Understanding the figure of "sayyid" : the NSM definition of the traits of a pre-Islamic Arabic honorable man

The lexeme sayyid was used in pre-Islamic Arabic society in reference to a tribal chief or a leader. Such a person was expected to behave in a certain way, which was defined by al-Jahiz in a form of six character traits. In this paper, I argue that realization of these traits - their enactment in life - could be considered as following the code of honor persisting in the society of Arabs of al-Jahiliyya. By rendering the definition of the concepts of these traits, I aim to depict, in detail, honorable behavior as it was conceptualized by pre-Islamic Arabs. In my definition of the concepts, I use the terms of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), being the most culture-transparent tool for explicating culture-specific concepts. I posit my explications based on two analyses. First, I analyzed definitions proposed in medieval Classical Arabic dictionaries. The acquired data was later refined in a study on contexts of the use of lexical items denoting the aforementioned character traits and associated modes of behavior. As a result, I explicate the meaning of the following Classical Arabic concepts: ʒūd, naʒda, ṣabr, ḥilm, bayān. On the basis of the posited explications, I proposed a definition of the pre-Islamic Arabic code of honor. In the conclusion, I discuss the cultural specificity of analyzed vocabulary, as well as the critique of NSM as a sufficient tool for culture-specific concepts explication.