Constellations, plants and Arab poetry in a Medieval Berber text

Authors

  • Vermondo Brugnatelli University of Milano-Bicocca

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13135/1825-263X/8240

Abstract

This paper discusses one paragraph of the Kitāb al-Barbariyya, a medieval Berber commentary on Abū Ġānim’s Mudawwana. The brief note examined is a comment on the answer to a legal question, which mentions the ancient Berber names of a constellation and of a plant, quoting two lines of Arabic poetry. The passage occupies seven lines (f. 126b, ll. 8-14) of the manuscript MS.ARA 1936 found at the Bibliothèque universitaire des langues et civilisations (BULAC) of Paris. The Berber words retrieved from this text are Amanar, the name of the constellation of Orion, and tabduɣt, the name of the cotton plant. Moreover, in this ancient text, the word (a)kermus, which in the contemporary Berber languages applies to some specific plants (figs, prickly pears, dates), and which, in this case, seems to mean simply ‘fruit’, which supports a possible etymology from the Greek karpós. A list of Arab authors quoted within the Kitāb al-Barbariyya is added at the end of the paper.

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Author Biography

Vermondo Brugnatelli, University of Milano-Bicocca

Vermondo Brugnatelli was born in Milan, where he also completed his studies in Hamito-Semitic (Afroasiatic) Linguistics. He received his “habilitation” in Paris (Sorbonne).  He is a specialist in historical linguistics and his main interests are particularly focused on the Berber world. He is currently Associate Professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca. He is director of the “Centro Studi Camito-Semitici di Milano” which he founded in 1993, and president of the Berber Cultural Association in Italy.

Vermondo can be reached at: vermondo.brugnatelli@unimib.it

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Published

2023-09-13

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2023): Liber Amicorum Fabricio A. Pennacchietti Dicatus

Section

Linguae Mundi

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