Phone Post bil-Malti

[pne]

Comments

[denial-land.livejournal.com]

All I understood was "Haschisch", towards the end ;)

[pne.livejournal.com]

"ħaxix", yes :) I think it means "grass" in Maltese.

And not "assassin" ?

[angharad.livejournal.com]

Yay, interlingual puns!

Re: And not "assassin" ?

[pne.livejournal.com]

No, that would be "hashishin", or something like that, my vague memory tells me.

Same root, though.

Re: And not "assassin" ?

[angharad.livejournal.com]

I think it is/was "hashishim". I wasn't sure what was the original word (i.e. a plant name, or a family name, or what have you) from which the group'd been named, so I wasn't sure whether it was the same root, here.

Re: And not "assassin" ?

[pne.livejournal.com]

I think it is/was "hashishim".

Possibly. *looks it up on dictionary.com*

Hm, they say it's from ḥaššāšīn (the first letter is h-with-underdot, in case it doesn't show up), plural of ḥaššāš "hashish user", from ḥašīš "hashish, hemp, dried grass", from ḥašša "to mow", and points to "ḥśś in Semitic Roots".

Taking a guess, I think that the Arabic word glossed as "hashish user" would become ħaxxiex, plural ħaxxixien, in Maltese.

Hm, the old dictionary of Maltese I have here does indeed have an entry for ħaxxiex: "one who eats a lot of vegetables, a vegetarian". (It also gives for ħaxix: "grass, herbs; greens; vegetables".)

So I guess Maltese assassins are vegetarians? :)

Re: And not "assassin" ?

[angharad.livejournal.com]

So I guess Maltese assassins are vegetarians?

Hee hee hee.

Re: And not "assassin" ?

[pne.livejournal.com]

Taking a guess, I think that the Arabic word glossed as "hashish user" would become ħaxxiex, plural ħaxxixien, in Maltese.

Hm, with the -ien I was misled by plurals in -iet. It's more likely to be simply ħaxxixin (though still with long i in the plural ending).

[wingflutter.livejournal.com]

it does ;)