Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ ‘Numeral; number’ is only one out of a larger variety of values the word raqm could take in ClassAr. According to Lane (iii 1867), raqm is, originally, a vn. of raqama ‘to mark, variegate, make look different, put diacritical points on s.th. written, ( hence also) to write’. Lane reproduces the ClassAr opinion that, from ‘writing’, the meaning developed further: »(hence:) raqm al-ṯawb, writing [or price-mark, etc.] upon a garment, or piece of cloth; (hence:) al-raqm al-hindī, the Indian notation of numerals, adopted by the Arabs; […]«. This explanation sounds rather modern, and Landberg1923 is prob. right when he thinks that, among the bedouins of the South, »le prix d’une marchandise n’est jamais marqué, car il n’y a pas de “prix fixe” […]; il faut marchander […].« Therefore, we would think that the sense of ‘numeral; number’ is secondary, a generalisation from al-ʔarqām al-hindiyya, originally perceived as *‘Indian marks, or characters’ of a diacritical (or variegating?) function, *‘making a difference’ or functioning as a kind of *‘embroidery’. The *‘Indian marks\signs’ became the ‘Indian numbers’ when the Arabs began to understand the function of the Indian characters. Finally, the ‘Indian numbers’ became the numbers\numerals in general.

hist

▪ ...

cogn

▪ ↗raqama
▪ ...

disc

▪ See above, section CONC.
▪ Landberg1923: DaṯAr raqam ‘superposer une chose sur une autre, poser sur, appliquer sur’ (to cover s.th. with s.th. else) : »raqam est ici une prononciation pour rakam [↗rakama] [...]. Les Bédouins de Sud ne connaissent pas le sens littéraire de raqama ‘marquer’, ni le subst. raqm ‘marque, chiffre’. Le prix d’une marchandise n’est jamais marqué, car il n’y a pas de “prix fixe” [...]; il faut marchander [...].«
▪ ...

west

–

deriv

►al-ʔarqām al-hindiyyaẗ, the numerals of the Arabs;
►raqm al-qiyās or al-raqm al-qiyāsī, record (athlet.) | saǧǧala raqmᵃⁿ qiyāsiyyᵃⁿ , to set a record (athlet.)

►raqama, u (raqm), vb. I, 1-3 see ↗s.v.; 4 to number: G-stem, denom. (?)
►raqqama, vb. II, 1-2 ↗raqama; 3 to number: D-stem, denom./caus.

►^BP#3664raqmī, adj., 1a numerical; b digital: nsb-formation from raqm
►tarqīm, n., 1 ↗raqama; 2 numbering, numeration: vn. II

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗raqama and ↗¹raqīm, as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√RQM.

Permanent link

http://www2.hf.uio.no/common/apps/permlink/permlink.php?app=polyglotta&context=record&uid=d8aec1f3-06ff-11ee-937a-005056a97067

Choose languages

Choose images, etc.

Choose languages

Choose display