شيص

Arabic

FWOTD – 16 June 2023

Alternative forms

• شِيش (šīš), صِيص (ṣīṣ)

Etymology

Borrowed from Aramaic שִׁיצָא (šīṣā, “a somehow inferior quality of dates”), from Akkadian 𒅆𒍮𒌈 (ši-ṣu-tum /⁠šīṣūtū⁠/, “a quality of dates”), 𒊮𒋤 (ŠA₃.SUD /⁠šuṣū⁠/, “a quality of date palms and dates”), considered borrowed from Sumerian 𒊮𒋤 (ša₃.sud).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃiːsˤ/

Noun

شِيص • (šīṣ) m (collective, singulative شِيصَة f (šīṣa))

1. dates of a palm that has not been fecundated and thus have not ripened with stones
   • 7th century CE, Jamīʿ at-Tirmiḏiyy, section 47:

     يَأْتِي الرَّجُلُ بِالْقِنْوِ فِيهِ الشِّيصُ وَالْحَشَفُ وَبِالْقِنْوِ قَدِ انْكَسَرَ فَيُعَلِّقُهُ

     yaʔtī r-rajulu bi-l-qinwi fī-hī aš-šīṣu wa-l-ḥašafu wabi-l-qinwi qadi nkasara fa-yuʕalliqu-hū

     The man brings a cluster with infecund and wizened dates in it and a cluster with dates that suffered damage and suspends it.

Declension

Declension of noun شِيص (šīṣ)

Collective	basic collective triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شِيص šīṣ	الشِّيص aš-šīṣ	شِيص šīṣ
Nominative	شِيصٌ šīṣun	الشِّيصُ aš-šīṣu	شِيصُ šīṣu
Accusative	شِيصًا šīṣan	الشِّيصَ aš-šīṣa	شِيصَ šīṣa
Genitive	شِيصٍ šīṣin	الشِّيصِ aš-šīṣi	شِيصِ šīṣi
Singulative	singulative triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شِيصَة šīṣa	الشِّيصَة aš-šīṣa	شِيصَة šīṣat
Nominative	شِيصَةٌ šīṣatun	الشِّيصَةُ aš-šīṣatu	شِيصَةُ šīṣatu
Accusative	شِيصَةً šīṣatan	الشِّيصَةَ aš-šīṣata	شِيصَةَ šīṣata
Genitive	شِيصَةٍ šīṣatin	الشِّيصَةِ aš-šīṣati	شِيصَةِ šīṣati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شِيصَتَيْن šīṣatayn	الشِّيصَتَيْن aš-šīṣatayn	شِيصَتَيْ šīṣatay
Nominative	شِيصَتَانِ šīṣatāni	الشِّيصَتَانِ aš-šīṣatāni	شِيصَتَا šīṣatā
Accusative	شِيصَتَيْنِ šīṣatayni	الشِّيصَتَيْنِ aš-šīṣatayni	شِيصَتَيْ šīṣatay
Genitive	شِيصَتَيْنِ šīṣatayni	الشِّيصَتَيْنِ aš-šīṣatayni	شِيصَتَيْ šīṣatay
Paucal (3-10)	sound feminine paucal
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شِيصَات šīṣāt	الشِّيصَات aš-šīṣāt	شِيصَات šīṣāt
Nominative	شِيصَاتٌ šīṣātun	الشِّيصَاتُ aš-šīṣātu	شِيصَاتُ šīṣātu
Accusative	شِيصَاتٍ šīṣātin	الشِّيصَاتِ aš-šīṣāti	شِيصَاتِ šīṣāti
Genitive	شِيصَاتٍ šīṣātin	الشِّيصَاتِ aš-šīṣāti	شِيصَاتِ šīṣāti

References

• “شيص” in Almaany
• “šyc”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Freytag, Georg (1833) “شيص”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, pages 471a–b
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 146
• Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “شيص”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[2] (in French), volume 1, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, page 1297a
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “شيص”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[3], London: Williams & Norgate, page 1630c
• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎^[4] (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, page 114
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[5] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 341
• Sokoloff, Michael (2002) “שִׁיצָא”, in A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic periods, Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University, page 1139b
• Zimmern, Heinrich (1915) Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (in German), Leipzig: A. Edelmann, page 54