conc▪ Semantic relations within the root are still rather obscure. There seem to be two larger complexes ([v1] *‘to be little, small, insignificant, rare, inferior’, attested also in other Sem langs, and [v2][v3][v6] *‘summit; to be high, rise; to raise, lift’) as well as at least two loanwords ([v8] ³qullaẗ ‘jug, pitcher’ and †[v10] qilliyyaẗ ~ †qillāyaẗ ʻcell; closet’). Some of the other values may be related to, or derived from, the aforementioned, others are hard to connect. Leaving loanwords aside, the question is whether the remaining values all depend on [v1] as Ar idiosyncrasies, or whether they have other etymologies, or whether, perhaps, Ar has preserved in them some more original value, lost in other Sem langs, on which [v1] itself might be based.
▪ [v1] ¹qalla (qill, qull, qillaẗ) ʻ(to be\become) little, small, few, insignificant; (to be) rare, scarce; to decrease, diminish, grow less; (to be) inferior’: from Sem *QLL ‘light, little, fast’ – Bergsträsser1928. – Is †[v11] †qill ʻlow wall’ directly akin to [v1]? – Should we also connect [v2] and [v3], regarding the notion of *‘rising, raising’ implied in them as the result of *‘being light’? But there are other suggestions, see below.
▪ [v2] ²qalla (qall) ʻto pick up, raise, lift, carry’: based on [v1] (see preceding), or rather forming a semantic complex with [v3] and [v6], based on *‘highest point, top’? – LandbergZetterstein1942 suggested that it is a development from ↗√QNː (QNN) ‘to be high, elevated’, with n > l.
▪ [v3] ĭstaqalla ʻto rise; to be independent; to possess alone; to board (s.th., e.g., a ship)’: Similar to [v2], the value is of obscure etymology. The basic meaning seems to be *‘to separate o.s., stand out’, which could be a development from [v1], as form X is desiderative and could thus express a *‘wish/effort to appear singular, look small, little (as compared to the rest from which one separates/distances o.s.)’. But it could also be based on [v6] ʻhighest point, top’, the desiderative form X expressing a *‘wish/effort to reach the top of s.th., look as if standing on the top, being exceptional’. Wahrmund II 1887 has also an obsolete †qull ʻeinsam, vereinzelt’ (not mentioned elsewhere though) that would fit as a base to derive the meaning of *‘separating o.s., wishing to stand out, look exceptional’ from.
▪ [v4] qill ʻtremor’: etymology obscure. A secondary semantic development, based on †[v13] ʻto become angry; to seize s.o. (fear)’ (which in turn may be from [v6])?
▪ [v5] qallaẗ ʻrecovery, recuperation; restoration of prosperity’: etymology obscure; perh. from [v3] ‘to rise’?
▪ [v6] ¹qullaẗ ʻhighest point; top, summit; apex; vertex’: etymology obscure. – LandbergZetterstein1942 suggested that it was a phonetic variant of/development from ↗qunnaẗ ‘mountaintop, summit, peak’, with n > l (cf. also ↗qimmaẗ, with m); see also [v2] and [v3] above, which may be based on [v6]. – See also below, section DISC.
▪ [v7] ²qullaẗ ʻ(cannon) ball’: etymology obscure. Could be a foreign word; cf. perh. Engl cannon (< oFr canon < It cannone ʻlarge tube, barrel’, augmentative of Lat canna ʻreed, tube’; cf. ↗qanāẗ, ↗qānūn, ↗qinnīnaẗ).
▪ [v8] ³qullaẗ ʻjug, pitcher’: from Aram qwltā (Zimmern1914: qullətā), Syr qūltā ʻwine jar’ – Fraenkel1886.
▪ [v9] ¹qilliyyaẗ, in bi-qilliyyati-h ʻcompletely, wholly, entirely’ (adv.): Obscure semantics, can hardly be connected to any of the main values ([v1] *ʻlittle, small, light’, [v2][v3][v6] *ʻto rise, raise, be high, top, peak’) nor to that of the homonymous ↗²qilliyyaẗ ʻcell; closet’ ([v10]).
▪ [v10] ²qilliyyaẗ, also qallāyaẗ ~ qillāyaẗ ʻcell; closet; residence of a bishop’: via Syr qellītā from Lat cella ʻsmall chamber, cell’ < IE *kel- ʻto cover, hide’ – Rolland2014.
▪ †[v11] : †qill ʻlow wall’: akin to [v1] ?
▪ †[v12] : †muqallal ʻadorned with a stud (sword)’: perh. < *ʻadorned with a peak, with s.th. standing out/protruding’, from [v6] ¹qullaẗ ʻhighest point, top’?
▪ †[v13] : †ĭstaqalla ʻto become angry; to seize s.o. (fear)’: perh. metaphorical *ʻto seek to overwhelm, sit on top of, overcome s.o.’, from [v6] ¹qullaẗ ʻhighest point, top’? ▪ …