i.e., a *star) on a beast’ – Hava1899.
► (M) naǧmaẗ al-baḥr, n.f., starfish, sea star: original Ar, or a calque?
► (M) naǧmaẗ al-ṣabāḥ, n.f., morning glory (bot.) : original Ar, or a calque?

► manǧūm, adj., starred; marked with a star or asterisk: neol., PP I from a hypothetical *naǧama ‘to mark with a star or asterisk’, denominal from naǧmaẗ.

For other derivatives, see ↗¹naǧm. – For other items of the root, see ↗naǧama, ↗¹naǧǧama, ↗²naǧǧama, ↗¹naǧm, ↗²naǧm, ↗³naǧm, ↗¹manǧam, ↗²manǧam, ↗manǧim, ↗^†minǧam, (AlgAr) ↗naǧām, and, for the whole picture, root entry ↗√NǦM.

¹manǧam منْجم , pl. manāǧimᵘ

√NǦM

1 source, origin; 2 mine; pit – WehrCowan1979; 3 ↗^†²manǧam

▪ The word is treated in BadawiHinds1986 (»²NGM«) as if from a separate root, homonymous but to be distinguished etymologically from »¹NGM« (nagmaẗ ‘a jinx’, nagam ‘to jinx, put the evil eye on’), but perh. only because the relation between the two is not so obvious. However, while manǧam in its basic meaning, [v1], clearly is a n.loc., *‘place where s.th. appears, comes in sight, originates from’, coined on the familiar maFʕaL pattern, from ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’, the EgAr ‘jinx’ is only indirectly from the same etymon; see ↗¹naǧǧama ‘to observe the stars; to predict the future from the stars, practice astrology’ (< ¹naǧm ‘star’ < ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’).
▪ [v2] ‘mine, pit’ is either a specialisation of [v1] in the sense of *‘place where metallic ore etc. originates from’, or dependent on ↗¹naǧm ‘star’, as *‘place where s.th. (metallic ore, etc.) comes in sight, sparkling like stars’.
▪ [v3] : see below, section DISC.

▪ …

–

▪ See above, section CONC.
▪ Another value of manǧam, now obsolete but attested in ClassAr, namely ^†‘well traced road; way out | chemin bien tracé et large’ (Hava1899, Kazimirski1860; see ↗^†²manǧam), is probably the same as ↗¹manǧam. It is treated separately here nevertheless, due to unclear semantics: how could the value ^†‘well traced road; way out’ be related to either ‘source, origin’ or ‘mine, pit’?

–

► manǧamī, adj., mining (in compounds): nisba formation.

For other items of the root, see ↗naǧama, ↗¹naǧǧama, ↗²naǧǧama, ↗¹naǧm, ↗²naǧm, ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ, ↗²manǧam, ↗manǧim, ↗^†minǧam, (AlgAr) ↗naǧām, and, for the whole picture, root entry ↗√NǦM.

²manǧam منْجم , pl. manāǧimᵘ

√NǦM

1 ↗¹manǧam; 2 ↗¹manǧam – WehrCowan1979; 3 ^†well traced road | chemin bien tracé et large – Hava1899, Kazimirski1860.

▪ The word is probably the same as ↗¹manǧam, but treated separately here because of unclear semantics: how could the value ^†‘well traced road; way out’ be related to either ‘source, origin’ or ‘mine, pit’? Riḍà1960 interprets it as maḫraǧ ‘way out’, but this does not help much to explain the word’s etymology either. Given that the primary meaning of manǧam is ‘source, origin, place where s.th. appears, comes in sight’ (n.loc., formed from ↗naǧama ‘to appear’, cf., e.g., ClassAr manǧam al-nahār ‘place where the sun rises’), the ‘well traced road’ is perh. the *‘road that appears (as a way out)’? The fact that manǧam also can signify a ‘mine, pit’ (↗¹manǧam) does not bring any light in this.

▪ …

–

▪ See above, section CONC.

–

^†manǧim منْجِم , pl. manāǧimᵘ

√NǦM

ankle-bone – Hava1899

▪ Obviously a maFʕiL formation from ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’, signifying the bone that protrudes (*‘appears, shows’) on the sides of a foot.

▪ Earliest attestation <735 CE in a verse by Ḏū ’l-Rummaẗ – HDAL_200620.

–

▪ See above, section CONC.
▪ …

–

^†minǧam مِنْجَم , pl. …

√NǦM

iron-beam of a balance | cette partie de la balance sur laquelle se trouve l’indicateur des poids – Hava1899, Kazimirski1860

▪ Unclear semantics. The word is a n.instr., coined along the familiar miC₁C₂aC₃ pattern, and should therefore signify a tool serving to carry out an action designated by the vb. ↗naǧama ‘to appear, come in sight’, so perh. *‘tool that makes the differences appear, indicates whether the weights are in balance or not yet’?

▪ …

–

▪ See above, section CONC.

–

AlgAr naǧām نجام

√NǦM

resources – Dozy1881.

▪ The meaning of AlgAr naǧām and the corresponding vb. II, naǧǧam ‘to have the power, be able to do s.th.’, seems to be the latest stage in a semantic development that goes back, ultimately, to the notion of ‘appearing, coming in sight’ (↗naǧama): > ‘to appear in the sky’ = ‘to rise (stars)’ > ‘star’ (↗¹naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ) > ‘to observe the stars’ (↗¹naǧǧama) > ^†‘to fix s.th. according to the course of stars, hence, at appointed terms’ (↗²naǧm) > ‘to accomplish s.th. at appointed terms, step by step, gradually’ (↗²naǧǧama) > ‘to accomplish (in general)’ (↗²naǧǧama) > ‘to be able, have the ability to accomplish s.th. (AlgAr naǧǧam), to have the resources to do so’ > ‘resources’. Alternatively, the semantics may be based directly on ↗naǧama, vb. I, ‘to appear’: > vb. II = causative formation, lit. *‘to make appear’ = ‘to create, accomplish’ etc.

▪ …

–

See section CONC, above.

–

► naǧǧam, vb. II, (AlgAr) to have the power, be able to do s.th.

For other items of the root, see ↗naǧama, ↗¹naǧǧama, ↗²naǧǧama, ↗¹naǧm, ↗²naǧm, ↗³naǧm, ↗naǧmaẗ, ↗¹manǧam, ↗²manǧam, ↗manǧim, ↗^†minǧam and, for the whole picture, root entry ↗√NǦM.

Permanent link

http://www2.hf.uio.no/common/apps/permlink/permlink.php?app=polyglotta&context=ctext&uid=da8e62ef-06ff-11ee-937a-005056a97067

Choose languages

Choose images, etc.

Choose languages

Choose display