conc▪ The etymology of mirǧal ‘cooking kettle, caldron; boiler’ is somewhat obscure. The idea that it could be from ↗¹riǧl ‘foot’ (as *‘kettle with “feet”’) is rejected by some scholars. If not *‘kettle with feet’, is mirǧal then perh. a *‘kettle placed on (some kind of) “feet” (e.g., stones)’? (Cf. †ʔarǧala ‘to set down, discharge’, denom. vb. IV, from ¹riǧl ‘foot’.) – In principle, the miFʕaL pattern is used to form nomina instrumenti, but this does not seem very meaningful for any of the values else associated with ↗√RǦL and, theoretically, candidates that could serve as bases of derivation. – I (S.G.) still think mirǧal is from ¹riǧl ‘foot’, perh. *‘instrument (kettle) that stands on its own “feet”’, like a foal\suckling that has become strong enough to stand on its own feet to get sucked by its mother (see ↗RǦL_8). Alternatively, it may be the *‘instrument that sets free (clouds of) steam etc.’, similar to ↗²riǧl ‘swarms\clouds (esp. of locusts)’.
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