conc▪ 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.
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