§ 6 آب

آب ’āb August أوغُسْطُس M, an arabicized month شهرٌ معرَّب Ï (in article أوب), شهر عجمي مُعرَّب من الشهور الرومية، وقد جاء ذكره في أشعار العرب كثيرا T 2:39 (in article أوب),

In Ar. classical lexicons, آب (month name), has been compared with آبَ to return, and mentioned in the article أوب (the root of آبَ).

Heb. and Cha. אָב ’āb [< Ass. A-bu] Ab, or Av, the fifth month of the Jewish calendar (of thirty days) beginning between the eighth of July and the seventh of August, and ending between the sixth of August and the fifth of September, Jastrow DTT 1.

Aram. אב Ab, the fifth month, August, Cook GA 11.

Syr. ܐܳܒ ’āb or ܐܳܒܝ ’ābi August, Payne Smith CSD 1.

Eth. አብ፡ ’ab, ኤብ፡ ’eb  Ab, the fifth Jewish month, < Heb. אָב, Leslau CDG 2.

Sam. ba ’ab Ab, Castell LH 2.

Nab. b) ’Ab Août, Cantineau NL 55.

Mand.  ’b month corresponded to August, Mubaraki MED 1.

OAkk. and Ass. abu, variant: abi [𒌚.𒉈.𒉈.𒃻 ^itiNE.NE.gar: 𒀀.𒁍 a-bu] name of the fifth month, Gelb CAD 1:75ff, Ab, the month in which the bulrushes (Ass. abu, cf. أباءة) were cut for building purposes [der Monat Ab, in welchem die Binsen zu Bauzwecken geschnitten wurden], Muss-Arnolt CDA 4; Strassmaier AAW 12.

OBab. abu [ITI.NE.(NE.GAR)] 5th Babylonian month, .: isin Abi: Abu festival; connected with: ebūru(m), ibūru [bu-ru EBUR: e-bu-rum ; BURU₁₄] harvest, summer, crop; (time of) harvest, Harvest Month = Abu, Black CDA 3,65; Gelb CAD 16ff; Klein CEH 1. ^{❶,❷,❸,❹}

Sa‘dî ¯annâwî in A Comprehensive Lexicon of Arabicized and Loan Words says: from Bab. meaning: cereal, grain آب من البابلیّة، بمعنی الغَلَّة, Sa‘dî ¯annâwî CLAL 13.

^❶ Also cf. Sum. iziĝar [𒉈.𒃻  NE.GAR: izi-ĝar (izi-gar)] torch, cf. Akk. dipāru torch; also cf. bar [𒉈 NE: bar₇ (bir₉)] to burn; to fire (pottery), cf. Akk. napāhu to blow; light up; rise.

^❷ Egy. cf. Ĥpt  (a month of season III, Shemu ), Budge EHD 40.

^❸ Delitzsch in The Hebrew Language 16,footnote 2, suggests such etymology: The meaning of אָב is less evident. It may, however, be conjectured, that it is the Ass. abu hostile, an appellation fully justified by the excessive heat of this month.

^❹ Considering that the Akk. (written syllabically) cuneiforms for a-bu (the month name: 𒀀.𒁍) are identical to a-bu (father: 𒀀.𒁍), (even in the other forms e.g. a-bu-um), we may consider a similar origin for both, i.e. אבה, أبی.

In Heb. both Akk. a-bu’s have been converted to אָב ’āb father; Ab, which can be compared with Ar. أَب. But in Ar. the presence of آب (August) vs. أَب and أبو (father), may suggest an internal transfer of the root letters (in Ar. or other mediator language) as أبأ to أأب, and finally to آب, cf. آبَ ’āba he returned, root: أوب (or perh. أؤب). However, the presence of آب Abba, a title of scholars less than Rabbi (Jastrow DTT 2), in Arabic, may confirm that آب (month name) is a loanword in Ar. Hence perh. originally as: أأب.

Also cf. أبأ.