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The term פנה [PINAH] in Isaac Israeli’s Yesod Olam (Foundation of the World)
By uclhiwa, on 9 July 2014
I would be most grateful to know whether anyone has encountered the Hebrew term פנה, which usually refers to a corner, with the meaning of ‘element’, ‘component’ or anything along these lines – in particular in a mathematical or philosophical context.
פנה is found in the first book of Isaac Israeli’s Yesod Olam (Toledo, 1310), a major calendrical treatise of very high scientific level, which contains extensive mathematical and astronomical materials. In the part about Euclidean geometry we find:
כל משולש שבעולם ידוע הוא וברור שהוא בעל שש פנות והם ג’ צלעותיו וג’ זויותיו..
[For] every triangle in the world it is known and clear that it has [lit. possesses] six PINOT [pl. of PINAH] and they are its 3 sides and its 3 angles…
Also, if anyone knows of the usage of the Arabic term ركن (corner) to designate an element or a component as appears above, that would be most helpful.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
2 Responses to “The term פנה [PINAH] in Isaac Israeli’s Yesod Olam (Foundation of the World)”
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I Sandman wrote on 10 September 2014:
B.H.
Follow up: Looking at the MSS, it is clear that some scribes, too, had difficulty with this word – as evidenced by the variant readings: ‘… six pinot’; or ‘… three pinot’; or ‘… two pinot’.
I wonder if he is using the word פנה as a form related to to פנים, viz. ‘facet’. The two words have an etymological relation if not identity (the geminate form PNN and the 3rd-weak form PN[Y]; and PNN may in fact be a derivative of PN[Y]).