Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ HLB_1 ʻhair, bristles; (to be) hairy, shaggy’ ↗hulb
▪ HLB_2 ʻanchor, grapnel, grappling iron, boat hook’ ↗hilb
▪ HLB_3 ʻlochia (med., vaginal discharge after giving birth, postpartum bleeding)’ ↗hulābaẗ
▪ HLB_4 ʻmuhallabiya/mahallabiya (dessert resembling blancmange)’ ↗mahallabiyyaẗ

Other values, now obsolete, include (Steingass1881, Lane viii 1893, Hava1899):

▪ ^†HLB_5 ʻto drench s.o. (dew), moisten, wetten (by lasting rain or dew)’: ^†halaba (u, hulb); cf. also ^†hallāb ʻcold wind with rain’
▪ ^†HLB_6 ʻto continue running, run uninterruptedly’: ^†halaba (u, hulb) and ^†ʔahlaba
▪ ^†HLB_7 ʻto scold, revile, lampoon, satirize’: ^†halaba (i, halb), ^†hallaba
▪ ^†HLB_8 ʻseverity (of fortune, of winter)’: ^†hulbaẗ (al-šitāʔ), hulubbaẗ
▪ ^†HLB_9 ʻto unsheath (a sword)’: ^†ĭhtalaba
▪ ^†HLB_10 ʻaffectionate; distant, shy (woman)’: ^†halūb; cf. also ^†ʔuhlūb ʻardour, impetuosity (in running; horse); (fig.) a kind of speech, way of praising\eulogizing’.
▪ …

▪ The root √HLB displays a large variety of values the relations betw. which is difficult to establish. DRS distinguishes eight main values in Sem, five of which are represented in Ar. Some of them contain in themselves are broad spectrum of meanings whose interrelatedness is not obvious. They are kept separate therefore here in EtymArab.
▪ HLB_1 (≙ DRS #HLB-1) hulb ʻhair, bristles; (to be) hairy, shaggy’: displays most of the obvious derivatives, both in MSA and ClassAr. – Of unknown etymology. DRS regards also [v7] ʻto scold, revile, lampoon, satirize’ and [v8] ʻseverity (of fortune, of winter)’ as belonging to this complex (see below).
▪ HLB_2 (≙ DRS #HLB-4) hilb ʻanchor, grapnel, grappling iron, boat hook’: for DRS , hilb is an EgAr var., while the actual item is halb. Etymology obscure; fig. use of [v1]? (Lane viii 1893 reports that hulb ʻpigs’ bristles’ were used to sew skins etc.). – Any relation to ↗ḥalbaẗ (pl. ḥalāʔibᵘ), which, accord. to Hava1899, also can mean ^†ʻanchor’ (though the regular meaning is ʻarena, race track’, in itself without obvious relation to ʻanchor’)?
▪ HLB_3 (cf. DRS #HLB-3) hulābaẗ ʻlochia (med., vaginal discharge after giving birth, postpartum bleeding)’: etymology unclear; DRS puts the item together with ^†[v5] ʻto drench, moisten, wetten (by lasting rain or dew)’. Should we add ^†[v6] (≙ DRS #HLB-2) ʻto continue running, run uninterruptedly’?
▪ HLB_4 (≙ DRS #HLB-5) mahallabiyyaẗ, var. muhallabiyyaẗ, ʻa dessert resembling blancmange’: vowel in first syllable not secured, DRS has mahallabiyyaẗ. – Prob. a re-import from Tu which had borrowed the word from Ar (with loss of emphatic ḥ). Traditionally, the name of the dish is derived from ↗ḥalab ʻmilk’, but derivation from ↗maḥlab ʻmahaleb, St Lucie cherry’ or ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻgalbanum; storax’ (↗ḥalab, ↗ḤLB) is more likely.
▪ HLB_5 (≙ DRS #HLB-3) ^†halaba (u, hulb) ʻto drench, moisten, wetten (by lasting rain or dew)’; cf. also ^†hallāb ʻcold wind with rain’; DRS sees also [v3] hulābaẗ ʻlochia’ as belonging here; perh. one has to add also ^†[v6] (≙ DRS #HLB-2) ʻto continue running, run uninterruptedly’. – Etymology obscure. On account of alleged extra-Sem cognates, Orel&Stolbova1994 #1196 posit a protSem *h˅lib‑ ‘to soak, be wet’, from AfrAs *hulüb‑ ‘to soak’.
▪ HLB_6 (≙ DRS #HLB-2) ^†halaba (u, hulb) and ^†ʔahlaba ʻto continue running, run uninterruptedly’: etymology obscure. DRS lists it as a distinct value, but it may have to be seen together with [v3] hulābaẗ ʻlochia’ and ^†[v5] ʻto drench, moisten, wetten (by lasting rain or dew)’.
▪ HLB_7 (cf. DRS #HLB-1) ^†halaba (i, halb) and ^†hallaba ʻto scold, revile, lampoon, satirize’: DRS juxtaposes this value to [v1] ʻhair, (pig’s, horse’s) bristles’ as well as ^†[v8] ʻseverity, intensity (of fortune, of winter)’. An explanation for their grouping may be fig. use of ʻhair, bristles’: ClassAr ^†halaba and ^†hallaba normally mean ʻto pluck (the hair); to clip (a horse’s tail)’, but when combined with bi-lisānih ʻwith one’s tongue, i.e., with words’, the meaning changes to ʻto satirise, revile, carp severely’, prob. because of the “hair-raising” or “stinging” effect of satire (and likewise of the cold or winter or the blow of destiny). From the point of semantic vicinity, also ^†[v5] ʻto drench, moisten, wetten (by lasting rain or dew)’ could seem to be a source of fig. use (ʻlampooning’ interpreted as a *ʻwettening’ of the object of satire by pouring down on him/her a *ʻrain/shower’ of biting comments). – Etymology obscure. Cf., however, Ehret1995#775, who sees Ar halaba ʻto scold, revile’ as an extension in »extendative« *‑b from a bi-consonantal »pre-protSem« root *hl ‘to shout’, from AfrAs *‑hāl‑/*‑hīl‑ ‘to cry, call out’ (↗√HLː (HLL)). (Other extensions from the same pre-protSem root would be ↗√HLHL ʻto repeat a voice, or raise and lower it alternatively; bewail the dead’, ↗√HLǦ ʻto tell incredible things’, and ↗√HLS ʻto laugh, jest, crack jokes’.
▪ HLB_8 (cf. DRS #HLB-1) ^†hulubbaẗ, hulbaẗ (al-šitāʔ) ʻseverity, intensity (of fortune, of winter)’: DRS groups this value together with [v1] ʻhair, (pig’s) bristles’ and [v7] ʻto scold, revile, lampoon, satirize’, probably because of the “hair-raising” or “stinging” effect of both satire and the winter’s cold or a blow of destiny; cf. the expr. ^†hālib al-šaʕr, lit., ʻhair-plucking’, as an attribute describing a ʻvehemently cold day’.¹ – Further etymology obscure.
▪ HLB_9 ^†ĭhtalaba ʻto unsheath (a sword)’: not registered in DRS, perh. fig. use of ^†halaba (i, halb) ʻto pull out the long hairs of a horse’s tail or the bristles of a pig’ and thus from [v1]?
▪ HLB_10 ^†halūb ʻaffectionate; distant, shy (woman)’: Accord. to ClassAr lexicographers (as summarized in Lane viii 1893), the adj. is used as an attribute either of a ʻ(woman) who draws near to her husband, or ingratiates herself with him; loving, affectionate, distant with respect to others’ or a woman who, contrary to the first, ʻis distant, or shy, with respect to her husband, or who alienates herself from him, or avoids or shuns him, and draws near to, or ingratiates herself with, her special friend’; the seeming contradiction is explained by some as stemming »from [v7] halabahū bi-lisānih ʻhe carped at him severely with his tongue’ because a wife carps either at her husband or at her friend, or from yawm hallāb ʻa day of gentle, constant, innocuous rain’ and in the latter sense from the same phrase as signifying ʻa day of rain attended by thunder and lightning and terrors, and destructive to dwellings’«. If this explanation reflects etymological truth, the value is fig. use of ^†[v7] ʻto lampoon’ and/or ^†[v5] ʻto drench, moisten, wetten; cold wind with rain’ as well as [v6] ʻto continue running, run uninterruptedly’; cf. also the double meaning in ^†ʔuhlūb ʻardour, impetuosity (in running; said of a horse); (fig.) a kind\way of speech, of praising, or eulogizing’.
▪ …

1. Cf. also ^†laylaẗ hālibaẗ ʻrainy night’; ^†hallāb, hallābaẗ ʻcold wind with rain’; ^†hallāb, halīb, muhallib ʻcold winter-day’.

▪ HLB_1: Other historically attested meanings derived from ʻhair’: ^†halaba (i, halb) ʻto pull out the long hairs of a horse’s tail or the bristles of a pig’, ^†haliba (a, halab) ʻto be hairy’, ^†hulbaẗ ʻthe hair that is above the pubes, extending near to the navel’.
▪ …

▪ DRS 5 (1995) #HLB-1 Ar hulb ʻcrins, soies, cheveux’, haliba ʻavoir beaucoup de cheveux’, halaba ʻarracher les cheveux, etc’; mahlūb ʻcheval à la queue coupée’, halaba ʻse moquer de, injurier’; halbaẗ ʻrigueur (de l’hiver, du sort, etc.)’, HispAr halb ʻdéfilage du tissu’, mahlūb ʻfuselé, en forme de fuseau’; maraz. hallab ʻdéchirer, mettre en lambeaux’. -2 halaba ʻfournir sans répit plusieurs courses (cheval)’, Soud. haylūb ʻchameau rapide, vif’, ? hilib ʻbateau’, ? hēlūb ʻhaut de taille’, MarazAr hᵃlab ʻcourir vite, pousser vivement devant soi’. -3 Ar halaba ʻtremper de rosée, ou de pluie’, hulābaẗ ʻarrière-faix’; ? ʔahlab, LibAr hilbaẗ ʻabondant en produits de la terre (année)’. -4 halb ʻancre, grappin, trident’, EgAr hilb ʻgrappin; croc de boucher’, hallib ʻvivre aux crochets des autres’. -5 mahallabiyyaẗ ʻflan de farine de riz à 1’eau de rose’. -6 Gz holob: sac à provision en peau . -7 Te halbä ʻfaire des incisions, saigner’. -8 Te həlbät : corde passée dans les naseaux d’un chameau.
▪ HLB_5: For Ar ^†halaba (i) ‘to soak, be wet’, Orel&Stolbova1994 #1196 see cognates in (WCh) Hs luḅuluḅū ‘sogginess’; in the items lūḅu-ri, ālub-tū, lup-ti, ləb-di, lub-ta, luḅwi-ti, luḅi-ke, luḅ‑, lub ‘to be/make wet’ in several CCh langs; and in the vb. lubi ‘to soak’ in an ECh lang.
▪ HLB_7: Ehret1995#775 suggests to regard Ar ^†halaba ʻto scold, revile’ as an extension in »extendative« *‑b from a bi-consonantal »pre-protSem« root *hl ‘to shout’, from AfrAs *‑hāl‑ / *‑hīl‑ ‘to cry, call out’, cf. ↗√HLː (HLL). Other extensions from the same pre-protSem root would be ↗√HLHL ʻto repeat a voice, or raise and lower it alternatively; bewail the dead’, ↗√HLǦ ʻto tell incredible things’, and ↗√HLS ʻto laugh, jest, crack jokes’.
▪ …

▪ ^†HLB_5: Orel&Stolbova1994 #1196 reconstructs protSem *h˅lib‑ ‘to soak, be wet’ (based exclusively on Ar), WCh *luḅ‑ < *luHub‑ (from the Hs word), CCh *luḅ‑ < *luHub‑ ‘to be/make wet’ (widely attested), and ECh *lub‑ (from 1 item) ‘to soak’, all from an hypothetical AfrAs *hulüb‑ ‘to soak’. An alternative reconstruction reflected by all Chad branches is *luhub‑.
▪ …

–

hulb هُلْب

ID … • Sw – • BP … • APD … • © SG | 20Feb2021

√HLB

n.coll. (n.un. ‑aẗ)

hair, bristles – Wehr1976

▪ Within the root ↗√HLB, hulb ʻhair, bristles’ seems to be the source of most of the obvious derivatives, both in MSA and ClassAr.
▪ The word itself is of unknown etymology. No cognates outside Ar.
▪ …

▪ Other historically attested meanings derived from ʻhair’: ^†halaba (i, halb) ʻto pull out the long hairs of a horse’s tail or the bristles of a pig’, ^†haliba (a, halab) ʻto be hairy’, ^†hulbaẗ ʻthe hair that is above the pubes, extending near to the navel’.
▪ …

▪ DRS regards the obsolete values ^†ʻto scold, revile, lampoon, satirize’ (^†halaba, ^†hallaba) and ^†ʻseverity, intensity (of fortune, of winter)’ (^†hulbaẗ, ^†hulubbaẗ) as belonging to this complex, prob. on account of the “hair-plucking, hair-raising” or “stinging” effect of both satire and the winter’s cold or a heavy blow of destiny.
▪ Should we also include ↗hilb ʻanchor, grapnel, grappling iron, boat hook’ in the picture? (Lane viii 1893 reports that accord. to some ClassAr lexicographers, pigs’ bristles were used to sew skins etc., hence *ʻbristles > needle > hook’?).
▪ ClassAr ^†ĭhtalaba, vb. VIII, ʻto unsheath (a sword)’ is perh. fig. use of ^†halaba (i, halb) ʻto pull out the long hairs of a horse’s tail or the bristles of a pig’, and thus from hulb.
▪ …

–

►haliba, a (halab), vb. I, to be hairy, covered with hair
►halib, adj., hairy, covered with hair; shaggy, hirsute
►ʔahlabᵘ, f. halbāʔᵘ, pl. hulb, adj., hairy, hirsute, shaggy

For other values attached to the root, see ↗hilb, ↗hulābaẗ, and ↗mahallabiyyaẗ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√HLB.

hilb هِلْب , pl. ʔahlāb

√HLB

anchor, grapnel, grappling iron, boat hook – Wehr1976

▪ Of obscure etymology. Is it akin to, and perh. even a development from, ↗hulb ʻhair, bristles’? Lane viii 1893 reports that accord. to some ClassAr lexicographers, pigs’ bristles were used to sew skins etc. – So, perh. *ʻbristles > needle > hook’?
▪ For DRS , hilb is an EgAr var., while the actual item is halb.
▪ Any relation to ↗ḥalbaẗ (pl. ḥalāʔibᵘ), which, accord. to Hava1899, also can mean ^†ʻanchor’ (though the regular meaning is ʻarena, race track’, in itself without obvious relation to ʻanchor’)?
▪ …

▪ …

▪ DRS 5 (1995) #HLB-4 LibAr halb ʻancre, grappin, trident’, EgAr hilb ʻgrappin; croc de boucher’, hallib ʻvivre aux crochets des autres’.
▪ …

▪ See above, section CONC.
▪ …

–

For other values attached to the root, see ↗hulb, ↗hulābaẗ, and ↗mahallabiyyaẗ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√HLB.

hulābaẗ هُلابة

√HLB

n.f.

lochia (med.; vaginal discharge after giving birth) – Wehr1976

▪ Etymology obscure. – DRS puts the item together with ^†ʻto drench, moisten, wetten (by lasting rain or dew)’. Should we add ^†ʻto continue running, run uninterruptedly’? See root entry ↗HLB for more details.
▪ …

▪ …

▪ DRS 5 (1995) #HLB-3 Ar halaba ʻtremper de rosée, ou de pluie’, hulābaẗ ʻarrière-faix’; ? ʔahlab, LibAr hilbaẗ ʻabondant en produits de la terre (année)’.
▪ …

▪ See above, section CONC.
▪ …

–

For other values attached to the root, see ↗hulb, ↗hilb, and ↗mahallabiyyaẗ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√HLB.

mahallabiyyaẗ مَهَلَّبيّة , var. muhallabiyyaẗ

√HLB

n.f.

a dessert resembling blancmange, made of rice flour, milk and sugar – Wehr1976

▪ Traditionally, the popular blancmange-like dessert called mahallabiyyaẗ or muhallabiyyaẗ is explained as a derivation from ↗ḥalab ʻmilk’ (see Nişanyan’s etymology, quoted below, section WEST). However, while the h instead of ḥ may be due to a re-import from Tu (where original Ar ḥ would have lost emphatic articulation), the morphological structure of the word – a f. nisba formation based on a PP II – runs contrary to such an interpretation, as form II is not attested and a nisba of PP II ʻmilk’ would mean *ʻbelonging to s.th. made milky, or milk-like’. In reality, we are prob. dealing with a popular re-interpretation of ^†maḥlabiyyaẗ ʻperfume containing ↗maḥlab’, i.e., ʻmahaleb’, a substance produced from the kernels of the St Lucie cherry. Mahaleb may have been used to flavour the sweet milky dish. The var. mahallabiyyaẗ (with ma‑ instead of mu‑) would support such an etymology.
▪ Alternatively, one may think of muhallabiyyaẗ as *ʻdish flavoured with ^†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax/galbanum’; see ↗ḥalab and root entry ↗√ḤLB.
▪ …

▪ ^†muḥallabaẗ ‘gelée mince de lait, de riz, d’amidon et d’un peu de parfum’, ^†muḥallabiyyaẗ ‘espèce de gelée’ – Dozy1881.
▪ …

▪ DRS 5 (1995) #HLB-5 mahallabiyyaẗ ʻflan de farine de riz à 1’eau de rose’.
▪ …

▪ See above, section CONC.
▪ …

▪ Tu mahallebi, var. muhallebi: 1451 muḥallebī ʻmilky’ (anon., Ferec baʕd eş-şiddeẗ) ḳalye-i Reşīdī, herīse-i muḥallebī, ḥalāve-i Meʔmūnī; 1665 ʻdessert made from milk’ (Evliyā Çelebī, Seyāḥatnāme) zülbiyāt u ḥulviyātı ve baklavası ve palūdesi ve muḥallebīsi ve ṣayf u şitāda [yaz kış] üçer kāse ḫoşābı. Nişanyan is convinced that the Tu word is from Ar *muḥallab ʻmilky, made with milk’ (< Ar ḥalab ʻmilk’), but adds as a note that »[a]lthough it is certain that it is of Ar origin, its Ar equivalent is not been attested« – Nişanyan_22Dec2014. – Nişanyan is not right: at least the dish mentioned by Evliyā Çelebī seems to be the muḥallabaẗ ‘gelée mince de lait, de riz, d’amidon et d’un peu de parfum’ or muḥallabiyyaẗ ‘espèce de gelée’ registered by Dozy1881 and others on the basis of Ar lexicographers. And: the Tu preference for the variant mahallebi instead of muhallebi indicates that a derivation from ↗maḥlab ʻmahaleb’, as suggested above (section CONC), should not be unlikely.
▪ …

For other values attached to the root, see ↗hulb, ↗hilb, and ↗hulābaẗ, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√HLB. – For the ʻtrue’ etymon, see ↗ḥalab and root entry ↗√ḤLB.

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