150 Years after Dillmann’s Lexicon:

Perspectives and Challenges of Gǝʿǝz Lexicography

 Supplement to Aethiopica.
International Journal of Ethiopian
and Eritrean Studies
5

Edited in the Asien-Afrika-Institut

Abteilung für Afrikanistik und Äthiopistik
Hiob Ludolf Zentrum für Äthiopistik
der Universität Hamburg

Series Editor: Alessandro Bausi

in cooperation with Bairu Tafla, Ulrich Braukämper,
Ludwig Gerhardt, Hilke Meyer-Bahlburg

2016
Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden
150 Years after Dillmann’s Lexicon:
Perspectives and Challenges
of Gǝʿǝz Studies

Edited by
Alessandro Bausi
with assistance from
Eugenia Sokolinski

2016
Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden
The publication of this volume was supported by the European Union Seventh
Framework Programme IDEAS (FP7/2007-2013) ERC grant agreement 338756 (TraCES).

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 Table of Contents

Preface …………………………………………………………………… vii

Notes to the reader …………………………………………………… xi
Introduction. 150 Years After Dillmann’s Lexicon (A. BAusi) ………… 3

Chapter 1. Research in Gǝʿǝz linguistics ………………………………… 11

The TraCES project and Gǝʿǝz studies (e. sokolinski) …………………… 13
A part of speech tag set for Ancient Ethiopic
(s. Hummel, W. dickHut) ………………………………………… 17
Bringing Gǝʾǝz into the digital era: computational tools for
processing Classical Ethiopic (c. VertAn) ……………………………… 31
On editing and normalizing Ethiopic texts (A. BAusi) ……………………… 43
Some problems of transcribing Geez (m. BulAkH) ……………………… 103

Chapter 2. Language contact …………………………………………… 139

Sabaic loanwords in Gǝʿǝz and borrowings from Gǝʿǝz into
Middle Sabaic (s. FrAntsouzoFF) …………………………………… 141
Nasal infix as index of Semitic loanwords borrowed through
the Greek (A. soldAti) ……………………………………………… 149
New Gǝʿǝz word forms from Arabic-Ethiopic translation literature.
Suggestions for lexical entries and their meanings, as demonstrated
from Secundus the Silent Philosopher (m. Heide) ………………… 173

Chapter 3. Gǝʿǝz lexicography in comparison …………………………… 183

Beyond Dillmann’s Lexicon – Towards digital lexicography:
Lessons from Syriac (A. ellWArdt) ………………………………… 185
Sergew Hable Selassies Fragment eines Gǝʿǝz-Belegstellenlexikons und
Abraham Johannes Drewes’ Glossare zum Recueil des inscriptions de
l’Éthiopie. Zwei unveröffentlichte Beiträge zur äthiopischen Lexikogra-
phie und deren Bewertung und Lehren für die heutige informationstech-
nisch aufgerüstete Äthiopistik (m. kropp) ………………………… 201
The use of Arabic in Gǝʿǝz lexicography: from Dillmann to Leslau and be-
yond (S. Weninger) ……………………………………………… 219

Index ……………………………………………………………………… 233

 The use of Arabic in Gǝʿǝz lexicography:
from Dillmann to Leslau and beyond

steFAn Weninger, Philipps-Universität Marburg

August Dillmann’s Lexicon linguae aethiopicae1 is a dictionary of the Classi-

cal Ethiopic language based almost entirely on textual references, a Belegwör-
terbuch.2 Its incredible density of textual documentation is the main reason
why this dictionary is still so valuable today.
However, as even a superficial glance at random pages reveals, Dillmann
also cited words from other languages, like Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Amhar-
ic, Persian, Coptic, and occasionally even Sanskrit or Samaritan Hebrew. So,
although Dillmann’s Lexicon is far from being an etymological dictionary or
even a comparative one, comparison does play a certain role. In this respect,
Dillmann’s lexicon stands in a similar tradition as Wilhelm Gesenius’ He-
bräisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch über die Schriften des Alten Testaments
which, from the first edition in 1810–1812 down to the recently completed
18th edition,3 always had an etymological apparatus for each lemma. The
source language cited most frequently by Dillmann is Arabic, and the present
contribution is a small investigation of how he used the Arabic data.
The simplest procedure is the exposition of loanwords, e.g. in the treat-
ment of the word ሎሚ፡ lomi ‘lemon’:
(1) ሎሚ፡ (amh[arice] ሎሚ፡ et ሎሚን፡ , pers[ice] ‫يمون‬ ِ
ُ ‫ل‬, ar[a]b[ice] ‫ ) ْلي ُمون‬malum cit-
reum, M[äṣḥafä] F[äws] (ማየ፡ ሎሚ፡ [juice of the lemon]; ወይመትሩ፡ ሎሚ፡ [they
cut up lemon]). De ሎሚ፡ citro medica vid[e] Harris II, Anhänge p. 35. — Dil-
lmann 1865, 34.

In this entry the word ሎሚ፡ lomi ‘lemon’, a rarely attested post-Aksumite
word, is explained as a loanword from Arabic and/or Persian. There is hard-
ly anything to criticize here. We are given the textual references from the
Mäṣḥafä Fäws and the Arabic word forms. Although it is not explicitly stated
that Gǝʿǝz ሎሚ፡ lomi is a loanword of either Arabic or Persian provenance,
it can be inferred from the arrangement. There are many more cases like this,
mostly words culled from post-Aksumite sources.
Now let us take a look at a different case, ልብ፡ lǝbb, the word for ‘heart’:

1 Dillmann 1865.
2 As there is—to the best of my knowledge—no convenient English equivalent for this
German technical term, I decided to keep the latter.
3 Gesenius 2013.
220 Stefan Weninger

ܶ
(2) ልብ፡ subst. [‫ לֵ ב‬et ‫לֵ ָבב‬, ‫ ܠ� ܳܒܐ‬, ‫ب‬
ّ ُ‫ل‬, amh. ልብ; de etymo vid. Ges. thes. p. 738] m. et f.
(ut ...) Pl. አልባብ፡ (ut Matth. 9, 4) est 1) sensu physico cor ... — Dillmann 1865,
41.

The word for ‘heart’ is equated with its cognates in Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic
and Amharic. ልብ፡ lǝbb and its cognates are part of the core vocabulary of
common Semitic. Again, even from a modern standpoint there is nothing to
criticize here. Many words and roots from common Semitic in the Lexicon
are described this way.
But there are other cases, where especially Arabic words are used to cor-
roborate the fanciest etymologies, e.g. the following one:
(3) ልብሐ፡ rad[ix] inus[itata]., coll[atis] ‫ك‬
َ َ‫ لَب‬miscuit (alicam cum melle), subegit (‫)لَبَ َق‬.
In lingua aeth[iopica] vocabula inde derivata de fingendo ex argilla usurpatur,
quare notio hujus radicis angustioribus terminis circumscripta est, quam notio
verbi ለሐኰ፡.
ልብሓ፡ subst[antivum]: fictile, opus figlinum, ...
ለብሓዊ፡ (denom[inatum] a ልብሓ፡) ... figulus ... — Dillmann 1865, 40.

So what is this supposed to mean? The root lbḥ has no verb in the basic 01-
stem, but several nominal derivations. Dillmann equates the root with Arabic
labaka, a very specific term meaning ‘mixing honey with vinegar’ and with
Arabic labaqa ‘to stir (food)’. The idea is ‘in the Ethiopic language, the word
is hence derived from the notion of forming from clay, and therefore has a
narrower meaning than the verb läḥäkwä [which means ‘fashion, form, mold,
create, shape [and also] make earthenware’]’. Now, is this interpretation like-
ly? I doubt it, for two reasons. First, the assumed connection between lbḥ
and lbk or lbq defies all sound-laws of Semitic as we know them today. To be
fair, the very notion of ‘sound-law’ was developed only after Dillmann had
finished his Lexicon linguae aethiopicae, during the 1870s by the so-called
Neogrammarian school of thought. Responsible were scholars like August
Leskien, Karl Brugmann, and Hermann Osthoff. But even if we would con-
cede an exception from the sound-laws, the connection between the three
meanings involved here is very weak, to say the least. The notions of ‘mixing
honey with vinegar’, ‘stiring food’ and ‘working with clay’ have not much in
common, apart from the soft material and some kind of motion. But this is
really not enough to establish an etymological relationship, all the more so as
this would contradict the phonological arguments! So we have to conclude
that both on a phonological and on a semantic level the connection is made
not by strict methodology but only by vague resemblances. I would not have
emphasized this if *läbäḥa were an isolated case, but it is not. Consider this
example:
 The use of Arabic in Gǝʿǝz lexicography 221

(4) ለጸየ፡ (etiam per ፀ) rad[ix] inus[itata], cui comparanda sunt ... ‫ط‬ َ ِ‫ َمل‬, ‫ص‬ ِ ِ
َ ‫ َمل‬... ‫ َمل َط‬,
quae omnia in notione laevitatis et glabritatis conveniunt, in specie ‫ط‬ ‫ر‬‫م‬
َ ََ ... pilos ev-
ellere, depilare, ‫ط‬
َ َ‫ َمل‬rasit crines, et ‫اس‬
َ ‫( َم‬e ‫س‬
َ َ‫ ) َمل‬rasit caput; amh. radix sonat ላጨ።
Hinc ላጸየ፡ I,3 (...) radere, abradere ... — Dillmann 1865, 64.

Here, we find six Arabic verbs with an alleged connection to our Ethiopic
root, which in the 03-stem has the meaning ‘to shave’. There are Arabic verbs
with a meaning ‘being even’ (malasa) or even ‘depilate’ (maraṭa) but, with
one exception, none of these verbs has more than one consonant in com-
mon with our Ethiopic root, if any. To be fair, Dillmann wrote ‘comparanda
sunt’—‘to be compared’, and leaves it to the reader to guess what the basis of
the comparison could be. But ultimately these impressionistic comparisons
that can neither be verified nor falsified lead nowhere.
Having clarified this issue, I would like to turn to the question of Dill-
mann’s sources for the Arabic data. In his introduction, Dillmann gave no
indication of the sources from which he obtained the words for his etymo-
logical expositions, but there is hardly any doubt that it was Georg Wilhelm
Freytag’s Lexicon Arabico-Latinum, published in four volumes in Halle be-
tween 1830 and 1837.4 This assumption is based on the following consider-
ations: firstly, there was hardly any other dictionary available. The first vol-
ume of Edward William Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon was published only
in 1863, and older dictionaries like those of Golius (1653) or Willmet (1783)
were no longer in common use in the middle of the nineteenth century. Sec-
ondly, a comparison of Dillmann’s Latin translations of Arabic words with
Freytag’s renditions shows that they are often identical, as can be seen from
this example:
(5) ለወየ፡ rad[ix] inus[itata]; cfr. ለወወ፡ et ‫ لَوى‬torsit et vertit funem, flexit. Hinc ...
َ
— Dillmann 1865, 54.
‫ لََوى‬F[uturum] i. n[omen] a[ctionis] ‫ل‬ ّ ‫ لُ ِو‬1) torsit et vertit funem c[um]
َّ et ‫ى‬
a[ccusativo] r[ei] Kam. Dj. flexit caput suum c[um] accusativo Dj., vel etiam
c[um] ‫ ب‬... — Freytag 1837, 138.

Dillmann cites Arabic lawā as a parallel to Ethiopic läwäyä, a verb that is

unattested in the Basic (01) stem and supposed to have the meaning ‘to twist
or wind (a rope)’. We can see that the definitions use the same Latin words.
In addition, Freytag states that the verb lawā also means ‘to turn one’s head’
(flexit caput suum c[um] a[ccusativo] ). The latter is abridged by Dillmann,
but cited in the same order. This is a common pattern: Dillmann uses the
same translations, however in an abridged form. In conclusion: Dillmann’s
source for the Arabic etymologies is Freytag’s Lexicon Arabico-Latinum.

4 Freytag 1830–1837. On G. W. Freytag, see Fück 1955, 166.

222 Stefan Weninger

This leads to the next issue: what are Freytag’s sources and what is the
quality of the lexical material he presents? Freytag states already on the title
page that his Lexicon is ‘praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum
Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum’—
‘Compiled chiefly from the works of al-Ǧawharī and al-Fīrūzābādī and other
Arabs, consulting Golius [i.e. his lexicon] and other books’. This needs some
explanation: al-Ǧawharī is an Arabic lexicographer who lived in the tenth
century ce in Iran. His ‘opus’ is the Kitāb Tāǧ al-luġa wa-ṣiḥāḥ al-ʿarabīya
‘The book [called] ‘Crown of the Language and the Correct Usage of Ara-
bic’’ (usually cited as aṣ-Ṣiḥāḥ). It is a rather large monolingual (Arabic-Ara-
bic) dictionary on Classical Arabic. To give an impression of the size: in the
Cairo edition of the 1950s it covers six volumes.5 More than 200 manuscript
copies of this book are extant. It was often copied, highly esteemed, much
studied, and widely discussed (however sometimes also critically).6
The other book mentioned on Freytag’s title page is a similar case. It is
the book al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ by the philologist al-Fīrūzābādī (d. 1415), who
was born in Iran, lived at different places like Cairo, Mecca and Delhi, and
died in Yemen. The title of the book refers to the world-ocean surrounding
the habitable earth. And indeed: this book is an ocean. It is a monolingual
Arabic dictionary summing up virtually all prior dictionaries, although in an
extremely abridged way (which makes it sometimes hard to comprehend!).
Nevertheless, the book was copied over and over again, so that Carl Brockel-
mann could say that manuscript copies of it can be found ‘virtually in every
library’.7 Al-Fīrūzābādī’s lexicon became so popular that its abridged title
(qāmūs) became the common term for ‘dictionary’ in modern Arabic.8
These two books are the most well-known and prominent specimen of a
vast field of study: Arabic lexicography (ʿilm al-luġa). Starting in the earliest
phases of Arabic-Islamic learning in the eighth century, down to the end of
the pre-colonial era in the late eighteenth century, Arabic-speaking scholars
have produced a vast body of lexicographical literature of amazing sophisti-
cation. To give an impression of the vast extension of the field, the following
list provides examples of some very large dictionaries and their size in the
modern printed editions:
al-ʾAzharī (d. 980): Tahḏīb al-luġa (16 vols);
aṣ-Ṣāḥib ibn ʿAbbād (d. 995): al-Muḥīṭ fī l-luġa (11 vols);
5 al-Ǧawharī 1956–1957.
6 On al-Ǧawharī and his Ṣiḥāḥ, see e.g.: Krämer 1953, 216–217; Sezgin 1982, 215–224;
Weninger 2013; Baʿlabakkī 2014, 373–381.
7 Brockelmann 1937–1949, II, 183.
8 On al-Fīrūzābādī and his Kitāb al-Qāmūs, see further: Krämer 1953, 232–234;
Baʿlabakkī 2014, 391–397.
 The use of Arabic in Gǝʿǝz lexicography 223

Ibn Sīda (d. 1066): al-Muḥkam (12 vols);

Ibn Sīda: al-Muḫaṣṣaṣ (17 vols);
aṣ-Ṣaġānī (d. 1252): at-Takmila wa-ḏ-ḏayl wa-ṣ-ṣila (6 vols);
aṣ-Ṣaġānī: al-ʿUbāb az-zāḫir wa-l-lubāb al-fāḫir (edition planned to cover
approximately 28 vols, however incomplete);
Ibn Manẓūr (d. 1311): Lisān al-ʿarab (15 vols, Beirut ed.);
al-Murtaḍā az-Zabīdī (d. 1790): Tāǧ al-ʿarūs (40 vols, Kuwait ed.).
In addition to these large works that intend to cover the whole vocabulary
of the language, we have a bewildering variety of literally hundreds of more
specialized works, e.g. lexical monographs on especially interesting fields of
vocabulary: camels, horses, falcons, small cattle, weaponry, human body-
parts, celestial bodies etc. We have specialized dictionaries on the Qurʾān or
the prophetic traditions (ḥadīṯ), or dictionaries on homonyms. The diction-
aries follow every conceivable type of arrangement: alphabetically accord-
ing to roots, alphabetically according to the last root consonant, phoneti-
cally, according to morpheme-types, or semantically. Arabic lexicography is
a monumental achievement of human ingenuity and industry that can hardly
be equalled by any other pre-modern lexicographic tradition.9
And exactly this exceptional status of Arabic lexicography posed a huge
temptation for Western orientalists right from the beginning of Arabic stud-
ies. ‘Why’—was the question ‘should we toil to produce Arabic dictionaries
by excerpting texts and establishing meanings on our own when there are
ready dictionaries produced by scholars who knew the Arabic language and
culture much better?’ And so were European Arabic dictionaries—with few
exceptions—mainly translations (with some necessary rearrangements) of
the indigenous dictionaries into Latin or English, as we have seen on Frey-
tag’s title page where he unreservedly mentions his sources.10
In the preceding paragraphs, the Arabic lexicographical tradition has been
characterized as a major achievement. However, one must not forget that the
methodology of the Arabic lexicographers was medieval. That indigenous
Arabic lexicography is to a great degree insufficient, and especially when it
comes to philological exactitude, has been pointed out by the German Ara-
bist Manfred Ullmann in numerous publications.11 The main problems of the
indigenous Arabic dictionaries can be summed up as follows:

9 On the history of indigenous Arabic lexicography see, e.g.: Krämer 1953; Sezgin 1982
(supplemented by Weipert 1989); Seidensticker 2002; Baʿlabakkī 2014.
10 For a critical history of European lexicography of Arabic, see Ullmann 2009, 2459–
2494.
11 See Ullmann 1966, 83–95; id. 1979; id. 2000, vii–xi, xiii–xv; id. 2004; id. 2005, 92–101;
id. 2008.
224 Stefan Weninger

– They follow an elusive ideal of an eternal, static Arabic language where

change is only perceived as erroneous usage. The materials quoted as loci
probantes are hence mainly texts produced before the end of the Omayyad
caliphate in 750: poetry, ḥadīṯ (i.e. sayings of the prophet Muḥammad), the
Qurʾān and proverbs. Ordinary prose texts are hardly covered.
– The lexicographers had no idea of semantic theory. Thus, they do not
distinguish between lexical and occasional meanings. Metaphoric usage is
treated on the same level as ordinary usage. Questions of frequency or regis-
ters are systematically ignored. Even worse: perceived contradictions created
by homonyms are sometimes reconciled by constructed abstract base mean-
ings which are then occasionally treated more prominently than actually at-
tested meanings.
– In addition, minor errors, like scribal mistakes, accumulated through the
centuries of lexicographic tradition. Thus, flaws can easily occur in the Ara-
bic script where single dots above or below the line function to disambiguate
letters. In normal contexts a missing (or superfluous) dot can be corrected.
But once an erroneous reading is detached from its context by the dictionary-
arrangement, it can be very difficult to identify an error. Some of these ghost
words were transmitted over many centuries.12
All these shortcomings are reflected in European dictionaries like the one
by G.W. Freytag, or the Arabic-English Lexicon by E.W. Lane (1863–1893).
Quite inevitably, some of these weaknesses also show up in Dillmann’s Lexi-
con. I would like to give some examples. We have one entry on the root lṣlṣ.
The verb in the 01-stem is not attested. The significant word is läṣliṣ ‘tongue
of a scale; point of a scale, pointer of a scale’
(6) ለጽለጸ፡ rad. inus. Conveniunt ‫ص‬ ْ َ‫ ل‬commovit, ‫لَظْلَ َظ‬, huc illuc movit torsitque se
َ َ‫صل‬
serpens ‫لزلَز‬
َْ‫ت‬ , commotus fuit, ‫ث‬ ‫ل‬
َ
َ ْ ‫ـ‬ ‫ث‬‫ل‬
َ incertus, inconstans fuit. Hinc
ለጽሊጽ፡ subst. lingua vel examen bilancis.

The root is allegedly connected with four different Arabic verbs (or roots).
They are all reduplicated roots formed by l and a sibilant or interdental:
laṣlaṣa, laẓlaẓa, lazlaza and laṯlaṯa. Their meanings all have to do with move-
ment or a repeated movement. The idea behind this etymology is obviously
that this is the kind of behaviour the tongue of a scale shows before it indi-
cates the result of the measurement. Prima facie this seems plausible. How-
ever, for none of these four roots can be supported any textual reference. We
have no evidence that they were ever actually used in the Arabic language
outside the dictionaries. In the light of this, the whole etymology seems to
stand on rather shaky grounds.

12 See for some striking examples Ullmann 2009, 2465, footnote 37.
 The use of Arabic in Gǝʿǝz lexicography 225

One might ask: how can we be so sure about these four verbs? There is
one lexicographical project that has not been mentioned yet. It is the Wörter-
buch der klassischen arabischen Sprache (WKAS). It was initiated during the
1950s in (then) West Germany. It is based entirely on textual references, it is
a Belegwörterbuch. It was mainly written by the Arabist Manfred Ullmann
of Tübingen. Today, there are altogether five volumes published,13 covering
two letters of the Arabic alphabet, kāf and lām. Unfortunately and sadly, the
project was abandoned after 2009, because no competent successor for the
retired Manfred Ullmann could be found. When I checked laṣlaṣa, laẓlaẓa,
lazlaza and laṯlaṯa I did not find any reference to a literary source. Theo-
retically, it is possible that there are references in texts that Ullmann did not
excerpt; but this is highly unlikely. Unless somebody comes up with a refer-
ence, I regard these verbs as unattested. For our Ethiopic root it follows that
the connections made by Dillmann are not valid etymologies.
So my disrespectful verdict for the Arabic etymologies in Dillmann’s Lexi-
con is this: due to the lack of a solid method and the usage of an unsatisfac-
tory material basis, the Arabic etymologies are in many cases not helpful.
Now let us have a look at the Arabic etymologies in Leslau’s Compara-
tive Dictionary of Gǝʿǝz (1987).14 A glance over the bibliography reveals that
he does not use Freytag, but Lane’s Lexicon instead. Although Lane, too,
based his Lexicon on indigenous dictionaries (like Freytag did), he used bet-
ter sources and excluded the words of ‘rare occurrence and not commonly
known’15 that were intended for a second part of the dictionary that never
materialized. Therefore, the number of ghost words and outright mistakes
the etymologist encounters in Lane is much smaller than it is the case with
Freytag. On the other hand, Lane was clinging extremely close to the Ara-
bic explanations of his sources which he translated faithfully into English,
making the read rather cumbersome.16 Leslau also used other sources: Re-
inhart Dozy’s Supplément,17 which is based on textual references (mostly
post-classical literature), Hans Wehr’s dictionary of modern standard Arabic
which, although modern, comprises a lot of classical material and is based on
actual texts (although not explicitly quoted);18 and also Albin de Biberstein

13 Ullmann 1970, 1983, 1991, 2000, 2002.

14 Leslau 1987.
15 Lane 1863–1893, title page.
16 On the life and times of Lane, cf. Thompson 2010; for a critical evaluation of his Lexi-
con, cf. Ullmann 2009, 2463–2466.
17 Dozy 1927.
18 In the preface of the first (German) edition (1952), Wehr relates at length how he
collected the material under war conditions and during the years immediately after
World War II.
226 Stefan Weninger

Kazimirski,19 which is partly based on field-work but mainly relies on Frey-

tag. In addition, Leslau used dictionaries of modern Arabic dialects, which
have the advantage that, although the material is contemporary, we have a
certain guarantee that the quoted words at least existed at some point in real
speech and are not ghost words created by a learned tradition.
Needless to say, Leslau had a very clear understanding of Semitic sound-
laws. So it does not come as a surprise that the Arabic etymologies of Leslau
are much better than Dillmann’s. If we take a look at the examples analyzed
above and compare them with Leslau’s treatment, we get the following re-
sults:
Arabic in Dillmann Arabic in Leslau
lǝbb ‘heart’ lubb lubb
(lbḥ); lǝbḥa ‘earthen- labaka ‘to mix honey with vin- [no Arabic etymology]
ware’, läbaḥi ‘potter’ egar’, labaqa ‘to stir (food)’
(lṣy) laṣäyä ‘to shave’ maliṭa, maliṣa, malusa, maraṭa, [no Arabic etymology]
malaṭa
(lṣlṣ) laṣliṣ ‘tongue of a laṣlaṣa, laẓlaẓa, lazlaza, laṯlaṯa laṣlaṣa ‘agitate, shake’
scale, pointer of a scale’

Leslau only falls for laṣlaṣa which he probably got from Biberstein Kazimir-
ski (‘agiter, secouer’20) who had taken it from Freytag.
Of course, also Leslau’s Arabic etymologies are not without flaws. Some-
times he cites erroneous judgements like in the following case: the root lḥm,
which carries the notion of tenderness or softness (e.g. the verb lǝḥmä ‘be
tender, be soft, be reduced to powder, be pulverized’ or the adjective lǝḥum
‘tender, soft, supple’) is compared with Arabic laḫma for which the mean-
ing ‘languidness’ is given.21 This is taken from Amsalu Aklilu’s dissertation
Etymologischer Beitrag zu A. Dillmanns Lexicon linguae aethiopicae.22 There
is a minor problem with the sound law here (Semitic ḫ should be maintained
in Gǝʿǝz), but the main objection is that the word is not attested in literature
(Amsalu probably got it from the dictionary of Wahrmund,23 a rather weak
book,24 that was nevertheless used widely).

19 Biberstein Kazimirski 1860.

20 Ibid. II, 994.
21 Leslau 1987, 311, transcription adapted.
22 Amsalu Aklilu 1962, 1.
23 Wahrmund 1898 [1970].
24 On Wahrmund’s lexicon, see Fück 1955, 187 and Degen 1970–1971. Despite
Prokosch’s (2013, 20–21) much more positive opinion, a word of warning is neces-
sary: the many mistakes in lexicographical minutiae render the book problematic—at
least for etymological purposes.
 The use of Arabic in Gǝʿǝz lexicography 227

One last point regarding loanwords. Inner-Semitic loans are notoriously

difficult to detect.25 Therefore, it is not always easy to decide whether a given
word is borrowed from Arabic into Gǝʿǝz or the other way round or whether
it is a cognate. Disentangling questions like these requires careful reasoning
and must take many factors into account. Unfortunately, Leslau’s judge-
ments on Arabic loanwords frequently ignore the chronology of attestation.
To give an example: the word አዲም፡ ʾadim ‘skin, hide, leather (of reddish co-
lour), red’ is classified as a straightforward loanword ‘from Ar. ʾadīm ‘hide,
skin, leather’ (possibly from the red or brown colour; see ʾaddāmāwi)’.26
However, the word አዲም፡ ʾadim is attested early already in Aksumite lit-
erature at several instances in the expression ዘአዲም፡ zä-ʾadim as a transla-
tion of δερμάτινος ‘leathern’ (II Kgs [IV Regn] 1,8; Mt 3,4; Mk 1,6; Regulae
Pachomii,27 p. 57, lin. 19).28 So there is no reason to assume a loanword here.
Further examples of this type are discussed by Weninger (2004). So we have
to conclude that Leslaus’s indications for Arabic loanwords are unreliable.
The tone of my paper up to this point has been a rather negative one: in-
stead of proposing valid and interesting etymologies, the efforts of eminent
scholars of earlier generations, who produced monumental works of refer-
ence, have been criticized. Therefore, we would like to give in the following
at least a few guidelines that should be followed in future research when deal-
ing with Arabic etymologies:
1. Quote your sources explicitly.
2. Where possible, use dictionaries that are based on textual references (Dozy, WKAS,
Wehr, or Ullmann’s WGAÜ (2002, 2006–2007)).
3. Use multiple sources.
4. Try to corroborate your findings by using glossaries and concordances, e.g. Arazi et al.
1999 on pre-Islamic poetry, Lewin 1978 on the Huḏaylian poetry; ʿAbd al-Bāqī 1945
or Ambros and Procházka 2004 for the Qurʾān; Rescher 1922 for al-Buḫārī’s collec-
tion of Ḥadīṯ; Wensinck et al. 1936–1988 for Ḥadīṯ in general; Peltz 2013 on ʾAbū
l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī etc.
5. Do not forget the dialects, e.g. Piamenta 1990–1991 on Yemeni, Badawi and Hinds 1986
on Cairene; Barthélemy 1935 and Denizeau 1960 on Levantine, Woodhead and Been
1967 on Iraqi, Prémare 1993–1999 or Colin 1993 on Moroccan!
6. Never rely on Freytag alone.
7. Avoid Wahrmund’s dictionary.

25 On this problem see Kogan 2011, 183–189.

26 Leslau 1987, 8a.
27 Ed. Dillmann 1866, 57–69.
28 አዲም፡ ʾadim in Ex 39,21 seems to refer to the colour red: ማእሰ፡ በግዕ፡ ግቡረ፡ አዲም፡
maʾsä bäggǝʿ gǝburä ʾadim δέρματα κριῶν ἐρυθροδαμανώμενα ‘ram’s skin dyed red’.
228 Stefan Weninger

At the department for Semitic Studies / Center for Near and Middle Eastern
Studies at Marburg University, a bibliographic database is currently prepared
to facilitate work like this. However, this is still under construction.
To conclude: on an occasion like the 150th anniversary of the Lexicon lin-
guae aethiopicae this article clearly failed to show the right hagiographic at-
titude. Nevertheless, I hope that my contribution has pointed out not only
pitfalls but perspectives as well.

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 Index

ʾAbbā Garimā manuscripts 46, 51, 58, 71, 74, Argobba 120, 122–124, 127–128, 134, 136
76, 80, 82, 87, 89 Armenian 45, 89, 174
Acts of the Apostles 76 Ascension of Isaiah 72
Addis Abäba 113 ASCII 211
Addis Ababa University 47–48 Assyrian see Old Assyrian; Middle Assyrian
Aeolic, see Greek: Aeolic Attica 162
Akkadian 120–121, 123, 125–127, 156 ʿAwdä nägäśt 207
Old 120–123, 125, 127 Awwām, temple 142
Aksum 43, 113, 143–144, 154, 157 Ayyälä, aläqa 113
Aksumite Collection 90 al-ʾAzharī 222
Aksumite period viii, 13–14, 43–44, 46, 51, Baars, Wim 60–61
54, 58, 67, 85, 87–89, 105, 107–108, 110– Babylonian, Old 125, 127
111, 117, 122, 129–130, 154, 157 Bachmann, Johannes 174, 176
Alämayyahu Mogäs 210 Bägemdǝr 113
Alcaeus 155 Basel 194
Amarasiṃha 196 Bausi, Alessandro 193
ʿĀmda Ṣǝyon 14, 69 Baye Yimam 47
Amharic 103, 113–114, 122–123, 127–128, Beeston, Alfred Felix Landon 145
190, 204, 219–220 Berlin 174
Ammonite 120 Beta maṣāḥəft: Manuscripts of Ethiopia and
Amsalu Aklilu 226 Eritrea 15, 45
Ananias of Damascus 158 Biberstein Kazimirski, Albin (Albert) de
Anatolia 155 225–226
ANNIS 15, 41 Bible 44, 51, 53, 56–58, 78, 86, 185, 191, 206
Anqäṣ za-ṣoma 210 Bithynia 161
Antaeopolis 154 Bohairic, see Coptic: Bohairic
Antiochene (West Syrian) 186 Book of Daniel 63
Antiochia 186 Book of Enoch 53, 58–60, 67–68, 70, 84
Antwerp 187 Book of Esther 62
Apocalypse of John 64 Book of Ezechiel 80
Apocalypse of Peter 50 Book of Hosea 66
Arabia 152 Book of Jubilees 60–62, 70
Arabic viii–x, 14, 32, 48, 51, 53, 55, 73, 88, Book of Micah 66
120–121, 123, 125–126, 159, 161, 173–179, British and Foreign Bible Society 188
186, 189, 192, 195, 219–228 British India Office 195
Middle Arabic 49 Brockelmann, Carl 191–193, 222
Aramaic 151–152, 161, 185, 187, 193, 195, Brugmann, Karl 220
201 Bulakh, Maria 81–82, 88
Biblical 120, 123 Byzantine Greek, see Greek: Byzantine
Jewish 120, 123, 125 Čaha 124
Jewish Babylonian 120–121, 123, 125 Cairo 222
Jewish Palestinian 120–121, 123, 125 Caquot, André 154, 204
Middle 125 Carmelites 188
Modern 123 Carolingian minuscule 90
Official 120–121, 123, 125 Castell, Edmund 191
Old 120, 125 Chaldean (East Syrian) 186
Urmi 120 Charles, Robert Henry 44, 59–62, 70
Argänonä wǝddase 208–209 Chinese 32
234 Index

Christianity 46, 78, 154, 185–186, 191, 201 Epiphanius of Salamis 157
Chronicle of ʿĀmda Ṣǝyon 14, 69 Erfurt 189–190
Cilicia 161 Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library
Classical Ethiopic, see Gǝʿǝz 204, 206–210
Classical Text Editor 6–7 Ethiopian Manuscripts Imaging Project 45
Cohen, Marcel 113 Ethiopian Orthodox Tawāḥǝdo Church
Cologne 188 48–49, 205
Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Ethiopian Semitic 122, 127–128
(COMSt) 6, 45 Ethiopic, see Gǝʿǝz
Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon 193, 201 Ethiopic script, see Gǝʿǝz: script
Contini, Gianfranco 85 Ethio–SPaRe: Cultural Heritage of Christian
Coptic 45, 48, 150, 159–161, 195, 219 Ethiopia. Salvation, Preservation, Research
Bohairic 78, 160 8, 45
Demotic 150 Eža 124
Cosmas Indicopleustes 129 ʿEzānā 57, 108, 115, 129
Costaz, Louis 191 Fārsī (Persian) 150, 158, 219
Crinesius, Christoph 187 Ferrari, Giovanni Battista 187
Crusades 185, 186 fidal, see Gǝʿǝz, script
Ḏamarʿalī, father of Karibʾil Watar 142 al-Fīrūzābādī 222
Dānǝʾel, ḥaṣ́āni 82, 107 Flemming, Johannes 44
Daniel Assefa 48 Folena, Gianfranco 84
Darasge Māryām 5 Franciscans 187
Dässta Täklä Wäld viii, 4, 204 French 32, 47, 150, 192
Daʿmat 141, 143 Freytag, Georg Wilhelm 221–222, 224, 226
Definitions (Secundus) 173–179 Fuhs, Hans Ferdinand 44, 64, 66
Deir Alla dialect 120, 125 Gäbrä Giyorgis, mämhǝr 113
Delhi 222 Gabra Manfas Qǝddus, name 22
Demotic, see Coptic: Demotic Gäbrä Mikaʾel Däbäyu, informant 112
Devanagari 195 Gäbrä Ṣadǝq Wäldä Mäsqäl, ato 113
Dǝrsanä Mika ʾel 208 Gabriele da Maggiora 4, 69, 203, 206
Diem, Werner 105, 106 Gadla Āragāwi 210
Dillmann, Christian Friedrich August vii–ix, Gadla Gabra Manfas Qǝddus 194
3–6, 14, 20–21, 40, 43–44, 53–54, 56–58, Gadla Giyorgis za-Gāsǝč̣č̣ā 207
60, 62, 64, 66, 68–69, 88, 149, 152, 157–158, Gadla Lālibalā 195
174, 177, 190–192, 194–196, 203–206, Gadla Libānos 71
219–221, 224–225 Gadla Malka Ṣǝdǝq 209
Doric, see Greek: Doric Gadla Qāwsṭos 49
Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne 192, 225 Gadla Takla Hāymānot 207
Drewes, Abraham Johannes ix–x, 211–215 Gadla Yoḥannǝs Mǝśrāqāwi 68
Eblaite 120 Gafat 120, 122, 124, 127–128
Egypt 58 Galatian 154
Elias, subdeacon 186 al-Ǧawharī 222
Encyclopaedia Aethiopica 7–8 Genesis 61
ʿƎnda Kālēb 154 German 32, 47, 192
Ǝndägañ 124 Germany 188–189
Endangered Archives Programme 45 Gesenius, Wilhelm 219
English 31, 47 gǝss 207, 209
Ǝnnämor 124 Gǝʿǝz vii–x, 3–5, 7–8, 13–15, 17–27, 33, 43,
Ǝnṭonyos, abba 189–190 51–52, 54, 61, 64–65, 68, 77–78, 80, 82–83,
Ǝnṭoṭṭo Raguʾel 113 85, 127–128, 141–145, 149–152, 158–161,
Epigraphic South Arabian 40 173–179, 187–193, 195, 219, 221, 225, 227
 Index 235

Epigraphic 129 Hebrew 47, 55, 61, 120–121, 123, 125, 149–
lexicography 201–215, 219–228 153, 157, 179, 188–189, 195, 219–220
manuscripts 43, 45–46, 51, 53, 89 post-Biblical 120–121, 123, 125
orthography 51, 53–55, 59–60, 65–68, Heldman, Marilyn 46
70–72, 74, 76–77, 80–83, 85, 110–111 Heracleopolis 153
script (fidal) 17, 34, 37, 39–40, 69, 76, Herford 190
103–106, 110, 112 Herren, Michael W. 49
text edition 43–90 Hesychius of Alexandria 155
transcription 103–130 Heyer, Friedrich 205
Giusto da Urbino 203 Hǝruy Wäldä Sǝllase, blatta 113
Goǧǧam 113 Hill Museum and Manuscript Library 45
Gogot 124 Ḥimyar 144
Goldenberg, Gideon 108 Hittite 156
Gondar 112, 141 Hofmann, Josef 64
Gondarine period 48 Holy Land, see Palestine
Gorgoryos, abba 55, 189–191 Homer 155–156
Gorizia 4 Horn of Africa 141, 143
Gospel of John 74, 158, 207 Hungarian 150
Gospel of Luke 81–82 ḏū Ḥurmat, battle 144
Gospel of Mark 71 Ibn Manẓūr 223
Gospel of Matthew 14, 17, 20–21, 71, 86 Ibn Sīda 223
Gospels 44, 207–208 Ignatius ʿAbdallāh 186
Gragg, Gene 104, 106, 111 India 196
Grébaut, Sylvain 3, 44, 203 Indo-European languages 154
Grecanic, see Greek: Grecanic inscriptions 46, 57, 82, 89, 115, 201, 211
Greece 143 Ioulia 155
Greek 6, 14, 43–44, 47, 51–53, 58, 61, 73–74, Iran 222
78–79, 88, 119, 129, 141, 149, 150–151, Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente 6
153–161, 173, 177–179, 192, 211 Italian 32, 189–190
Aeolic 155 Jerome, St 185
Byzantine 160 Jerusalem 29, 187, 189
Doric 155 Jesuits 190
Grecanic 150 Jesus Christ 23, 34
Lesbian 155 Jibbali 120, 123, 126–127
Tsakonic 150, 155 John Chrysostom 194
Greek minuscule 90 Judaism 152, 201
Greek uncial 90 Karibʾil Watar, ruler 142
Gregor XIII, Pope 186 Kǝbra nagaśt 35
Grohmann, Adolf 65 Kǝflä Giyorgis 4, 204
Gunnän-Gurage 124 Kidanä Wäld Kǝfle viii, ix, 4, 79–80, 204–207
Gurage 124, 204 Kitāb Tāǧ al-luġa wa-ṣiḥāḥ al-ʿarabīya (al-
Gurat 145 Ǧawharī) 222
Gyeto 124 Knibb, Michael A. 60, 68, 70, 80
ḥadīṯ 223–224 Kogan, Leonid 126
Ḥaḍramitic 127, 141 König, Eduard 159
Hadrian, emperor 160, 173, 176 Kropp, Manfred 5–7, 142
Hammerschmidt, Ernst 5, 53 Lālibalā, king 47
Harari 120, 122 Lane, Edward William 177, 221, 224–225
Harsusi 120, 123, 126–127 Lateran Council 186
Ḥatäta Zärʿa-Yaʿqob wä-Wäldä-Ḥǝywät Latin 7, 47, 52–53, 61–62, 89, 128, 151, 153,
(Giusto da Urbino) 203 156, 161–162, 174, 191–192, 221
236 Index

Latin Church 186 Mittwoch, Eugen 69, 112

Lausberg, Heinrich 47 Moabite 123, 125
Lebanon 186 Modern South Arabian 120, 126–128
Leiden 189 Monumentum Adulitanum 129
Lesbian Greek, see Greek: Lesbian Morgantina 155
Leskien, August 220 Moses of Mardin 186, 188
Leslau, Wolf 4, 54, 88, 105, 111, 149, 175, Moṭa 113
203–204, 206, 213, 225–227 Muḥammad, Prophet 224
Letters to the Corinthians 74, 77–79 al-Muḫaṣṣaṣ (Ibn Sīda) 223
Letter to the Hebrews 73, 79, 80 Muḫǝr 124
Lisān al-ʿarab (Ibn Manẓūr) 223 al-Muḥīṭ fī l-luġa (aṣ-Ṣāḥib ibn ʿAbbād) 222
Littmann, Enno 57, 107, 112, 115, 203 al-Muḥkam (Ibn Sīda) 223
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom 194 al-Murtaḍā az-Zabīdī, scholar 223
loanwords Nabatean 121, 125
Arabic 159, 227 Naples 6
Greek 149–162 National Archives and Library of Ethiopia
Sabaic 141 (NALE) 207
Semitic 149, 156 Nestorians 186
Turkish 158–159 New Testament 55, 78–79, 88, 160, 179,
Löfgren, Oscar 63, 69 187–188
Ludolf, Hiob 3, 43, 54–55, 59, 189–192, 203 Niccum, Curt 76
Ludwich, Arthur 155 Nöldeke, Theodor 150
Lydia, region 155 Nosnitsin, Denis 81
Maes (Masius), Andreas 186–187 Nuremberg 187
Makonnen Argaw 113 Old Aramaic, see Aramaic: Old
Malkǝʾ 207 Old Assyrian 125, 127
Mandaic 120–121, 123, 125, 195 Old Babylonian, see Babylonian, Old
Mänz 113 Old Church Slavonic 150
Mäq̱älä 113 Old Testament 79, 86, 207
Maronites 186 Omayyad 224
Marrassini, Paolo 47, 50, 69, 81 Osmanli Turkish 158–159
Masḥāfa Ǝskǝndǝr 207 Osthoff, Hermann 220
Masḥāfa Faws 219 Oxyrhynchus 153
Masḥāfa Ḥāwi 207 Palestine 185, 187
Masḥāfa krǝstǝnna 210 Palmyrene 120–121, 123, 125
Masḥāfa qǝddāse 207 Pasquali, Giorgio 51
Mäsqan 124 Pauline Epistles, see Letter to Hebrews; Let-
Mayrhofer, Manfred 157 ters to the Corinthians
Mäzgäbä Sǝǝlat project 45 Pereira, Francisco Maria Esteves 44, 62
Maʾrib 142 Perry, Ben Edwin 173
Mecca 222 Persian, see Fārsī
Mehri 120, 123, 125, 127 Peshiṭto 78
Meyer, Gustav 150 Phoenician 120–121, 123, 125
Meyer-Lübke, Eduard 156 Phrygia 161
Mǝhrät Čäkkʷäl, aläqa 113 Platt, Thomas Pell 188
Michaelis, Johann 191 Portuguese 189
Middle Aramaic, see Aramaic: Middle post-Aksumite 51–52, 82, 85, 89, 219
Middle Assyrian 96, 125 Potken, Johannes 188–189
Middle Sabaic 141, 143–145 Proto-Semitic 112, 115, 119–124, 126–127
Minaic 120, 123, 141–143 Psalter 47, 54, 188–189, 209–210
Minor Prophets 66 Ptolemy 162
 Index 237

Punic 120–121, 123, 125 Sokoloff, Michael 191–193

Qalemǝnṭos 53 Sonderforschungsbereich 950 – Manuskript-
al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ (al-Fīrūzābādī) 222 kulturen in Asien, Afrika und Europa 45
Qatabanic 120, 123, 125, 141–143 Soqotri 120, 123, 126–127
Qaṭbān Awkan 145 South Arabia 143
Qaw al-Kabīr, see Antaeopolis South Arabian languages 141, 143
Qerǝllos 67, 84 Spanish 32
Qurʾān 223, 224 Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin 174
Radmān 144 Stephanus Byzantius 161
Rhodes 162 St Peter’s basilica 188
Rieti 188 Stroomer, Harry 211
Romance languages 47–48, 52, 85, 89, 150 Sumhurām Yuhawlid 145
Rome 186–187, 189 Sweden 189
Rumanian 150 Syriac 45, 48, 53, 61, 89, 120–121, 123, 125,
Růžička, Rudolf 152 157, 174, 185–187, 191–193, 195, 219–220
Sabaic viii, 120–121, 123, 125, 141–145, Szemerényi, Oswald 156
211–212; see also Middle Sabaic Taddäsä, ato 113
Sabaʾ 142–144 Tāǧ al-ʿarūs (al-Murtaḍā az-Zabīdī) 223
aṣ-Ṣaġānī 223 Tahḏīb al-luġa (al-ʾAzharī) 222
aṣ-Ṣāḥib ibn ʿAbbād 222 Takla Hāymānot, ato 113
Sahidic 78 Takla Hāymānot, name 22
Sälale 113 at-Takmila wa-ḏ-ḏayl wa-ṣ-ṣila (aṣ-Ṣaġānī)
Sälama (Frumentius) 79 223
Salinger, Gerhard 149 Targum of Onkelos 61
Samalian 120, 123, 125 Tasfā Ṣǝyon (Petrus Aethiops) 55, 188
Samaritan 195, 219 Tayyä Gäbrä Maryam, aläqa 113
Sambethe 151 Taʾāmmǝra Iyasus 208
Sanskrit 157–158, 195, 196, 219 Taʾāmmǝra Māryām 207–209
Santo Stefano dei Mori 187–189 Tedros Abraha 73–74, 77
Saphira 158 TEI 15, 36, 41, 202
Šäwa 113 TELMA 202
säwasǝw 204, 206–207, 209–210 Testamentum Domini 14
Schneider, Roger 80, 211 Tǝgray 113
Schulze, Wilhelm 150 Tǝgre 108–109, 120, 122–124
Schwyzer, Eduard 151, 157, 161 Tǝgrǝñña 112, 120, 122–124
Secundus Taciturnus ix, 173–179 Thüringen 190
Segre, Cesare 49 TraCES: From Translation to Creation:
Selti 124 Changes in Ethiopic Style and Lexicon from
Semitic 48, 78, 87, 110, 122, 143, 146, 149, Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages vii–x,
151–153, 156–157, 192, 220, 226–227 3–6, 8, 13–15, 33–42, 185, 191–193, 202
Senodos 207 Trinity College, Addis Ababa 205
Sepphoris 158 Tropper, Josef 20
Septuagint 44, 179 Trovato, Paolo 47, 84–85
Sergew Hable Selassie (Sǝrgǝw Ḥablä-Śǝllase) Tsakonic Greek, see Greek: Tsakonic
ix–x, 204–210, 215 al-ʿUbāb az-zāḫir wa-l-lubāb al-fāḫir (aṣ-
Sǝlṭi 124 Ṣaġānī) 223
Sǝnkǝssār 107 Ugaritic 120–121, 123, 125
Sǝrʿata gǝbǝr 5 Uhlig, Siegbert 46
Shiferaw Bekele 47 Ullendorff, Edward 53, 108, 111
Sibyl 151 Ullmann, Manfred 225
Soddo 122–124 Uniate movement 185
238 Index

Unicode 5–7, 13, 38, 211 Weischer, Bernd Manuel 67, 84

Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’ 6 Wemmers, Jacob 188, 203
Urdū 158 Weninger, Stefan 110, 176
Urmi, see Aramaic: Urmi Westphalia 190
VanderKam, James C. 70 Wittenberg 187
Vatican 188 Wolane 124
Vienna 187 Yamärǝñña haräg (Alämayyahu Mogäs) 210
Vision of Shenute 65 Yemen 141–143, 222
Vittori, Mariano 188–189 Ẓafār 145
Voigt, Rainer 108, 114 Zarʾā Yāʿǝqob 189
Vulgate 47, 61 Zay 122, 124
Wahrmund, Adolf 226 Zgusta, Ladislav 152
Wansleben, Johann Michael 203 Zion 25
Wechsler, Michael 54, 74 Ziq 209
Wehr, Hans 177, 225 Zuurmond, Rochus 60–61, 71–72, 74