الحبشة

Arabic

Alternative forms

• الْحَبَش (al-ḥabaš), أَحْبُش (ʔaḥbuš), الْأَحْبُوش (al-ʔaḥbūš), الْحَبُوش (al-ḥabūš)

Etymology

Ge'ez ሐበሠት (ḥäbäśät), only attested in Aksumite inscriptions, later replaced with e.g. ብሔረ ግዕዝ (bəḥerä gəʿz), ብሔረ አግዓዝ (bəḥerä ʾägʿaz) and the Ancient Greek exonym ኢትዮጵያ (ʾityop̣ya); originally also meaning both sides of the Red Sea (which Aksum colonized). To its dominion then Old South Arabian 𐩢𐩨𐩦𐩩 (ḥbs²t) referred. In Egyptian the inhabitants of Punt were repeatedly called ḫbztyw, ḫbstyw, interpreted as from ḫbs, ḫbz, ḫbzwt (“beard”), however the moniker’s status as an actual demonym instead of just meaning literally “bearded ones” is doubtful, as well as the capability of the Egyptians to impose their term upon Aksum to be her endonym, for it to become the copiously attested Sabaean 𐩢𐩨𐩦𐩩 (ḥbs²t /⁠ḥabaśatu⁠/) and 𐩱𐩢𐩨𐩦 (ʾḥbs² /⁠ʾaḥbūśu⁠/, “Abyssinians”) too. Possibly originally referring to an emigrated Yemenite tribe, reflected in the (now Saudi) toponyms وَادِي حَبُوش (wādī ḥabūš) and جَبَل حُبَيْش (jabal ḥubayš) as well as جَبَل حَبَشِيّ (jabal ḥabašiyy) whose residents are called الْأَحْبُش (al-ʔaḥbuš).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.ħa.ba.ʃa/

Proper noun

اَلْحَبَشَة • (al-ḥabaša) f

1. (historical) Abyssinia (former name of Ethiopia)

   Synonym: إِثْيُوبْيَا (ʔiṯyūbyā)

Declension

Declension of noun الْحَبَشَة (al-ḥabaša)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	—	الْحَبَشَة al-ḥabaša	—
Nominative	—	الْحَبَشَةُ al-ḥabašatu	—
Accusative	—	الْحَبَشَةَ al-ḥabašata	—
Genitive	—	الْحَبَشَةِ al-ḥabašati	—

Derived terms

• حَبَشِيّ (ḥabašiyy)
• حَبَشَ (ḥabaša, “to earn, to obtain for the household”)
• دِيك الْحَبَش (dīk al-ḥabaš, “turkey”)

Descendants

• → Ge'ez: ሐበሽ (ḥäbäš)
• → Malay: Habsyah
• → Persian: حَبَشه (habaše)

References

• Breyer, Francis (2016) Punt. Die Suche nach dem „Gottesland“ (Culture and History of Ancient Near East; 80) (in German), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 530 seqq.
• Cooper, Julien Charles (2020) Toponymy on the Periphery. Placenames of the Eastern Desert, Red Sea, and South Sinai in Egyptian Documents from the Early Dynastic until the End of the New Kingdom (Probleme der Ägyptologie; 39), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 77 seqq.