LL-L "Etymology" 2003.11.22 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 22.NOV.2003 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Folks,

Below please find two replies from our learned (and meanwhile hopefully
sufficiently re-beautified) friend John Duckworth (who obviously happens to
share quite few interests with me, Lowlandic and otherwise).  Since John
kindly responded to something (slightly off-topic) I asked in Dutch, please
allow me to give you an English summary of the "pre-history" before you read
John's replies.

Ansgar Fehnker (good to hear from him again!) asked (in Dutch) about the
origin of the (supposedly Dutch) word _Mediene_.  (By the way, we still need
an explanation of this word's usage and meaning in Dutch.)  I responded by
saying that it comes from Yiddish ×ž×“×™× ×” _medine_ , which is derived from
Hebrew ×ž×“×™× ×” _medina_ (actually _mÉ™diynâh_) 'nation', 'state'.  This word is
related with Arabic مَدِﯿنَة _madiynah_ (usually spelled <madinah>)
'fortress',
'citadel', 'city'.  I explained that the apparent semantic discrepancy is
understandable if one realizes that in biblical times 'city' and 'state'
tended to be by and large synonymous and that a connection between the two
is preserved in Aramaic _madiynah_ 'city', 'province', 'nation', 'country'
(thus basically something like "governed community," whereas the predominant
Germanic equivalent is _burg_, _borg_, etc., conveying the idea of
"fortified/protected community").

So far so good as far as the supposedly Dutch word goes, of interest perhaps
in that it appears to represent semantic connections Lowlanders and other
Europeans have inherited from the Middle East by way of imported ideas and
belief systems, or which Europeans have in common with Middle-Easterners on
a cultural continuum.

Out of curiosity beyond the Lowlands sphere I asked if all these Semitic
words are based on _diyn_ 'faith', '(spiritual) belief', perhaps in the
sense of "community of fellow believers."

Please find John's responses below.

Thanks, John.  Very interesting indeed!  This begs the perhaps naive
question if there's a connection with Arabic دن٠ا _dunyâ_ 'world' ... but
that takes us a bit far afield perhaps.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Semitic Etymology

Hi Ron!

An interesting question about the origin of the Semitic words for
'province', 'district', 'city'.

Arab lexicographers, such as Ibn Manzur in his _Lisan al-'arab_ have treated
the Arabic word _madiinah_  as a derivative of the verb _madana_ ( 'to
reside in'). I am fairly certain that this is wrong and that the verb is
denominative and not vice versa.

The Hebrew word ×ž×“×™× ×” _medina_  ('province', 'district'), is generally
considered to stem from the verb _diyn_ ('to judge', 'contend', and in its
Qal form also sometimes 'to govern').The word _adown_  ('Lord', 'master',
but sometimes 'governor'), used often to adress the Deity is sometimes also
considered to derive from the same root.

In Arabic we also come across the phrase _yawm ad-diin_ , 'The Day of
Judgement', and of course the word _diin_ meaning 'religion'. I think that
these are quite possibly loans from Hebrew or Aramaic (though an attempt has
been made to say that they are from Old Persian daenu [if I remember
rightly]). I actually start to wonder whether the Arabic word _madiinah_
might be a loanword from the Hebrew, and indeed the present-day city of
al_Madinah did once have a sizeable Jewish population. I will try to root
out a South Arabic dictionary, I have one somewhere; if the word is present
in South Arabic then it would probably belong to Common Semitic.

John Duckworth

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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Semitic Etymology

Hello Again Ron,

I was just looking through the Sabaic Dictionary compiled by Beeston et al.,
and I don't seem to be able to find a word like m-d-n or m-d-y-n-h, there
are, however, words cognate with the Modern Arabic word _diin_ ('religion',
'way of life').

Verb _dn_, Plural _dnw_, Imperfect _ydnn_ "to submit" (intransitive).
Noun _tdyn_, "loyalty".

Interestingly, at least two other Classical Arabic lexicons ( _al-SiHaaH_
and _taaj al-'aruus_ ) indicate that the word _madiinah_ is called thus
because it is held under an authority; in other words saying that it comes
from the Verb _daana_ [Imperfect _yadiinu_] "to be obedient / abased /
submissive", etc., whence the word _diin_ in the sense of 'religion', where
its basic meaning would be 'obedience'. This would more or less agree with
the Hebrew etymology.

Whether the word _diin_ in the phrase _yawmu d-diin_ (Day of Judgement) is
the same as _diin_ in the above sense is debatable. There is another word
_dayn_ meaning 'debt', and if the word _diin_ in the second sense is not a
loanword, then maybe it is similar to _dayn_, and means 'the day debts are
paid'; there is indeed al Arabic epithet for God _ad-dayyaan_ meaning 'The
One Who fulfils His promises' (or in other words 'settles His debts').

Noeldeke in his _Geschichte des Qorans_ considers the word _diin_, even in
the first sense of "religion", to be a Persian loanword. I wonder though
whether this is necessarily so, in the light of cognates in Sabaic and
Hebrew ( _diyn_ "to judge", etc).

I was also rethinking what I said about the possible Jewish origins of the
word _madiinah_ and the name of the city _al-madiinah_. The plural form
_madaa'in_ occurs in a few ancient place names, such as _madaa'in SaaliH_,
and _al-madaa'in_ (formerly known as Ctesiphon), though in the former in any
case, we might be dealing with a Thamudic word.

Well enough waffle for this time in the morning, even geleerde vrienden ( a
complement indeed from one so erudite as yourself) need to get their beauty
sleep!

Ma'a s-salaam and shalom!

John

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