Talk:խաբեմ

@Fay Freak, is the origin of the Arabic word mentioned here transparent? --Vahag (talk) 17:13, 25 January 2019 (UTC)

@Vahagn Petrosyan: Yes, I see the sense development in Arabic: 1. it basically means “to subside” 2. then it means “to alight where one can avoid dealing with guests” 3. since receiving guests is a duty of the mōs particularly in the wide desert, it is a reprehensible deception 4. the expression generalizes to mean “to deceive” on this model 5. The sense of “deception”, “tricking” appears to be the same in Armenian.

Why is խաբ (xab, “deception”) from խաբեմ (xabem, “to deceive”) though and not the other way?

The Slavic connection does not fit phonetically anyway, right – is the Old Armenian attested too early to be from Arabic directly? Fay Freak (talk) 18:40, 25 January 2019 (UTC)

@Fay Freak, thanks! The Armenian is attested since the 5th century, whereas Arabic borrowings are usual only after the 7th century. Some authors speculate that early borrowings from Arabic, or rather from the "Syro-Arabic koine" spoken in northern Mesopotamia are possible. On this supposed koine see here; search "койнэ".

I assumed the verb խաբեմ (xabem) is primary, because it is attested more widely and survives in the dialects, but after you found the sense "deception" in Arabic, I think խաբ (xab, “deception”) is primary and is in fact borrowed from Arabic. The correspondence is too perfect. --Vahag (talk) 09:53, 26 January 2019 (UTC)