Talk:aludel

Etymology

Copied from http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disputatio_Usoris:Ceylon#Aludel and http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disputatio_Usoris:Fabullus#Aludel:

Hi Ceylon,

Could you help me out with this problem? I tried to find the Arabic original of aludel, but my sources seem divided and some even internally inconsistent:

• J.D. Latham, 'Arabic into medieval Latin', Journal of Semitic Studies 1972 17(1) has al-uthāl (only in transcription).
• Raja Tazi, Arabismen im Deutschen (1998) has الاتال, which he transcribes as al-uṭāl.
• http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aludel has الؤطال (Can this spelling be correct? If so, it would be transcribed as al-uṭāl, wouldn’t it?)
• Elsewhere on the net I mostly find the transcription al-uthāl.

Which is the correct form? --Fabullus 19:05, 8 Septembris 2008 (UTC)

I cannot find it in Wehr, which means either I have not looked properly or the word is no longer in common use (maybe it is derived from اثل "to strengthen, fortify"). Nonetheless, I think your question can be answered. If you look closely at the scan of Tazi (who I think is the most reliable source), he has الأثال (three dots instead of two) and al-ʾuṯāl (underscore instead of dot). ث ṯ is often (though less well) transcribed as 'th' (optionally with a line underneath), so this would explain the alternative spellings you have found. The one on the English wikipedia (الؤطال), however, must be nonsense: There are no words in Arabic beginning with ؤ.--Ceylon 19:33, 9 Septembris 2008 (UTC)