زعتر

Arabic

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زعتر

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Alternative forms

صَعْتَر (ṣaʕtar), سَعْتَر (saʕtar)

Etymology

Assumed to be from Aramaic צתרא (ṣaṯrā, ṣāṯrā) / ܨܬܪܐ (ṣaṯrā, ṣāṯrā), the /a/ + /ʕ/ in Arabic a regular resolution of /aː/ giving a word an Arabic shape, like in Arabic لَعْل (laʕl) for Persian (lâl), or the /ʕ/ was previously present in Aramaic too. The form with the onset corresponding to the Aramaic, صَعْتَر (ṣaʕtar), is the most classical in Arabic.

The ultimate origin is speculative; the word is also found in Hebrew צַתְרָה (ṣátrā), Kurdish catirî, جاترە (catre), Middle Armenian ծոթրին (cotʻrin), and Latin saturēia. In one old view all are ultimately from the Latin term, the origin of which is unknown.

In Mandaville’s conception, there is an “old demonstrative s” seen in Akkadian 𒊭 (/⁠ša⁠/) “with the semantic effect of” Arabic ذُو (ḏū) prefixed to عِطْر (ʕiṭr, “scent”), hence the word means “that which has scent”. (Or is it the plant name عِتْر (ʕitr)? He writes ʿitr and glosses it “perfume”.)

However the oldest forms seem to be found in Akkadian 𒌑𒍝𒋼𒊒 (^U₂.za-te-ru /⁠zateru, ṣateru⁠/, “savory and the Origanum family”) found in lexical lists connected to Akkadian 𒌑𒈛𒈥𒌅 (^U₂.LUḪ.MAR.TU /⁠šibburratu⁠/, “an aromatic herb”) and Akkadian 𒍝𒄠𒁍𒊒𒊬 (za-am-bu-ru^SAR /⁠zambūru⁠/, “thyme”).

Of further curiosity is the possible attestation of the /ʕ/ preserved in cuneiform; it is common for the zero reflex of /ʕ/, to only be detectable in Akkadian by the e-coloring of an adjacent *a. The distance between Arabic and Akkadian and the lack of its presence in their likely intermediaries, possibly suggests a form of further common origin, albeit with a metathesis of /ʕ/ and /t/, and a retention of that form in Arabic, but not so in other Semitic tongues.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /zaʕ.tar/

Noun

زَعْتَر • (zaʕtar) m

zaatar, wild thyme

Declension

Declension of noun زَعْتَر (zaʕtar)

Singular	basic singular triptote
Singular	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	زَعْتَر zaʕtar	الزَّعْتَر az-zaʕtar	زَعْتَر zaʕtar
Nominative	زَعْتَرٌ zaʕtarun	الزَّعْتَرُ az-zaʕtaru	زَعْتَرُ zaʕtaru
Accusative	زَعْتَرًا zaʕtaran	الزَّعْتَرَ az-zaʕtara	زَعْتَرَ zaʕtara
Genitive	زَعْتَرٍ zaʕtarin	الزَّعْتَرِ az-zaʕtari	زَعْتَرِ zaʕtari

Descendants

Maltese: sagħtar (from the form صَعْتَر (ṣaʕtar))
Moroccan Arabic: زعتر (zaʕtar), صحتر (ṣaḥtar) (from the form صَعْتَر (ṣaʕtar))
Sicilian: satra
→ Middle Armenian: զահթեր (zahtʻer), սադիր (sadir)
→ Armenian: զաթար (zatʻar)
→ Ottoman Turkish: سعتر (zater, sater)/زعتر (zater, sater)/زاتر (zater, sater)
- Turkish: zater, sater
→ Swahili: zaatari

References

Behnstedt, Peter, Woidich, Manfred (2012) Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte – Band II: Materielle Kultur (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 100/II) (in German), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 272
Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 143
Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 103–104
Mandaville, James Paul (2011) Bedouin Ethnobotany. Plant Concepts and Uses in a Desert Pastoral World, Tuscon: University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, pages 209–210
Meyer, Gustav (1893) “Türkische Studien. I. Die griechischen und romanischen Bestandtheile im Wortschatze des Osmanisch-Türkischen”, in Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (in German), volume 128, Wien: In Commission bei F. Tempsky, page 35
Vollers, Karl (1896) “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen Sprache in Aegypten”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[2] (in German), volume 50, page 615