Arabic-L:LING:medjool query

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Tue 19 Dec 2000
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1) Subject: medjool query

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1)
Date: 19 Dec 2000
From: Jim Rader <jrader at Merriam-Webster.com>
Subject: medjool query

Another query for the always helpful subscribers of Arabic-L:

The word <medjool> is the most common English spelling for a
variety of date now grown in southern California and elsewhere in
the U.S.  Indications are that this variety is of Moroccan origin.  In
Harrell, et al., _A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic_ (Georgetown UP,
1966), the word <mez^hul> (read hacek over the z) is defined only
in the collocation <tmer. mez^hul>, "superior variety of date(s)."
Can anyone tell me the literal meaning and origin of the Moroccan
Arabic word <mez^hul>?  The only point of contact I can see with
Modern Standard Arabic is <majhu:l>, "unknown, unanonymous,"
as given in Wehr/Cowan's dictionary, which hardly fits the context.
I had hoped the _Encyclopaedia of Islam_ might shed some light,
but the fairly detailed article on <nakhl> discusses the palm, not
the fruit; there is a cross-reference to <tamr>, suggesting there
would be a full article, but, alas, the entry <tamr> in the T volume
is only a cross-reference back to <nakhl>.

Any suggestions would be appreciated--Jim Rader.
Jim Rader
Etymology Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal St., P.O. Box 281
Springfield MA 01102
http://www.merriamwebster.com

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End of Arabic-L: 19 Dec 2000