فرصاد

Arabic

FWOTD – 28 October 2020

فِرْصَاد

Etymology

Originally فِرْصِيد (firṣīd), from Aramaic, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic פַּרְצֵידָא (parṣīḏā, “seed, kernel, pip”), which is in Classical Syriac ܦܪܨܢܬܐ (parṣentā), collective ܦܪܨܢܐ (parṣennē), also Jewish Babylonian Aramaic פּוּרְצְנֵי (purṣənē, “kernels especially of grapes”), which was also borrowed as فِرْصِن (firṣin), فِرْصِم (firṣim, “grape pips”). This shows that the term is derived from the Aramaic root פ־ר־ץ (p-r-ṣ), cognate to the Arabic root ف ر ص (f-r-ṣ) related to slitting and making a breach, referring to the way a kernel is obtained from a fruit. Compare Hebrew חַרְצָן (ḥarṣā́n, “immature and thus sour grapes”) from the root ח־ר־ץ cognate to the Arabic root ح ر ص (ḥ-r-ṣ) related to slitting, with such a meaning development from pips to mulberry because the mulberry is an aggregate fruit. Compare also Arabic تُوت (tūt, “mulberry”), again presumably an Aramaic borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fir.sˤaːd/

Noun

فِرْصَاد • (firṣād) m

1. mulberry (Morus spp. plants and fruits)
   • c. 1200, يحيى بن محمد بن أحمد بن العوام [yaḥyā ibn muḥammad ibn ʔaḥmad ibn al-ʕawwām], edited by José Antonio Banqueri, كتاب الفلاحة [Book on Agriculture], volume 1, Madrid: Imprenta Real, published 1802^IA, Cap. 8, Art. 1, pages 417–418:

     شجر الفرصاد وشجرة شاه بلوط وشجر البندق وشجر الاتفاح وشجر الكمثرى كل هذه تألف بهضعا بعضا وقد يركب في لحائه دون أصله

     The mulberry and the chestnut and the hazelnut and the apple and the pear all join together well and they can be grafted on their bark outwith their stems.

Declension

Declension of noun فِرْصَاد (firṣād)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	فِرْصَاد firṣād	الْفِرْصَاد al-firṣād	فِرْصَاد firṣād
Nominative	فِرْصَادٌ firṣādun	الْفِرْصَادُ al-firṣādu	فِرْصَادُ firṣādu
Accusative	فِرْصَادًا firṣādan	الْفِرْصَادَ al-firṣāda	فِرْصَادَ firṣāda
Genitive	فِرْصَادٍ firṣādin	الْفِرْصَادِ al-firṣādi	فِرْصَادِ firṣādi

Descendants

• → Persian: فرصاد (fersâd)
• → Swahili: forosadi

References

• “prṣyd”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “prṣnh”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “pwrṣn”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “prṣ”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 140
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1893) “Beiträge zur Erklärung der Glossen des Bar Bahlûl II.”, in Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes‎^[1] (in German), volume 7, page 83
• Freytag, Georg (1835) “فرصاد”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[2] (in Latin), volume 3, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 334
• Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “فرصاد”, 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^[3] (in French), volume 2, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, page 573
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “فرصاد”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[4], London: Williams & Norgate, page 2373
• Löw, Immanuel (1928) Die Flora der Juden‎^[5] (in German), volume 1, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 80
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[6] (in German), volume 3, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 93
• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎^[7] (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, page 364
• Sokoloff, Michael (2002) A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic periods, Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University, page 937b
• Sokoloff, Michael (2002) A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic periods, Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University, page 893
• Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “فرصاد”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎^[8] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 954