Bibliotheca Polyglotta

1 to pass judgment, express an opinion (ʕalà, fī on s.th.), judge (ʕalà s.th., bi‑by, from); 2 to decide, give a decision, pass a verdict, pass sentence (ʕalà on); 3 to sentence (ʕalà s.o., bi‑ to a penalty; said of the judge), impose, inflict (bi‑ a penalty) on s.o. (ʕalà); 4 to pronounce a verdict or judgment, deliver judgment, rule (li‑ in s.o.’s favor); 5 to order, command ( bi‑s.th.); 6 to adjudicate, adjudge, award (bi‑, li‑ to s.o. s.th.); 7 to take (bi‑ s.th.) as a standard or norm; 8 to have judicial power, have jurisdiction, have authority (ʕalà over), govern, rule, dominate, control (ʕalà or s.o.); 9 to bridle, check, curb (s.th., s.o.) – WehrCowan1976.

conc

▪ The semantic spectrum of MSA ḥakama covers two main ideas: ʻto pass judgment, sentence, order, command’ (values [v1]-[v7]) and ʻto govern, control, check’ (values [v8]-[v9]). The notions of ʻaccuracy, perfection, suitability’ and ʻwisdom, knowledge’ that appear in other items of √ḤKM (↗ʔaḥkama; ↗ḥikmaẗ, ↗ḥakīm) are absent.¹ Huehnergard2011 posits a »CSem« *ʻto be wise, judge’, Kogan2015 a »WSem« *ʻto be wise’ as earlier layers of Sem. However, as already pointed out by Jeffery1938, ʻto be wise, judge’ seems to be a secondary value (at least in Ar), developed under Aram influence (↗ḥikmaẗ), while the more original notion in Ar seems to be that of *ʻto govern’.
▪ Our own hypothesis is a development from an original *‘containment, restriction, solid fencing’ (preserved in Gz taḥakama ʻto restrain, withhold’ and Ar items such as ↗ḥakamaẗ ʻbridle, martingale’) via ʻto keep under control, govern’ to ʻto be wise’ (wisdom as s.th. a person capable of keeping control over s.th. gives proof of). The latter may be a borrowing from Aram, while ʻto govern, control’ represents a more genuine development from ʻto bridle, check, curb, contain, restrict, fence’.
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1. The ClassAr intr. vb. ^†ḥakuma ʻto be(come) wise, like a ḥakīm’ seems to be a secondary formation, denominative from ḥakīm.

hist

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cogn

▪ DRS 9 (2010) #ḤKM-1 Akk ḫakāmu ‘comprendre’, Ug ḥkm, Hbr ḥakam ‘être sage’, EmpAram ḥkm ‘instruire’, BiblAram ḥᵊkam, Ar ḥakuma ‘être sage, savant (surtout en médecine)’, ḥakama ‘exercer le pouvoir, prononcer une sentence juridique; retenir, contenir, empêcher de, museler; faire solidement’, Ug ḥkmt, Phoen EmpAram YaAram ḥkmh, Ar ḥikmaẗ ‘sagesse’, ḥakam ‘arbitre, vieillard’, Sab mḥkm ‘règlement d’un litige, traité de paix’, Mhr ḥəkūm, Jib ḥkum, Soq ḥkom ‘devenir/être vieux’, ḥkəm ‘juger’, Mhr ḥəkūm, Jib ḥkum ‘pointer (un fusil); condamner; gouverner’, Ḥrs ḥəkōm ‘gouverner; conquérir’, Gz taḥakama ‘retenir’, Te ḥakma ‘décider, diriger’. – Ar ʔaḥkama ‘raffermir, consolider’. [Same attestations also in Kogan2015: 82-83 #18.] -2 Tña ḥakäm exprime le bruit de la manducation des herbes, ḥakäm bälä ‘happer une gueulée d’herbes, brouter’.
▪ Unlike DRS, Orel&Stolbova1994 #1497 align Ar ḥkm (u) ʻto take’ (sic!) with Akk ekēmu ʻto take away (by force)’ (CAD). – Outside Sem the authors see cognates in 2 CCh languages (kum-anuʔ, kum-ʔʋwi ‘to obtain’), 4 Rift idioms (3x kom‑ ‘to have’, 1x *kom-os‑ ‘to grip’), and Dhl kam‑ ‘to hold’.
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disc

▪ Our own hypothesis follows Kogan’s opinion that the Akk ḫakāmu ‘to know, understand’ is a borrowing from WSem. We further suggest that the WSem *ḥkm ‘to be wise’ is a secondary development, based on an earlier ʻto keep control, govern’ (as in MSA ḥakama), from ʻto contain, restrict, fence, (from?) to bridle, curb’. But this assumption remains rather speculative, as the value posited as primary here is not preserved elsewhere than in Ar (and a single occurrence of ʻto contain, withhold’ in Gz). Akk ekēmu ʻto take away (by force)’ may be pertinent (as suggested by Orel&Stolbova1994 and considered an interesting possibility by Kogan2015); semantically, however, ʻto contain, restrict, withhold, bridle, curb’ and ʻto take away (by force)’ are still too distant as to take the Akk evidence as clear proof of an older common Sem layer.
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west

▪ Huehnergard 2011: Engl ¹hakim, from Ar ↗ḥakīm ‘wise (man), sage, doctor’, from ḥakama ‘to judge, decide, govern’; ²hakim, from Ar ḥākim ‘ruling; ruler, governor’, PA of ḥakama (this entry).
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deriv

►ḥukima ʕalay-hi bi’l-ʔiʕdām, expr., he was sentenced to death
►ḥukima bi-ʔidānati-h, to convict s.o., find s.o. guilty (jur.)
►ḥukima bi-barāʔati-hī, to acquit s.o. (jur.).

►ḥakkama, vb. II, 1 to appoint (s.o.) as ruler; 2 to choose (s.o.) as arbitrator, make (s.o.) the judge (fī over or in s.th., bayna between): D-stem; ¹v: denom. from ↓ḥākim; ²v: denom. from ↓ḥakam.
►ḥākama, vb. III, 1 to prosecute (s.o.); 2 to arraign, bring to trial, hale into court (s.o.); 3 to interrogate, hear (s.o.): L-stem, assoc.
►ʔaḥkama, vb. IV, 1 to make (s.th.) firm, strong, sturdy, solid; 2 to fortify (s.th.); 3 to strengthen, consolidate (s.th.); 4 to do well, do expertly, master (a field, work), be proficient (in): *Š-stem, caus. | ~ ʔamra-hū, to do s.th. thoroughly, carefully, properly; ~ qafl al-bāb, to lock the door firmly; ~ luġaẗan, to master a language.
►^BP#3360taḥakkama, vb. V, 1 to have one’s own way (fī in), proceed (fī with) at random, at will, handle (fī s.th.) arbitrarily; 2 to pass arbitrary judgment (fī on); 3a to make o.s. the judge (ʕalà of), pass judgment (ʕalà on); b to decide (bi‑ on); 4a to rule, reign, hold sway (fī over); b to dominate, control (fī s.th.), be in control, be in command (fī of): Dt-stem, self-ref.
►taḥākama, vb. VI, 1 to bring one another before the judge (ʔilà al-ḥākim); 2 to appeal (ʔilà to) for a legal decision; 3 to be interrogated, be heard (in court): Lt-stem; ¹v: reciprocal, denom. from ↓ḥākim or ↓maḥkamaẗ; ²v: self-ref., denom. (*‘to turn to a judge\court to obtain s.th. for o.s.’); ³v: quasi-pass.
►ĭḥtakama, vb. VIII, 1 to have one’s own way (fī in), proceed (fī with, in s.th.) at will, at random, handle (fī s.th.) arbitrarily, judge arbitrarily; 2 to rule, reign, hold sway (ʕalà, fī over); 3 to be in control, be in possession (ʕalà of); 4 to appeal (ʔilà to) for a legal decision, seek a decision (ʔilà from), have s.o. (ʔilà) decide.
►ĭstaḥkama, vb. X, 1 to be strong, sturdy, solid, firm; 2 to become stronger, be strengthened, be consolidated; 3 to take root, be or become deep-rooted, deep-seated, ingrained, inveterate, marked, pronounced (feeling, trait): *Št-stem, self-ref., intr. of vb. IV.

►^BP#311^BP#311ḥukm, pl. ʔaḥkām, n., 1 judgment, valuation, opinion; 2 decision; 3 (legal) judgment, verdict, sentence; 4 condemnation, conviction; 5 administration of justice; 6 jurisdiction; 7 legal consequence of the facts of a case (Isl.. Law); 8 regulation, rule, provision, order, ordinance, decree; 9 judiciousness, wisdom; 10 judgeship; 11 command, authority, control, dominion, power; 12 government, regime; 13 pl. ʔaḥkām, statutes, by-laws, regulations, rules, provisions, stipulations, principles, precepts: vn. I | ḥukman, adv., 1 virtually; 2 legally; bi-ḥukmⁱ…, adv., 1 by virtue of, on the strength of, pursuant to; 2 by force of; fī ḥukmⁱ…, prep., as good as, all but, e.g., huwa fī ḥukm al-ʕadam, expr., it is as good as nothing, it is practically nonexistent; ʔaṣbaḥa fī ḥukm al-muqarrar, expr., it is all but decided; kāna fī ḥukm al-šayʔ, vb., also: to be subject to s.th.; nazala ʕalà ḥukmi-h, vb., to give in, yield to s.o.; ḥukm al-barāʔaẗ, n., acquittal; ḥukm huḍūrī, n., judgment delivered in the presence of the litigant parties, after oral proceedings (jur.); ḥukm bi’l-ʔiʕdām, n., death sentence; ḥukm ġiyabī, n., judgment by default (jur.); al-ḥukm al-ḏātī, n., selfdetermination, autonomy (pol.); ḥukm ǧumhūrī, n., the republican form of government, the republican regime; ḥukm muṭlaq, n., the absolute, i.e., authoritarian, regime; ḥukm niyābī, n., the parliamentary regime, parliamentarianism; laǧnaẗ al-ḥukm, n.f., board of examiners, review board; ʔaḥkām al-ʕurfiyyaẗ, nonhum.pl., martial law; ʔaḥkām ĭntiqāliyyaẗ, nonhum.pl., provisional regulations (jur.); ʔaḥkām ḫitāmiyyaẗ, nonhum.pl., final regulations (jur.); ʔaḥkām ḫāṣṣaẗ, nonhum.pl., special regulations; li-kull sinn ḥukmu-h, expr., every age has its own set of rules, must be judged by its own standards; lil-ḍarūraẗ ʔaḥkām, expr.,necessity has its (own) rules, (approx.: necessity knows no law).
►ḥukmī, adj., legal: nisba formation from the preceding.
►ḥikimdār (Eg.), n., 1 commandant; 2 chief of police: from ḥik(i)m, dial. var. of ḥukm, + Pe suffix ‑dār ‘owner of…’, from Pers dādan, prs-stem dār‑ ‘to have’.
►ḥikimdāriyyaẗ (Eg.), n.f., commandant’s office: abstract formation in ‑iyyaẗ from the preceding.
►^BP#4081ḥakam, pl. ḥukkām, n., 1 arbitrator, arbiter; 2 umpire, referee.
►^BP#1559ḥikmaẗ, pl. ḥikam, n.f., 1 wisdom; 2 sagacity; 3 wise saying, aphorism; 4 maxim; 5 underlying reason | li-ḥikmaẗ … (with foll. genit.), prep., on account of, because of: cf. separate entry ↗ḥikmaẗ.
►ḥikmī, adj., gnomic, aphoristic, expressing maxims: nisba formation from the preceding. | šiʕr ~, n., gnomic poetry.
►ḥakamaẗ, pl. ‑āt, n.f., bit (of a horse’s bridle): perh. one of the earliest values.
►^BP#1948ḥakīm, pl. ḥukamāʔᵘ, adj., 1a wise, judicious; b wise man, sage; 2a philosopher; b physician, doctor: ↗s.v.
►ḥakīmbāšī, n., senior physician, chief surgeon: nisba formation from the preceding.
►^BP#103ḥukūmaẗ, pl. ‑āt, n.f., government: ↗s.v.
►^BP#884ḥukūmī, adj., 1 of government, governmental; 2 official; 3 state-owned, statecontrolled, of the state, state- (in compounds): nisba formation from the preceding.
►ʔaḥkamᵘ, adj., wiser: elative of ḥakīm.
►^BP#540maḥkamaẗ, pl. maḥākimᵘ, n.f., court, tribunal: n.loc. | maḥkamaẗ al-ĭstiʔnāf and maḥkamaẗ ĭstiʔnāfiyyaẗ, n.f., court of appeal, appellate court; maḥkamaẗ ʔahliyyaẗ, n.f., indigenous court (Eg.; jurisdiction limited to Egyptian nationals); maḥkamaẗ ĭbtidāʔiyyaẗ, n.f., court of first instance; maḥkamaẗ ĭbtidāʔiyyaẗ kulliyaẗ, n.f., civil court with jurisdiction in cases of major importance, at the same time appellate instance of maḥākim ǧuzʔiyyaẗ (Eg.); maḥkamaẗ ǧuzʔiyyaẗ, n.f., 1 in Eg., lowest court of both maḥkamaẗ ʔahliyyaẗ (approx.: district courts) and of maḥkamaẗ šarʕiyyaẗ, canonical courts (with jurisdiction in marital and family matters); 2 summary court; maḥkamaẗ al-ǧināyāt, n.f.,criminal court; maḥkamaẗ al-ʔaḥwāl al-šaḫṣiyyaẗ, n.f., courts dealing with vital statistics; maḥkamaẗ muḫtaliṭaẗ, n.f., mixed court (with jurisdiction over residents of foreign nationality); maḥkamaẗ šarʕiyyaẗ, n.f., canonical court (administering justice on the basis of the Sharia), court dealing with family matters of Muslims; maḥkamaẗ markaziyyaẗ, n.f., county court, dealing with minor offenses, esp. misdemeanors (Eg.); maḥkamaẗ al-qaḍāʔ al-ʔidārī, n.f., administrative court; maḥkamaẗ al-naqḍ wa’l-ʔibrām, n.f., Court of Cassation, the highest court of appeal in Egypt; maḥkamaẗ al-tamyīz, n.f., Court of Cassation (Syr., Leb. = maḥkamaẗ al-naqḍ wa’l-ʔibrām in Eg.); sāḥāt al-maḥākim, n. pl., tribunals.
►^BP#3186taḥkīm, n., 1 appointment of an arbitrator; 2 arbitration; 3 arbitral decision, award; pl. ‑āt, fortifications: vn. II. | taḥkīm al-ḥāl, expr., starting from the present state of a court’s findings (Isl. Law); hayʔaẗ al¬-taḥkīm, n.f., 1 board of arbitration; 2 jury, committee of judges, committee of umpires (in sports), committee of referees (in mil. maneuvers); laǧnaẗ taḥkīmiyyaẗ, n.f., dto.
►^BP#2302muḥākamaẗ, n.f., 1 judicial proceeding; 2 trial, hearing (in court); 3 legal prosecution: vn. III.
►ʔiḥkām, n., 1a perfection; b accuracy, exactness, exactitude, precision; c exact performance, precise execution: vn. IV. | bi’l-ʔiḥkām, adv., accurately, exactly, precisely; bāliġ fī ’l¬ʔiḥkām , adj., of highest perfection.
►^BP#2191taḥakkum, n., 1 arbitrariness, arbitrary powers or action; 2 despotism; domination, dominion, rule, sway, power; 3 control (fī of, over): vn. V.
►taḥakkumī, adj., 1 arbitrary; 2 despotic: nisba formation from the preceding.
►ĭstiḥkām, n., 1 intensification, increase, strengthening; 2 consolidation, stabilization; 3 fortification; pl. ‑āt, fortifications: vn. X.
►^BP#828ḥākim, I adj. 1 ruling, governing; 2 decisive; – II n. (pl. ‑ūn, ḥukkām) 3a ruler, sovereign; b governor; 4 judge: PA I. | ḥākim bi-ʔamri-h, adj., n., 1 autocratic; 2 autocrat, dictator; ḥākim ʕāmm, n., governor general; ḥākim mubārāẗ, n., umpire, referee (athlet.); ḥākim al-ṣulḥ, n. (SyrAr) justice of the peace; ḥākim al-nāḥiyaẗ, n. (Tun.), district magistrate.
►ḥākimiyyaẗ, n.f., 1 domination, dominion, rule, sovereignty; 2 judgeship, judicature, jurisdiction (iur.): abstract formation in ‑iyyaẗ from the preceding.
►maḥkūm ʕalayh, adj., sentenced (bi‑ to): PP I. | al-maḥkūm ʕalay-him bi’l-ʔiʕdām, n.pl., those sentenced to death; maḥkūm ʕalayh bi’l-fašal, adj., doomed to fail.
►muḥakkam, pl. ‑ūn, 1 arbitrator, arbiter; 2 umpire, referee (fī in, over): PP II.
►muḥkam, adj., 1a strengthened, reinforced; b firm, solid, sturdy; c tight, taut; 2a perfect, masterly, masterful; b well-aimed (blow, hit); c accurate, precise, exact: PP IV. | muḥkam al-tadbīr, adj., well-planned, well-contrived.
►mustaḥkam, adj., 1a reinforced, fortified; b strengthened, consolidated, strong; 2 inveterate, deep-seated, deep-rooted, ingrained (custom, trait, etc.); 3 mustaḥkamāt, nonhum.pl., defenses, fortifications: PP X.

See also individual entries ↗ʔaḥkama, ↗ḥakam, ↗ḥikmaẗ, ↗ḥakamaẗ, ↗ḥakīm, ↗ḥukūmaẗ, ↗maḥkamaẗ, ↗taḥakkum, and, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√ḤKM.

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