حتى

Etymology

• Traditionally, Arabic Grammarians link it to the root ح ت ت‎ (ḥ-t-t) in the senses of "to scrape or rub off", "to remove or destroy", "to end something", "to drive back or repel"; hence the meaning of an end-limit, the ending barrier or the point that holds back.
• Some classical dialects attest the word as عَتَّى‎ (ʿattā) which is closer to the cognate in Ugaritic 𐎓𐎄 (ʿd), Hebrew עַד‎ (ʿaḏ), Aramaic עַד‎ (ʿaḏ). Deriving then from the root ع ت ي‎ (ʿ-t-y), meaning "to be excessive", "to push the limits or be at the threshold", "to be extremely old or at the extreme end of life". Compare also حَدّ‎ (ḥadd), denoting a limit as well.

Pronunciation

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Preposition

حَتَّى • (ḥattā)

1. until, as far as, to the point of, even up to

   ‏أَكَلْتُ ٱلسَّمَكَةَ حَتَّى رَأْسِهَا‎

   ʾakaltu s-samakata ḥattā raʾsihā

   I ate the fish, until its head

Conjunction

حَتَّى • (ḥattā)

1. until
2. in order to, so that
3. even

   ‏خَرَجَ النَّاسُ حَتَّى ٱلْأَطْفَالُ‎

   ḵaraja n-nāsu ḥattā l-ʾaṭfālu

   The people went forth, even the children

Adverb

حَتَّى • (ḥattā)

1. even, even this, including, even if
2. finally, until finally
3. (rare, disputed) unless, only if

Descendants

• Bashkir: хатта (xatta, “even”)
• Portuguese: até (“until”)
• Spanish: hasta (“until”)

Trivia

ʾAbū Zakariyyā al-Farrāʾ (761-822 C.E.), an influential grammarian, famously quotes about حَتَّى (ḥattā) saying: “ʾamūtu wafī nafsī min ḥattā šayʾun” – “I shall die, while in my soul there is something off about ḥatta.”; referring to his frustrations with its usage and grammatical complexities.

References

• Lane, Edward William (1863), “حت”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 508-510
• Lane, Edward William (1863), “عتى”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, page 1951; specifically mentions the dialects of Huḏayl and Thaqīf.
• Olmo Lete, Gregorio del; Sanmartín, Joaquín; Watson, Wilfred G. E. (2015), “ʿd”, in A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition (Handbook of Oriental Studies; 112), 3rd edition, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 142–143
• Sadan, Arik (2012), “ḤATTĀ”, in The Subjunctive Mood in Arabic Grammatical Thought, Leiden: Brill, pages 197–249
• Wild, Stefan (1980), “Die Konjunktion ḥattā mit dem Indikativ Perfekt im klassischen Arabisch”, in Diem, Werner; Wild, Stefan, editors, Studien aus Arabistik und Semitistik. Anton Spitaler zum siebzigsten Geburtstag, von seinen Schülern überreicht, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, pages 204–223