▪ ḤLB_1 (≙
DRS #ḤLB-1) ʻmilk, to milk’: While Huehnergard2011 posits protSem *
x̣alab‑ ‘milk’, Kogan2015 (82 #20) thinks that »[t]here is no trace of *
ḥalab‑ ‘milk’ in Akk as nAss
ḫalāpu ‘to milk’ and
ḫilpu ‘milk’ are obvious Aram loanwords. The Akk semantic equivalent is
šizbu ‘milk’, with no reliable etymology.« Kogan therefore restricts his reconstruction to protWSem.
▪
DRS #ḤLB-1 asks whether the first radical in √ḤLB shouldn’t perh. be analysed as a prefix *Ḥ‑ so that we actually might be dealing with *√Ḥ‑LB. No further discussion about the possible nature of such a prefix *Ḥ‑ ; for the remaining element *LB, the authors suggest to compare
†LBʔ [
†libaʔ ‘biestings, first milk, colostrum’] and LBN [↗
laban ‘milk’].
▪ With the exception of ḤLB_5 ʻAleppo’,
†ḤLB_15 ʻivy’,
†ḤLB_16 ʻto be black (hair)’ and
†ḤLB_17 ʻintelligent (humans)’ (as well as, perh., ḤLB_4 ʻmahaleb;
bot.’ and
†ḤLB_9 ‘the covering, exterior part, peel, or the like, of s.th.’), all other values may be ultimately derived from ḤLB_1 ʻmilk, to milk’.
▪ ḤLB_2 (≙
DRS #ḤLB-8)
ḥalbaẗ ʻrace track, race ground, arena, hippodrome; (hence also:) horse race’: The original meaning seems to have been ‘troupeau dont les pièces viennent à la file, l’une après l’autre (BK), horses assembled from every quarter, for a race (Lane)’. With this, the semantics of
ḥalbaẗ come close to that of a basic *ʻconfluence from several directions, with a common goal, contributing to achieving a common aim’, as expressed in
†[v7] ‘to assemble, come together from every quarter’,
†[v8] ʻto assist, come to the rescue of s.o.’, and
†[v10] ‘vein on the two sides of the navel’, all of which may be developments from the primary value of [v1] ʻmilking’ (see below), the idea being that several quarters are “milked” to produce a substantial result. – In ClassAr,
ḥalbaẗ may occasionally also replace
†ḥalībaẗ (then also with the pl.
ḥalāʔibᵘ) ʻcompanies, assemblies, troops; sons of the paternal uncle; a man’s assistants, auxiliaries, consisting of the sons of the paternal uncle in particular’. – If this etymology is correct, we are facing a rather curious\strange line of development: *ʻmilk > to milk > to “milk” parts of a clan\several quarters\regions > to come together, assemble from several parts etc. to assist in achieving a common goal (i.e., filling the “milk bowl”) > to line up for that goal > to race ground’.
▪ ḤLB_3 (≙
DRS #ḤLB-5): Unless an isolated item and/or a loan from an unknown source,
ḥulbaẗ ʻfenugreek’ may perh. be related to ḤLB_1 ʻmilk, to milk’, given the fact that »le fenugrec est recommandé aux accouchées et pour soutenir la lactation«, as observed by
DRS (discussion of #ḤLB-5).
▪ ḤLB_4 : According to Huehnergard2011,
maḥlab ʻmahaleb (Prunus mahaleb;
bot.)’ is from
ḥalaba ʻto milk’; but details remain unexplained. Do we have any data to support this hypothesis? According to BK1860, the mahaleb (St Lucie) cherries came from the Persian province of Azerbaijan and, thus, were of foreign origin—so perh. also the word itself? If Huehnergard is right, in which way then is the St Lucie cherry related to ʻmilk’ or the act of ʻmilking’? If not a loanword, did the plant get its name from the seeds, the cherry stones, which are white
like milk? Or from the fragrant oil that was “milked”, i.e., extracted, from the seeds? Morphologically, the latter cannot be excluded, while the former would be rather unlikely. – See also [v11] and perh. also [v13], below.
▪ ḤLB_5 ʻAleppo’: Folk etymology often explains the name of the Syrian city ²
Ḥalabᵘ as the place where Abraham would have milked his flocks, to associate the place with the holy man. Another folk etymology that likewise links ²
Ḥalabᵘ ʻAleppo’ to ¹
ḥalab ʻmilk’ holds that the name derives from the marble, white like milk, found at Aleppo. In reality, however, the name (which is attested in Akk, Eg, and Hittite as early as the 2nd millennium BCE) probably reflects much older linguistic strata. Among the etymologies that have been suggested is also an Amorite word for ʻiron’ or ʻcopper’, since the area served as a major source of these metals in antiquity.
▪
†ḤLB_6 ʻmorning and evening’: ClassAr lexicographers explain the dual expression
†al-ḥalbatāni as ʻthe two milking times’ (BK1860, Lane1865), thus linking [v6] to [v1].
▪
†ḤLB_7 (≙
DRS #ḤLB-7)
†ḥalaba (
u,
ḥalb,
ḥulūb) ‘venir de toutes parts, affluer / to assemble\collect o.s., come together from every quarter’: see [v2], above, and next item.
▪
†ḤLB_8
†ʔaḥlaba (also
†ĭstaḥlaba) ʻto assist, come to the rescue (party)’: This value seems to be a generalization/semantic extension of an earlier ʻto milk for s.o., support s.o. by providing milk for him/her’, attested, e.g., in the expression
ʔaḥlaba ʔahlahū ʻhe milked for his family, conveyed to his tribe what had been milked’ (Lane1865).
†ʔaḥlaba may also mean ʻto assist s.o. to milk, in milking’, hence the general sense of ʻto assist’ in ClassAr. From this, also the value ʻto assemble, come together from every quarter, to render aid\for war’ and hence also the general
†[v7] ‘to come together from every quarter’ seem to be derived. See also [v2], above.
▪
†ḤLB_9
†ḥalab ‘the covering, exterior part, peel, or the like, (syn.
qišr) of s.th.’ (Lane): relation (if any) to the other items unclear.
▪
†ḤLB_10
†ḥālib ‘vein on the two sides of the navel’, (BK) ‘veine du femur’, du.
†al-ḥālibāni ‘les deux veines autour du nombril’: the value seems to be related to the idea of *ʻflowing together, collecting, assembling’ (see values [v2], [v7], [v8], above) which in itself is prob. based on [v1] ʻmilk, to milk’.
▪
†ḤLB_11
†muḥallabaẗ ʻgelée mince de lait, de riz, d’amidon et d’un peu de parfum’; cf. also
†muḥallabiyyaẗ ‘espèce de gelée’ (Dozy1881): The word was borrowed into Tu (
muḥallebī, with
ḥ pronounced [h]), then reimported into Ar (with /h/ instead of the original /ḥ/) as
muhallabiyyaẗ, var. ↗
mahallabiyyaẗ ‘dessert resembling blancmange, made of rice flour, milk and sugar’. The whiteness of the dish would prompt a spontaneous derivation of its name from [v1] ʻmilk’, but morphology – it is a PP II and would thus mean *ʻmade milky’ – seems to forbid such an etymology. Could it be a popular re-interpretation of
†maḥlabiyyaẗ ʻperfume containing [v4]
maḥlab’, used to flavour the sweet milky dish? Or *ʻdish flavoured with [v13]
†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax/galbanum’ (only unreliably attested)?
▪
†ḤLB_12
†ḥullab ‘a milky, evergreen plant much sought by sheep or gazelles’: also
†ḥallabaẗ (BK1860). Descriptions of the plant in ClassAr dictionaries suggest a connection of the plant’s name with [v1] ʻmilk’. Thus,
†ḥullab may have its name either from the fact that »it increases the milk, and fattens; and gazelles are snared [while pasturing] upon it«, or from the fact that »when a piece of it is cut off, a milky fluid flows from it« (Lane ii 1865). – Perh. related to [v14]; see also [v15].
▪
†ḤLB_13
†ḥalbānaẗ ʻstorax’: To all of EtymArab’s knowledge, the word is not reliably attested (but appears in Hava1899 and Zaborski2013). In contrast, in Sem outside Ar, there is plenty of evidence of an aromatic gum resin called
kʰalbánē in Grk, i.e., ‘galbanum’ (> Lat
galbanum), identified by Zaborski2013 with Ar
†ḥalbānaẗ: BiblHbr
ḥälbᵊnāʰ, Aram
ḥälbᵊnīṯā, TargAram
ḥälbᵊnêtâ,
ḥälbānᵊtâ, JudPalAram
ḥlbnh, Syr
ḥelbānīṯā, all ʻgalbanum’ (cf. prob. also Eg
ḫa=ra=pa=ta */
hilbatta/, n.f. ʻwater perfumed with galbanum’ – Hoch1994 #348). »Galbanum is an aromatic gum from a plant indigenous to Iran used in incense.
1
The use in perfuming water is supported by an Akk text that lists
ḫilbanītu2
among herbs for a ritual ablution« (Hoch1994 ibid.). The descriptions of galbanum and its use resemble quite closely those of storax which, like galbanum, is a natural resin that was used in antiquity as a perfume, incense, fragrant hair dye, or for flavouring wine. – Like others, Huehnergard2011 holds that Grk
kʰalbanē is of NWSem origin, and ultimately from *
ḥalab ‘milk’. In contrast, Hoch1994 thinks that »[t]he standard etymology of this word from ʻmilk’ is impossible, since, as the Grk transcription shows, the first consonant is /
ḫ/ and not /
ḥ/« (ibid.). – Given the scarce attestation in Ar, Hoch assumes that Ar
†ḥalbānaẗ »is prob. a loan from Aram/Syr« (ibid., fn. 53).
▪
†ḤLB_14
†ḥilbāb or
†ḥulbūb ʻmercury (mercurialis annua;
bot.)’, a plant of the euphorbiaceae species: The identification of
†ḥilbāb/
ḥulbūb with ʻmercurialis annua’ seems doubtful, as ʻmercurialis annua’ does not have the milky juice that else is typical of the euphorbiaceae species. If the Ar word means another kind of euphorbia, it is prob. akin to [v1]
ḥalab ʻmilk’, meaning a *ʻmilky plant’.
▪
†ḤLB_15
†ḥiliblāb, vulg.
ḥalablūb ʻivy’ (Bustānī1860, Dozy1881): var. of ↗
liblāb ʻivy’, prob. unrelated to [v1]
ḥalab ʻmilk’, but identified by some with
†[v12]
ḥullab.
▪
†ḤLB_16 (≙
DRS #ḤLB-6)
†ḥaliba (
a,
ḥalab) ‘to be(come) black (hair)’; cf. also
†ḥulub (pl. of which the sg. is not mentioned) ‘black (animals)’ (Lane, BK),
†ḥulbūb ‘intensely black’: of obscure etymology.
▪
†ḤLB_17
†ḥulub (pl. of which the sg. is not mentioned) ʻintelligent (humans)’ (Lane, BK): prob. metaphoric use, but unclear of what –
†[v16] ʻblack (hair)’? Relation (if any) to the other items of √ḤLB remains unclear so far.
EtymArab
ʔ
