س ح ر

Arabic

Etymology

The “sorcery” significations according to Barth correspond to Aramaic ח־ר־שׁ, ܚ-ܪ-ܫ (ḥ-r-š), Hebrew ח־ר־שׁ, Ge'ez ሐ ረ ሰ (ḥ-r-s), whereas Fraenkels points out that the Arabic might instead be related to שׁ־ח־ר (“blackness”) (present by borrowing in Arabic as ش ح ر (š-ḥ-r)), and Nöldeke thought the Geʿez is borrowed from Aramaic, which Leslau reproaches with Sebat Bet Gurage araši (“one who has the power of casting the evil eye”), Beja hariš (“magic”). Von Soden sees a connection with Akkadian 𒄩𒊏𒋗 (/⁠ḫarāšu⁠/, “to bind, to tie”) because of magical knot imagery. However the word can well be related to Akkadian 𒊓𒄩𒊒 (sa-ḫa-ru /⁠saḫāru⁠/, “to turn; to circumambulate; to circle, to curve; to encircle with magic; to repel etc.”) allowing for reconstruction of Proto-Semitic *sax̣ar-. In any case the “dawn” root constitutes a separate reconstruction Proto-Semitic *šaḥ(a)r- and the Arabic root formula is polyphyletic.

Root

س ح ر • (s-ḥ-r)

1. related to catching

Derived terms

• Form I: سَحَرَ (saḥara, “to bewitch”)
  • Verbal noun: سِحْر (siḥr)
  • Active participle: سَاحِر (sāḥir)
  • Passive participle: مَسْحُور (masḥūr)
• Form II: سَحَّرَ (saḥḥara, “to bewitch”)
  • Verbal noun: تَسْحِير (tasḥīr)
  • Active participle: مُسَحِّر (musaḥḥir)
  • Passive participle: مُسَحَّر (musaḥḥar)
• Form IV: أَسْحَرَ (ʔasḥara, “to journey at dawn”)
  • Verbal noun: إِسْحَار (ʔisḥār)
  • Active participle: مُسْحِر (musḥir)
• Form V: تَسَحَّرَ (tasaḥḥara, “to take the morning snack suhur”)
  • Verbal noun: تَسَحُّر (tasaḥḥur)
  • Active participle: مُتَسَحِّر (mutasaḥḥir)
• Form VII: اِنْسَحَرَ (insaḥara, “to be bewitched”)
  • Verbal noun: اِنْسِحَار (insiḥār)
  • Active participle: مُنْسَحِر (munsaḥir)
• Form VIII: اِسْتَحَرَ (istaḥara, “to crow at dawn”)
  • Verbal noun: اِسْتِحَار (istiḥār)
  • Active participle: مُسْتَحِر (mustaḥir)

• سُحُور (suḥūr) and سَحُور (saḥūr, “suhur”)
• سَحَر (saḥar, “dawn”)
• سَحْر (saḥr, “lung”)
• سَحَّار (saḥḥār, “magician”)
• سَحَّارَة (saḥḥāra, “drain pipe, siphon”)
• سُحَارَة (suḥāra, “parts of the sheep the butcher throws away, comprising lungs, windpipe, and their appendages”)

References

• “ḫarāšu”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎^[1], volume 6, Ḫ, Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956, page 95 seqq.
• Barth, Jakob (1893) Etymologische Studien zum semitischen insbesondere zum hebräischen Lexicon (in German), Berlin: H. Itzkowski, page 3
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881) “س ح ر”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎^[2] (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 635–636
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1898) “Zum sporadischen Lautwandel in den semitischen Sprachen”, in Beiträge zur Assyriologie und semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[3] (in German), volume 3, page 64
• Freytag, Georg (1833) “س ح ر”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[4] (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 290
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “س ح ر”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[5], London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1316-1318
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, pages 243–244
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[6] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 37
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “س ح ر”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[7], London: W.H. Allen, page 483
• von Soden, Wolfram (1965) Akkadisches Handwörterbuch (in German), volume I, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, page 324b
• Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “س ح ر”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎^[8] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 556