<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Arabic-L: Fri 11 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <<a href="mailto:dilworth_parkinson@byu.edu">dilworth_parkinson@byu.edu</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">[To post messages to the list, send them to <a href="mailto:arabic-l@byu.edu">arabic-l@byu.edu</a>]</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">[To unsubscribe, send message from same address you subscribed from to</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><a href="mailto:listserv@byu.edu">listserv@byu.edu</a> with first line reading:</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> unsubscribe arabic-l ]</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-------------------------Directory------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">1) Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">2) Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">3) Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">4) Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">5) Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">6) Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">-------------------------Messages-----------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">1)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 11 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"Auchterlonie, Paul" <<a href="mailto:J.P.C.Auchterlonie@exeter.ac.uk">J.P.C.Auchterlonie@exeter.ac.uk</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">There is quite a lot of debate about whether mafia is derived from<br>Arabic. G.B. Pellegrini in Gli arabismi nelle lingue neolatine (Brescia,<br>1972) covers the various possibilites, including Maffia, mu`afiya,<br>mahfal, mahyas, etc., but none are picked out as particularly probable.<br>Interestingly, the word mafia does not appear the "Indice delle forme<br>siciliane" in Girolamo Caracausi's Arabismi medievali di Sicilia<br>(Palermo, 1983).<br><br>Paul Auchterlonie.<br><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">2)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 11 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"Elizabeth J. Pyatt" <<a href="mailto:ejp10@psu.edu">ejp10@psu.edu</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; ">For what it's worth - the etymology below is given in the Oxford English Dictionary. The origin seems to be from Sicily (not surprising), but is unclear before. Arabic marfud may be one source but other sources from Italian are also mentioned.<br><br>Key {umac} = long u<br> {ddotbl} = d with dot<br><br>From Oxford English Dictionary<br>[< Italian mafia (1865; also {dag}maffia), prob. back-formation < mafiuso, Italian regional (Sicily) mafiusu<br><br>Italian regional (Sicily) mafiusu, further etymology uncertain and disputed.<br> Italian regional (Sicily) mafiusu is perh. a blend of marfusu scoundrel and marfiuni, marpiuni cheat (Italian marpione; ult. < French morpion MORPION n.); Italian regional (Sicily) marfusu (Italian {dag}malfusso rascal; 15th cent.) is < Spanish marfuz renegade, traitor (1330) < Arabic marf{umac}{ddotbl} outcast, reprobate, passive participle of rafa{ddotbl}a refuse to accept, reject.<br>-- <br>Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.<br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">3)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 11 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"Prof. William Granara" <<a href="mailto:granara@fas.harvard.edu">granara@fas.harvard.edu</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><blockquote type="cite" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; "></blockquote>There is a theory that the word 'mafia' is derived from the Arabic root ''ayn, fa', waw' with the sense of 'to protect,' or 'restore to health,' and that it's an 'ism makaan' meaning 'sanctuary.' This makes sense in that the early Mafia took refuge in the mountainous regions of Sicily.<br><br> Bill Granara</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">4)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 11 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:<a href="mailto:John.Alcorn@trincoll.edu">John.Alcorn@trincoll.edu</a></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">A succinct, comprehensive, authoritative discussion of hypotheses about the etymology of the Sicilian words "mafioso" and "mafia" is found in:<div>Diego Gambetta, <i>The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection</i> (Harvard U. Press, 1993), Appendix A, pp. 259-61. </div><div>Gambetta discusses <i>inter alia</i> six distinct hypotheses that posit Arabic origins of "mafioso" and "mafia".</div><div>I hope this is helpful.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>John Alcorn</div><div>Trinity College</div><div>Hartford, CT<br></div><div><br></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">5)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 11 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"Dr. M Deeb" <<a href="mailto:muhammaddeeb@gmail.com">muhammaddeeb@gmail.com</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><div>At a time when Arabs are systematically denigrated, right, left and centre,</div><div>I feel very awkward to trace today the etymology of _mafia_ and previously</div><div>of _assassin_ to an assumed Arabic origin!</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>I take comfort, however, in the fact that good many etymological suggestions</div><div>are no more credible than tarnished tombstones.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>All that notwithstanding, two possible links can be identified between the</div><div>term _mafia_ and the Arabs: one of (a) time as the term originated</div><div>approximately in mid -10th.century, and of (b) place Sicily ( صقلية ), then</div><div>an Arab colony.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>_Mafia_ (also _maffia_) originally stood for a Sicilian underground</div><div>organization developed to conduct warfare against Arab invaders.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>How this Sicilian clandestine society acquired its plausibly Arabic name, is</div><div>not known for certain. As stated by Dr. Z. Deeb, one explanation goes as</div><div>far as to suggest that the name comes from the Arabic /_ma'fy_/, the form</div><div>being either a Sicilian or Maltese Arabic dialect. (Parenthetically,</div><div>/_ معفى_ / _mu'faa_/, i.e., pp. of IV, is the proper morphological form.) The</div><div>word means "protected," or "safeguarded," hence a place of sanctuary.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Further explanations offered are:</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div> - /maafya/ = "there is no body."</div><div> - /maehfil/ = "meeting place."</div><div> - /mahiaS ; mahyaS/ = "aggressive, boasting, bragging."</div><div> - /marfuD/ = "rejected."</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>A more interesting, but far-fetched, story claims that the name is derived</div><div>from the war cry shouted by a Sicilian as he attacked a Frenchman who had</div><div>ravished and killed his fiancée. "Morte alla Francia!"</div><div>to which other Sicilians added the words, "Italia anela!" (is Italy's</div><div>cry!). The five initials form the word _mafia_.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>*(! والله أعلم* )</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>-- </div><div>M. Deeb</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">6)</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Date: 11 Jan 2008</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">From:"jolanda guardi (jolanda.guardi)" <<a href="mailto:jolanda.guardi@unimi.it">jolanda.guardi@unimi.it</a>></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Subject:Mafia etymology response</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; ">As far as I know there are different suggestions for the etimology of the word mafia<br>1. from ar. mahiàS(boasting)<br>2. from ar. mu'àfiya and mu'àfa(strongly criticised because the meaning "protection" pertains more the sicilian dialect than the arabic word))<br>3. from ar. mahfal(concilium, synodus)<br><br>a good reference is <br>G. B. Pellegrini, Gli arabismi nelle lingue neolatine, Paideia Editrice, Brescia1972, 2 volls., vol. I, p. 223<br><br>Hope this helps<br>Jolanda Guardi<br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">--------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">End of Arabic-L: 11 Jan 2008</div></body></html>