> From: "Steg Belsky" <draqonfayir@...> (to me)
>
> > > I'm looking up _qitt_ 'cat' in the online Arabic
> dictionary
> > > (
http://dictionary.ajeeb.com/); the verb _qatta_
> means 'cut' or
> > > 'trim', but
> > > I doubt the words are related, since the word
> for 'cat' is probably a
> > > loanword from a Nilo-Saharan language (as is
> English 'cat', French
> > > _chat_,
> > > German _Katz_, Spanish _gato_, Russian _kotec_
> etc. etc. etc.).
> > > Incidentally, Muhammad was a cat lover,
> according to legend.
> >
> > Hmm... that makes me wonder where the Hebrew term,
> |hhatul|
> > (non-emphatic T), comes from.
>
> חתול might be of Aramaic origin, but I can't
> find an online Aramaic
> dictionary (just a Peshitta concordance) so I can't
> say. Or Akkadian maybe?
> Anyway, I don't think it's related to Arabic قط
> since the 't' in the latter
> is emphatic (I forgot to indicate that in my
> previous post).