Arabic-L:LING:Etymology of nahr el-ehreir

[Dilworth Parkinson]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arabic-L: Wed 01 Aug 2007
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
[To post messages to the list, send them to arabic-l at byu.edu]
[To unsubscribe, send message from same address you subscribed from to
listserv at byu.edu with first line reading:
            unsubscribe arabic-l                                      ]

-------------------------Directory------------------------------------

1) Subject:Etymology of nahr el-ehreir

-------------------------Messages-----------------------------------
1)
Date: 01 Aug 2007
From:"Daniel Hunt" <Cerwyd at msn.com>
Subject:Etymology of nahr el-ehreir

[moderator's note: the following came as a series of messages.   
hopefully you will be able to follow them.]

Dear List Members:

I'm researching the Er-Rafeh or "Raphon" site in Syria.  Online  
sources indicate that this place is on a tributary of the Yarmuk  
called the El-Ehreir.  This is said to mean "The Torrent", but I  
wanted to check and make certain such a definition is correct.

Please also include any variants of this word and cognates in other  
Semitic languages.  I'm especially interested to know whether ehreir  
is cognate with Hebrew yoreh (or yarah/yara), Ugaritic hr( r )-, etc.

Thank you.

_____

I find a Nahr al-Harir near Dara in Syria... is this an alternate  
spelling for the Nahr el-Ehreir of Er-Rafeh?

Thank you again.
______

I found the following site and the Lat./Long. coordinates for Wadi el  
Ehrer and Wadi Al Harir do, in fact, match:

http://water.worldcitydb.com/muhafazat_dar% 
60a_in_syrian_arab_republic_state.html<http://water.worldcitydb.com/ 
muhafazat_dar`a_in_syrian_arab_republic_state.html>

To me, it looks like a stream named Harir could, in fact, be an  
Arabic form of the Ugaritic hr ( r )-, which means to pour out or be  
dispensed (as water).

I look forward to hearing what list members have to say on the root  
of this Arabic stream name and its range of meanings.

Thank you again.
______

Dr. Parkinson.

Do you happen to have J. Hava's Arabic-English Dictionary: Al-Faraid?

Margalit cites 822 f. as the cognate Arabic root to the Ugaritic hr  
( r ) I mentioned in my earlier posts.  He does not give the root, of  
course, but does say that it is provided with the definition  
'abundant of water', and 'flow, pour out'.  If someone can please  
supply me with this Arabic root (in transliterated or "Anglicized"  
form), that would answer part of my question.  Then I need only  
ascertain as to whether the Al-Harir (or el-Ehreir) river name is  
from the same root, and what it means as a river-name.

Best wishes,

Daniel

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
--
End of Arabic-L:  01 Aug 2007