מטרקא

Aramaic

Etymology

From טרק (ṭrq, “to hit, sting, bite, close a door, mix”), which is cognate with Akkadian 𒂀 (/⁠tarāku⁠/, “to hit, knock”) and Arabic طَرَقَ (ṭaraqa, “to knock, bang, strike”), if the latter is not ultimately an Aramaic borrowing.

Noun

מטרקא • (mṭrqʾ)

1. (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic) goad, whip, device for driving livestock
   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 23a:

     מאי פקיע אמר רב מדרא מאי מדרא אמר רב פפא מטרקא דטייעי דפסיק רישיה

     What is a pakia? Rav says: A madra. What is a madra? Rav Papa says: An Arabian whip whose end is split.

Descendants

Taking Jewish Babylonian Aramaic as representative of all Aramaic:

• Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡈࡓࡀࡒࡉࡀ pl (maṭraqia)
• Classical Syriac: ܡܛܪܩܐ (maṭrəqā)
  • → Old Armenian: մտրակ (mtrak), մտրուակ (mtruak)
    • Armenian: մտրակ (mtrak)
• →? Arabic: مِطْرَقَة (miṭraqa), مِطْرَق (miṭraq) (either borrowed from Aramaic or its cognate)
  • Maltese: mterqa
  • → Aragonese: matraca
  • → Catalan: matraca
  • → French: matraque
    • → Dutch: matrak
  • → Ottoman Turkish: مطرقه (mıtraka), մըթրագա (mıtraka), մըթրագաթ (mıtrakat), մաթրագա (matraka)
    • Turkish: mıtraka
  • → Persian: مطرقه (metraqe), مطرق (metraq)
  • → Portuguese: matraca
  • → Spanish: matraca
    • → English: matraca

Unsorted borrowings

• → Old Georgian: მათრაჴი (matraqi)
  • Georgian: მათრახი (matraxi)
    • → Armenian: մաթրախ (matʻrax)
    • → Mingrelian: მართახი (martaxi), მათრახი (matraxi)
    • → Svan: მათრა̈ხ (maträx)
  • → Svan: მადრა̈ჴ (madräq), მჷდრა̈ჴ (mədräq), მჷრდა̈ჴ (mərdäq), მადრაჴ (madraq)

References

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1977) “մտրակ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume III, Yerevan: University Press, pages 368–369
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 260
• Lokotsch, Karl (1927) Etymologisches Wörterbuch der europäischen Wörter orientalischen Ursprungs (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung, § 1474, page 118b
• “mṭrq”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–, retrieved 2015-08-21
• Sokoloff, Michael (2002) A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic periods, Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University, pages 519a, 661a
• Sokoloff, Michael (2009) A Syriac Lexicon: A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum, Winona Lake, Indiana, Piscataway, New Jersey: Eisenbrauns; Gorgias Press