Talk:nofsinhar

Comment

One source says that "qibla" was also used for "south"; but this is really entirely obsolete, not just archaic like "gharb, xmiel, xerq". So if created it shouldn't go on the compass template. It's also a bit strange because the qibla isn't really to the south of Malta/Sicily. And though it was common to simply pick one of the four compass points, east would still have been more accurate. 77.13.188.198 06:35, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

PS: For some reason I find it almost exclusively in old texts from Maltese missionaries in Palestine. And obviously the sense south makes much more sense in Palestine. On the other hand it's not explained and used like a normal Maltese word. 77.13.188.198 06:47, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

@77.13.188.198: In what source was it mentioned? — فين أخاي (تكلم معاي · ما ساهمت) 10:58, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

@Fenakhay There's this poster of the archaic compass points in Maltese: [1] (also published elsewhere on the web). But of course, I looked for actual attestations from the past 100 years, of which a few can be found here and there for "xerq" and "għarb", while "xmiel" seems to be even rarer. With "qibla", as I said, I've only found it in actual use in a periodical published by Maltese missionaries in Palestine around the middle of the 20th century. These are two of them:

Imma n-naħa l-ġdida tal-belt, li qegħda fuq ix-xaqliba li tħares lejn il-Qibla, jew Nofs inhar, it-toroq wesgħin sewwa. ("But in the new side of the city, which lies on the slope facing towards the south, the streets are quite wide.") → [2] (end of paragraph 2)

Tafu fejn tiġi I-Palestina? Il-Palestina qegħa [read qegħda, i.e. qiegħda] fix-Xerq tal-Mediterran (jiġifieri l-baħar li qegħda fih Malta), naqra lejn il-Qibla. ("Do you know where Palestine is? Palestine lies in the east of the Mediterranean (meaning the sea that Malta is in), somewhat to the south.") → [3] (beginning of paragraph 2)

The second one is interesting because (1.) it is a text for children and (2.) it's not explained at all. But anyway, it's curious that I've only found it in these Palestinian texts (there are one or two more in them). All this may well be entirely accidental, but who knows. 88.64.225.28 17:04, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Some Maghrebi dialects use قبلة or قبلي for east as well. — فين أخاي ^{(تكلم معاي · ما ساهمت)} 17:23, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

@Fenakhay Yeah, I know that. Also Kabyle lqebla. But that makes the Maltese sense "south" even stranger, doesn't it. Anyway the word seems to exist, but I'm not quite sure about its usage. 88.64.225.28 17:32, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

I've meant to write south, my bad. If you have access to Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte, you can find it in Entry 149 Süden. — فين أخاي ^{(تكلم معاي · ما ساهمت)} 17:40, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Okay. That I didn't know :) Well, I've created the entry and also put in on the template (doesn't hurt, does it). I put the tag "archaic or obsolete" until further notice. Thanks. 188.96.64.70 22:51, 16 January 2021 (UTC)