# מעתיק את הדפתר של עבסי



## Softmint

<<split from here>>

by the way, he updated his status again: * מעתיק את הדפתר של עבסי* = _copies the record of Absi_ ?? is that correct?


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## hey_u

I really don't know much Arabic, but as far as I remember Daftar=Notebook.


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## origumi

hey_u said:


> I really don't know much Arabic, but as far as I remember Daftar=Notebook.


You don't need Arabic for the word דפתר diftar, it's Hebrew from Greek διφθερα maybe via Aramaic, and older than Arabic influence on Hebrew. Originally it referred to anything used to write on and specifically leather. Later to a paper notebook (פנקס, מחברת).

Yet in the thread context it's likely to be the Arabic equivalent, nobody remembers this Hebrew word anymore.


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## rubidou

Don't know about the word usage in either Hebrew or Arabic, but could _daftar_ also mean _office_ in one of those languages? In Farsi, the word means both _office_ and_ notebook, exercise book_.
This meaning taken into account, another variant might be: 'He moves Absis office' ...? Which sounds peculiar, I admit. 
Just my two cents


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## origumi

rubidou said:


> In Farsi, the word means both _office_ and_ notebook, exercise book_.


See this short article about Persian daftar: http://www.iranica.com/articles/daftar-mid. Borrowed from the same Greek word as Arabic and Hebrew. Seems that this was a useful term in the Hellenistic bureaucracy and therefore found its way to several languages.


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## Softmint

thank you very much for your help. I think according to the context it meant "notebook". I just couldn't figure out the word *Absi*.


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## origumi

Abbasi is an Arabic name, usually a family name I think, or maybe a pet name for a guy called Abbas. So the sentence is "I am copying Abbasi's notebook".


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## Softmint

origumi said:


> Abbasi is an Arabic name, usually a family name I think, or maybe a pet name for a guy called Abbas.



it cannot be a name? (not family name)


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## origumi

Abbasi sounds like an adjective based on the name Abbas ("nisba" in Arabic grammar). For example, the Abbasi (Abbasid) Califate is named after Abbas ibn Abd-al-Muttalib of the prophet's family. I think that it can be a first name but more likely either a family name (sometimes people can be called by their family) or a nick for Abbas.

An Arabic native may provide a better answer.


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## Softmint

certainly not a girl's name?


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## rubidou

origumi said:


> See this short article about Persian daftar: http://www.iranica.com/articles/daftar-mid. Borrowed from the same Greek word as Arabic and Hebrew. Seems that this was a useful term in the Hellenistic bureaucracy and therefore found its way to several languages.



thanks! that's quite interesting because it provides historical background.


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