ع ل م

See also: علم and غلم

Arabic

Etymology

Cognate with Sabaean 𐩲𐩡𐩣 (ʿlm) "to know; to acknowledge", "mark, sign, signature", Qatabanian 𐩲𐩡𐩣 (ʿlm) "to sign", Ugaritic 𐎓𐎍𐎎 (ʿlm) "to be known".

May further have a relation with Akkadian 𒂖𒆷𒈬𒌋𒀀 (/⁠ellamu, illamu⁠/, “front, before; both temporally and in location; coming before your time or being currently physically before you now”) via a sense chain of "front" ↔ "to be in front, to be preceding; to go ahead of" ↔ "to leave traces, footprints; to leave behind" ↔ "trace, footprint", the polar end of that shift represented by Arabic عَلَم (ʕalam) "footstep, trace, impression, mark, sign", from which perhaps the rest of the root would be denominally derived, via a sense development of "mark, sign" → "(prominent) mark, sign, landmark by which one may recognize (s.p.) or know (s.t.)" → "to know, to recognize, to distinguish; to be familiar with". Alternatively, the Akkadian word could be related via a sense chain of "(in) front" ↔ "in plain view, clearly discernable, prominent" ↔ "known, recognizable" ↔ "to know, recognize". In either case, if this Arabic root bares a relation with the Akkadian word, it may subsequently also have a connection with Hebrew ע־ל־ם (ʕ-l-m) "to disappear; to hide, conceal", also found in Aramaic.

Root

ع ل م • (ʕ-l-m)

1. Related to knowing and knowledge

Derived terms

• Form I: عَلِمَ (ʕalima, “to know”)
  • Verbal noun: عِلْم (ʕilm)
  • Active participle: ?
  • Passive participle: مَعْلُوم (maʕlūm)
• Form II: عَلَّمَ (ʕallama, “to teach”)
  • Verbal noun: تَعْلِيم (taʕlīm)
  • Active participle: مُعَلِّم (muʕallim)
  • Passive participle: مُعَلَّم (muʕallam)
• Form IV: أَعْلَمَ (ʔaʕlama, “to inform”)
  • Verbal noun: إِعْلَام (ʔiʕlām)
  • Active participle: مُعْلِم (muʕlim)
  • Passive participle: مُعْلَم (muʕlam)
• Form V: تَعَلَّمَ (taʕallama, “to learn”)
  • Verbal noun: تَعَلُّم (taʕallum)
  • Active participle: مُتَعَلِّم (mutaʕallim)
  • Passive participle: مُتَعَلَّم (mutaʕallam)
• Form VI: تَعَالَمَ (taʕālama)
  • Verbal noun: تَعَالُم (taʕālum)
  • Active participle: مُتَعَالِم (mutaʕālim)
  • Passive participle: مُتَعَالَم (mutaʕālam)
• Form X: اِسْتَعْلَمَ (istaʕlama)
  • Verbal noun: اِسْتِعْلَام (istiʕlām)
  • Active participle: مُسْتَعْلِم (mustaʕlim)
  • Passive participle: مُسْتَعْلَم (mustaʕlam)
• أُعْلُومَة (ʔuʕlūma)
• عِلْمِيّ (ʕilmiyy)
  • عِلْمِيَّة (ʕilmiyya)
• عَلَم (ʕalam)
• عَلِيم (ʕalīm)
• أَعْلَم (ʔaʕlam)
• عَلَّام (ʕallām)
• عَلَّامَة (ʕallāma)
• عَلَامَة (ʕalāma)
• أُعْلُومَة (ʔuʕlūma)
• تِعْلَامَة (tiʕlāma)
• مَعْلَم (maʕlam)
  • مَعْلَمَة (maʕlama)
• مُعَلِّم (muʕallim, “teacher”)
• تَعْلِيمِيّ (taʕlīmiyy)
• إِعْلَامِيّ (ʔiʕlāmiyy)
• عَالِمِيَّة (ʕālimiyya)
• مَعْلُومَة (maʕlūma)
  • مَعْلُومَات (maʕlūmāt)
• مَعْلُومِيَّة (maʕlūmiyya)
• عَالَمِيّ (ʕālamiyy)
• عَالَمِيَّة (ʕālamiyya)

Descendants

• Egyptian Arabic: عالمة (ʕalma, “female singer; belly dancer”)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “علم”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
• Kogan, Leonid (2015) Genealogical Classification of Semitic. The Lexical Isoglosses, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 40

South Levantine Arabic

Root

ع ل م • (transliteration needed)

1. Related to knowing and knowledge

Derived terms

Verbs and verb forms

• Form II: علّم (ʕallam, “to teach”)
  • Noun Form: تعليم (taʕlīm, “education”)
  • Noun Form: معلّم (mʕallem, “teacher”)
• Form V: تعلّم (tʕallam, “to learn”)
  • Active Partiple: متعلّم (mitʕallem, “well educated”)
  • Noun Form: تعلّم (tʕallom, “learning”)

Nouns

• علم (ʕalam, “flag”)
• عالم (ʕālam, “world; people”)
• عالم (ʕālem, “scholar, scientist”)
• علامة (ʕalāme, “grade, mark”)
• علم (ʕilm, “knowledge, science”)
• علمانيّة (ʕilmāniyye, “secularism”)
• معلومات (maʕlūmāt, “information”)
• إعلام (ʔiʕlām, “information; notification”)
• استعلام (istiʕlām, “enquiry”)
• استعلامات (istiʕlāmāt, “information counter”)

Adjectives

• عالمي (ʕālami, “global”)
• عالم (ʕālem, “aware”)
• علمي (ʕilmi, “scientific”)
• علماني (ʕilmāni, “secular, lay”)
• معلوم (maʕlūm, “known, obvious”)