دقل

Arabic

Etymology

From Proto-West Semitic *daqal-, in Akkadian only found in the toponymy of Chaldean territory, and likewise the Arabic is suspect to be influenced by semantic loan from Aramaic דִקְלָא (diqlā, “date palm; topgallant”) for the sense of a “mast”, compare also سَارِيَة (sāriya, “post, mast”) from Aramaic, though the mast sense is also found in Mehri dəqāl (“mast”), Soqotri daqal (“pole”). In Hebrew דֶּגֶל (déḡel, “a flag”).

The sort of dates denoted by this word varies according to time. In antiquity, it denoted in particular a date palm that produced an abundant number of dates, however of an inferior quality, often characterized by being hard, small, or having a meager ratio of flesh compared to its pit. In modernity the meaning has switched to denote a supreme kind of date; the semantic shift seems to have been brought on by the popular variety دَقْلَة النُور (daqla(t) an-nūr, “heavenly or divine dates”, literally “date-palm of light”), so-named for producing a harvest as numerous as the ill-tasting variety, yet instead of being the expected unpleasant taste, they have a notoriously heavenly soft honey-like taste.

Arabic Wikipedia has an article on:

دقلة النور

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Noun

دَقَل • (daqal) m (collective, singulative دَقَلَة f (daqala))

a variety of dates (fruit and tree)
- 7th century CE, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 55:43:
  أَلَسْتُمْ فِي طَعَامٍ وَشَرَابٍ مَا شِئْتُمْ – لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ نَبِيَّكُمْ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَمَا يَجِدُ مِنَ الدَّقَلِ مَا يَمْلَأُ بِهِ بَطْنَهُ؟
  ʔa-lastum fī ṭaʕāmin wa-šarābin mā šiʔtum – laqad raʔaytu nabiyyakum ṣallā llāhu ʕalayhi wasallama wa-mā yajidu mina d-daqali mā yamlaʔu bi-hī baṭnahū?
  Don’t you have food and drink as you will, whereas I have seen your prophet not even finding the worst kind of dates to fill his belly?

Declension

Declension of noun دَقَل (daqal)

Collective	basic collective triptote
Collective	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	دَقَل daqal	الدَّقَل ad-daqal	دَقَل daqal
Nominative	دَقَلٌ daqalun	الدَّقَلُ ad-daqalu	دَقَلُ daqalu
Accusative	دَقَلًا daqalan	الدَّقَلَ ad-daqala	دَقَلَ daqala
Genitive	دَقَلٍ daqalin	الدَّقَلِ ad-daqali	دَقَلِ daqali
Singulative	singulative triptote in ـَة (-a)
Singulative	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	دَقَلَة daqala	الدَّقَلَة ad-daqala	دَقَلَة daqalat
Nominative	دَقَلَةٌ daqalatun	الدَّقَلَةُ ad-daqalatu	دَقَلَةُ daqalatu
Accusative	دَقَلَةً daqalatan	الدَّقَلَةَ ad-daqalata	دَقَلَةَ daqalata
Genitive	دَقَلَةٍ daqalatin	الدَّقَلَةِ ad-daqalati	دَقَلَةِ daqalati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	دَقَلَتَيْن daqalatayn	الدَّقَلَتَيْن ad-daqalatayn	دَقَلَتَيْ daqalatay
Nominative	دَقَلَتَانِ daqalatāni	الدَّقَلَتَانِ ad-daqalatāni	دَقَلَتَا daqalatā
Accusative	دَقَلَتَيْنِ daqalatayni	الدَّقَلَتَيْنِ ad-daqalatayni	دَقَلَتَيْ daqalatay
Genitive	دَقَلَتَيْنِ daqalatayni	الدَّقَلَتَيْنِ ad-daqalatayni	دَقَلَتَيْ daqalatay
Paucal (3-10)	sound feminine paucal
Paucal (3-10)	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	دَقَلَات daqalāt	الدَّقَلَات ad-daqalāt	دَقَلَات daqalāt
Nominative	دَقَلَاتٌ daqalātun	الدَّقَلَاتُ ad-daqalātu	دَقَلَاتُ daqalātu
Accusative	دَقَلَاتٍ daqalātin	الدَّقَلَاتِ ad-daqalāti	دَقَلَاتِ daqalāti
Genitive	دَقَلَاتٍ daqalātin	الدَّقَلَاتِ ad-daqalāti	دَقَلَاتِ daqalāti

Noun

دَقَل • (daqal) m (plural دِقَال (diqāl) or أَدْقَال (ʔadqāl))

topgallant, topmast, mast tree, mainmast
- a. 671, by النَابِغَةُ الْجَعْدِيّ (an-nābiḡatu l-jaʕdiyy)
  لَمْ يُقَايِظْنِي عَلَى كَاظِمَةٍ سَمَكُ / الْبَحْرِ وَحَوْلِيُّ الدَقَل
  lam yuqāyiẓnī ʕalā kāẓimatin samaku / al-baḥri waḥawliyyu d-daqal
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of noun دَقَل (daqal)

Singular	basic singular triptote
Singular	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	دَقَل daqal	الدَّقَل ad-daqal	دَقَل daqal
Nominative	دَقَلٌ daqalun	الدَّقَلُ ad-daqalu	دَقَلُ daqalu
Accusative	دَقَلًا daqalan	الدَّقَلَ ad-daqala	دَقَلَ daqala
Genitive	دَقَلٍ daqalin	الدَّقَلِ ad-daqali	دَقَلِ daqali
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	دَقَلَيْن daqalayn	الدَّقَلَيْن ad-daqalayn	دَقَلَيْ daqalay
Nominative	دَقَلَانِ daqalāni	الدَّقَلَانِ ad-daqalāni	دَقَلَا daqalā
Accusative	دَقَلَيْنِ daqalayni	الدَّقَلَيْنِ ad-daqalayni	دَقَلَيْ daqalay
Genitive	دَقَلَيْنِ daqalayni	الدَّقَلَيْنِ ad-daqalayni	دَقَلَيْ daqalay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
Plural	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	دِقَال‎; أَدْقَال diqāl‎; ʔadqāl	الدِّقَال‎; الْأَدْقَال ad-diqāl‎; al-ʔadqāl	دِقَال‎; أَدْقَال diqāl‎; ʔadqāl
Nominative	دِقَالٌ‎; أَدْقَالٌ diqālun‎; ʔadqālun	الدِّقَالُ‎; الْأَدْقَالُ ad-diqālu‎; al-ʔadqālu	دِقَالُ‎; أَدْقَالُ diqālu‎; ʔadqālu
Accusative	دِقَالًا‎; أَدْقَالًا diqālan‎; ʔadqālan	الدِّقَالَ‎; الْأَدْقَالَ ad-diqāla‎; al-ʔadqāla	دِقَالَ‎; أَدْقَالَ diqāla‎; ʔadqāla
Genitive	دِقَالٍ‎; أَدْقَالٍ diqālin‎; ʔadqālin	الدِّقَالِ‎; الْأَدْقَالِ ad-diqāli‎; al-ʔadqāli	دِقَالِ‎; أَدْقَالِ diqāli‎; ʔadqāli

Descendants

→ Swahili: digali (“stem of a tobacco pipe”)
→ Tigre: ደቀል (däḳäl, “mast”)
→ Tigrinya: ደቀል (däḳäl, “mast”)

References

“دقل” in Almaany
Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881) “دقل”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎^[1] (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 452–453
Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 145 and Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 223
Freytag, Georg (1833) “دقل”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[2] (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 45
Guidi, Ignazio (1879) Della sede primitiva dei popoli semitici (in Italian), Rome: Tipi del Salviucci, page 19
Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “دقل”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[3] (in French), volume 1, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, page 717
Lane, Edward William (1863) “دقل”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[4], London: Williams & Norgate, page 898
Müller, David Heinrich (1887) “Arabisch-aramäische Glossen”, in Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes‎^[5] (in German), volume 1, pages 25–26
Nöldeke, Theodor (1875) Mandäische Grammatik‎^[6] (in German), Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, pages 43–44
Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “دقل”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎^[7] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 400
Zadok, Ran (1981) “The Toponymy of the Nippur Region during the 1st Millennium B.C. within the General Framework of the Mesopotamian Toponymy”, in Die Welt des Orients, volume 12, page 67