conc▪ The vb. ¹lāḥa represents one of three main values in the root ↗√LWḤ that one will find hard to connect: (a) *‘to become visible, flash’; (b) *‘to scorch, singe, sear, burn, parch, desiccate, wither, lose weight, get thinner’ (↗²lāḥa); and (c) *‘board, tablet, plank; shoulder blade’ (↗lawḥ). The latter is the only value that has cognates in Sem (although, in Ar, it may be a borrowing from Aram), which makes it tempting to assume that the other two are specifically Arabic developments from this value. However, none of the attempts to explain (a) or (b) as derivations from (c) are convincing. Moreover, both (a) and (b) show a fairly high degree of variation within their respective semantic fields, a fact that lets them appear old and genuine rather than later derivations. The semantic field belonging to ¹lāḥa spans from undoubtedly derived values, such as lawwaḥa ‘to flourish, brandish, swing, wave (bi‑ s.th.), to make a sign, signal; (fig.) to allude to, hint at’ (< *‘to let appear, make flash up’), hence also †‘to feed a child (*waving with the food/drink)’ and †milwāḥ ‘lure, decoy’ (*‘s.th. waved/signalled with < made to shine, etc., to attract attention and entice/lure into a trap), †līḥaẗ ‘polishing agent for mirrors’ (*‘what makes mirrors glitter’) and ↗lāʔiḥaẗ ‘program, project; bill, motion (esp., in parliament); order, decree, edict; ordinance; regulation, rule; pl. lawāʔiḥᵘ ‘outward appearance, looks, outward sign’ (< *‘s.th. flashing up, shining, giving a first idea of s.th., sketch, outline’) to less obviously related items, such as †¹lūḥ ‘airspace (above the Earth), vault of heaven’, †lāḥ ‘eggs rejected as unsuitable for hatching after having “X-rayed” (candled) them by holding them against the sun-light’, and perh. also †ʔalāḥa ‘to be afraid (min of s.o.), frightened, blush (min at a word)’.
▪ Borg2021 suggests comparison with (and derivation from?) Eg ꜣḫ (Urk. IV, 18th Dyn.) ‘schön, herrlich, trefflich, nützlich sein | glorious, splendid’ (Brockelmann 1932: 100 | Faulkner 1962: 4); ꜣḫ.t ‘Sonnenglanz’; ꜣḫ.t (NK) ‘eye, esp. eye of the sun’ (Wb I 13, 17). If this etymology is valid it could explain the high degree of variation among the derivations of ¹lāḥa and, thus, its old age as well as the fact that the Ar word is apparently without cognates in other Sem languages.
▪ In contrast, Gabal2012: 2013 suggests a derivation of all LWḤ values from a basic notion of *‘breadth, evenness and dryness or compactness in s.th.’, in his view exemplarily represented in ↗lawḥ ‘board, tablet, plank’. For him, ‘breadth’ implies a higher degree of ‘visibility’, so he derives (a) ‘to be(come) visible, flash up’ from (c) ‘board, tablet, plank (< *broad, even, dry, compact thing’). The strength of his argument is the fact that, among all LWḤ items, only lawḥ has a deeper Sem dimension. On the other hand, compared to Borg’s idea of an Eg influence, Gabal’s theory seems rather far-fetched. Cf., however, a value of lawḥ given by ClassAr lexicographers, namely ‘tout ce qui, par sa surface plate et polie, reflète la lumière’ (BK1860) where s.th. with a flat, even, polished surface (as would be a ‘board, tablet, plank’) is combined with the reflexion of light, and the latter may look as if it could be derived from the former. Such a derivation can look tempting, but it would certainly need to be corroborated by broader and more reliable evidence—after all, the semantic “bridge” may be a homogenizing construction made by lexicographers to explain diversity within the root and give it more coherence.
▪ In a similar way, a semantic bridge betw. (a) *‘to shine, appear, flash, etc.’ and (b) *‘to scorch, singe, sear, burn, parch, desiccate, wither, etc.’ (↗²lāḥa) could be the obsol. †lāḥ ‘eggs found unsuitable for hatching after having “X-rayed” (i.e., candled) them by holding them against the sun-light’. This item combines the notions of ‘shining, light’ and ‘desiccation, emaciation, shrinking (> infertility?)’ etc.
▪ An essential element in the original semantics seems to be the notion of *surprise and *speed, or *quick passing, as in the glittering of things, the breaking through of the first sunrays at dawn, the flashing of a lightening, or sudden appearance of an idea or an image, or the sudden blushing (at a harsh word), or the waving with a decoy (letting it appear and disappear).
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