Bibliotheca Polyglotta

▪ The vb. ²lāḥa represents one of three main values in the root ↗√LWḤ that one will find hard to connect: (a) *‘to become visible, flash’ (↗¹lāḥa); (b) *‘to scorch, singe, sear, burn, parch, desiccate, wither, lose weight, get thinner’; and (c) *‘board, tablet, plank; shoulder blade’ (↗lawḥ). The latter is the only value that has cognates in Sem (although, in Ar, it may be a borrowing from Aram), which makes it tempting to assume that the other two are specifically Arabic developments from this value. However, none of the attempts to explain (a) or (b) as derivations from (c) are convincing. Moreover, both (a) and (b) show a fairly high degree of variation within their respective semantic fields, a fact that lets them appear old and genuine rather than later derivations. The semantic field belonging to ²lāḥa spans from undoubtedly related values, such as ^†²lūḥ ‘thirst’,¹ ^†lāḥa and ^†lawwaḥa ‘to alter the complexion; to render s.o. hoary (age)’, ^†lawwaḥa ‘to ripen (grapes); become sick, exhausted’, ^†milwaḥ ~ ^†milwāḥ ~ ^†milyāḥ ‘soon thirsty; slender’ to less obviously related items, such as ^†lāḥ ‘eggs rejected as unsuitable for hatching after being “X-rayed” (candled), held against the sun-light’ (?< *infertility = withering, shrinking), and perh. also ^†ʔalāḥa ‘to be afraid (min of s.o.), frightened, blush (min at a word)’ (?< *to shrink, wither etc. on experiencing fear) and ^†ʔalāḥa ‘to cause the loss of, destroy s.th.’ (Lane, Hava1899).
▪ Should one consider the possibility of ²lāḥa < ↗¹lāḥa? A ‘scorching, singeing, parching, desiccating, withering, etc.’ could possibly be the result of a ‘gleaming, glittering, flashing, shining (too intensely)’; but such a relation does not seem to be very likely and would still have to be corroborated by evidence that would make it more convincing. For the time being, the only lexical item that appears to combine both notions and thus could serve as a semantic “bridge” between the two is the obsol. ^†lāḥ ‘eggs found unsuitable for hatching’, where their condition of ‘desiccation, emaciation, shrinking (> infertility?)’ ‘appears, becomes visible’ on holding them against the sun-light (candling).
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1. In some dictionaries, ‘to thirst’ is given as the first meaning of ^†²lāḥa (Steingass1884, Hava1899, etc.).

hist

▪ lāḥa (u, lawḥ, lūḥ, luwāḥ, luʔūḥ, lawaḥān) ‘to scorch, singe, sear, burn, parch, desiccate, s.o.; to cause s.o. to wither, to lose weight, to get thinner; to disfigure, to pester, harass, plague, beset (sun, midday heat; hot, dry wind; cold; grey hair, the colour black; shame, disgrace, worries, troubles) (WKAS ii); to thirst (Lane, Hava1899)’; lāḥa and lawwaḥa ‘to make s.o. lean, lank, light of flesh, slender, lank in the belly (thirst, travel, cold, illness, grief, …), alter the complexion, parch, scorch, burn, blacken; to render s.o. hoary (age)’, lawwaḥa ‘to ripen (grapes); become sick, exhausted’, lawwaḥa bi’l-nār ‘to heat s.th. in the fire’, milwaḥ, milwāḥ, milyāḥ ‘soon thirsty; slender’; lūḥ ‘thirst’ (Lane, Hava1899); lawḥaẗ ‘a scorching, singeing, parching, desiccating; a thirsting, yearning (for water)’, lawḥānᵘ ‘parched, desiccated, thirsty’, laʔiḥ ‘scorching, singeing, burning’, milwaḥ, milwāḥ ‘parched, desiccated, thirsty, emaciated’, mulawwaḥ ‘scorched, singed, burnt, parched, desiccated, withered, thin, lean, disfigured’ (WKAS ii). – Prob. also ^†ʔalāḥa ‘to cause the loss of, destroy s.th.’ (Lane, Hava1899). – Perh. also ^†ʔalāḥa ‘to be afraid (min of s.o.), frightened, be on one’s guard, shrink back, recoil from s.th.’ (WKAS ii).
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cogn

▪ no obvious cognates, neither in Sem nor outside.
▪ If related to ¹lāḥa, see ↗s.v.
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disc

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west

–

deriv

►lawwaḥa, vb. II, 1-3 ↗¹lāḥa; 4a to turn grey (the head; of old age); b to burn, tan (s.o.; sun); 5 ↗lawḥ, lawḥaẗ, lāʔiḥaẗ: D-stem, caus.
►lawwāḥ, adj., withering, singeing, parching, scorching: ints. formation, pattern Faʕʕāl
►multāḥ, adj., sun-tanned, sunburned: PA/PP VIII

For other values attached to the root, cf. ↗¹lāḥa, ↗lawḥ, ↗lawḥaẗ, and ↗lāʔiḥaẗ as well as, for the overall picture, root entry ↗√LWḤ.

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