قلقاس

Arabic

قُلْقَاس

Alternative forms

• قُلْقَاص (qulqāṣ)
• قُرْقَاص (qurqāṣ) dubiously read and mistranslated in يحيى بن محمد بن أحمد بن العوام [yaḥyā ibn muḥammad ibn ʔaḥmad ibn al-ʕawwām] (c. 1200) José Antonio Banqueri, editor, كتاب الفلاحة [Book on Agriculture] (in Arabic), volume 2, Madrid: Imprenta Real, published 1802^IA, Cap. 24, Art. 9, page 212

Etymology

From Classical Syriac ܩܠܩܐܣ (qōlqās), ܩܠܘܩܣ (qōlqōs), ܩܠܘܩܘܣ (qōlōqōs), ܩܠܩܐ (qalqā, qelqā, “taro”), still attested in Turoyo ܩܰܠܩܳܐ (qalqo, “a kind of cardoon or artichoke”), Northeastern Neo-Aramaic ܩܰܠܩܳܐ (qalqa) and in some dialects ܩܰܩܢܳܐ (qaqna), which also explains Persian کنگر (kangar, “thistle; acanthus”), and also in Mishnaic Hebrew קולקס, קרקס (“taro”).

This is said to be from Egyptian, as the Ancient Greek κολοκασία (kolokasía) and Latin colocasia meaning taro is known to be transferred only from the 4^th century AD from the meaning of sacred lotus which also has an edible rhizome, but Coptic ⲕⲟⲗⲧⲁϧ (koltax), ⲕⲟⲗⲅⲁⲥ (kolgas), ⲕⲟⲣⲕⲁⲥⲓ (korkasi) is reckoned as from Hebrew or Arabic.

The origin is then Semitic at least ultimately in view of Akkadian qulqulliānu, qulqullânu (“a type of cassia?”), Ugaritic 𐎖𐎍𐎖𐎍 (qlql, some medicinal plant also fed to horses), Hebrew קְלוֹקֵל (qəlōqēl, “inferior, poor; miserable food”), Arabic قِلْقِل (qilqil, “some kind of hard-grained plant”), قُلَاقِل (qulāqil, “devil-bean, Crotalaria retusa”), the latter and قُلْقُل (qulqul) also meaning “agile, exuberant”, evidently all just reduplications of the root ق ل ل (q-l-l).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qul.qaːs/
  • (Hijazi) IPA^(key): /ɡul.ɡaːs/, [ɡʊl.ɡaːs]

Noun

قُلْقَاس • (qulqās) m (collective, singulative قُلْقَاسَة f (qulqāsa))

1. Colocasia; taro
2. (obsolete, rare) Cynara; cardoon or artichoke

   Synonyms: قَنَّارِيَّة (qannāriyya), خُرْشُوف (ḵuršūf), كَنْكَر (kankar)

Declension

Declension of noun قُلْقَاس (qulqās)

Collective	basic collective triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قُلْقَاس qulqās	الْقُلْقَاس al-qulqās	قُلْقَاس qulqās
Nominative	قُلْقَاسٌ qulqāsun	الْقُلْقَاسُ al-qulqāsu	قُلْقَاسُ qulqāsu
Accusative	قُلْقَاسًا qulqāsan	الْقُلْقَاسَ al-qulqāsa	قُلْقَاسَ qulqāsa
Genitive	قُلْقَاسٍ qulqāsin	الْقُلْقَاسِ al-qulqāsi	قُلْقَاسِ qulqāsi
Singulative	singulative triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قُلْقَاسَة qulqāsa	الْقُلْقَاسَة al-qulqāsa	قُلْقَاسَة qulqāsat
Nominative	قُلْقَاسَةٌ qulqāsatun	الْقُلْقَاسَةُ al-qulqāsatu	قُلْقَاسَةُ qulqāsatu
Accusative	قُلْقَاسَةً qulqāsatan	الْقُلْقَاسَةَ al-qulqāsata	قُلْقَاسَةَ qulqāsata
Genitive	قُلْقَاسَةٍ qulqāsatin	الْقُلْقَاسَةِ al-qulqāsati	قُلْقَاسَةِ qulqāsati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قُلْقَاسَتَيْن qulqāsatayn	الْقُلْقَاسَتَيْن al-qulqāsatayn	قُلْقَاسَتَيْ qulqāsatay
Nominative	قُلْقَاسَتَانِ qulqāsatāni	الْقُلْقَاسَتَانِ al-qulqāsatāni	قُلْقَاسَتَا qulqāsatā
Accusative	قُلْقَاسَتَيْنِ qulqāsatayni	الْقُلْقَاسَتَيْنِ al-qulqāsatayni	قُلْقَاسَتَيْ qulqāsatay
Genitive	قُلْقَاسَتَيْنِ qulqāsatayni	الْقُلْقَاسَتَيْنِ al-qulqāsatayni	قُلْقَاسَتَيْ qulqāsatay
Paucal (3-10)	sound feminine paucal
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قُلْقَاسَات qulqāsāt	الْقُلْقَاسَات al-qulqāsāt	قُلْقَاسَات qulqāsāt
Nominative	قُلْقَاسَاتٌ qulqāsātun	الْقُلْقَاسَاتُ al-qulqāsātu	قُلْقَاسَاتُ qulqāsātu
Accusative	قُلْقَاسَاتٍ qulqāsātin	الْقُلْقَاسَاتِ al-qulqāsāti	قُلْقَاسَاتِ qulqāsāti
Genitive	قُلْقَاسَاتٍ qulqāsātin	الْقُلْقَاسَاتِ al-qulqāsāti	قُلْقَاسَاتِ qulqāsāti

Descendants

• Cypriot Arabic: korkás
• → French: koulkas
• → German: Kulkas f, Culcas f (rare)
• → Latin: culcas, colcas
• → Middle Armenian: ղուլղաս (ġulġas)
• → Spanish: alcolcaz
• → Ottoman Turkish: قلقاس (kulkas)

References

• “qwlqsyyh”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Brockelmann, Carl (1928) Lexicon Syriacum (in Latin), 2nd edition, Halle: Max Niemeyer, published 1995, page 670b, incorrectly entered as equalling Latin calx (“chalk”)
• Crum, Walter E. (1939) A Coptic Dictionary‎^[1], Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 106a
• Grimaldi, Ilaria Maria (2018 June 5) “Literary evidence for taro in the ancient Mediterranean: A chronology of names and uses in a multilingual world”, in PLoS One‎^[2], volume 13, number 6, →DOI
• Löw, Immanuel (1928) Die Flora der Juden‎^[3] (in German), volume 1, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 218
• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎^[4] (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, page 240
• Payne Margoliouth, Jessie (1927) Supplement to the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, S.T.P., Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 304b
• Payne Smith, Robert (1879–1901) Thesaurus Syriacus (in Latin), Oxford: Clarendon Press, column 3643
• Tezel, Aziz (2021) “On the Origin of Some Plant Names in Ṣūrayt/Ṭūrōyo in Ṭūr ʿAbdīn”, in Geoffrey Khan, Paul M. Noorlander, editors, Studies in the Grammar and Lexicon of Neo-Aramaic‎^[5], Cambridge: University of Cambridge, →DOI, →ISBN, pages 335–352
• Vollers, Karl (1897) “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen Sprache in Aegypten”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[6] (in German), volume 51, page 302