A Comparative Lexical Study of Qur?anic Arabic

542 CHAPTER FOUR
Ixxxiii. Arab, harab (cf. also ESA, Akk.) 72: 12 ". . . nor can we
frustrate Him by flight.": Syr. h e rdba\ Here the cognate is an adaptation
of the sense 'to escape', with an extension of the semantic
field to include 'tumult, noise'.
Ixxxiv. Arab, hayyin (cf. also ESA, Heb.) — 19: 9 "That is easy for
Me: I did indeed create thee before, when thou hadst been nothing.":
Syr., Aram., Heb., Ph., and Ug.: There is a semantic distinction
between Arab, and ESA on one hand, and Syr., Aram., Ph.,
and Ug. on the other. The sense in the first group has to do with
being 'easy, quiet, gentle; weak, base', whereas the sense in the second
group evolved out of the first as follows: 'ease > skill > intelligence
> wealth > power'. Both senses are attested in Heb. 78
Ixxxv. Arab, wadda (cf. also ESA, Syr., Aram., Heb., Ug., Akk.) -
2: 109 "Quite a number of the People of the Book wish they could
turn you (people) back to infidelity. . . .": Ge. } astazvadada. Here
the basic meaning 'to love' assumed the sense 'to agree, fit together'. 79
Ixxxvi. Arab, uoadaa - 33: 48 "And obey not (the behests) of the
Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and heed not [i.e. leave alone, take
no notice of] their annoyances, but put thy trust in Allah.": ESA
d c t: Here the primary sense 'to leave' developed into a very specialized
agricultural technical term.
Ixxxvii. Arab, zvarada (cf. also Ge., ESA, Heb., Ph., Ug., Akk.) -
28: 23 "And when he arrived at the watering (place) in Madyan,. . . .":
Syr., Aram.: Here the basic sense 'to descend' is not attested directly.
Both languages adopted secondary meanings: Aram. fnda 'meeting
place' corresponds to NH yarid 'meeting place, market', whereas
Syr. yardd 'river, water course' could be an Akk. loan (< (w)arittu
'Zweigkanal'). In fact, Akk. is the origin of JAram. '"rittd 'id.'.
Ixxxviii. Arab, zvasata (cf. also (Ge., ESA) 100: 5 "And penetrate
forthwith into the midst (of the foe) en masse-": Aram., Heb.:
These cognates, if confirmed, mark a shift from the general and
abstract towards the specialized and concrete.
78 The specialized sense of Arabic 'ahana 'to despise, render contemptible' is the
result of the semantic development: hayyin 'easy, light' > 'abject, contemptible'.
79 See CDG 604.