قنطرة

Arabic

قَنَاطِر (“arcade”)

Etymology

Multiple confounded etymologies:

Via Classical Syriac ܩܶܢܛܪܳܘܢ‏‎ (qenṭrōn) from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron, “center”), from the idea of an arch vaulting a central point.
From Latin cintrum, its plural cintra, a vulgar form of cinctūra (“girthing”) employed as such in Medieval Latin and the source of French cintre (“curve, round arch”) – which would ascribe to Arabic the first attestation of this Romance form, the 6^th-century poet Ṭarafa’s vers كقنطرة الروميّ أقسم رَبّها لتْكتَنَفَنَ حتى تشاد بِقَرْمَد.
From Latin canthērius – Ancient Greek κανθήλιος (kanthḗlios) –, meaning a “gelding” and because of this a “beast of burden” and then “trellis; chevrons, spars, gantry” (Gebälk, Sparrwerk, Gerüst), compare for such development the etymologies of chevron, chevalet, gantry, easel.
A genuine formation from the root ق ط ر‎ (q-ṭ-r) from which قَطَرَ‎ (qaṭara, “to put (camels) into a file”), قِطَار‎ (qiṭār, “train”), the ن‎ (n) being not a rare augment.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /qan.tˁa.ra/

Noun

قَنْطَرَة • (qanṭara) f (plural قَنَاطِر‎ (qanāṭir))

arch, vault
bridge
1. viaduct
2. aqueduct
3. barrage, dam

Declension

Declension of noun قَنْطَرَة (qanṭara)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
Singular	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قَنْطَرَة qanṭara	الْقَنْطَرَة‎ al-qanṭara	قَنْطَرَة qanṭarat
Nominative	قَنْطَرَةٌ qanṭaratun	الْقَنْطَرَةُ‎ al-qanṭaratu	قَنْطَرَةُ qanṭaratu
Accusative	قَنْطَرَةً qanṭaratan	الْقَنْطَرَةَ‎ al-qanṭarata	قَنْطَرَةَ qanṭarata
Genitive	قَنْطَرَةٍ qanṭaratin	الْقَنْطَرَةِ‎ al-qanṭarati	قَنْطَرَةِ qanṭarati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قَنْطَرَتَيْن‎ qanṭaratayn	الْقَنْطَرَتَيْن‎ al-qanṭaratayn	قَنْطَرَتَيْ‎ qanṭaratay
Nominative	قَنْطَرَتَانِ‎ qanṭaratāni	الْقَنْطَرَتَانِ‎ al-qanṭaratāni	قَنْطَرَتَا‎ qanṭaratā
Accusative	قَنْطَرَتَيْنِ‎ qanṭaratayni	الْقَنْطَرَتَيْنِ‎ al-qanṭaratayni	قَنْطَرَتَيْ‎ qanṭaratay
Genitive	قَنْطَرَتَيْنِ‎ qanṭaratayni	الْقَنْطَرَتَيْنِ‎ al-qanṭaratayni	قَنْطَرَتَيْ‎ qanṭaratay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
Plural	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قَنَاطِر‎ qanāṭir	الْقَنَاطِر‎ al-qanāṭir	قَنَاطِر‎ qanāṭir
Nominative	قَنَاطِرُ‎ qanāṭiru	الْقَنَاطِرُ‎ al-qanāṭiru	قَنَاطِرُ‎ qanāṭiru
Accusative	قَنَاطِرَ‎ qanāṭira	الْقَنَاطِرَ‎ al-qanāṭira	قَنَاطِرَ‎ qanāṭira
Genitive	قَنَاطِرَ‎ qanāṭira	الْقَنَاطِرِ‎ al-qanāṭiri	قَنَاطِرِ‎ qanāṭiri

Derived terms

قَنْطَرَ‎ (qanṭara, “to vault, to arch over”)

Descendants

→ Catalan: Alcàntara
→ Italian: Alcantara
→ Spanish: alcántara

References

Behnstedt, Peter; Woidich, Manfred, editors (2012) Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte – Band II: Materielle Kultur (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 100/II) (in German), Leiden: Brill, page 24
Corriente, Federico (2008), “قنطرة”, in Dictionary of Arabic and Allied Loanwords. Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician and Kindred Dialects (Handbook of Oriental Studies; 97), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 444–445
Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 285
Lane, Edward William (1863), “قنطرة”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, page 2568
Vollers, Karl (1897), “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen Sprache in Aegypten”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎ (in German), volume 51, pages 316
Vollers, Karl (1893), “Vier Lehnwörter im Arabischen”, in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete‎ (in German), volume 8, pages 100–101

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