Zaila is an Arabic name in origin

[mohammdov]

The name of the city of Zeila appears to be of Arabic origin
زيلع
1-نوع من الخرز تلبسه النساء
Zaila
A type of beads worn by women
الزَّيْلَعُ : خَرَزٌ تلْبَسُهُ النساءُ
Al-Zaylaa: Beads worn by women
The source is from the book Jamharat al-Arab written in the fourth century AH
What is the matter with these coastal cities and their Arabic names? Even Mogadishu has Arabic origins

 

[MR.𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘]

The name of the city of Zeila appears to be of Arabic origin
زيلع
1-نوع من الخرز تلبسه النساء
Zaila
A type of beads worn by women
الزَّيْلَعُ : خَرَزٌ تلْبَسُهُ النساءُ
Al-Zaylaa: Beads worn by women
The source is from the book Jamharat al-Arab written in the fourth century AH
What is the matter with these coastal cities and their Arabic names? Even Mogadishu has Arabic origins

Muqdisho name origin

The origins of the name Mogadishu (Muqdisho) has many theories but it is most likely derived from a morphology of the Somali words Muuq and Disho which literally mean "Sight Killer" or "Blinder", possibly referring to the city's blinding beauty.

 

[Emir of Zayla]

This doesn’t mean anything even if it was so (which I doubt it is). You think the most important port in the Red Sea in the Middle Ages wouldn’t impact languages?

 

[Three Moons]

Zayla was already referenced by its name in the 9th century Kitab al-Buldan. A body of work contemporary if not older than the book of poetry you referenced. We know Zayla is an ancient city, which would have had to have been known by that specific name for at-least a few centuries at the minimum for a scholar all the way from Baghdad (and publishing his work in Beirut) to have heard of the city and include it in his ‘Book of Countries’.

In your haste to attribute a Somali city’s name to a foreign element you want us to suspend all logic and accept that an entire city changed its name post-publication of a poetry book? You cannot make the logical deducation that a city of international commerce like Zayla that traded with the Arabian peninsula and whose local women in various parts of historic Somalia were known to have worn beads as a fashion accessory couldn’t have influenced the Arabic language instead?

Old ruined cities like Amud and Abasa are filled with graves where multicoloured bead jewellery has been recovered.

 

[mohammdov]

This doesn’t mean anything even if it was so (which I doubt it is). You think the most important port in the Red Sea in the Middle Ages wouldn’t impact languages?

Yes it's normal I'm just asking

 

[mohammdov]

Zayla was already referenced by its name in the 9th century Kitab al-Buldan. A body of work contemporary if not older than the book of poetry you referenced. We know Zayla is an ancient city, which would have had to have been known by that specific name for at-least a few centuries at the minimum for a scholar all the way from Baghdad (and publishing his work in Beirut) to have heard of the city and include it in his ‘Book of Countries’.

In your haste to attribute a Somali city’s name to a foreign element you want us to suspend all logic and accept that an entire city changed its name post-publication of a poetry book? You cannot make the logical deducation that a city of international commerce like Zayla that traded with the Arabian peninsula and whose local women in various parts of historic Somalia were known to have worn beads as a fashion accessory couldn’t have influenced the Arabic language instead?

Old ruined cities like Amud and Abasa are filled with graves where multicoloured bead jewellery has been recovered.

Well, what does Zaila mean in Somali? It is clear that it is an Arabic word

 

[mohammdov]

Muqdisho name origin

The origins of the name Mogadishu (Muqdisho) has many theories but it is most likely derived from a morphology of the Somali words Muuq and Disho which literally mean "Sight Killer" or "Blinder", possibly referring to the city's blinding beauty.

The name Mogadishu comes from “the place of the goat.” مقعد شاة
But the locals pronounce it Mogadishu. This novel is not old. There are sources dating back to the 19th century that mention the Arabic origins of the name

 

[Three Moons]

Well, what does Zaila mean in Somali? It is clear that it is an Arabic word

It’s not clear at all. Zayla’s etymology is still a mystery because of its distant and ancient character, just like Berbera its most likely a remnant from antiquity, though no Somali scholar has ever attempted an elaborate etymological study of old Somali words and terms to make any sweeping statements as you have done in your first post.

What you are attempting in this thread is tantamount to taking a historic reference to ‘Damascus Steel’ and then claim the name must be of foreign origin and Damascus, the Syrian city, was named after it. This is like taking the luxury fashion cloth Kashmir Shawl and then claim the disputed region of Kashmir was named after it.

What would be appropriate however is to theorize that the city of Zayla influenced the Arabic term for beads, as its clearly an old trade commodity and the city itself predates the poetry book by centuries.

But, even that is a stretch as Zayla seems to have several other meanings in Arabic, and is also an ancient name in Hebrew and Greek with completely different meanings.

 

[HabarSteven12]

The word Zeila is of Arabic origin. These are not opinions but rather historical facts. Zeila had a large wall with five gates to keep out the lawless nomads from the city. Nomadic societies are generally anarchic and lawless. The names of the five gates were of Arabic origin. It's great to see you have the intellectual maturity and courtesy to analyze historical sources with a critical eye. Well said.

 

[HabarSteven12]

I keep on asking what Zeila means in af Somali and no one can answer. What does Mogadishu mean in af Somali? No answer! Nationalists on this forum need to fear Allah and stop historical revisionism.

 

[Somali_patriotic]

I keep on asking what Zeila means in af Somali and no one can answer. What does Mogadishu mean in af Somali? No answer! Nationalists on this forum need to fear Allah and stop historical revisionism.

You saying "stop historical revisionism"
The forum should pin this

 

[Three Moons]

There is not a single word in Ge’ez, Amharic or any Ethiopic language with a direct meaning for Axum or Aksum only the Agaw + Ge’ez cope, which is a Cushitic-Semitic remix at that, therefore far fetched. If there is no direct local meaning for Axum, is it therefore of foreign origin?

This is the bankrupt logic these characters are using.

 

[ibrahym]

The word Zeila is of Arabic origin. These are not opinions but rather historical facts. Zeila had a large wall with five gates to keep out the lawless nomads from the city. Nomadic societies are generally anarchic and lawless. The names of the five gates were of Arabic origin. It's great to see you have the intellectual maturity and courtesy to analyze historical sources with a critical eye. Well said.

@الناخوذة ويكان الزيلعي

 

[mohammdov]

There is not a single word in Ge’ez, Amharic or any Ethiopic language with a direct meaning for Axum or Aksum only the Agaw + Ge’ez cope, which is a Cushitic-Semitic remix at that, therefore far fetched. If there is no direct local meaning for Axum, is it therefore of foreign origin?

This is the bankrupt logic these characters are using.

The difference is that some peoples have a dictionary of words and they write down the words and their meanings so that they are not lost after several centuries, but this does not exist in the Horn of Africa. We do not know how our ancestors spoke a thousand years ago Maybe only the Amhara knew because they had alphabet letters .

 

[Three Moons]

The difference is that some peoples have a dictionary of words and they write down the words and their meanings so that they are not lost after several centuries, but this does not exist in the Horn of Africa. We do not know how our ancestors spoke a thousand years ago Maybe only the Amhara knew because they had alphabet letters .

If that is the case, then translate the writing on this rock:

I bet you can’t, and you know why? Because no research has been done on these ancient inscriptions in the Somali peninsula to have them deciphered and translated. The issue here is not a lack of evidence of writing, inscriptions or manuscripts, it’s a lack of research.

I used Axum as an example, which is Ethiopia’s greatest claim to fame, and still there is not a single word in any of the Ethiopic languages to illuminate its meaning, yet this is a specific demand you and others have placed on the names of Somali cities, when like Axum they date to an ancient era where most of the world did not have writing, and only the Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks and Mesopotamians did.

 

[NidarNidar]

Avalites was one of the names from antiquity (also spelt Abalitês,
from Ancient Greek was well known port city which is now known as Zeila/Saylac, it exported spices, ivory and Myrrh according to the periplus of the Erthraen Sea.

"Extra-biblical literature mentions Havilah as the source of precious jewels used by the Amorites" - the region south of the city has unearthed precious gems, and several relatives of mine have found gem stones and other precious stones in the barren land, I've even heard of gold being found in dried up river beds.

The whole of the horn is ripe for archaeological excavation.

 

[Banadiri Warrior]

Muqdisho name origin

The origins of the name Mogadishu (Muqdisho) has many theories but it is most likely derived from a morphology of the Somali words Muuq and Disho which literally mean "Sight Killer" or "Blinder", possibly referring to the city's blinding beauty.

No muqdisho source says that, all sources indicate it's from maqcad shaah, maqcad meaning seat and shaah meaning king. That's the one agreed upon by reer xamars

 

[Banadiri Warrior]

The name Mogadishu comes from “the place of the goat.” مقعد شاة
But the locals pronounce it Mogadishu. This novel is not old. There are sources dating back to the 19th century that mention the Arabic origins of the name

Incorrect , it means seat of the king and it's شاه not شاة, all muqdisho sources say that it's from maqcad-shaah

 

[HabarSteven12]

No muqdisho source says that, all sources indicate it's from maqcad shaah, maqcad meaning seat and shaah meaning king. That's the one agreed upon by reer xamars

Brother, I was wondering if you read about the Ali Qasim's article about the himyar inscriptions in Mogadishu?

 

[Garaad Awal]

It's definitely Arabic