فلاح
Arabic edit
Etymology edit
From the root ف ل ح (f-l-ḥ). The sense of "farmer" is assumed to be borrowed from Aramaic פלחא / ܦܠܚܐ (pallāḥā, “worker; peasant”), owing to the dominant economy of Arabic speakers being nomadic when in contrast Aramaic speakers practised agriculture. This assumed, فَلَحَ (falaḥa, “to furrow, to plow; to slit, to cleave”) would be denominal.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
فَلَّاح • (fallāḥ) m (plural فَلَّاحُون (fallāḥūn), feminine فَلَّاحَة (fallāḥa))
- (countable) a farmer, a peasant
- Synonyms: مُزَارِع (muzāriʕ, “a farmer”), زَرَّاع (zarrāʕ, “planter, sower”), حَرَّاث (ḥarrāṯ, “tiller, plower, cultivator”), (archaic) أَكَّار (ʔakkār, “furrower”), (obsolete) كَافِر (kāfir, “a husbandman, a farmer, a peasant”)
- هٰؤُلَاءِ الْفَلَّاحُونَ مِنْ تِلْكَ الْقَرْيَةِ الْمِصْرِيَّةِ الْكَبِيرَةِ.
- hāʔulāʔi al-fallāḥūna min tilka l-qaryati l-miṣriyyati l-kabīrati.
- These farmers are from that big Egyptian village.
Declension edit
Singular | Masculine | Feminine | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
basic singular triptote | singular triptote in ـَة (-a) | |||||
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | فَلَّاح fallāḥ |
الْفَلَّاح al-fallāḥ |
فَلَّاح fallāḥ |
فَلَّاحَة fallāḥa |
الْفَلَّاحَة al-fallāḥa |
فَلَّاحَة fallāḥat |
Nominative | فَلَّاحٌ fallāḥun |
الْفَلَّاحُ al-fallāḥu |
فَلَّاحُ fallāḥu |
فَلَّاحَةٌ fallāḥatun |
الْفَلَّاحَةُ al-fallāḥatu |
فَلَّاحَةُ fallāḥatu |
Accusative | فَلَّاحًا fallāḥan |
الْفَلَّاحَ al-fallāḥa |
فَلَّاحَ fallāḥa |
فَلَّاحَةً fallāḥatan |
الْفَلَّاحَةَ al-fallāḥata |
فَلَّاحَةَ fallāḥata |
Genitive | فَلَّاحٍ fallāḥin |
الْفَلَّاحِ al-fallāḥi |
فَلَّاحِ fallāḥi |
فَلَّاحَةٍ fallāḥatin |
الْفَلَّاحَةِ al-fallāḥati |
فَلَّاحَةِ fallāḥati |
Dual | Masculine | Feminine | ||||
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | فَلَّاحَيْن fallāḥayn |
الْفَلَّاحَيْن al-fallāḥayn |
فَلَّاحَيْ fallāḥay |
فَلَّاحَتَيْن fallāḥatayn |
الْفَلَّاحَتَيْن al-fallāḥatayn |
فَلَّاحَتَيْ fallāḥatay |
Nominative | فَلَّاحَانِ fallāḥāni |
الْفَلَّاحَانِ al-fallāḥāni |
فَلَّاحَا fallāḥā |
فَلَّاحَتَانِ fallāḥatāni |
الْفَلَّاحَتَانِ al-fallāḥatāni |
فَلَّاحَتَا fallāḥatā |
Accusative | فَلَّاحَيْنِ fallāḥayni |
الْفَلَّاحَيْنِ al-fallāḥayni |
فَلَّاحَيْ fallāḥay |
فَلَّاحَتَيْنِ fallāḥatayni |
الْفَلَّاحَتَيْنِ al-fallāḥatayni |
فَلَّاحَتَيْ fallāḥatay |
Genitive | فَلَّاحَيْنِ fallāḥayni |
الْفَلَّاحَيْنِ al-fallāḥayni |
فَلَّاحَيْ fallāḥay |
فَلَّاحَتَيْنِ fallāḥatayni |
الْفَلَّاحَتَيْنِ al-fallāḥatayni |
فَلَّاحَتَيْ fallāḥatay |
Plural | Masculine | Feminine | ||||
sound masculine plural | sound feminine plural | |||||
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | فَلَّاحِين fallāḥīn |
الْفَلَّاحِين al-fallāḥīn |
فَلَّاحِي fallāḥī |
فَلَّاحَات fallāḥāt |
الْفَلَّاحَات al-fallāḥāt |
فَلَّاحَات fallāḥāt |
Nominative | فَلَّاحُونَ fallāḥūna |
الْفَلَّاحُونَ al-fallāḥūna |
فَلَّاحُو fallāḥū |
فَلَّاحَاتٌ fallāḥātun |
الْفَلَّاحَاتُ al-fallāḥātu |
فَلَّاحَاتُ fallāḥātu |
Accusative | فَلَّاحِينَ fallāḥīna |
الْفَلَّاحِينَ al-fallāḥīna |
فَلَّاحِي fallāḥī |
فَلَّاحَاتٍ fallāḥātin |
الْفَلَّاحَاتِ al-fallāḥāti |
فَلَّاحَاتِ fallāḥāti |
Genitive | فَلَّاحِينَ fallāḥīna |
الْفَلَّاحِينَ al-fallāḥīna |
فَلَّاحِي fallāḥī |
فَلَّاحَاتٍ fallāḥātin |
الْفَلَّاحَاتِ al-fallāḥāti |
فَلَّاحَاتِ fallāḥāti |
Descendants edit
- → English: fellah
- → French: fellah
- → German: Fellache
- Kurdish
- → Russian: фелла́х (felláx)
- → Swahili: falahi
- → Ottoman Turkish: فلاح
Noun edit
فَلَاح • (falāḥ) m
- (uncountable) success
- Antonym: خَيْبَة (ḵayba)
Declension edit
Singular | basic singular triptote | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | فَلَاح falāḥ |
الْفَلَاح al-falāḥ |
فَلَاح falāḥ |
Nominative | فَلَاحٌ falāḥun |
الْفَلَاحُ al-falāḥu |
فَلَاحُ falāḥu |
Accusative | فَلَاحًا falāḥan |
الْفَلَاحَ al-falāḥa |
فَلَاحَ falāḥa |
Genitive | فَلَاحٍ falāḥin |
الْفَلَاحِ al-falāḥi |
فَلَاحِ falāḥi |
References edit
- Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 126
- Lane, Edward William (1863) “فلاح”, in Arabic-English Lexicon[1], London: Williams & Norgate, page 2439
- Wehr, Hans (1979) “فلح”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 850
- Поленаковиќ, Харалампие (2007) “663. FILEAH”, in Зузана Тополињска, Петар Атанасов, editors, Турските елементи во ароманскиот [Turskite elementi vo aromanskiot][2], put into Macedonian from the author’s Serbo-Croatian Turski elementi u aromunskom dijalektu (1939, unpublished) by Веселинка Лаброска, Скопје: Македонска академија на науките и уметностите [Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite], →ISBN, page 122
Egyptian Arabic edit
Root |
---|
ف ل ح |
1 term |
Noun edit
فلاح • (fallāḥ) m (plural فلّاحين, feminine فلّاحة)
- (countable) a farmer
- (countable, Cairene, derogatory, offensive, slang) a rustic, a peasant, a provincial
- (countable, Cairene, derogatory or humorous, slang) an ignorant, a peasant
Usage notes edit
The word is typically used by Egyptian urbanites to refer to migrants who have come from the countryside to the cities (such as Cairo and Alexandria), particularly those who are seen as exhibiting or normalizing socially disapproved-of behavior. However, it has also come to be used jocularly to signify "ignorance" in general, especially that which is envisioned as stereotypically rustic.