شفلح

Arabic

Etymology

While the shape suggests a Hurrian plant name, the ending is rather part of an Aramaic root פ־ל־ח / ܦ-ܠ-ܚ (p-l-ḥ) (as in فَلَّاح (fallāḥ)) or פ־ר־ח / ܦ-ܪ-ܚ (p-r-ḥ), which have been used for plant capsules bursting open such as the developing caperberry does; Aramaic פׅרְחָא (pirḥā) / ܦܲܪܚܵܐ (parḥā) is specifically attested as meaning caper. Compare parallel developments in لَصَف (laṣaf, “caper”); and indeed عِتْر (ʕitr, “caper; Glossonema varians”) is from a root used for slit offerings. The leading syllable in the present Arabic word is the Proto-Semitic causative prefix *ša-.

Noun

شَفَلَّح • (šafallaḥ) m

  1. caper (Capparis spinosa and its produce)
    Synonyms: كَبَر (kabar), عِتْر (ʕitr), لَصَف (laṣaf)

Declension
Declension of noun شَفَلَّح (šafallaḥ)
Singular basic singular triptote
Indefinite Definite Construct
Informal شَفَلَّح
šafallaḥ		 الشَّفَلَّح
aš-šafallaḥ		 شَفَلَّح
šafallaḥ
Nominative شَفَلَّحٌ
šafallaḥun		 الشَّفَلَّحُ
aš-šafallaḥu		 شَفَلَّحُ
šafallaḥu
Accusative شَفَلَّحًا
šafallaḥan		 الشَّفَلَّحَ
aš-šafallaḥa		 شَفَلَّحَ
šafallaḥa
Genitive شَفَلَّحٍ
šafallaḥin		 الشَّفَلَّحِ
aš-šafallaḥi		 شَفَلَّحِ
šafallaḥi

References
  • Löw, Immanuel (1928) Die Flora der Juden‎ (in German), volume 1, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 322–331
  • Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎ (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, pages 262–265, especially 264
  • Mandaville, James Paul (2011) Bedouin Ethnobotany. Plant Concepts and Uses in a Desert Pastoral World, Tuscon: University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 277
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