Hab elmeluch
Hab elmeluch idest granum regum et vocant ita multi arabes cerasum quia habent de ipso inopiam, et similiter vocant semen mendana de qua infra.
Apparatus:
cerasum ABC ep | ceresum f | cerusuʒ j
de ipso | ex ipso f
mendana (mẽda- f) BC f | mondana A {‘e’ misread as ‘o’} | meridana ms. e {‘n’ misread as ‘ri’} | meudona p | meudaria j {‘n’ misread as ‘ri’}
Translation:
Hab elmeluch translates into Latin as granum regum {“grain of kings”} and many Arabs call it this because cherries are so scarce there; in Latin it is cerasum {“cherry”}; but similarly the Arabs also call mendana seed(s) {i.e. /māhūdāna/} by this name, more about it below under Mendana.
Commentary:
Hab elmeluch:
- as Simon correctly translates - means lit. “grain/seed/berry of (= fit for) kings”. Again in this lemma Simon shows his knowledge of matters Iberian by mentioning the meaning “cherry”, which on the authority of several scholars is restricted to Spain and the Maghreb. However he also points out that the plant is at times identified quite differently, and he mentions mendana.
Attestations for Spain:
Here the meaning “cherry” is well attested:
- Glossarium Latino-Arabicum ed. Seybold (1900: 64): cerasus ﺣﺐﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ /ḥabb al-mulūk/ [[1]].
- Vocabulista, ed. Schiaparelli (1871: 289): CERESA ﺣﺐﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ /ḥabb al-mulūk/ [[2]]
- Karbstein (2002: 197): “13) Kirsche {i.e. “cherry”} ﻣﻠﻮﻙ ﻫﻮ ﺣﺐ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻚ ﻋﺠﻤﻴﺔ ﺳﺮﺍﺷﺶ /mulūk huwa ḥabu al-malik ʕağamīya sirāšaš/ “/mulūk/ that is the herb of the king, in Romance it is /sirāšaš/”
Cf. Old Spanish ceresas pronounced */ʦeresas/, Modern Spanish cerezas {“cherries”}. Note also that the Mozarab author of the glossary distinguishes between the Old Spanish affricate spelt “c” = /ʦ/ which he transcribes with /sīn/ and Old Spanish “s” which he transcribes with /šīn/; this latter may be an attempt to render the apical “s”, IPA [s̺], common in some Spanish and Portuguese dialects, a pronunciation often perceived by other speakers to be (like) a /š/ sound.
Attestations for the Maghrib:
- Dozy I, 241: ﺣﺐﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ /ḥabb al-mulūk/ “est au Maghrib le nom des cerises” {i.e. ‘is in the Maghrib the name for cherries’}.
- Renaud & Colin /tuḥfat al-aḥbāb/ (1934: 146) “334. Qarāṣiyā Cerise {'cherry'} – On l’appelle ḥabb al-mulūk « le fruit des rois »" {i.e. “it is called fruit of the kings”}.
- de Prémare (1994, tome 3, s.v. ḥăbb: ḥăbb ǝl-mlūk cerises, cerisiers {“i.e. cherries, cherry-trees”}
- Also: cf. Harrell, R.S. (2004: 82) s.v. mluk: /ḥabb le-mluk/ {lit. “grain(s) for kings”} “cherry”.
mendana:
Cf. Siggel (1950: 67) s.v. ﻣﺎﻫﻮﺑﺪﺍﻧﺔ, ﻣﺎﻫﻮﺕ, ﻣﺎﻫﻮﺩﺍﻧﺔ /māhūbdāna/, /māhūt/, /māhūdāna/, see below.
The word suffered various misreadings in the witnesses.
The original transcription must have been *meudana, the section meu- occurring in j,p. *meudana was misread as mendana, which in turn was misread as meridana. men- was misread as mon- in A and –dana as –dona in p and as –daria in j. For further analysis of the word see Mendana, Meubethne.
Botanical identification:
A name like “seed/ grain/ berry/ fruit fit for kings” can naturally be applied to a great number of plant propagation products that are perceived to be rare or outstanding in some way. This is reflected in the literature consulted.
Cf. Corrriente (Dictionary) (1997: 112) s.v. *(ḤBB) … ḥabb almulūk “cherries (but also pistachio nuts, pine nuts or even prunes”).
cf. Wehr s.v. ﺣﺐ /ḥabb/: ﺣﺐ ﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ {/ḥabb al-mulūk/ not transcribed in Wehr} croton seeds (seeds of Croton tiglium; bot.) {[[3]]}; (maghrib) “cherries”.
N.b.: Croton tiglium L. is a species belonging to the Euphorbiaceae or spurge family.
Concerning Simon’s own mention of mendana:
mendana - as said before - a misreading of meudana is characterised by him as a synonym of ﺣﺐﺍﻟﻤﻠﻮﻙ /ḥabb al-mulūk/, the former being identified by Siggel (1950: 67) s.v. ﻣﺎﻫﻮﺑﺪﺍﻧﺔ, ﻣﺎﻫﻮﺕ, ﻣﺎﻫﻮﺩﺍﻧﺔ /māhūbdāna/, /māhūt/, /māhūdāna/ as Euphorbia lathyris [[4]], the latter being identified by Siggel (1950: 28) as "S. v. Euphorbia nereifolia" {i.e. 'seed(s) of E. nereifolia'} … [[5]]}.
WilfGunther (talk) 11:30, 9 June 2016 (BST)
See also Karasia, Kerasea
See also Mendana, Meubethne, Cataputia maior
