šérḳaḥ ˁag déʸhi kése díˀʸheʰ fáˁhɛr ˁad be-ˁed yešaẓ̂íˁenš ḷe-ˁam ʸheʰ ˁad ḥaľáľ ‘And the boy went out to them and found that his bull had some life in it yet: he could even have slaughtered it, had it been suitable for food’ (CSOL I 8:55)
Also in ṣódḳaʰ ḥaľáľ ‘nothing’: wa-tóˀo šḥᵃbéḷoʰ ṭay di-dor men nhɔfs ˁádoʰ wa-te te te ˁaf taˁáḳaḷ ṣódḳaʰ ḥaľáľ ‘When it sensed the smell of its own blood, it went on eating, eating and eating until nothing was left’ (CSOL I 24:29)
The combination ṣódḳaʰ ḥaľáľ with the meaning ‘nothing’ is said to be of common use. In spite of its clearly Arabic pedigree, no trace of any similar expression could be found in any of the extant Classical or dialectal dictionaries. The same meaning can also be expressed by ṣódḳaʰ bíľeʰ or ṣódḳaʰ ḳúṭraʰ.
- taḥľíľ cleverness, understanding