ܓܽܘܒܳܐ [†] gwbʾ guḇā planks, boards
Some scholars (e.g. Lagarde AS § 499) supposed that Syr. gwbʾ was a loanword from MP gumbad [gwmbt'] dome, fire-temple (CPD 38), NP gonbad a dome, a cupola; the hypothesis is also based on the fact that in Bh gr 1, 214, 15 the Syriac author himself refers to ܓܘܢܒܪ, namely Pers. gonbad (the same word appears in BB 459, 1 as ܓܘܡܒܕܗ gwmbdh; see also Fraenkel WZ 7, 36). Even if the Syr. word also seems to mean "bridge" in Bh gr 1, 21, 7, the semantic value remains problematic: how could the meaning "planks, boards" be connected with "dome, cupola"? Weryho (1972, 313) rightly claims that MP gumbad is a loanword from Syr. qūbbathā, a form related to Arab. qubbah cupola, dome, vault, arch, NP (← Arab.) qubbat, qubba id. (Steingass 951). See also Borbone 2000, 121. Consequently, it is highly probable that Syr. gwbʾ is not a loanword from MP gumbad, but a genuine Semitic form. Note also that, whereas Weryho reads the Syr. word as qūbbathā, LS marks the fricative realization of internal -b-: this would be strange, if the word came from MP gumbad; furthermore, if the realization was in fact fricative, I do not understand how it is possible to compare this Syr. word with Arab. qubbah ● 1Rg 6, 19; Bh gr 1, 214, 15; 21, 7 ◆ LS 100a-b