Animal Names in Polish and Arabic

Abstract

Transcriptions of Arabic lexemes accord with the ISO transcription system. Animals are important elements of the world in which people live, therefore their names are important elements of vocabularies of all languages. The most diversified nomenclature refers to the animals functionally linked to people: domestic animals and (to much lesser degree) game animals. In Polish the word zwierz [animal], the root of which can also be found in all other Slavic languages, is inherited from Proto-Slavic. It denotes all living creatures except for human beings (Brückner 1970: 658). In Arabic the word / ayaw n/ 1 [animal] is derived from the Semitic root that connotes "life". It is a general name referring to every living creature including human beings, which are referred to as /al-ayaw n an-n iq/ [speaking animal] (EI, 3: 304). (The word pattern /fa al n/ used here serves to derive (from verbs) substantives designating rapid and repetitive actions, processes and states Holes 2004: 147). This paper reviews and compares classes of animal names in Polish and in Modern Standard Arabic. It takes into account only those names, that can be found in general language, passing over the specialist terminology from such areas as zoology, zootechnics or hunting. It takes a synchronic approach, so it does not offer any comments concerning etymology of particular lexemes. Diachronic account of animal (and plant) names in Slavic languages (including Polish) can be found in: S owia skie s ownictwo dotycz ce przyrody ywej by W. Budziszewska (Budziszewska 1965). Etymologies of Arabic animal names can be found (among other works) in The Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI). Polish examples together with their meanings are quoted after: S ownik wspó czesnego j zyka polskiego, edited by B. Dunaj (Dunaj 1996). Arabic animal names are quoted after dictionaries: Al-Mun id f l-lu a (Al-Mun id 1996) and Bolshoy arabsko-russkiy slovar by H.K. Baranov (Baranov 2008). English translations of the examples from Polish are quoted after: Wielki multimedialny s ownik angielsko-polski polsko-angielski (WMSAP). English translations of the examples from Arabic are quoted after: A dictionary of Modern Written Arabic