دلاع

Arabic

Etymology

Considered sometimes a Berber borrowing,^[1] which would coincide with the spread of the watermelon in the Early Middle Ages from West Africa, however first attested in Imperial Aramaic as a plural 𐡃𐡋𐡏𐡍 (dlʿn, “gourds”) in the first quarter of the 5^th century BCE,^[2] and it occurs in Hebrew from the Mishnaic period as דְּלַעַת (dəlaʿáṯ, “gourd”). The Arabic root د ل ع (d l ʕ) related to “sticking out, hanging out” is connected to the word^[3] in view of the watermelon’s way of growth. That it is first attested in Aramaic and appears only more than half a millennium later in Hebrew, sometimes with an Aramaizing plural ending, and the measure which the Arabic exposes varies in the first vowel and is in both cases for this semantic field more common in Aramaic than Arabic, points to the word having passed into Arabic from Aramaic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dal.laːʕ/, /dul.laːʕ/

Noun

دَلَّاع or دُلَّاع • (dallāʕ or dullāʕ) m (collective, singulative دَلَّاعَة f (dallāʕa) or دُلَّاعَة (dullāʕa))

watermelon
Synonyms: بِطِّيخ أَحْمَر (biṭṭīḵ ʔaḥmar), بِطِّيخ هِنْدِيّ (biṭṭīḵ hindiyy), حَبْحَب (ḥabḥab), جَبَس (jabas)

Declension

Declension of noun **دَلَّاع** (dallāʕ)‎; **دُلَّاع** (dullāʕ)
collective	basic collective triptote
collective	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَّاع‎; دُلَّاع dallāʕ‎; dullāʕ	الدَّلَّاع‎; الدُّلَّاع ad-dallāʕ‎; ad-dullāʕ	دَلَّاع‎; دُلَّاع dallāʕ‎; dullāʕ
nominative	دَلَّاعٌ‎; دُلَّاعٌ dallāʕun‎; dullāʕun	الدَّلَّاعُ‎; الدُّلَّاعُ ad-dallāʕu‎; ad-dullāʕu	دَلَّاعُ‎; دُلَّاعُ dallāʕu‎; dullāʕu
accusative	دَلَّاعًا‎; دُلَّاعًا dallāʕan‎; dullāʕan	الدَّلَّاعَ‎; الدُّلَّاعَ ad-dallāʕa‎; ad-dullāʕa	دَلَّاعَ‎; دُلَّاعَ dallāʕa‎; dullāʕa
genitive	دَلَّاعٍ‎; دُلَّاعٍ dallāʕin‎; dullāʕin	الدَّلَّاعِ‎; الدُّلَّاعِ ad-dallāʕi‎; ad-dullāʕi	دَلَّاعِ‎; دُلَّاعِ dallāʕi‎; dullāʕi
singulative	singulative triptote in ـَة (-a)
singulative	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَّاعَة‎; دُلَّاعَة dallāʕa‎; dullāʕa	الدَّلَّاعَة‎; الدُّلَّاعَة ad-dallāʕa‎; ad-dullāʕa	دَلَّاعَة‎; دُلَّاعَة dallāʕat‎; dullāʕat
nominative	دَلَّاعَةٌ‎; دُلَّاعَةٌ dallāʕatun‎; dullāʕatun	الدَّلَّاعَةُ‎; الدُّلَّاعَةُ ad-dallāʕatu‎; ad-dullāʕatu	دَلَّاعَةُ‎; دُلَّاعَةُ dallāʕatu‎; dullāʕatu
accusative	دَلَّاعَةً‎; دُلَّاعَةً dallāʕatan‎; dullāʕatan	الدَّلَّاعَةَ‎; الدُّلَّاعَةَ ad-dallāʕata‎; ad-dullāʕata	دَلَّاعَةَ‎; دُلَّاعَةَ dallāʕata‎; dullāʕata
genitive	دَلَّاعَةٍ‎; دُلَّاعَةٍ dallāʕatin‎; dullāʕatin	الدَّلَّاعَةِ‎; الدُّلَّاعَةِ ad-dallāʕati‎; ad-dullāʕati	دَلَّاعَةِ‎; دُلَّاعَةِ dallāʕati‎; dullāʕati
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَّاعَتَيْن‎; دُلَّاعَتَيْن dallāʕatayn‎; dullāʕatayn	الدَّلَّاعَتَيْن‎; الدُّلَّاعَتَيْن ad-dallāʕatayn‎; ad-dullāʕatayn	دَلَّاعَتَيْ‎; دُلَّاعَتَيْ dallāʕatay‎; dullāʕatay
nominative	دَلَّاعَتَانِ‎; دُلَّاعَتَانِ dallāʕatāni‎; dullāʕatāni	الدَّلَّاعَتَانِ‎; الدُّلَّاعَتَانِ ad-dallāʕatāni‎; ad-dullāʕatāni	دَلَّاعَتَا‎; دُلَّاعَتَا dallāʕatā‎; dullāʕatā
accusative	دَلَّاعَتَيْنِ‎; دُلَّاعَتَيْنِ dallāʕatayni‎; dullāʕatayni	الدَّلَّاعَتَيْنِ‎; الدُّلَّاعَتَيْنِ ad-dallāʕatayni‎; ad-dullāʕatayni	دَلَّاعَتَيْ‎; دُلَّاعَتَيْ dallāʕatay‎; dullāʕatay
genitive	دَلَّاعَتَيْنِ‎; دُلَّاعَتَيْنِ dallāʕatayni‎; dullāʕatayni	الدَّلَّاعَتَيْنِ‎; الدُّلَّاعَتَيْنِ ad-dallāʕatayni‎; ad-dullāʕatayni	دَلَّاعَتَيْ‎; دُلَّاعَتَيْ dallāʕatay‎; dullāʕatay
paucal (3-10)	sound feminine paucal
paucal (3-10)	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَلَّاعَات‎; دُلَّاعَات dallāʕāt‎; dullāʕāt	الدَّلَّاعَات‎; الدُّلَّاعَات ad-dallāʕāt‎; ad-dullāʕāt	دَلَّاعَات‎; دُلَّاعَات dallāʕāt‎; dullāʕāt
nominative	دَلَّاعَاتٌ‎; دُلَّاعَاتٌ dallāʕātun‎; dullāʕātun	الدَّلَّاعَاتُ‎; الدُّلَّاعَاتُ ad-dallāʕātu‎; ad-dullāʕātu	دَلَّاعَاتُ‎; دُلَّاعَاتُ dallāʕātu‎; dullāʕātu
accusative	دَلَّاعَاتٍ‎; دُلَّاعَاتٍ dallāʕātin‎; dullāʕātin	الدَّلَّاعَاتِ‎; الدُّلَّاعَاتِ ad-dallāʕāti‎; ad-dullāʕāti	دَلَّاعَاتِ‎; دُلَّاعَاتِ dallāʕāti‎; dullāʕāti
genitive	دَلَّاعَاتٍ‎; دُلَّاعَاتٍ dallāʕātin‎; dullāʕātin	الدَّلَّاعَاتِ‎; الدُّلَّاعَاتِ ad-dallāʕāti‎; ad-dullāʕāti	دَلَّاعَاتِ‎; دُلَّاعَاتِ dallāʕāti‎; dullāʕāti

Descendants

Algerian Arabic: دلاع (dillāʕ)
Libyan Arabic: دلاع (dillāʕ)
Maltese: dulliegħ
Moroccan Arabic: دلاح (dillāḥ), دلاع (dallāʕ), دليع (dallīʕ)
Tunisian Arabic: دلاع (dillēʕ)
→ Medieval Latin: adulaha

References

^ Paris, Harry S. (2015) “Origin and emergence of the sweet dessert watermelon, Citrullus lanatus”, in Annals of Botany‎^[1], number 116, →DOI, page 145; a treatise which has been summarized by Strauss, Mark (21 August 2015) “The 5,000-Year Secret History of the Watermelon”, in National Geographic‎^[2].
^ On which “dlˁt”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–.
^ Already Hiller, Matthæus (1725) Hierophyticon sive Commentarius in loca Scripturae Sacrae quae plantarum faciunt mentionem (in Latin), volume 2, Treves: Jacob Broedelet, page 234.

[1] Paris, Harry S. (2015) “Origin and emergence of the sweet dessert watermelon, Citrullus lanatus”, in Annals of Botany‎^[1], number 116, →DOI, page 145; a treatise which has been summarized by Strauss, Mark (21 August 2015) “The 5,000-Year Secret History of the Watermelon”, in National Geographic‎^[2].

[2] On which “dlˁt”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–.

[3] Already Hiller, Matthæus (1725) Hierophyticon sive Commentarius in loca Scripturae Sacrae quae plantarum faciunt mentionem (in Latin), volume 2, Treves: Jacob Broedelet, page 234.

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