Gorab

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Gorab arabice corvus.


Apparatus:

coruus AC f | cornus B e {'u' misread as 'n'}


Translation:

Gorab is Arabic for Latin corvus {"raven"}.


Commentary:

Cf. Wehr (1976): ﻏﺮﺍﺏ /ġurāb/ "crow; raven".

Lane (1984: 2243): ﻏﺮﺍﺏ /ġurāb/ "a certain black bird … well known; … [the corvus or crow;] of which there are several species; [namely, the raven, carrion-crow, rook, jackdaw, jay, magpie, etc.] …


Ornithological remarks:

Just as is the case nowadays one can assume that only few people in the Middle-East were able to distinguish between species of crow [[1]] and raven [[2]].

Following Lane's account, the species of the genus Corvus {"ravens"}, whose distributions include the Middle East and/or North Africa, and which are therefore the most likely candidates for identification are:

- the "common raven", Corvus corax L. [[3]];

- the "fan-tailed raven", Corvus rhipidyrus Harpert [[4]];

- and the "brown-necked raven", Corvus ruficollis Lesson, [[5]].

Of the crows the "hooded crow", Corvus cornix L. [[6]] comes to mind, whereas the "carrion crow", Corvus corone L. is absent from North Afica and the Middle-East.

- And of jackdaws it is the "western jackdaw", Corvus monedula L. [[7]].

Lane also mentions jays and magpies, but they have a very distinct plumage and are less likely to be bundled under the term ﻏﺮﺍﺏ /ġurāb./

WilfGunther 14:47, 26 August 2014 (BST)


See also: Korone, Korax, Koratos

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