conc▪ [gnrl] : From among the four main values the vb. raqama can take in MSA, [v2] and [v3] seem to be older, while [v1] and [v4] prob. represent secondary developments. According to Landberg1923, the basic value of ClassAr raqama is [v2d] ‘to mark’ (as distinct, clearly standing out, etc.’), hence also raqm ‘marking, mark, chiffre’. Giving prominence to the Sem evidence outside Ar (Hbr, Pun, Aram Syr, Gz), Kogan2015: 121 #24 reconstructs protSem *rḳm ‘to embroider’, a value that is attested in ClassAr also for raqama. But ‘to mark, make look different, variegate’ may actually be the older value, from which ‘to embroider’ then would only be a specialisation. If Kogan is right, it is the other way round and ‘to mark’ is a generalisation based on the more specific ‘to embroider’.
▪ [v2] : Within [v2], value [v2c] ‘to imprint’ is only a variant of the basic [v2d], focusing on the result of ‘marking’ (i.e., leaving an imprint), and [v2b] ‘to brand’ represents a case of special use (‘marking’ horses etc.). The same may be true for [v2a] ‘to put (diacritical) points on a text’, unless it is secondary from [v1] ‘to write’ (see below).
▪ [v3] : The value ‘striping (a fabric)’ seems to be closely associated with tissues etc., thus in proximity to Kogan’s *‘embroidery’ and the value of RQM in other Sem languages. But one may also regard the ‘striping’ as a special form of the more general [v2d] ‘marking, making distinct’ (which, as we said above, may be the primary value).
▪ [v1] : The value ‘to write’ is prob. a secondary development, either based on [v2a] ‘to put (diacritical) points on a text’ or a denom. derivation from ↗al-raqīm, a term appearing for the first time in the Qurʔān (18:9) and traditionally held to mean ‘inscription tablet, writing, inscription’ (though the commentators were not sure about that and several other meanings have been suggested); the etymology of al-raqīm itself is not clear, but its FaʕīL (quasi-PP) form does not exclude the value *‘s.th. written; s.th. written upon’, which, ultimately, could be from *‘marking, making distinct’.
▪ [v4] : Like [v1], also [v4] ‘to number’ may either be another specialisation of [v2d] ‘to mark’ or denominative from ↗raqm ‘numeral, number’ (itself prob. based on [v2d]).
▪ For other values of, or akin to, raqama in ClassAr see root entry ↗RQM.
▪ …