حضرموت

Arabic

Etymology

From Hadrami 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩 (ḥḍrmt), seemingly also the source of Biblical Hebrew חֲצַרְמָוֶת. Based on early transcriptions, it appears that the vocalization with -ūt is original. The original meaning is debated; serious suggestions include that it meant "the green place", by relating it to the root خ ض ر (ḵ ḍ r, “green”) (Salibi) or "place of men", by taking the first half as Arabic and relating the second half to Proto-Semitic *mut- (“man”) (Al-Jallad). A common folk etymology derives it from the native Arabic words حَضَرَ (ḥaḍara, “be present”) and مَوْت (mawt, “death”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ħadˤ.ra.mawt/, /ħadˤ.ra.muːt/

Proper noun

حَضْرَمَوْت or حَضْرَمُوت • (ḥaḍramawt or ḥaḍramūt) f

1. Hadhramaut (region in southern Arabia)

Derived terms

• حَضْرَمِيّ (ḥaḍramiyy)

References

• Al-Jallad, Ahmad (2007). "The Arabic of the Islamic conquests: notes on phonology and morphology based on the Greek transcriptions from the first Islamic century". Bulletin of SOAS 80:3, p. 419–439.
• Salibi, Kamal (1981). al-Qāḍī (ed.). "Ḥaḍramūt: A Name with a Story". Studia Arabica et Islamica: Festschrift for Iḥsān ʿAbbās on His Sixtieth Birthday, p. 393–397.