Mahamode

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Mahamode arabice scamonea ut in libro de doctrina arabica verum in libris medicinalibus scribitur apud eos scamonea ut greci.


Apparatus:

Mahamode ABC f | machomode ms. e

verum om. B

{eos} scamonea AC ef | scamẽea B


Translation:

Mahamode is Arabic for Latin scamonea as stated in the liber de doctrina arabica, but in the medical books the Arabs write scamonea like the Greeks.


Commentary:

Simon rightly says that in the Arabic writing medical books the plant, which Siggel (1950: 42) identifies as Convolvulus scammonium L. "scammony" [[1]], is called ﺳﻘﻤﻮﻧﻴﺎ /saqmūniyā/, a word obvbiously ultimately derived from Greek σκαμ(μ)ωνία /skam(m)onía/, and indeed e.g. Avicenna in his Canon does use ﺳﻘﻤﻮﻧﻴﺎ /saqmūniyā/ [[2]].

Simon states that in the liber de doctrina arabica the plant is named ﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩﺓ /maḥmūda/, a name Siggel (1950: 67) confirms: ﻣﺤﻮﺩﺓ /maḥmūda/ Purgierrinde v. Convolvulus scammonium, der Skammoniawinde {i.e. "scammony"}.

The Vocabulista published by Schiapparelli is not the glossary/dictionary Simon had before him, but it seems to be from a similar original as the Liber de doctrina arabica. Unfortunately in Schiapparelli's ms. a copying error must have occurred because in the Arabic-Latin section on (1871: 179) it lists: ﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩﺓ /maḥmūda/ but without translation [[3]]. Schiapparelli refers to the Latin-Arabic section (1871: 301) under COMENDARE, where a form ﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩ /maḥmūd/ is mentioned [[4]]. Comendare means "to commit, intrust, commend" etc. and the Arabic root √ḥmd can mean all that. Grammatically ﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩﺓ /maḥmūda/ {sc. ﻧﺒﺘﺔ /nabta/ "plant"} is the fem. sg. passive participle of the root √ḥmd and it translates: the "praised or recommended one".

Dozy (1877-81: I.321), glosses ﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩﺓ /maḥmūda/ scammonée, quoting Pedro de Alcalá - s.v. Escamonea medicina … mahmǔda - as one of his sources.

Corriente (1997: 87), under *ḤMD mentions >maḥmūdah< and translates it as escamonea, i.e. "scammony", and in a footnote, (1997: 88), he says that this is how it must be translated although it appears in the Latin-Arabic section under "comendare".

ﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩﺓ /maḥmūda/ was still in use as late as in the early 17th c. by the Spanish Morisco community, cf. Karbstein (2002: 263): ﺳﻘﻤﻮﻧﻴﺎ ﻭﻣﺤﻤﻮﺩﺓ ﺣﺎﺭ ﺑﺲ ﺏ ﻋﺠﻤﻴﺔ ﺍﺷﻘﻤﻮﻧﻴﺔ /saqmūniyā wa-maḥmūda ḥārr yābis bāʔ ʕağamiyya ašqmūniyya/ - “/saqmūniyā/ and /maḥmūda/ hot, dry, 2nd degree {items in italics are unvocalised in the original}, in Romance: /ašqmūniyya/”.

/ašqmūniyya/ represents a Romance word similar to Spanish escamonea.

Cf. Siggel (1950: 67): ﻣﺤﻮﺩﺓ /maḥmūda/ Purgierrinde v. Convolvulus scammonium, der Skammoniawinde {i.e. scammony}.


WilfGunther 14:24, 24 August 2014 (BST)


See also: Scamonea, Sacamonie, Diagridium

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