חנותא

Aramaic

Alternative forms

• 𐡧𐡮𐡥𐡥𐡠 (ḥnwwʾ /⁠ḥānūṯā⁠/) — Palmyrene
• 𐢊𐢕𐢈𐢞𐢀 (/⁠ḥānūṯā⁠/) — Nabataean
• ܚܢܘܬܐ (ḥānūṯā) — Syriac

Etymology

Derived from the Aramaic root ح ن ي (ḥ-n-y) related to inclination with the +‎ ־ות (-ūṯ) suffix, Imperial Aramaic 𐡇𐡍 (ḥn, “to favour”), via the idea of vaults bending over the head, probably also Palmyrene 𐡧𐡮𐡩 (ḥnʾ, “to find rest; to abide, to reside”), regarding the Classical Syriac meanings of ܚܢܳܐ (ḥənā, “to inclinate oneself; to aim at”), or the meanings of English recline.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ħɑnuːθɑ] (singular)
• IPA^(key): [ħɑnwɑθɑ] (plural)

Noun

חָנוּתָא • (ḥānūṯā) f (plural חָנְוָתָא (ḥānwāṯā) or חָנְוָאתָא (ḥānwāʔṯā))

1. vaulted chamber, cell
2. wine tavern, pub
3. booth, shed
4. shop, store

Descendants

• → Arabic: حَانُوت (ḥānūt), حَانُوَة (ḥānuwa), حَانَاة (ḥānāh) — dialectal
  • Maltese: ħanut
  • → French: hanout
  • → Italian: canova
  • ⇒ Byzantine Greek: χανουτέριος (khanoutérios, “wine-seller”) (Sicily)
• → Ge'ez: ሐኖት (ḥänot), ሓኖት (ḥanot)
• → Hebrew: חָנוּת (ḥānūṯ)

References

• “ḥnw”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “ḥny”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 172
• Hoftijzer, J, Jongeling, K. (1995) Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions (Handbuch der Orientalistik. Erste Abteilung, Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten; 21), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill, pages 386–387 for the verbs, and 388 for this noun
• Lagarde, Paul de (1887) Mittheilungen (in German), volume 2, Göttingen: Dieterichsche Sortimentsbuchhandlung, pages 363–364
• Sokoloff, Michael (2002) A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic periods, Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University, page 473a
• Sperber, Daniel (1970) “On Pubs and Policemen in Roman Palestine”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[1], volume 120, page 262
• Wagner, Max (1966) Die lexikalischen und grammatikalischen Aramaismen im alttestamentlichen Hebräisch (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; 96) (in German), Berlin: Alfred Töpelmann, →ISBN, page 56