كافور
Arabic[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]

From an Austronesian language such as Malay kapur, possibly via Middle Persian 𐭪𐭠𐭯𐭥𐭫 (kʾp̄wl /kāpūr/).
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
كَافُور • (kāfūr) m
- camphor tree, Cinnamomum camphora
- a. 675, Ḥasan ibn Ṯābit, ألا دفنتم رسول الله في سفط:
- أَلَا دَفَنْتُم رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ فِي سَفَطٍ — مِنَ الْأَلُوَّةِ وَٱلكَافُورِ مَنْضُودِ
- ʾalā dafantum rasūla llāhi fī safaṭin — mina l-ʾaluwwati wal-kāfūri manḍūdi
- Verily you buried God’s prophet in a basket – layered of aloe and camphorwood!
- the chemical compound camphor
- Eucalyptus camaldulensis
Declension[edit]
Singular | basic singular triptote | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | كَافُور kāfūr |
الْكَافُور al-kāfūr |
كَافُور kāfūr |
Nominative | كَافُورٌ kāfūrun |
الْكَافُورُ al-kāfūru |
كَافُورُ kāfūru |
Accusative | كَافُورًا kāfūran |
الْكَافُورَ al-kāfūra |
كَافُورَ kāfūra |
Genitive | كَافُورٍ kāfūrin |
الْكَافُورِ al-kāfūri |
كَافُورِ kāfūri |
Descendants[edit]
- Andalusian Arabic: كافور (al-kāfūr)
- → Aramaic:
- → Byzantine Greek: καφουρά (kaphourá), καφούρα (kaphoúra)
- Greek: καφουρά (kafourá)
- → Georgian: ქაფური (kapuri)
- → Kurdish:
- → Latin: caphura
- → Persian: کافور (kāfūr)
- → Turkish: kâfur
Etymology 2[edit]
The shape KāLūM and the variant form vocalized in three ways especially as ending with ā suggests an Aramaic origin; attested in a broader meaning in Classical Syriac ܟܘܦܪܐ (kuppārā, “sindon; cover of a calyx”) and in Qumranic and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic כופרא (kuppārā, “palm spadix or spathe”), and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic גופרא (guppārā, “inflorescence of a palm”), Classical Mandaic ࡂࡅࡐࡀࡓࡀ (“inflorescence of a palm”), Classical Syriac ܓܘܦܪܐ (guppārā, “inflorescence also of a palm”). But still these are deemed foreign by Nöldeke following Bar ʿAlī and are probably formed in yet another Semitic language, connecting to the Arabic root ك ف ر (k-f-r) and غ ف ر (ḡ-f-r) related to “covering”.
Noun[edit]
كَافُور • (kāfūr) m (plural كَوافِير (kawāfīr))
- bract of the inflorescence of the date palm
Declension[edit]
Singular | basic singular triptote | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | كَافُور kāfūr |
الْكَافُور al-kāfūr |
كَافُور kāfūr |
Nominative | كَافُورٌ kāfūrun |
الْكَافُورُ al-kāfūru |
كَافُورُ kāfūru |
Accusative | كَافُورًا kāfūran |
الْكَافُورَ al-kāfūra |
كَافُورَ kāfūra |
Genitive | كَافُورٍ kāfūrin |
الْكَافُورِ al-kāfūri |
كَافُورِ kāfūri |
Dual | Indefinite | Definite | Construct |
Informal | كَافُورَيْن kāfūrayn |
الْكَافُورَيْن al-kāfūrayn |
كَافُورَيْ kāfūray |
Nominative | كَافُورَانِ kāfūrāni |
الْكَافُورَانِ al-kāfūrāni |
كَافُورَا kāfūrā |
Accusative | كَافُورَيْنِ kāfūrayni |
الْكَافُورَيْنِ al-kāfūrayni |
كَافُورَيْ kāfūray |
Genitive | كَافُورَيْنِ kāfūrayni |
الْكَافُورَيْنِ al-kāfūrayni |
كَافُورَيْ kāfūray |
Plural | basic broken plural diptote | ||
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | كَوافِير kawāfīr |
الْكَوافِير al-kawāfīr |
كَوافِير kawāfīr |
Nominative | كَوافِيرُ kawāfīru |
الْكَوافِيرُ al-kawāfīru |
كَوافِيرُ kawāfīru |
Accusative | كَوافِيرَ kawāfīra |
الْكَوافِيرَ al-kawāfīra |
كَوافِيرَ kawāfīra |
Genitive | كَوافِيرَ kawāfīra |
الْكَوافِيرِ al-kawāfīri |
كَوافِيرِ kawāfīri |
References[edit]
- “kˀpwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
- “kwpr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
- “kwprˀ2”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986– (CAL misses the Syriac at Brockelmann, Carl (1928) Lexicon Syriacum (in Latin), 2nd edition, Halle: Max Niemeyer, published 1995, page 341a, giving only the “dregs” meaning above it)
- “gwpr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986– (and Brockelmann, Carl (1928) Lexicon Syriacum (in Latin), 2nd edition, Halle: Max Niemeyer, published 1995, page 129a already proposed Aramaic origin of the Arabic “bract” word. Another Syriac meaning he gives as spūma maris = pumice would be an ancient equation for coral which is an animal however comparable to a palm inflorescence and not “a plant name” as in CAL)
- مروان بن جناح [Marwān ibn Janāḥ] (a. 1050), Gerrit Bos, Fabian Käs, editors, كتاب التلخيص [kitāb at-talḵīṣ] [On the Nomenclature of Medicinal Drugs] (in English), Leiden: Brill, published 2020, DOI: , →ISBN, 211 (fol. 19v,15–17), page 398
- Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 147
- Freytag, Georg (1837), “قافور”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 4, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 47b
- Freytag, Georg (1835), “كافور”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 3, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 479b
- Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden[1] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 335
- Nöldeke, Theodor (1875) Mandäische Grammatik[2] (in German), Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, page 112 § 95 footnote 1, apparently the first to claim its Aramaic origin.
- Vollers, Karl (1896), “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen Sprache in Aegypten”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft[3] (in German), volume 50, page 616
- Arabic 2-syllable words
- Arabic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Arabic terms derived from Austronesian languages
- Arabic terms derived from Malay
- Arabic terms borrowed from Middle Persian
- Arabic terms derived from Middle Persian
- Arabic lemmas
- Arabic nouns
- Arabic masculine nouns
- Arabic terms with quotations
- Arabic nouns with basic triptote singular
- Arabic terms borrowed from Aramaic
- Arabic terms derived from Aramaic
- Arabic terms belonging to the root ك ف ر
- Arabic nouns with broken plural
- Arabic nouns with basic diptote broken plural
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- ar:Organic compounds