Arabic Observations: The Root of Falling, and Love

مَهْوًى

root: ه-و-ي / noun of place and time / plural: مَهاوٍ / definition: abyss

I love little linguistic crossovers between languages. The ones where we find that two or more languages, far-removed in terms of place and origin, express a particular concept through the same semantic lens.

Maybe I love them because they reveal a common, cross-cultural conceptualisation—a shared human way of thinking that ties us together across borders and tongues. Maybe it’s because this idea of shared conceptualisation relates strongly to my PhD’s theoretical underpinnings—but I won’t bore you with my Theoretical Framework chapter. Yet.

Back to linguistic crossovers: let’s look at one example, using the hollow and defective root ه-و-ي.

If you look up the root ه-و-ي in the Arabic dictionary, you’ll find that its form I verb has two forms:

هَوى / يَهوي
هَوِيَ / يَهوى

From their vowelling patterns, we know that the former indicates an action and the latter indicates a transitory state.

Look at their dictionary definitions:

هَوى / يَهوي: to fall down (the act of falling)
هَوِيَ / يَهوى: to love (highlighting the transitory state of feeling love or fondness)

What’s more is that the noun of place and time from the root, مَهوًى, encompasses both concepts. It’s defined as:

an abyss (i.e. the place where things fall)
and the place of one’s longing, the object of desire

This got me thinking about how falling and love are linked—in both Arabic and English.

Notice how we speak about the state of feeling love as an act of falling in English: we talk of falling in love, or falling for someone, or being head over heels, etc.

Maybe, across cultures, we all share that feeling—that loss of control when love and passion take over; that disorienting feeling; that flutter of the chest as if your foot missed a step.

I wonder what other languages share the falling–love connection. Do you know of any?

!إلى اللقاء