On the Characteristics of Arabic-Origin Medical Units in The Work “The Canon of Medicine’’

Аннотация

This article explores the lexical-semantic features of Arabic-derived medical units found in Abu Ali Ibn Sina’s Canon of Medicine. It analyzes how these terms entered the Uzbek language, their semantic transformation, instances of polysemy and homonymy, and their usage in both modern medical language and colloquial speech. The analysis focuses on historically significant terms such as dabba, xafaqon, and moxov, examining their medical and stylistic characteristics, meanings in explanatory dictionaries, and functions in artistic and spoken discourse. Keywords: Abu Ali Ibn Sina, Canon of Medicine, Arabic borrowings, medical terms, dabba, xafaqon, moxov, medical linguistics, semantics, homonymy, terminology studies. making lexical exchange between languages a natural Introduction: The lexical richness of a language is phenomenon. No language has evolved in isolation, closely intertwined with the political, cultural, and free from the influence of others. Notably, the work Al- scientific-spiritual development of any nation. This Qanun fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine), authored by process is characterized by constant evolution and one of the greatest scholars of the Eastern Renaissance, uninterrupted progress. In the formation of the lexical Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna), served as a bridge between system, alongside internal mechanisms, borrowed Eastern and Western science — particularly in the field units from external sources — that is, from other of medicine. Many of the medical terms employed in languages — play a significant role. In particular, due to this work entered the language through Arabic and historical events, cultural interactions, and religious- now serve as a vital source for the formation of the educational influences, the Uzbek language has medical lexicon in modern Uzbek. assimilated a considerable number of words from Arabic, Persian-Tajik, Greek, Latin, Russian, English, This article provides a linguistic analysis of the lexical French, and other languages at various stages of its and semantic features of Arabic-origin medical units development. found in The Canon of Medicine, examining their role in the process of terminologization and their Today, a notable portion of the Uzbek lexical system connection to modern medical language. consists of such borrowed units. These words have played an indispensable role in the development of the The supplementary section titled "Guidelines for Using literary language and the expansion of terminological the Book", attached to Volume I of the 2020 edition of systems in various fields of science and technology — The Canon of Medicine, places special emphasis on the especially in medical terminology. From this following point: perspective, studying the function and position of "Most of the Arabic, Persian, and Greek words printed borrowed elements in the medical language from a in italics are explained in the footnotes. More detailed historical and theoretical point of view remains a information about pharmaceutical substances can be relevant issue. found in the Second and Fifth books of the Canon, while Throughout the course of history, languages have definitions of disease-related terms are provided in the developed through interaction and mutual contact, Third and Fourth books. A table clarifying units of International Journal Of Literature And Languages 23 https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ijll International Journal Of Literature And Languages (ISSN: 2771-2834) weight is included in the appendix to the Second book." One noteworthy aspect is that the word “dabba” also functions as a homonym in Uzbek. According to the This explanatory note clearly indicates that many of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Uzbek Language, “dabba” medical terms and scientific concepts used in The also refers to a leather pouch (borrowed from Persian) Canon of Medicine are borrowed — primarily from used to store oil or other liquids. This highlights the Arabic, Persian, and Greek. In particular, the use of multi-layered semantic structure of loanwords in Uzbek italics to highlight borrowed units underscores the and their integration within historical and cultural importance of special attention by the reader in contexts. understanding these terms. The term “xafaqon” is another Arabic-origin medical Moreover, this fact also attests to the active term, defined in Avicenna’s work as a pathological involvement of external sources — including Greek and condition related to heart function — specifically, Latin, alongside Arabic and Persian — in shaping and painful episodes arising either directly within the heart enriching the lexical corpus of the Uzbek language, or in closely associated organs. In The Canon of especially its medical terminology. This process was Medicine, the term describes a disorder involving realized not only through translation efforts but also irregular pulsations, internal unrest, and abnormal through early forms of term creation, systematization, hea