𐤊𐤋𐤌

𐤊𐤋𐤌

Punic

Etymology

Attested cognates are but Jewish Babylonian Aramaic כולניתא‎ (*kūlānīṯā, “a kind of papyrus reed”) and Aramaic-loaned Arabic كُولَان‎ (kūlān, “the desert papyrus Cyperus conglomeratus”). Since the synonymy of Dioskurides is not always correct the meaning in Punic may also be closer to that. The second λούμ after the word in the editions (χουλουμ[λούμ]) creates an un-Semitic form and must be just a scribal dittography.

Pronunciation

• (6^th BCE Punic): IPA^(key): /kʰuːluːm/
• (2^th BCE Late Punic): IPA^(key): /kʰyːlyːm/
• (2^th CE Neo-Punic): IPA^(key): /kʰylym/

Noun

𐤊𐤋𐤌 (klm /kūlūm/) m

1. common knotgrass, Polygonum aviculare
   • 40 CE – 90 CE, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica 4.4::

     πολύγονον ἄρρεν· οἱ δὲ πολυγόνατον, οἱ δὲ κυνοχάλκη, οἱ δὲ Ἡρακλεία, οἱ δὲ ἀσφάλτιον, οἱ δὲ χιλιόφυλλον, οἱ δὲ κλῆμα, οἱ δὲ πολύκαρπον, οἱ δὲ καρκίνωθρον, οἱ δὲ μυρτοπέταλον, οἱ δὲ κ‹ορ›νοπόδιον, οἱ δὲ ἀριθέα, οἱ δὲ πηδάλιον, Αἰγύπτιοι θεφίν, οἱ δὲ στεμφίν, προφῆται γόνος ἥρωος, οἱ δὲ ὄνυξ μυός, Ῥωμαῖοι σημινάλις, οἱ δὲ σκορπίνακα, οἱ δὲ προσερπίνακα, Ἄφροι χουλούμ.

     polúgonon árrhen; hoi dè polugónaton, hoi dè kunokhálkē, hoi dè Hērakleía, hoi dè aspháltion, hoi dè khilióphullon, hoi dè klêma, hoi dè polúkarpon, hoi dè karkínōthron, hoi dè murtopétalon, hoi dè k‹or›nopódion, hoi dè arithéa, hoi dè pēdálion, Aigúptioi thephín, hoi dè stemphín, prophêtai gónos hḗrōos, hoi dè ónux muós, Rhōmaîoi sēminális, hoi dè skorpínaka, hoi dè proserpínaka, Áphroi khouloúm.

References

• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎ (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, page 411
• Löw, Immanuel (1916), “Schachtelhalm und Schwaden”, in Orientalistische Literaturzeitung (in German), volume 19, issue 12, column 353a–360b
• Löw, Immanuel (1928) Die Flora der Juden‎ (in German), volume 1, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 563–564
• “πολύγονον ἄρρεν – Polygonum aviculare”, in Dioscórides Interactivo‎ (in Spanish), 2023