سجنجل
Arabic edit
Etymology edit
Manfred Ullmann expounded in an analysis of the occurrences that all known poets who use this word after Imru' al-Qais owe it to him, and using it as “round mirror” they actually misunderstood him, who in his verse actually meant sheeny papyrus leaves, forming a *سِجِلْجِل (*sijiljil), *سَجَلْجَل (*sajaljal) after the known سِجِلّ (sijill, “scroll”) which was dissimilated to سَجَنْجَل (sajanjal); only thus far it is a Byzantine Greek word as it was believed in the Middle Ages to be رُومِيّ (rūmiyy).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
سَجَنْجَل • (sajanjal) m (obsolete, poetic)
- mirror, looking-glass
- Synonyms: (the normal word) مِرْآة (mirʔāh), (poetic) مَاوِيَّة (māwiyya), (dialect) مِنْظَرَة (minẓara)
- a. 965, الْمُتَنَبِّي (al-mutanabbī), وَمَنزِلٍ لَيسَ لَنا بِمَنزِلِ (…):
- لَهُ إِذَا أَدْبَرَ لَحْظُ المُقْبِلِ / كَأَنَّمَا يَنْظُرُ مِن سَجَنْجَلِ
- la-hū ʔiḏā ʔadbara laḥẓu l-muqbili / kaʔannamā yanẓuru min sajanjali
- For it, when a look of what follows turns its back / It is as though one saw by a mirror.
- glossy papyrus, pages or sheets with a shine or glaze, glistening surface
- 6th century CE, اِمْرُؤ ٱلْقَيْس (imruʔ l-qays), Stop, Let Us Weep قِفَا نَبْكِ (qifā nabki):
- مُهَفْهَفَةٌ بَيْضَاءُ غَيْرُ مُفَاضَةٍ / تَرَائِبُهَا مَصْقُولَةٌ كَٱلسَّجَنْجَلِ
- muhafhafatun bayḍāʔu ḡayru mufāḍatin / tarāʔibuhā maṣqūlatun kas-sajanjali
- Slender, fair-colored, not obese / Her collar bone gleaming like the glossy page.
Declension edit
Declension of noun سَجَنْجَل (sajanjal)
| Singular | basic singular triptote | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | سَجَنْجَل sajanjal |
السَّجَنْجَل as-sajanjal |
سَجَنْجَل sajanjal |
| Nominative | سَجَنْجَلٌ sajanjalun |
السَّجَنْجَلُ as-sajanjalu |
سَجَنْجَلُ sajanjalu |
| Accusative | سَجَنْجَلًا sajanjalan |
السَّجَنْجَلَ as-sajanjala |
سَجَنْجَلَ sajanjala |
| Genitive | سَجَنْجَلٍ sajanjalin |
السَّجَنْجَلِ as-sajanjali |
سَجَنْجَلِ sajanjali |
References edit
- Fraenkel, Siegmund (1880) De vocabulis in antiquis Arabum carminibus et in Corano peregrinis[1] (in Latin), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 8
- Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 97
- Ullmann, Manfred (1992) Das Motiv des Spiegels in der arabischen Literatur des Mittelalters (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen: Philologisch-historische Klasse; 198) (in German), Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pages 17–30