אחלה גבר
is superlative in Arabic (most beautiful friend).
I suspect that 'chali חלי 'has a different root.
The Arabic 'Khilkhal = خلخال' is the bracelet the woman wear above her ankle.
the root خلل is related to porousness, uncompactness, sickness...while if the خ is replaced with a ح then the meaning of 'sweetness' comes in.
BDB suggests that 'chali' is related to Arabic to adorn, حلى, and therefore it is indeed the same root as that of plasantness. It suggests no Arabic cogates for חלה of signess so it's interesting that you suggest that there is one, kevin (yet your חול=خلل isn't necessarily related to חלה; there are numerous meanings of חול in Hebrew).
JOel: I suspect you misread خلل, it is spelled chet lamed lamed.
I guess the words mentioned in the post corresponds to two distinct branches in Arabic. One with the first letter a خ and the other is a ح.
I am not sure if that distinction (still) exist in Hebrew, hence, in my opinion the confusion. For example:חלה - meaning "to implore", would be spelled with a خ in Arabic. Then the meaning of weakness, porousness, loosness, kicks in (and not sweetness). I guess the Arabic transitive verb أخلى(his way) let him go, free him (from prison) is related to the Hebrew חלה, the result of "imploring" is the transitive "let go, free" in Arabic.
This may be related to "viniger =خل" as the foam formed when making vinger and beer gives the idea of borousness.
No, I'm quite sure that BDB said "to adorn" is حلى. (I don't have the book on me now.) It was in response to your saying "I suspect that 'chali חלי 'has a different root." خلل on the other hand, so you suggest is porousness, sickness, and not the adornment that BDB refers to.
As for خ and ح: no, Hebrew no longer differentiates them. Both equate to ח, and Gary Rendsburg, if I recall correctly, suggests that the difference in pronunciation was dropped a couple of hundred years BCE, although the same character is used in writing from much earlier. Certainly, Philo suggests that Ham (חם) in the bible is named after "hot" (חמ"ם), although one is actually خ, and the other ح
Joel: All what I am saying is that I agree with the other theory of Kaddari: '- that the anger is weakened, softened. It would therefore be connected to the root חלה meaning - "to be weak, to be sick"."
The root خلل has a string of words with the meaning of "weak, sick, porous, ..."
This does not contradict BDB's "to adorn" is حلى.
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