ħajjar

Maltese

Root
ħ-j-r
3 terms

Etymology

Describing conservative accents of the early 19th century, Vassalli distinguished between two verbs, one with /ħ/ meaning “to allure” and one with /χ/ meaning “to let someone choose”. The contemporary ħajjar thus continues Arabic حَيَّرَ (ḥayyara, “to confuse, abash”). The semantic connection may be the Arabic use for “to make someone lose their head”, e.g. romantically, which developed into the notion of “alluring, tempting” in Maltese. The second verb, from Arabic خَيَّرَ (ḵayyara), has been lost.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈħaj.jar/

Verb

ħajjar (imperfect jħajjar, past participle mħajjar, verbal noun taħjir)

1. to entice, to attract

   Kif nistgħu nħajru lil uliedna għall-qari? ― How can we entice our children to read?

2. to tempt

   Synonym: ttanta (ttenta)

Conjugation

Conjugation of ħajjar

		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	ħajjart	ħajjart	ħajjar		ħajjarna	ħajjartu	ħajru
	f			ħajret
imperfect	m	nħajjar	tħajjar	jħajjar		nħajru	tħajru	jħajru
	f			tħajjar
imperative			ħajjar				ħajru

See also

• ġarrab
• pprova