فلاح

Arabic

فَلَّاح

Etymology

Assumed to be borrowed from Aramaic פלחא /‎ ܦܠܚܐ (pallāḥā, “worker; peasant”), owing to the dominant economy of Arabic speakers being nomadic when in contrast Aramaic speakers practised agriculture. This assumed, فَلَحَ (falaḥa, “to furrow, to plough; to slit, to cleave”) – which isn’t a common word – would be denominal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fal.laːħ/

Noun

فَلَّاح • (fallāḥ) m (plural فَلَّاحُون (fallāḥūn), feminine فَلَّاحَة (fallāḥa))

1. peasant, farmer

   هٰؤُلَاءِ الْفَلَّاحُونَ مِنْ تِلْكَ الْقَرْيَةِ الْمِصْرِيَّةِ الْكَبِيرَةِ.

   hāʔulāʔi al-fallāḥūna min tilka l-qaryati l-miṣriyyati l-kabīrati.

   These farmers are from that big Egyptian village.

   Synonyms: زَارِع (zāriʕ), زَرَّاع (zarrāʕ), أَكَّار (ʔakkār), (obsolete) كَافِر (kāfir), حَرَّاث (ḥarrāṯ)

Declension

Declension of noun فَلَّاح (fallāḥ)

Singular	Masculine			Feminine
	basic singular triptote			singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	فَلَّاح fallāḥ	الْفَلَّاح al-fallāḥ	فَلَّاح fallāḥ	فَلَّاحَة fallāḥa	الْفَلَّاحَة al-fallāḥa	فَلَّاحَة fallāḥat
Nominative	فَلَّاحٌ fallāḥun	الْفَلَّاحُ al-fallāḥu	فَلَّاحُ fallāḥu	فَلَّاحَةٌ fallāḥatun	الْفَلَّاحَةُ al-fallāḥatu	فَلَّاحَةُ fallāḥatu
Accusative	فَلَّاحًا fallāḥan	الْفَلَّاحَ al-fallāḥa	فَلَّاحَ fallāḥa	فَلَّاحَةً fallāḥatan	الْفَلَّاحَةَ al-fallāḥata	فَلَّاحَةَ fallāḥata
Genitive	فَلَّاحٍ fallāḥin	الْفَلَّاحِ al-fallāḥi	فَلَّاحِ fallāḥi	فَلَّاحَةٍ fallāḥatin	الْفَلَّاحَةِ al-fallāḥati	فَلَّاحَةِ fallāḥati
Dual	Masculine			Feminine
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	فَلَّاحَيْن fallāḥayn	الْفَلَّاحَيْن al-fallāḥayn	فَلَّاحَيْ fallāḥay	فَلَّاحَتَيْن fallāḥatayn	الْفَلَّاحَتَيْن al-fallāḥatayn	فَلَّاحَتَيْ fallāḥatay
Nominative	فَلَّاحَانِ fallāḥāni	الْفَلَّاحَانِ al-fallāḥāni	فَلَّاحَا fallāḥā	فَلَّاحَتَانِ fallāḥatāni	الْفَلَّاحَتَانِ al-fallāḥatāni	فَلَّاحَتَا fallāḥatā
Accusative	فَلَّاحَيْنِ fallāḥayni	الْفَلَّاحَيْنِ al-fallāḥayni	فَلَّاحَيْ fallāḥay	فَلَّاحَتَيْنِ fallāḥatayni	الْفَلَّاحَتَيْنِ al-fallāḥatayni	فَلَّاحَتَيْ fallāḥatay
Genitive	فَلَّاحَيْنِ fallāḥayni	الْفَلَّاحَيْنِ al-fallāḥayni	فَلَّاحَيْ fallāḥay	فَلَّاحَتَيْنِ fallāḥatayni	الْفَلَّاحَتَيْنِ al-fallāḥatayni	فَلَّاحَتَيْ fallāḥatay
Plural	Masculine			Feminine
	sound masculine plural			sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	فَلَّاحِين fallāḥīn	الْفَلَّاحِين al-fallāḥīn	فَلَّاحِي fallāḥī	فَلَّاحَات fallāḥāt	الْفَلَّاحَات al-fallāḥāt	فَلَّاحَات fallāḥāt
Nominative	فَلَّاحُونَ fallāḥūna	الْفَلَّاحُونَ al-fallāḥūna	فَلَّاحُو fallāḥū	فَلَّاحَاتٌ fallāḥātun	الْفَلَّاحَاتُ al-fallāḥātu	فَلَّاحَاتُ fallāḥātu
Accusative	فَلَّاحِينَ fallāḥīna	الْفَلَّاحِينَ al-fallāḥīna	فَلَّاحِي fallāḥī	فَلَّاحَاتٍ fallāḥātin	الْفَلَّاحَاتِ al-fallāḥāti	فَلَّاحَاتِ fallāḥāti
Genitive	فَلَّاحِينَ fallāḥīna	الْفَلَّاحِينَ al-fallāḥīna	فَلَّاحِي fallāḥī	فَلَّاحَاتٍ fallāḥātin	الْفَلَّاحَاتِ al-fallāḥāti	فَلَّاحَاتِ fallāḥāti

Descendants

• → English: fellah
• → French: fellah
• → German: Fellache
• → Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: file, fele, fileh, fillah, fille

  Central Kurdish: فەلە (fele)

• → Russian: фелла́х (felláx)
• → Swahili: falahi
• → Ottoman Turkish: فلاح
  • Turkish: felah, fellah
  • → Aromanian: fileah
  • → Bulgarian: фела̀х (felàh)
  • → Serbo-Croatian:
    • Cyrillic script: фѐла̄х
    • Latin script: fèlāh

References

• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 126
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “فلاح”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[1], London: Williams & Norgate, page 2439
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “فلح”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 850
• Поленаковиќ, Харалампие (2007) “663. FILEAH”, in Зузана Тополињска, Петар Атанасов, editors, Турските елементи во ароманскиот [Turskite elementi vo aromanskiot]‎^[2], put into Macedonian from the author’s Serbo-Croatian Turski elementi u aromunskom dijalektu (1939, unpublished) by Веселинка Лаброска, Скопје: Македонска академија на науките и уметностите [Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite], →ISBN, page 122