2006 LINGUA POSNANIENSIS XLV Ill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTICLES

1/Detlev BLA~KE (Berhn), Zur \ltorphologie von Plansprachen: Esperanto und lnterlingua im Vergleicb . 7 V Edmund GUSSMA.'<~ (Poznail), Icelandic Vowel Length and Govermng Relations in Phonology. . . . . 21

CTaHilCnaa KAPOJUfK (Sopot), BblpalKaJOT nH rnaroni>Hble npHCTaBKH cnoco6bl .aeHCTBHJI. . . . . . . . 43 Wuold MANCZAK (Krak6w), Lusitanien Reve • Iatin Jovi . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Marcm MICHALSKI (Pomail), Names of D1seases m Classical Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

VOlga OSSIPOVA (Tomsk), The Poss1ble Typological Clue for D1sciphering the lndo-European Heteroclite Declension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Rosnslav PAZUKHIN (KatoWJce), On the Paradoxtcal Bases of Modem Speech Methodology . . . . . 95 Tadao SHJMOMIYA (Tokio), Das Deutsche im Kreise der europaischen Sprachen mit einem Exkurs zu

den Werken der Briider Gnmm . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ill Gabor TAKAcs (Szekesfehervar), Angas-Sura Etymologies Ill • . • . • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Gabor TAKACS (Szekesfehervar), Seventy Years after the First Attempt at an Egyptian Etymological

Dictionary ~ Evaluation of F. von Cahce's Grundlagen der Agypto·Semitischen Wonverg/eichung (1936) . . . . . . . . • • . • . . . • • . • . • . • . . . . . . . . • • • . • . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

AndrzeJ ZABORSKI (Kalwaria Zebrzydowska), Main and Secondary Functions of Derived Verbs in Arabtc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 65

REVIEW ARTICLES

Mieczyslaw Jerzy KONSTLER (Warszawa), Somethmg Long, Something Flat: Chmese Lexicography and a new Approach to the Study of the Smitic Languages. . . • . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Geoff WJLLIAMS, Annabelle LUKI!" (eds.) 2004 The Development of Language: Functional Per­specuves on Species and Individuals (Fred C.C. Peng, Taipel) • . • . • . . . . • • • . . . . . . . . . . 201

REVIEWS

Angehka BRAUN, H.R. MASTHOFF (eds.). 2002. Phonetics and Its Apphcations, Festschrift for J.-P Koster on the Occasion of His 60'h Binhday (Rostislav Pazukhm, Katowzce) . . . . . . . . . . . 213 G. DEVA'IEYAN [DEVANEYA PAVA:-IAR). 2004 Nostratics- The Light From Tam1l According to De-

vaneyan ( 1977-80 Stud1es of G. Devaneyan on the Spread in Different Language Families of the World of Derivanves from 22 Bas1c Tam1l Words) (Bradius V Maurus, Poznan). . . . . . . . . . 216

Hermann JUNGRAITHMAYR (in collaborauon w11h DJune N'GABA TCH~R!. Nakouma TOURJ, Michka SACHII\E et Jean-Pierre CAPRILE). 1990. Lex1que Mokllko. Mokilko-fran~a1s et fran~ais-Mokilko (Guera, Tchad) ( . ..fdrian .\facelaru, Bucuresti) . • . • . • . • . • . . . . . . . • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Konstantin Gennad'e\,~ KRASUCHI~ . 2004. Vvedenie v indoe\Topejskoe jazykoznan1e. Kurs Jekcij (Wuold Manc=ak, Kralcow). • . • . . . • . • . • . • . • . • . . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Andrej N. SOBOLEV (ed.). 2005. ~ialyj dialektologifeskij atlas balkanskich jazykov Serija grammau­~eskaja, s pre1mu~~estvenn}m vmman1em k strukture balkanoslavjanskich jayzkov (Arm in Hetzer, Bremen) . . • . . . • . • . • . • . • • • . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

2006 LINGUA POSNANIENSIS XLVIII

~1arcin Michalski

NAr..1ES OF DISEASES IN CLASSICAL ARABIC

ABSTRACT

Every language has its own means of naming diseases. To some extent, ways of understanding the narure of pathological states are encoded tn each language in a manner specific to it. This question was approached by the Classical Arab grammarians together with the rise of the linguistic thin­king tn this civiltzation Sibawayhi is Interested mamly m the morpholog1cal aspect of words that denote diseases wheras AI-Ia'alibi' represems a lexicographer's ponl! of \'iew. Two principal verbal patterns expressing pathological states. Ku7i8a and K111i8u, must be taken into consi­deration when speaking of naming diseases in Classical Arab1c Some interesting semantic im­plications result from formal affinities with other verbs which do not denote diseases. Also adjectives can be mformam·e of how Arabic speakers concetve of diseases. There are numerous strategies of coining names of disea$CS in this language. many of wh1ch are based upon mteresting metaphors.

I INTRODUCTIOl\

Not much, if anything, about the linguistic image of disease can be inferred from the Polish expression =achorowai: 11a gi)'P~ and its English translation to be ill with flu. Both merely communicate the fact that someone is ill. Neither of these constructions witll the prepositions na and with arouses any intuitions about how Polish or English native speakers concei\'e of the nature of being ill. Those who complain of bronchitis can not be imagined as people who complain. i.e. verbalize their displeasure with their bronchi, since one can complain of bronchitis without breathing a word. Also, one would not associate someone of whom a Polish speaker says skar;;y si~ na iolqdek ('he/she complains of stomach pains') with an informer denouncing his own stomach, although Polish skar:.yc sie na means both 'to complain of something' and 'to de­nounce somebody.' Polish na and English with. used in both languages for marking the fact that someone is affected with an illness, fumtsh no information about whether the illness ·entered'. 'gripped', ·surrounded'. or 'hit' the body. With expressions like these, it is impossible to say what the Polish or English language tells us about the fact that an organism behaves in a way showmg signs of an illness, i.e. that it ts ill. Equally little about the intuiti\ e concepuon of the nature of an tllness is said in similar expressions

68 .\fardn Michalski LP XLVIII

of other European languages. e.g. German an Grippe erkrankt or Russian 6o.~bltori

lp1111110.11.

There are. however. metaphoric expressions. such as Polish =lapac gr)pt: ·ro catch

a flu', French attraper une grippe, German sich eine Grippe einfangen. suggesung an

'acquisitional' nature of the disease. 1 In Polish a disease may be conceived of as an

unpleasant state similar to a trap (llped::ic kogos w chorohe lit. 'to drive somebody into

a disease· i.e. 'to bring a disease on somebod) ') or downward space (lipase ll chorohe

lit. 'to fall into a disease' srmilar to upasc w dOI'to fall into a hole'). Here. the Englrsh

down with flu and latd up with flu can be adduced for comparison. In many languages

disease can also have the nature of a force entering the human body. which should be

driven out (wypftd::ic chorobt::: kogos lit. 'to drive a disease out of somebod) ·.German

Kopfschmer::en vertreiben) or of an anthropomorphic being. which. if it gets or stri­

kes people, can confine them to bed. pill in a wheelchair. de ... ·astare and. finally,

kill them. 2 These constructions are metaphorically marked as against the neutral ex­

pressiOns like to have a disease, to be ill with a disease (Polish ::achorowac na cos, bye

chorym na cos), which reveal nothing about the imagined nature of diseases and on­

ly convey the meaning of an abstract relation linking a sick person with a specrfic

disease.3

More revealing are names of specific diseases ln English they are mainly loanwords

from Latin and Greek, but Poltsh has lls own names. many of them comed with the use

of special morphemes."' Thus, along '' uh names '' uh the suffix -o::a (Greek -osis and

English -os is) like skolio::a ·scolrosis'. awitamino::a 'avitaminosis', there are feminine

nouns with the suffix -ica·-yca. e.g. dlawica ·angina pectoris', grrdica 'tuberculosrs':

with the suffix -ac;:ka, e.g. bialac=ka 'leukaemia', padac::ka 'epilepsy.' It is difficult to

say with certainty whether feminization of .the names of diseases is related to their

abstract character or to anthropomorphization. Polish euphermsms which were used for

diseases in order to avotd mentioning the e\ il often refer to female persons. e.g. matka

'mother'. kuma 'godmother. friend' (KOPALI'\:Sl\.: 1985 333). Fever and scabies used to be

called ciotka 'aunt' (BoRYS 2005: 83) Paluch \\ ntes that in folk beliefs fever was rma-

1 The etymology of the French gnppc and Gcmlln Grippe shows, though, that m th1s case the direction

of 'acqUisition' was pnmarily the opposite one. "Dcr ~ame der Erk5ltungskrankheit wurdc im IS Jh. aus

gle1chbed._li'=. gnppe entlehnt, das cigentlich .. Grille. Launc" bedcutct. Die Bedeurungsiibertragung mag von

dcr Vorstcllung ausgcgangcn scin, dass du:se Krankheit den ~lcnschcn plotzlich und launcnhaft befall!. Das frz Won ist mit dem dancben stchcndcn V.:rb gnpper ,nach etwas haschcn. gre1fen" g.:rm. Ursprungs."

(llerktm/isworterbuch 1997: :!56). et: also 10 catch typhoid and/() b.: Jl.'t:cd by typhoid. 2 This metaphoric conception of diseases as active external forces ditTers significantly from medical

definitions. Thus, for instance. according to 8/aJ.iston s Pockt>t .\lt>dicul Dictionary ( 1979: ::!46} a disease

is: "I. The failure of the adapll\'e mechanisms of an org:mtsm to counteract adequately the stimuli or stresses 10 whtch it is subject, resuhmg in a disturbance m iuncuon or structure of any part, organ, or

system of the IJody. A response to injury; sickness or illness. :!. A spcc1fic cnitity which is the sum total of

the numerous expressions of one or more pathologtcal processes. The cause of a disease entity is re­

presented by the cause of the bas1c pathological process in combmauon wuh important secondary causati\c

factors." 1 Expression X is ill with flu means X is ill and the illn<!ss is jlu. 4 Very often they arc loan translations from other languages, e.g. kas:ak 'atheroma' from kas:a 'groats',

cf. Greek atlrera 'groats.'

LP XLVIII Names of Disl."DSl."S 111 Classical Arabic 69

gined as a young woman inhabiting areas near rivers and lakes. In eastern regions of Poland there were twelve different kinds of fever, for each of which one of twelve sisters was accountable (P-\Lt.:CH 1995. 29). As for masculine names of diseases, the suffix -ak is mainly used for coming names of tumours and growths, e.g. c::yrak 'furuncle, boil', c::erniak 'melanoma.· ~1ascultne euphemization can be exemplified by gosciec, a word which can designate various chronic disease. especially rheumatism. Derived from gosc 'guest'. the word was believed to have placatory effect on the disease and to gain its (actually his) favours.

Polish names of dtSeases are created form various words which can designate:

I. causes of the diseases (e.g. pylica 'pneumocomosis' from pyl 'dust');

2. symptoms. of which various aspects can serve as bases for derivation: 2.1. structure of the pathological deformation (kas::ak 'atheroma' from kasza

·groats·. prosak 'milium' from proso ·millet'),

2.2. colour changes (::oltac::ka 'jaundice' from ::olty 'yellow', czerniak 'melano­ma' from c=arny 'black').

2.3. involuntary mo,·ements concomitant to a disease (padac::ka 'epilepsy' from padai: 'to fall'. plqsall'ica ·chorea' from plqsac 'to jump. to dance'),

2.4. location of the symptoms (polpasiec 'herpes zoster. shingles'. from po/ 'half' and pas ·waist: belt', from the location ofblisters at one half of the body and the Greek name herpes ::osrer. in which ::oster means 'belt').

Names of diseases can also be created from names of those who could heal them (e.g. Polish choroba swierego Walentego 'eptlepsy'. lit. 'Saint Valentine's disease'; choroba krolewska 'the kmg's evil', i.e. 'scrofula·, which was believed to be curable by a king's touch; taniec swi~tego Wita 'Samt Vitus's dance'. Le. 'chorea'; French mal de Saint Jean 'epilepsy·. lit. 'Saint John's disease') and from names of countries from whtch a disease - truly or allegedly - onginated. e.g. Polish angielska clzoroba 'ra­chitis'. lit. 'English disease':francuska clwroba 'syphtlis', 'French disease.'5 Newly described diseases are mostly named after their discoverers. such as choroba Creut;;­felda-Jakoba 'Creutzfeld-Jakob disease; clwroba Al::heimera ·Alzheimer's disease.' These names are often shortened m informal speech, e.g. Polish jest chory na al=­lzeimera 'he has Alzheimer's.· Some diseases denve their names from places which cause them. e.g. choroba morska ·seasickness'. choroba gorska 'mountain sickness', choroba kesonowa ·caisson disease·. others from the in fcction source e.g. clwroba papu::ia 'psittacosis', 'parrot disease'; gorqc::ka s::c::ur=a 'rat-bite fever', ptasia g1ypa 'bird flu. a\ian influenza.· There are diseases named after geographical regions where they appeared or were described for the first time, e.g. gorqc::ka Ebola 'Ebola fever', clzoroba bornholmska 'Bomholm disease·. and few are named after persons or groups affected. e.g. clzoroba legionistow 'legionnaire's disease·. which had an outbreak at a convention of the American Legion in 1976.

~Other European nations called tt also ltahan. Spanish. German and Pohsh disease. A Polish !6th-cen­tury historian, ~brcin Bielski. recorded that it \l.as brought to Poland "from Rome by a woman who went thtther on a p1lgrimage.''

70 .\/urn11 Michalski

2 DISEASE :\NO TYPES OF DISEASES I\; ARABIC

Speaking of a general classification of diseases reference will be made to the Arabic

lexicographer AL-TA·ALtBJ (d. 1038). who in hts work Fiqh al-luga ('Science of Lan­

guage') writes:

Ad-dii 'u ismrm giimi 'un li-kulli maracjin. wa 'aybin ?iihirin aw biifinin. • Dii' is a general name for every disease and de fed'. \isible or interior.'

(AL-IY ;o.usl 2002: 166)

The word dii ·could be conceived as a broadly understood term for a disturbance in the

health of an organism. However. words dii ' and maracj are often used interchangeably to

denote a somatic disease. It is so for instance in the title of a chapter of AI-Ja'alibi's

book: On characteristics of diseases (amriiif> and illnesses (adwii) As for waga',

which also can mean 'disease', it more frequently means ·pain' or 'a disease connected

with pain', e.g. in the chapter On the degrees of throat pains. Above that, there ts another

term for denoting diseases. 'ilia. meaning also 'defect, deficiency.· This term is also used

in grammar and metrics, where it denotes irregulanttes. The orignal distinction between

all these terms (assuming it has ever existed) seems to be obliterated. since even such an

eminent lexicographer as Al-Ia' alibi dtd not use them consistently. Another term can be

added here, 'iiritj. meaning 'obstacle. impediment. obstruction; temporary dtsturbance,

anomalous condition (physically); attack. fit. spell; s . th. accidental. s. th. nonessential.

an accident' (WEHR 1974: 605). which is cognate to 'ara~t·accidentl]Jhilos. ): contingent,

nonessential characteristic· and 'symptom, manifestation of disease· (\\'EHR 1974: 604 ).

Both nouns share a common verb 'aracja which means 'to happen to someone. to befall

someone' and 'to become visible, appear to someone' (WlliiR 1974: 603). However.

AL-TA" ALIBI does not employ these terms with due distinction when in the chapter on

body parts he divides eye defects into ma 'iiyib (i.e. defects. identical ro ·ayb). states of

'iiriq-type and dii '-type. and then he classifies ~1asar ·eye fatigue from prolonged looking

at something' as an 'iiricj (2002: 145). but qamar 'eye fatigue from intense looking at

snow' is for him a case of dii · (2002; 147). Stmtlarly, 'amas 'constant secretion of

a white fluid from the eye· is one of m a 'iiyib (2002 · 144), whereas its synonym gama:'' is

counted among dii ·-examples (2002: 147). Thus. tt is justified to say that the boundaries

between the categories used by AI-Ja'alibl's are not completely clear.

3 NAMES OF DISEASES AND DISTURBANCES ACCORDING TO SIBAWAYHI

STBAWAYHI (d. between 780- 793 ). whose field of investigation was grammar. was

principally interested in regularities and what is systemic in language. One of the chap­

ters of his monumental work Al-Kitiib 'The Book'. the first grammar of Arabic. is

6 'ayb means physical defects, whether visible. such as humped back, or invisible, e.g. blindness, deaf­ness. Its general meaning is 'somethmg of wh1ch one should be ashamed.' The verb 'iiba means ·accuse some

one of a fault or vice; [ ... ]: to blame, censure. denounce, decry. reprove· (WfliR 1974: 660).

LP XLVIII .\'ames oj D1uasrs m Cla.uical .~rabic 71

entitled Biib m a ga a m in al-adwii' 'ci/ci mi[iil wagi ·a. yawga 'u. wag a (Ill, wagi'un

/i-taqiirub al-ma'iini'On diseases which by virtue of the closeness of meaning have their

names patterned after wagi'a, yawga'u. lfaga·an. wagi'un'1 (SIBAWAYHI 1991· IV,l7). In

this chapter the grammarian notices that verbs with past form KaTiBa, present form

yaKTaBu, nomen actionis KaTaB. and adjecttve KaTiB denote diseases and unpleasant

states.8 His examples are:

wagi'a 'he felt pain'; yawga'u 'he feels pain': waga' 'pain'; wagi' 'feeling

pain '9

~rabifa 'to have a distended belly from overfeeding \vith melilot10 (said of

a camel)', ~abiga 'to have a distended belly'.

marirfa 'to be ill. sick·. saqima 'to be ill. sick'.

Verbs of this type do not always denote diseases and pains Sibawayhi interprets their

other meanings as coming within the general meaning of disease (dii ), which he had

established at the beginning According tu Sibawayhi. the Arabs treat the word !za=ina

'to be sad' as denoting a disease or sickness, hecause it is a da · (SiBAWAYHI 1991: IV.I7).

In the same way he interprets other words:

wagila 'to be afraid'. rad~va ·to perish'.

1 The basic meaning of an Arabic word is conveyed by usually three radical consonants (in this article,

also in quotations, symbolized a, K. T and 8). The lexical and gr:unmatieal meanmg of a word arc modified

by means of the alternation of \'owels {sometime~ w1th the help of ~ome spce1ahzed consonants). 8 Grammars of Arabic say that verbs of this group convey the meaning of temporary and transitory

states. E.g. in \\'RIGHT ( 1962: I. 30). "The: vowel i in the .same position [verbs of the type Ka 1i Ba are meant

here - M.:'\ . .q has generally an intraru;itive Signification. u [KaTuBa - M.M.] invariably so. The disunction

between them 1s, that i indicates a temporary state or condnion, or a merely accidental quality in persons or

things. whilst u mdicates a permanent s~ate. or n naturally inherent quahty." BROCKEL\1.\~' ( 1985: 35) says

that the form Ka1i8a "steht durchweg fiir zufiillisc. von1bergehende [ •. ) Eigcnschaften und Zustiindc" and

I\ a TuBa "fUr w~enliche, dauemde E1gensehaficn und zu~tandc." In GRASDE t(963 : 123) we read that 11 most

frequently com·e}s the mcanmg of temporary states ("ape,teHHoe cocroliHIIe'' ) or 11 can be a transitive verb;

accordmg to h1m the form A'aTuBa conveys "a property or a permanent quality" ("csolicrso unu noCTOliHHoe

l<a'lcCTao"). In DA:\ECJo;t (199~ : 112) we read that verbs of the group 1\a1i8u denote states of shon duration or

transitory states, howc\'er some of them can denote an action or a proeess. Verbs of the group KaTuBa

indicate "malterable, permanent states." lt must be noted. however, that dietionanes. both classical and

contemporary. gi\'e examples of \'erbs \\hich contradict the above, e.g. for Ka1i8a: bakima 'to be dumb,

mute' (WEHR 1974: iO); !ansa 'to be or become deaf' (\\' EHR 197~ : 557) ,gayida - (ala wa !1asww giduhri 'to

have a long and beautiful neck' (AI-Mung1d 200~ : 11 ~ ). For KaTuBa: ba/,;uma 'to be silent, hold one's tongue'

(WEIIR 1974: 70); sarofa - f lira tfci iarajin 'to become noble' (Al-Mungid 2002: 383), because, as WRIGHT

(191i:! · I. 30) explains, thts form .. often mean~ to becomf! wha1 one was not before": samura 'to b.: or turn

brown' (WEHR 1974: 429). As 8ROCKEL\1ASS (1%5: 35) puts n, •·ai~werlcn kommen die Formen Ka1i8a

oder KaTuBa bei einem und demselben Verbum nebcn KaTaBa vor: b•sweil.:n auch Ka1i8a und KaTuBa bei

demselben Verbum." 9 From now on only pa~t form of the verb with English rranslauon 10 infiniti\·e will be given. according

to the usage accepted in grammars of Arabic. 10 Melilot (Lat. Melilotus) •~ a yellow-flowered plant very often used for fodder.

72 Marcin Jfichalski LP XLVIll

/awi_va 'to be crooked'.

wagiya 'to have sore feet from walking·.

'amiya qalbuhii 'his heart went blind {i.e. he became mad)" .

He also adduces examples of \ ·erbs dcnotmg fear such as f a:::i'a , rariqa. wagira. and

explains that they are identically patterned because fear "is a disease attaimng one's

heart in the same way as \\·hat we mentioned above attains one ·s bod~ ·• {li-annahii do 'un

wafala ilafu'odihi kama wa~a/a ma rjakarna i/a badanih•1 (SIB,\WNt' fll 199.1: IV,l8).

Sibawayhi also pays attention to adjectives with the meamng ·affected with so­

mething'. which beside the pattern KaTiB can have the pattern aKTaB. The latter is

typical of adjectives denoting defects ('ad> I, special physical beau:1es (as opposed to

'ayb), and colours. 1t is also the pattern of the comparati ... ·e and superlatt\e, to which the

tenn 'elative' is applied. 11 Slbawayhi adduces some exemplary patrs

wagir : awgar • fearing, fearful' ,

.~a 'it :as 'at 'unkempt'.

~zadib : a~tdab 'hunchbacked'.

garib : agrab 'mangy'.

Characteristics like 'hunchbacked' or 'unkempt' are usually expressed by aKTaB ad­

jectives, i.e those patterned typically of characteristics considered defects Sibawayhi

explains the co-occurence of these two fonns (aKTaB and KaTi.B) saying that they .. can

coincide" (qad yagtami ·ani) and that "as regards meamng both of them are a kind of

pain" (wa hum a fi 1-ma 'na na~wun m in al-waga ·r). In this case. wuga should be con­

ceived of as a general tenn for things which are unpleasant and painful. Another

examples are:

kadir · akdar 'troubled (also metaphorically)'.

~ramiq: atrmaq 'stupid', qa 'is : aq 'as 'pigeon-breasted·.

Sibawayhi states further that also words that mean the opposite of the above are

patterned after KaTiBa (wa go 'ii bi-~iddi mii gakarnii ·atci binli 'ihi), e.g. :

fari~w 'to be happy·. nasi{a 'to be lively. animated'.

Thus. beside the verb l]ami{a 'to have a pleasant smell' there are for instance qanima 'to

stmk' and sahika 'to stink of fish· Sibawa}hi explams that the Arabs consider the

phenomenon of exhaling an unpleasant odour to be a do· because it is an 'ayh. 1.e. a de­

fect, something reproachable and shameful.

11 However, despite the1r fom1al similarity, comparative and superlative fonns (clauves) should be distin­

guished from adjectives patterned according to aJ\TaB-pancrn, which, according to WEIIR ( 1953 570 [6)).

constitute a group apart . "D1esc Gruppe ist sckundar in d1e \\"ortklassc der Adjektivc ubergctrctcn und do~hcr

wurden Femmin- und Pluralfonncn (fa 'la 'u und ji1"1) zu ihncn gestcltt, die m it aj'ulu (i.e. the clativc fonn.

e.g. akbar 'b•ggerlb•ggcst' - M.M .) von Haus aus nichb 7.u tun habcn."

LP XLVIIJ ,\'ames of Diseas.:s m Classical Amhic 73

Next, in order to explain the common pattern, STbawayhi states that words of this pattern are applied to ··rhmgs with close meanings because their general sense is agita­tion'' (aiya 1111 taqarabat ma aniha li-anna gum/aralia haygun) (STBAWA) Ill 1991: IV. 20). This agitation. commotion. or excitement would be the general sense of such verbs as;

ariga 'to smell pleasantly' - the author explains that here the movement (ta~10rruk 01·-ri~1) and the dispers1on of the fragrance (su{ii'uha) are meant, !Jamisa 'to be eager. enthustasllc'. salisa ·to be tractable. easily managed; to be elast1c (sa1d of a thing)', qaliqa 'to be anx1ous, excited', na::iqa 'to precipitate, to be impetuous', galiqa 'to be angry'.

Having stated that all of these actJ\ ities and states are hnked by the feature of !ays wa biffa ('mconstancy and agility'), Sibawayht goes on to other words that are patterned in the same way because of the closeness of the meanmg. These are words which denote "what is difficult and uneasy" (li-taqarubi ji 1-ma 'na wa galika ma ta 'a(jffaara 'a/ayka wa lam yashu/) (STBA\\AYHI 1991: IV. 21). The examples are as follows:

'asira 'to be difficull'. sakisa 'to be mahctous'. /aqisa 'to be nauseated by something'. la!Ji:a 'to be stmgy'.

STbawayhi concludes. "Smce these things are negative in their [i.e. Arabs'] view, they were treated like pams b·aga') and diseases (clii) which affect them" and completes thus in his view the semantic field of words of pattern KaTiBa. which can be presented as follows

i) somatic diseases. ii) unpleasant psych1c states (and their antonyms);

i1i) shameful characteristics and states; iv) body defects; \) states of agitation and mo\'ement: n) phenomena considered unpleasant. ncgati\'e.

Interestingly enough. STbawayhi was concerned only with antonyms to negative psychic states But there also exist opposites to 'defects'. i.e. special physical beauties (so called ~~i/cm), whtch are expressed \\IlL words of the same pattern. e.g. !wwira 'to have intensively white eyeballs and intensively black indcs'. gayida 'to have a long. shapely neck'. \'erbs of this type can also denote easy acuons. e.g. rasira 'to be easy·. wh1ch ts the antonym to 'asira 'to be difficult'. However, 1t seems to be obvious for Sibawayhi that the function of KaTiBa-vcrbs is above all to express negative states and phenomena. including diseases. Perhaps the reason for his treatmg the words that denote positi\'e phenomena as marginal was because words for diseases. defects and other unpleasant things are more numerous than those that denote the correct state. Other languages do not differ from Arabic in that the> have much more expressions for in-

74 Marcin Micllalski LP XLVIII

correct states of the organism, but only one for the correct 'health', which, moreover,

does not need to have a positive meaning, but can denote the state of an organism

generally (cf. poor health, Polish bye slabego ::drowia). Also. when one concentrates on

the group of verbs expressing "states of short duration or transitory states·· (D·\NECKI

1994: 112) which refer to phystcal states of the human bod), one \vlil nouce that verbs

denoting positive states are by far less frequent that those denoting negative ones. The

reason for this is that external stimuli. which effect such transitory stares, produce more

unpleasant nameable impressions than pleasam ones Other languages are also charac­

terized by tlus dtsequilibirum: expressiOns such as it bums. itches slings. is chilled. is

numb outnumber expressions such as it tickles. soothes. 1 ~

Gami' ad-durLis al- ·arabi;:va. a grammar written in 1912 and still popular in the

Arab world, takes a slightly different vte\v at the verbs of KaTIBa-panem It says that

among them there are numerous '·verbs denoting diseases ( 'ilaf), sorrows (a(1::an) and

their opposites[ ... ). as well as emptiness and fullness. e.g. ·afisa ·to be thirsty', sabi'a 'to

be sated, to eat one's fill'. In this way are patterned all verbs denoting colours, physical

defects ('ayb) and beauties U1ilim)" (AL-GALAYI:\T 2002: 160).

Below are some more examples of verbs that denote diseases or similar states. along

with their corresponding nomina actionis. '' hich denote also the disease itself:

!wdiba 'to be hunchbacked' : !1adab 'hunchback',

bari~a 'to suffer from leprosy' . bara~ 'leprosy',

~~a~ifa 'to suffer from dry scabtes': (w:jaf 'df) scabies',

ta'iba 'to be tired'· ta'ab tiredness',

kaliba 'to go rabid' kalab rabies.'

Again, as in the case of the English ill with flu. it would be difficult to say here what

language reveals of the way people imagine the nature of diseases and strnilar states.

A verb like bari~a says of the ontology of leprosy as little as the English he had leprosy.

There is a lack of any kind of metaphoric background. It is not kno\vn where leprosy

comes from: whether it attacked the body from outside or origmated mside it. The

linguistic form is uninformative here, except for revealing semantic affinities with other

verbs of the pattern KaTiBa. Sometimes, however. some words may be characterized by

semantic idiosyncrasy, e.g. the verb 'ariga 'to be lame'. according to the dictionary

Al-Mungid (2002: 496), is applied when "one's lameness is innate (flilqa), i.e. a constant

defect ('ilia lazima)", as opposed to lameness resultmg from a disease or a wound.

12 An mtcrcst:ing example ofnommattng efTects of external factors is found m AL-TA'ALIBI's book (2002:

129) in the chapter Fi taqsim al-ii{iir 'ala 1-yad 'On diviston of traces on a hand.' There he writes that lhe

nomenclature of traces left on a hand after touching obJects is "a vast field." Arab philologists gathered

adJectives of KaTiB-panem (to which correspondent verbs of KaTiBa-pattem exist) that refer to a hand after

its contact with some external object AI-Ta'iilibi writes: "Subsequently, people added many new words[ ... ].

I have put down those which pleased to me: [ ... ] The Arab say: my hand ts gamira of meat, ::ahima of fat,

~amira of fish, qanima of oil, ::ahika of eggs, ::ani~a of grease, ~amifa of vmegar, laziga (i.e. ·sucky') of

honey and nii{if(a kind of sweet), laziqa (i.e. 'sttcky') of fruits, radi 'a of saffron, 'abiqa of perfume, rjariga

of blood, la!iqa of water, radiga of clay. sahika of iron, tofu a of faeces, waiila of unne, darma of din, magila

(blistery) of work, ~arida of cold."

LP XLVIII .Vames of Diseases m Classical Arab1c 75

It is possible that more could be said about categorization of diseases and similar states in Arabic (albeit not from the point of view of their sources) if corresponding adjectives were considered. According to their patterns, they can be divided into three

groups:

i) patterned after KaTiB, e.g . .fari~l 'happy'; ii) patterned after both KaTiB and aKTaB, e.g. garib/agrab 'scabby';

iii) patterned after aKTaB. e.g. agyad 'with a long, shapely neck·.

Characteristics which can be expressed with two kinds of verb (ii) seem to lie between the two extremes. The question arises if there is any scale related to the meaning of these adjectives and limited by the two extremes Ka1iB and aKTaB. If so, how should it be interpreted? It seems that adjectives of group (i) are specialized in expressing cha­racteristics which are:

- transitory (dynamic), - mainly mental. - visually less conspicuous. Thus. adjectives like ill. happy. tired belong there. As for adjectives of group (iii)

they mainly express characteristics which are: - constant (static). -external. - visually more conspicuous, easily discernible. This group mcludes mainly words for physical defects and beautiful physical qua­

lities. Apart from these, adjectives of colour (external. relatively constant and visually conspicuous) belong to this group. although the corresponding verbs are formed follo­wing a completely different pattern.

Group (ii) contains adjectives meaning ·hunchbacked', 'pigeon-breasted', 'troubled', 'stupid', 'blind', 'unkempt.' Perhaps these double forms reflect a "constant vs. tran­

sitory" opposition (a~tdab 'hunchbacked' as opposed to badib 'hunched'; as'a! 'curly' as

Opposed tO SO 'if 'disheve1Jed'). 13

As already mentioned. all these characteristics can be expressed by verbs following the panem KaTiBa. except for colours, whose verbs are formed following the pattern iKTaBBa, e.g. i~unarra ·ro turn red.· And only some of them have the form Ka1iBa. Verbs denoting colour changes also differ from the others in that. if the cause of a colour change

is expressed. it is usally an abstract noun in the accusative case na~b (ending in -an), e.g.:

ibmarra waghuhii ~agalan 'his face turned red with shame', iswadda waglwhii ~HI:nan 'his face turned black with sorrow. " 4

13 A parallel opposition can be found m Polish. The panern aKTaB would correspond to Polish suffixes -aty and -all}" whtch are typical of constant charactensncs (e.g. garbaty 'hunchbacked', ku/a\>:1' 'lame'). The pattern schemat Ka1iB would correspond to the partiCiples endmg 1n -qcy or -onJ which express above all transitory characteristics, e.g. :garbiony "hunched". kulejqcy 'limping').

14 Jlowe\·er, there also exist expressions with the preposition min, e.g. i~marrat ·ayniihu min say'in 'his eyes widened at something,' he was astonished by something,' lit 'his eyes turned red at the sight of something.'

76 Marc:in .\fichalski LP XLVIII

At the same time, the other verbs. when a causal noun. whether abstract or concrete. is

expressed, take the prepositions m in ·from· or bi ·by. because of'. e.g.:

bagila min kaliimihi 'to be ashamed of one's words'. ta 'iba min sug/ihi 'to be tired with work'. samirat yaduhti m in as-samaki 'hiS hand stank of fish·,

fari!IO bi n-nagii!1i ·to be happy wtth one's success.'

In many cases a change of an object expressed with a Ka7iBa-verb is prerequisite for

a colour change of this object. A colour change is more difficult to effect, since colour

characteristics (expressed with verbs of the type iKTaBBa) are considered more constant

than others. Their changes are very often effects of effects of a cenain action. Th1s can

be exemplified in the following sentence;

Gatjiba min as-sariqati wa-bmarra waglwhii gafjaban 'He became angry because of the theft and his face turned red with anger.'

Less expected would be a sentence in which the action of theft would be the immediate

cause of a colour change:

I!mwrra waghuhii min as-sariqati. 'His face turned red because of the theft.·

If we recognize this opposition 'transitory vs. constant' and agree that colour properttes.

expressed in Classical Arabic by means of aKTaB-adjectives. are considered to be more

constant than other characteristics, expressed by means of KaTiB-adjectives. many of

which refer to persons suffering from diseases. it would be justifiable to say that in this

language a cenain quantity of information about the nature of diseases, namely its un­

constant character, is encoded.

4. DISEASES AND JINNS

Arabic has a range of verbs with radicals conveying the meaning of body parts and

organs. Those of them which are constructed following the pattern KuTiBa denote

disease or pains of a specific organ:

kubida 'to suffer from liver disorders' (kabd 'liver') mu'ida 'to suffer from liver problems' (ma 'ida 'stomach')

mu[ina 'to suffer from bladder problems' (ma[iina 'bladder')

ru'isa 'to have headaches' (ra 's 'head') rukiba 'to have knee pains' (rukba 'knee')

fu!Iila 'to suffer from spleen disorders' (!ibiil 'spleen').

These verb are constructed following the passive voice pattern. They have no active

correspondent. There are also verbs denoting diseases but not cognate to names of body

parts or organs. e.g. gunna 'to go mad'. sui/a 'to be tll with tuberculosis'. zukima 'to

have a cold', wurida 'to have fever· These verbs have passive particples: magniin 'mad'.

LP XLVIII Names of Dueases 111 Classical Arable 77

maslril 'ill with tuberculosis', ma:ktim 'having a cold', mawnid 'having fever.' According to Slbawayhi. the verb gunna can be understood as gu'i/a filii 1-guniin 'mad­ness was done 10 him/to him· ( 1991: IV, 67) and that a correspondent active verb is conceivable albeit not used in speech (wa innamti gti 'at hti(fihi HJUrtif 'ala ganantu/ui [ ... ) wa-m lam tusra·mal ji 1-ka/iim). It must be pointed here that passive is used in Arabic only when no agent is mentioned and this for various reasons: the agent is unknown or omitted on purpose, due to linguistic taboo or for the sake of politeness. If we add that "in pre-islamic Arab culture the main cause of diseases was supposed to be the influence of evil demons, which- as it was believed- surrounded humans from all sides" (DztEKAS 1997: 23), we could venture the opinion that verbs like sui/a could be understood as 'to be stricken by evil forces with tuberculosis ' 1 s

Thts assumption concemtng the demonic source of diseases can be supported by the fact that classtcal dictionanes of Arabtc give information on transitive active verbs, preponderantly KaTaBa-pattemed. with radicals conveying the meaning of body parts and organs, which denote the action of striking somebody. e.g. with a sword during a combat:

kabadalui [ ... ) ~laraba kabida/ui 'to strike somebody on the liver' (AL-fAYRUzABADI 1999: 284) ma[anahii [ ... ] a~tiba ma[tinatalui 'to strike somebody on the bladder' (AL-FAYROzAB.i.Dl 1999: 11 I I)

It ts posstble that ancient Arabs concetved the state of a person described as makbLid 'suffering from hver disorders' or mam{iin 'suffering from bladder problems' as the effect of aggressive and hostile act1vities of evil spirits, who strike the sufferer's body parts like an armed enemy Another sim1larity lies in the fact that both being affected with a disease and being stricken wtth a blow is very often expressed by means of the passive verb u~iba bi-say 'in 'to be stricken. to be hit with something.'

Verbs like gwma .. m/la. :ukima. which are not cognate to names of body parts or organs. could not have active forms with the meaning proposed above. Their hypo­thetical verbs (ifanna. sal/a, :akama) would have the meamngs: 'to strike with madness, tuberculosiS, cold.' Also here, analogous verbs like e.g. rama~10 'to strike with a lance' (from rum~1 ·lance') and sii{a 'to strike with a sword' (from saJf 'sword') are found.

1t is of interest to discuss certain verbs with radicals conveying the meaning of body parts and organs formed following the pattern KaTiBa. They denote an unnatural or pathological enlargment of an organ:

fa~zila 'to have a large/an enlarged spleen' rakiba ·ro have large/enlarged knees' : rakab 'enlargement/largeness of knees'

u DztERAl\' {1997: :!3) wrnes: "In blam. d1sca•c is rather not considered a God's pumshmcnt." 1\evcr­thelcss. it is withm God's power to mllucncc human health negauvely. This 1s shown by express1ons like ·a~rasa-hti 1/iih 'God made him mute' or 'asallalmllcih "God struck him with tuberculosis', with causauve verbs of the pattern aKTaBa.

78 .\farr:in Michalski LP XLVlll

There are some other words of this type which convey idiosyncratic meanings related to

abnormal states. e.g.:

matina 'to suffer from urinary incontinence·.

yadiya (min yadihi) 'to lose one's hand. to ha\·e one's hand \\ithered.'

Sometimes one form can have several meamngs. e.g. mar 'ris means 'large-headed',

'stricken on the head, head-cloven· and ·suffering from headaches.· On the other hand one

meaning can be expressed with two fonns: both kabida and kabuda mean 'to suffer from

liver disorders.· Whether there ever was a semantic difference between these two words

seems impossible to establish. However, if one takes d1e above dtscussion into account,

one could try to distinguish between kabida as a word stres~ing the temporal and transitory

character of the disorder and kabuda underscoring Its external demonic cause.

5. DISEASl:.S WITH t\.\:-.tES FOLLO\\'I~G THE PATTER:-.: KuTiiB

While the above discussed nomina actio11is folJO\\ing the pattern KaTaB can denote

phenomena other than diseases. the pattern KuTaB is entirely reserved for their names, 16 e.g.:

bwriill 'a disease affecting the nose (of humans and camels) and the beak (of

birds)' : bmma 'to speak, utter sounds through the nose·,

bumar 'a disease caused by alcohol' bamr 'wine, alcohol',

kubtid 'liver disorder· : kabd liver·.

mu'ad 'stomach disorder' : ma'ida stomach.'

Generally speaking, words formed following this pattern are not nomina acrio11is but

nouns in their own rights considered derivauves. although 1t should be pointed that e.g.

su 'a/ 'cough' is considered one of the 110111111a action is of the verb sa 'ala 'to cough.'

Sometimes, closer or more distant metaphoric links can be found between cognate words:

=u!rar 'dysentery' · =a~rGI·a 'to moan·.

brmaq 'angina pectoris' : !J.anaqa 'to choke',

nu~1az 'strong cough (of camels)' : min!rii= 'mortar (perhaps from the si­

milarity of sounds)',

~udii.' 'migraine· : ~ada 'a ·to cleave tn two.'

Sometimes, if there is a verb denoting a particular disease, two names: the nomen

actionis following the pattern KaTaB and the specific KuTaB-name of disease. co-extst e.g.

~raba!: !wbii.! 'distention of the belly from O\'erfeeding with melilot (said of a camel)'.

na!raz : nu!rii.z 'strong cough (of camels)',

kabad : kubiid 'liver disorder.'

16 Although nouns denoting objects from other semantic classes, e.g. sugti' 'brave', hrwif'a shout ' can be

found here, most KuTciB nouns are names of drseases. Another example of such specialization rs the pancm

KuTaBa. typrcal of words denoting various kinds of waste, e.g., buriiya 'clippings produced m sharpening

a pencil' from bara 'to sharpen' (radical BRY), nuscira 'sawdust' from naJara 'to saw.'

LP XLVIII Naml's of Disease.~ 111 Classtcal , Jre~bic 79

Many of these names have correspondent passive verbs (KuTIBa) and passive participles

(maKTiiB):

~rtdi'a 'to suffer from migraine headaches': ma~dii',

mt~iza 'to cough strongly (said of camels)' : manbii:,

kubida 'to suffer from liver disorders' : makbiid,

mu 'ida 'to suffer from stomach problems' : mam'rld.

Verbs denoting dtseases which result in the production of sounds are fom1ed accor­

ding to the pattern KaTaBa. whtch is typical of active verbs denoting actions which

require an active agent, e.g ..

sa'ala 'to cough', 'a{asa 'to sneeze'.

baMa 'to be hoarse'.

naMa:a 'to cough strongly (satd of camels)' - the double consonant (M expresses intensity, fiiqa 'to h1ccup. •

These conditions are treated similarly in other languages. English equivalents, as well as

Polish ones (cluypiec, kaszlec, c:kac), show that these health problems are linguistically

expressed rather as acuons. although adjectives are also possible (to be hoarse, bye

:achrypniftt)m. cf also Arabtc mab~~~~~~ 'hoarse').

6. OTHER :-..1EA~S OF CONSTRUCTING NAMES OF DISEASES

The patterns KaTaB and KuTiiB do not exhaust all the possibilities of nammg diseases

in Arabic. The examples below illustrate some most frequent strategies.

A. Nomma actionis following the pattern KaTB:

~ar ' 'epilepsy', lit. 'throwmg (somebody) down' from ~ara'a 'to throw

down' and ~uri'a 'to be thrown down' (cf. Gr. epilepsia 'attack, fit', also with

connotations of struggle and aggression - from epilambanein 'to seize, to

attack'). It IS worth pointing out that the adjective ~ari 'epileptic' also means

'msane, possessed' because th1s disease was viewed by pre-Islamic Arabs as

the work of evil jinns.

fatq 'hernia, rupture·. lit. 'breaking. rupture' fromfataqa 'to tear apart' and

majlllq ·suffering from hemta ·, lit. 'tom apart.' Cf. Polish przepuklina from

przepulmqc 'to break. to be tom' (BANKOWSKI 2000: 11, 894), colloqiuaJ Po­

lish :erwac si~ ht. 'to get tom' (from liftmg heavy ObJeCts), Gennan Bruch,

Late Latin rupwra.

B. Nomina actionis follow the patterns KuTBa or KaTBa, with the feminine suffix -a

to express a semelfactive or abrupt action. Here are disorders characterized by symptoms

of short duration. e.g. su 'la ·a cough·. buM•l 'hoarseness· (beside su iil and bu!1iib) and

80 Marc:in Michalski LP XLVlll

those which result (or are thought to result) from an abrupt blow. e.g. /aqwa 'facial

paralysis' (here belongs also the passive fonn luqiya 'to be stricken with facial para­

lysis') and sakta 'apoplexy' (.wkita ·to be stricken with apoplexy') . Cf. Gr. apopletta

'a stroke' and Polish udar and pora=enie 'a stroke', all of which figuratively depict the

onset of the disease.

C. Naming a disease with an existing appellative (which is very often a case of loan

translation from Greek or Latin. of which many were mtroduced into Arabic during the

period of the assimilatton of the Synac, Roman and Greek medical knowledge in the 8th

and 9th centuries), e.g. :

ba~iit 'calculus. stone (in the kidney or bladder)'. lit ·pebble.' Other exam­

ples are the verb {111~~iya 'to suffer from stones· and the participle mab~~in·

'suffering from stones.'

sara{iin 'cancer·, the name ts nowadays applted to oncological diseases ge­

nerally. It also appears in AL-TA -.5.usr's book explained as waramtm Jalbun

lahii ~fun fi 1-gasadt kabirun. tasqi/11 rmiqun buflrun 'hard tumour wtth

large roots m the body watered by green veins· (2002 · 1"0) The reason for

naming the disease after the crustacean is not clear. A contemporary ety­

mological dtctionary of the German language explains it m a way similar to

AI-Ta'alibi's: "Die bosartige Geschv.;ulst ist wohl so benannt. wet! stch

beim Krebs der Brustdriisen die Brustvenen zuweilen krebsscheren- oder

krebsful3arttg ausbretten" (/Jerkunji.morterbuch 1997: 386).

baniizir 'scrofula' lit. 'pigs.' Cf. Latin. scrofula. whtch is a diminutive from

scrofa 'a sow.·

D. Loanwords.

In AL-TA'·\LtBT's book (2002: 169) a fev. loanwords are found. e.g.:

miili!Jiilyii 'melancholy' explained as ·•a kind of insanity consisting of bad

thoughts arismg in a person. who is overcome with sorrow and fear; he often

screams and utters these thoughts wtth confounded speech "

qiilang 'colic' defined as "inability of relieving nature caused by the

obstruction of an intestine called qriliin in the Roman language (i.e. in Latin

or Greek)." The Arabic word is the naturalized Greek kolike (nosos) 'colic

(disease). •

E. Compounds with dii' and f!.iit.

The word dii · 'disease· forms compound names with names of animals. e.g. dii' al-jil

'elephantiasis', lit. 'elephant disease'; dii' al-[a'lab 'alopecta', lit. 'fox disease' (Lat.

alopecia from Greek alopet 'fox'); dii' al-asad lit. 'lion disease'. which has several

dictionary translations: 'elephantiasis'. ·a disease simtlar to leprosy' 17, i.e. so called

17 dii • ka-1-bara! (AI-Mungid 2000: I 0).

LP XLVIII Same.t of Diseas~.< in Cluuicol Ara/>ic 81

'fac1es leonina· and 'leontiaSIS'. 1 e. hypertrophy of facial bones. It is easy to see that all of these terms are loan translations.

The word cjar is not easily translatable into English. According to Wehr's dictionary, it means: "being, essence, nature; self; person. personality: the selfsame." It is also the feminine form of cjii 'possessor, owner. holder or master of, endowed or provided with, embodying or comprising s. th.' (WUJR 1974: 314). Names of diseases containig this word. e.g. gat ar-ri 'a 'pneumonia· could be understood as 'she who seizes the lungs' (ri 'a 'lung') Similarly. gat al-ganb 'pleunsy' could mean 'she who seizes the sides' (ganb means 'side·. 1.e. what IS Immediately next to the lungs. as tn the idiom /a;;iqat ri 'awlui bi-1-ganbi 'h1s lungs are sticking to his side with thirst').

7. VARIOLS FACES OF FEVER

To conclude, it will not be inappropriate 10 discuss the rich repertory of Arabic names of fever or ague. This phenomenon must undoubtedly have troubled not only bodtes bm also minds of ancient Arabs. since so many suggestive terms for it were coined. Even today. when Arabs wish somebody evil. they wtsh Heaven would send them a fever.

The general term for ·fever' ~1111111110 is cognate to the verb bamma 'to heat, make hot', which, passt\.ized to ~wmma. means 'to have a fever', i.e. 'to be hot.' The ~1umma affects and harms the sick by "drinking from them.'' To these persons the expression waradatlui 1-(lllmma is applied. which literally means 'fever came to drink from him' (cf. waradat il-ibl 'the camels came to drink'). A person with a fever is called mawnid, i.e. 'one from whom it IS be1ng drunk ' Such a representation of fever IS not strange to Poltsh folklore. which also abounds in names for fever. According to Polish folk beliefs, fever. also euphemized as ciora (even though this euphemism may be hardly understandable today) "enters the body of sleeping people and sucks out their jmces; when the organism defends itself and fights the ciora. shivenng begins" (P ·\Lt..CH 1995 29). Th1s "sucking juices", manifested tn sweating. is sometimes regular, like leading

camels to watenng places. Al-Ta'alibi' stresses that Arabic names of fever, according to the frequency of its attacks. are specific names of the times of watering camels. Thus, a fever which recurs every day is called wird 'daily watering': if it "recurs on one day and not on the another", it 1s called gibb 'watering every second day'; "if it comes on one day. then does not in two days and returns on the fourth". it is rab ' 'watering every third day' (2002: 171) Some other specific terms enumerated by AL-T,, ' ALIBI (2002: 170-171) in the chapter un fevers are:

1111tfbiga ·encompassing. covering·- "when it is prolonged and disturbing", mu[1riqa 'burning'- "when it is strong and very hot and does not relinquish the body". malila - "with high temperature and anxiety'' (from mal/a 'to bake in glo­wing embers'),

82 Murr:in Jficha/sla LP XLVIII

'urawa' "if the fever is accompanied by a feeling of cold" (from 'ara 'to

seize, affi1ct'), ,Jalib 'scorching' - "with high temperature without a feeltng of cold"

(from ~alaba 'to fry. to parch').

Two metaphors concern shivering and sweating:

nafirj 'shaking' - "when it shakes someone with shl\·ers·· (from nafarja 'to

shake', e.g. a tree: to dust. e g. a p1ece of clothes·).

ru(1arjii' - "when it causes sweating" (from ra(wrja 'to wash'; cf ra(1~ltm

'washed out').

8. CONCLIJSIO~

This paper does not aim to provide an exhausttve investigation. The material was

chosen only to show some of the more mterestmg apsects of what was discussed as early

as the work of the first Arab grammarian STha,,·ay h1. who viewed it through the pnsm of

the morphological structure of words which denote negative states of the body. was made

by his method to elaborate a general meaning (or. precisely speaking. a group of

meanings. which he considered close to one another) common to all Ka 7iBa verbs.

According to his observations. the verbs of this type unite such phenomena as: somatic

diseases, painful psychtc states (and their antonyms). reproachful charactcnstics and

states, defects. states of commotion (and motion) and phenomena considered difficult.

unpleasant or negattve alJ in one semantic group It seems that many of these phenomena

were intuitively grasped as having their sources outside the body or as bemg reactions to

external stimuli. e.g.fari(w bi-say 'in 'to be happy at something.·

Another type of verb which denotes diseases IS passh·a rantum with the pattern

Ku7iBa, which implies an act ton of an external agent(\\ hich is never overtly expressed).

In these cases, a disease would be conceived of as the effect of activities of undesirable

external forces. Worth investigatmg is the co-occurence of two verbal fonns relating to

one disease, such as kabida and kabuda. both of which concern liver problems.

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