Arabic comes from Syriac/Aramaic?

[Etain]

Was reading an article about the "72 virgins" and saw this.

The Koran is beautifully written, but often obscure. One reason is that the Arabic language was born as a written language with the Koran, and there's growing evidence that many of the words were Syriac or Aramaic.

For example, the Koran says martyrs going to heaven will get ''hur,'' and the word was taken by early commentators to mean ''virgins,'' hence those 72 consorts. But in Aramaic, hur meant ''white'' and was commonly used to mean ''white grapes.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/04/opinion/martyrs-virgins-and-grapes.html

I had assumed the similarities between the two languages were due to having a common Semitic ancestor or the Aramaic substratum of Arabic dialects in Iraq and the Levant. But the idea there are a lot of Classical Arabic words coming from Syriac is extremely interesting.

Not to mention the Nabatean Arabs of Jordan originally spoke Aramaic and their alphabet was where the modern Arabic one comes from.

 

[Etain]

Some guy wrote a book suggesting the same.

Quran[edit]
According to Luxenberg the word qur'an ("reading, lectionary") is a rendition of the Aramaic word qeryan-a, a book of liturgical readings, i.e. the term for a Syro-Aramaic lectionary, with hymns and Biblical extracts, created for use in Christian services. Luxenburg cites the suggestion by Theodor N?ldeke "that the term Qor?n is not an inner-Arabic development out of the synonymous infinitive, but a borrowing from that Syriac word with a simultaneous assimilation ot the type fu?l?n."[5]

Huri[edit]
The word houri, universally interpreted by scholars as white-eyed virgins (who will serve the faithful in Paradise; Qur'an 44:54, 52:20, 55:72, 56:22) means, according to Luxenberg, white grapes or raisins. He says that many Christian descriptions of Paradise describe it as abounding in pure white grapes. This sparked much ridicule and insult from the Western press who allege that "suicide bombers would be expecting beautiful women and getting grapes."[6]

Khatam[edit]
The passage in surat al-Ahzab that has usually been translated as "seal of the prophets" means, according to Luxenberg, "witness". By this reading, Muhammad is not the last of the prophets, but only a witness to those prophets who came before him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Syro-Aramaic_Reading_of_the_Koran

 

[Cascade]

I'm not sure about the Arabic language evolving from Syriac, but the Arabic script was derived from Syriac.

 

[Etain]

I'm not sure about the Arabic language evolving from Syriac, but the Arabic script was derived from Syriac.

Check out the wikipedia article and stuff in the book. It's more than just the script, a lot of words come from there.

The thesis of the book is that the text of the Quran was substantially derived from Syriac Christian liturgy, arguing that many "obscure" portions become clear when they are back-translated and interpreted as Syriacisms. While noticeable Syro-Aramaic influence on the language of the Quran is undisputed in scholarship, Luxenberg's thesis goes beyond mainstream scholarly consensus and was widely received with skepticism in reviews.

 

[mrzurnaci]

no this is baloney...

the "virgins" the Qur'an talks about are called "Huris" which is Syriac for raisins but it's used to mean "virgins" in Arabic...
Qur'an is in Arabic, just because it uses Syriac words doesn't mean they're used in the same context or meaning.

Look at Qur'an 78:33 where it talks about the Islamic heaven... Here is the verse itself

078.031
YUSUFALI: Verily for the Righteous there will be a fulfilment of (the heart's) desires;
PICKTHAL: Lo! for the duteous is achievement -
SHAKIR: Surely for those who guard (against evil) is achievement,

078.032
YUSUFALI: Gardens enclosed, and grapevines;
PICKTHAL: Gardens enclosed and vineyards,
SHAKIR: Gardens and vineyards,

078.033
YUSUFALI: And voluptuous women of equal age;
PICKTHAL: And voluptuous women of equal age;
SHAKIR: And voluptuous women of equal age;

Qur'an 56:22 describes Houris as having large eyes.
056.022
YUSUFALI: And (there will be) Companions with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes,-
PICKTHAL: And (there are) fair ones with wide, lovely eyes,
SHAKIR: And pure, beautiful ones,

I've never heard of Big-breasted, bedroom-eyed raisins lmao. I'd buy that brand anyday.

 

[Etain]

no this is baloney...

the "virgins" the Qur'an talks about are called "Huris" which is Syriac for raisins but it's used to mean "virgins" in Arabic...
Qur'an is in Arabic, just because it uses Syriac words doesn't mean they're used in the same context or meaning.

Look at Qur'an 78:33 where it talks about the Islamic heaven... Here is the verse itself

078.031
YUSUFALI: Verily for the Righteous there will be a fulfilment of (the heart's) desires;
PICKTHAL: Lo! for the duteous is achievement -
SHAKIR: Surely for those who guard (against evil) is achievement,

078.032
YUSUFALI: Gardens enclosed, and grapevines;
PICKTHAL: Gardens enclosed and vineyards,
SHAKIR: Gardens and vineyards,

078.033
YUSUFALI: And voluptuous women of equal age;
PICKTHAL: And voluptuous women of equal age;
SHAKIR: And voluptuous women of equal age;

Qur'an 56:22 describes Houris as having large eyes.
056.022
YUSUFALI: And (there will be) Companions with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes,-
PICKTHAL: And (there are) fair ones with wide, lovely eyes,
SHAKIR: And pure, beautiful ones,

I've never heard of Big-breasted, bedroom-eyed raisins lmao. I'd buy that brand anyday.

Ok maybe not that verse,but what about the concept in general? From the summary I saw in the wikipedia article,it made some good points.

 

[Cascade]

Check out the wikipedia article and stuff in the book. It's more than just the script, a lot of words come from there.

It's not surprising. Aramaic is older than Arabic. So of course Arabic could have some of our words.