Makam, A question to Ali

[Arpa]

A question to Ali.

 

Dear Ali,

What does the Kamus say about "mugam/maqam/makam"?

Also, what is the oringin of "kaimakam".

As I see it it may be a contraction of "qaed el maqam" ,

"leader/supervisor of order". In the US some towns,

villages and cities have supervisors as they don't have

mayoralty in their charters.

[aurguplu]

dear arpa,

 

sorry i hadn't noticed you had posted this.

 

now: (i haven't checked the kamus, but i know this one) maqam (first a short second a long) comes from the arabic root "qama" (first a long second a short) which means "to stand". it is a deverbal noun meaning "place of standing" i.e. post, position, etc. in turkish classical music there are also maqams, and they mean something about the way you sing the songs. thus you have rast makamı, kürdili hicazkar makamı, nihavend makamı etc. as i am a complete non-starter when it comes to the intricacies of turkish classical music, i am afraid i cannot help too much with that.

 

"kaymakam" is an arabo-persian construct, (qaim-i maqam) both words are arabic and both come from qama, they are bound in the middle by the persian -i, which means something like "of". it literally means something like "he who stands at the post" and denoted the municipal authority of kasabas (townships between villages and cities in size and importance), as it still does.

 

i hope this helps,

 

cheers,